Tulsa's Indigenous Truth

Tulsa’s Indigenous Truth is a collaborative investigative reporting project focusing on the systematic transfer of wealth from Indigenous people to build the City of Tulsa and benefit its European American settlers. This data-driven approach aims to uncover patterns of wrongdoing and provide key details of this exploitation.

The Morrison matriarch- Mvskoke mastermind or manipulated mother?

In the early 1900s, northeast Oklahoma was a hotbed of legalized theft of Native American land, oil and mineral rights, and even lives. Local government, state government, legal professionals, business owners. All in on it. And as the pages of some historical records indicate, people would even pit family members against each other to advance their greedy ambitions.

The Morrison matriarch- Mvskoke mastermind or manipulated mother?

Trigger Warning: This story discusses theft, abuse and other injustice relating to Indigenous history, which may be distressing and triggering for some individuals. Please proceed with caution and prioritize your mental and emotional well-being. If you need support, consider speaking to a mental health professional by calling 988, texting the

CrosswindsBrittany Harlow

This investigation also delves into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, destitution, and abuses of American Indian people during these times of exploitation, with the goal of establishing more links between the actions of corrupt-minded colonizers and the impacts still experienced today.

How was Tulsa built from legalized theft?

And what can be done about it now?

Why is this important? 

The minidocumentary “Indigenous Roots: Natural pathways between history and today” explains just how intricately historic trauma transfers from one generation to the next until it is resolved.

Year One of Tulsa’s Indigenous Truth was funded by the Commemoration Fund, which supports bold and innovative efforts to correct social, political and economic injustices that impact Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and People of Color in the Tulsa community.

This investigative work is largely made possible thanks to Crosswinds News' donation to the Tulsa City-County Library which licensed the online Indian Rights Association collection for Tulsa library card holders.

“Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II: The Indian Rights Association, 1882–1986” includes significant court documents, legislative proposals, newspaper clippings, photographs and handwritten personal correspondence, many of which relate to Tulsa’s Allotment Era.

Crosswinds News' donation was supported with funding from the Data-Driven Reporting Project, which is funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University | Medill, The Fund for Equity in Local News in partnership with the Google News Initiative, and the Commemoration Fund.

Click here to access the IRA database

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