White Eagle Park Is A National Register, National Historic Place

 Between October 2006 and February 2007, it was my pleasure to prepare for the Ponca Tribe a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for White Eagle Park. The National Register lists buildings, districts, structures, sites and objects that are at least fifty years old and have been important in our country’s past. In Oklahoma the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) oversees the nomination process. The Ponca campground at White Eagle Park is the first property in Oklahoma nominated as a traditional cultural place.

 Making the case for the historical significance of White Eagle Park was relatively easy: Ponca people have used the campground—in preservation terms a “site”—as living space and for ceremonies and traditional tribal activities ever since their 1878 arrival on the Salt Fork River. The site is also believed to be the birthplace of the modern intertribal powwow, which owes much to Ponca songs, ceremonies, and traditions. The difficulty was documenting these activities for the nomination. Fortunately, the National Register accepts information about a traditional cultural place that is handed down as oral history. Chairman Daniel C. Jones and his staff were extremely helpful in suggesting knowledgeable Ponca elders to be interviewed. While there are probably many others who could have contributed useful information, those interviewed were Paul Little Voice, Henry Lieb, Chairman Jones, Kinsel Lieb, Doug Eagle, and Edward Hara. Together, their experiences at the campground and with the Ponca Powwow covered almost ninety years and three generations. Along with federal records, newspapers, earlier recorded interviews, books, and other published materials, they helped document the significance of White Eagle Park to the Ponca people and demonstrated how the Ponca Powwow became the template for today’s intertribal powwow. Copies of all these research materials have been deposited with the Ponca Tribe.

 After finishing touches from Jim Gabbert of the SHPO staff, the nomination was presented to the State Review Board at the quarterly meeting on April 19. Chairman Jones spoke eloquently about the meaning of White Eagle Park to the Ponca people, and the board voted unanimously to forward the nomination to the Keeper of the Register in Washington, D.C. The next step is for the Keeper of the Register to review the White Eagle Park nomination. We hope to receive a decision on listing it within the next six weeks.

 Adding a property such as White Eagle Park to the National Register of Historic Places will not affect its use by the Ponca Tribe. However, being listed is recognition of its historical significance, and the nomination helps document this part of our national history. If White Eagle Park is accepted for the National Register, the Ponca Tribe will receive an official plaque. It will acknowledge what they already know—the Ponca campground at White Eagle Park is a special place.

Dr. Mary Jane Warde

Stillwater, Oklahoma