Owasso adopts new flag despite pushback on offensive Native imagery

(OWASSO, Okla.) The City of Owasso adopted a new flag at the Owasso City Council meeting Tuesday night, despite concerns over Native imagery that is included in the design.

The flag includes a rendering of the "End of the Trail" sculpture, created in 1894 by James Earle Fraser, a European American man influenced by his experiences with Plains Indians who were forced off their ancestral homelands.

City Councilor Cody Walter and Vice Mayor Paul Loving voted no on adopting the new flag while Mayor Alvin Fruga, Councilor Jamie Dunn, and Councilor Chad Balthrop voted yes. 

During the meeting, city councilors discussed feedback on the design prior to passing the resolution.

Walter, who also voiced concerns about the design during previous city council discussions, expressed reservations on adopting the flag because of what he perceived as a lack of unified enthusiasm from the community.

“I'm not hearing an enthusiastic ‘yes’, like, the community's like, ‘yes, this embodies us,’” said Walter. “I'm not hearing that from the tribe either. From what I've heard from the city staff about the use of tribal imagery, I think what's been said is they're neither super excited about it, they're not against it, by any means. It's just like, ‘Yeah, it's there.’”

Owasso is located entirely within the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) reservation.

City of Owasso Assistant City Manager JJ Dossett previously stated that CNO’s cultural art department told them the imagery was appropriate.

Crosswinds News reached out to CNO for comment but has yet to hear back.

Walter said he would prefer something more of the community is behind. 

“If we're going to commit to something like this, which will be, I imagine, a major part of marketing, and marketing Owasso to the broader community, the broader region, I am hoping for, and what I'm looking for and trying to find is that enthusiastic, ‘Yes, this is the thing. We can really rally behind that.’ And I'm just not seeing that,” said Walter. 

Local graphic designer Keith Whitefield created the flag’s design, which was inspired by a local youth. He also spoke ahead of the council’s vote to approve the flag.

“The only thing I have to say about it is I was a little disappointed in the response we got,” said Whitefield. “I was hoping a little bit more people would be interested because I think it's something we needed. I think it was a great idea that the young man came forward and thought we need to do this.”

Dossett said the City of Owasso received 23 comments about the flag in its comment box, which required people to come to city hall to share. 

The city announced the design in a social post, but did not share the design itself online.

“We did not want a wider, outsider community,” said Dossett. “So we announced, ‘We're proposing a flag and we'd like public comment. Come to City Hall, make comments. Come to city council meetings, make comments.’ And that's how we promoted it. Of course, we knew people would come up and take a picture of it and run with it and do all that, and that happened. And that's fine, too. But per the city manager's wishes, we really wanted to make sure our comments were local.”

Comments on the city’s social media post included “It is derogatory” and “The fallen Warrior is a NO.”

In order to be put on the agenda to speak at an Owasso City Council meeting relating to the flag’s design (or any other topic), community members had to contact the Owasso City Clerk no later than 5 p.m. the Wednesday before the meeting.

David Bible (Muscogee and Hopi), President of the Tulsa Indian Club, was the only person who went through the process of appearing on the agenda last month, using his time to express his concerns about the flag’s design and what it represented.

“This is a Plains Indian,” said Bible. “This is not a Southeastern Indian, where we came up through the Trail of Tears. This is where, at the time, the push westward was meant to have us eradicated. This would be the end of the trail. This would be defeat. This would be the end. And it did not happen because we are still here.”

The City of Owasso shared the flag’s approval in a social media post Tuesday evening, stating, “Council approved Resolution 2026-04, adopting an official City of Owasso flag to represent community heritage and vision for the future.”