Parks Board votes to rename trail after Tuckabache

(TVLSE, Okla.) A popular walking and biking trail in Tulsa is one step closer to being renamed after a highly regarded Muscogee (Creek) leader who owned the land more than a century ago.

On December 9, the Tulsa Parks Board voted 3-0 to recommend the renaming of the Midland Valley Trail to the Tuckabache Trail. 

Read More: Meet Tuckabache: The Mvskoke Legend who won’t stay buried under Tulsa’s dark past

The trail runs through the Gathering Place, which was Tuckabache’s land. 

“In some ways it feels like a small gesture, but extremely meaningful given the magnitude of the corruption that most people don’t know about,” said Tatianna Duncan, the 3rd great granddaughter of Tuckabache and the founder of the Lucinda Hickory Research Institute. 

Duncan was present for the vote and said it has been a long time coming. 

“This has been an effort for a lot of years and something always seems to stop it or get in the way,” said Duncan. “I would say that it’s a positive step, it’s a little bit of reclaiming our history, it leaves the door open for people to ask questions and to even realize what was here.”

Jim Tilley, a retired attorney and a resident of the Maple Ridge Neighborhood behind the trail, led the effort to get the trail renamed after Tuckabache. 

He says it all started about five years ago.

“I was curious about who the people were whose allotments ultimately became the neighborhood that I settled in and that’s what ultimately led to me to find that Tuckabache was the allottee for a big part of my neighborhood,” said Tilley. “I began to do more research into who Tuckabache was and I was just fascinated by his story.”

Tilley says he shared what he learned with other people he knew and wanted to have a monument for Tuckabache in the neighborhood. 

He and his wife shared the idea with their friend Teresa Burkett, the Vice Chair of the Tulsa Parks Board. 

Burkett recommended trying to rename the pedestrian trail after Tuckabache. 

Tilley says he researched Tuckabache on Google and found Tatianna Duncan’s name in his research along with the Lucinda Hickory Research Institute and he reached out. 

“Being a resident of that area, he just thought that that was important and found Tuckabache to be interesting,” said Duncan. 

The trail previously belonged to the Midland Valley Railroad and Tilley says they had to see if it would be legal to rename it. 

“We ultimately were able to get a legal opinion that the city had the right to do it without anybody else’s position,” said Tilley. 

The Parks Board’s vote to recommend the name change was welcomed with excitement by Duncan’s family. 

“I got a lot of positive feedback on the decision from our family members,” said Duncan. “It’s great for Tuckabache’s descendents because even after us when people are forgetting our names he will still be around.”

Amanda Swope, the City of Tulsa’s Director of Tribal Policy and Partnerships reacted to the vote stating, “This is an appropriate step for our city and reflects respect for the sovereignty of the land on which Tulsa stands. I look forward to continued collaboration in the weeks and months ahead as we work to move this renaming effort forward.”

The next step is for the recommendation to rename the trail to go before the City Council for a vote in January.