Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Native American heritage museum in Muskogee, United States.
The Five Civilized Tribes Museum is a cultural institution in Muskogee that displays collections of artifacts, artworks, and historical objects from Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Seminole peoples. The exhibits include tools, clothing, jewelry, and other items that document the everyday life and artistic skills of these nations.
The Union Indian Agency Building was constructed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1870s to house the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, replacing separate agencies; only the Chickasaws and Choctaws had previously shared one, at Boggy Depot. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation later owned it and used it as a school and orphanage for Creek Freedmen. Muskogee took ownership in 1909, and the Da-Co-Tah Indian Club, founded to promote tribal history, campaigned from 1951 to convert the building into a museum, which opened on April 26, 1966.
The museum's name comes from the "Five Civilized Tribes" term coined around the opening of the consolidated Union Indian Agency building. Its founding body, the Da-Co-Tah Indian Club, took its name from the Dakota language, meaning "Circle of Friends"; the club's colors, red and gold, stood for friendship and ambition. Each April the grounds host Art Under The Oaks, an art market where members of the five tribes sell directly and perform traditional singing and dancing.
Exhibitions on the life, history and culture of the five tribes are on the ground floor and change frequently; upstairs, artifacts are mixed with art from the annual competition or the permanent collection. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as NR 70000535. Art Under The Oaks, an art market with traditional singing and dancing, is held on the grounds each April.
The museum holds the world's largest collection of originals by Jerome Tiger (Muscogee/Seminole, 1941–1967), including "Stickballer", his only major sculpture, on permanent display. Its building, the Union Indian Agency, later served as "The Chateau", where residents danced to live bands after World War I.
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