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Ribbons of the Osage -
Dedication and design
Jeff, the new Vista, walked
into the living room of Lee and Velma’s home like any carefree young man
might do. His mane of black, curly long hair was twisted up away from his
face. Denim shorts were of a proper length and called attention to the
heavy leather men’s sandals he wore on his feet. He looked polished clean
as if he had just walked out of his mother’s house. His skin coloring was
attractive and made them believe he had spent time on the beach to make it
so which he may have done, because he was the one who took his grandmother
earlier to her home in Florida.
Velma introduced him to the
other Vistas who were there for an early morning meeting which was the
time for planning daily activities. She, as their mentor, was always a
stickler for seeing to it the young people were in attendance, daily, to
be briefed on whatever project was their assignment at the time. The
others didn’t have the credentials Jeff had. He was on his way to being an
attorney after having graduated from one of the finest universities. To
look at him no one would have guessed. On the other hand, there was an
intrinsical feeling of depth with this boy-man. He was cautious, as he
entered the group and was quiet as if he wanted to acquaint himself with
these new surroundings. This was Oklahoma and all new to a boy from the
east.
“Jeff! As soon as the
farmer’s wife has her vacant cottage ready, you will have a place to stay
at Red Rock. It is a country, two bedroom house but she is cleaning,
decorating with new curtains and finding a nice wood stove for you for any
cool nights. Today, I need to go over to Pawhuska to visit with Georgeann
Robinson.* She is a master seamstress and I want to arrange with her to
come and display her ribbon work at the Mansion. You can drive me over.”
Enthralled with the beauty
of the drive to Pawhuska Jeff was in such a deep appreciation for the sky
and landscape he was unaware of anything unusual to stand out. The
ranchers kept the pastures clean from anything unwanted in the way of
shrub trees so there was, indeed, a great expanse of clear terrain.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s
attorney, A.W. Morrison, in Texas, rented the land from Oscar Hadden, the
rancher on the south side of the road. When Oscar died they bought it from
Edna, Oscar’s second wife, according to family legend. Oscar’s first wife
was an Osage-allotted citizen. He was said to have only a horse and
clothes on his back when he came to Oklahoma from Texas to marry his
Native American wife. He was a distant cousin to L.B.J..
For years’ Oscar kept a
small buffalo herd that always settled into one place which was
immediately beside the road. Without fail these large, interesting beasts
were a great eye-catcher. Jeff suddenly drove up to where they were
resting. He was totally taken by surprise to see the great, wooly beasts
and wildly ran the car up and down both sides of the road almost to a
point of losing control while he tried to see the buffalo as they rested
on the ground and grazed beside the fence.
“Jeff! Jeff! Watch the
road! What in the world are you doing? You are going to wreck this car?”
Velma wasn’t sympathetic to his elation at having seen a buffalo for the
first time. One of her own kids best not loss control and Jeff wasn’t
going to be allowed to, either. The young man would soon be introduced to
a form of dicipline he would have to learn and that was, “a leader does
not loss control.”
Today, the Tall Grass
Prairie Preserve out of Pawhuska gives the same impression when tourists
see a buffalo for the first time. It is a feeling of awe, respect, and
even, a bit of fear involved because of the animal’s size in comparison to
cattle.
*A video of Georgeann’s
work can be purchased at the KiHeKah Hill’s Osage Museum.at Pawhuska,
Oklahoma. It is called, “Ribbons of the Osage.” It is a wonderful
documentation because it not only gives instructions for the intricate
Osage ribbon work but has a visual of her family as they prepare for a
ceremony. |
