What is the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration

The Ocmulgee Indian Celebration (OIC) is the principal ethnographic event of the year at Ocmulgee National Monument.  Ocmulgee Indian Celebration's objectives are:  1)  present a free educational event for all 4th grade classes in the Macon, Georgia, Metropolitan Reporting Area;  2)  present a modestly priced public educational event for the general public; 3) provide members of Southeastern American Indian tribes, especially those originally associated with the Ocmulgee Old Fields at Macon, Georgia, an opportunity to return to their "sacred ground;" and 4) promote partnerships and tourism within the Middle Georgia community and Ocmulgee National Monument.  The event features a wide variety of traditional and contemporary Native American dancing, music, arts, crafts, storytelling, history, technology, and period encampments provided by American Indians, who present and interpret their own cultures.  One of their major goals is to accurately explain and demonstrate their various cultures to the public in order to dispel commonly held myths and stereotypes.  

Since 1990, the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration has fostered public awareness of the rich heritage of Southeastern American Indians, especially the Muscogee (Creek), Seminole and Miccosukee people whose ancestors occupied Central Georgia long before the first European arrived in this country.  This annual event features Native American artists, craftspeople, musicians, dancers, historians, and storytellers, who share their ancient and modern culture with visitors at Ocmulgee National Monument.  The 2006 Ocmulgee Indian Celebration was a continuation of this very special cooperative effort, which made it possible to feature some of the finest performances, period encampments, artisans and other participants from as far away as Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona.  The craftspeople and performers demonstrate their production techniques.  The artists offered for sale a variety of paintings, bronze sculptures, woodcarvings, shell and gourd engravings, beadwork, pipes, drums, flutes, basketry, pottery, dolls, clothing, jewelry, and other handcrafted items.

The 2006 celebration allowed over 3,000 Middle Georgia public and private school students a unique opportunity to learn first-hand about Southeastern Native American culture.  Elementary schools from eleven counties were able to attend.  During Friday's "School Day" for 4th grade students, exhibits provided by area public service agencies were also included.  On Saturday and Sunday the celebration was open to the public with approximately 15,000 people from all over the Southeast and other parts of the U.S. attending.

For the last three years the Celebration has acknowledged and thanked members of the U. S. Armed Forces and their families for their selfless sacrifice, by lowering the entrance fee for all members of the active duty military and their immediate family members 60%.  In 2005 we went a step even further by allowing the immediate family members of the Georgia National Guard, who were deployed to Iraq,  into the event for free.

For the past four years, the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration has been named one of the Top 20 events in the region by the Southeast Tourism Society.  The 2006 celebration continued a 14-year tradition of excellence by again uniting representatives from all five of the Southeast's "Five Civilized Tribes" (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole), who now consider the event an annual Homecoming.

The Celebration not only provides educational and recreational benefits to the Celebration’s 15,000 visitors, but it also provides an economic benefit Macon, with many of the visitors staying over-night or eating and shopping in the city.  According to calculations provided by the Macon-Bibb County Convention and Visitors Bureau, based upon information from previous years, the 2006 Ocmulgee Indian Celebration had over a $758,780 economic impact on the local community.  

What we are asking for are funds to help continue this excellent event.  We need sponsors to help cover the cost of bringing in the dancers, storytellers, etc, including feeding and housing them.  The past success of the event has been linked to promotional efforts with billboards, posters, and media spots etc.  We need help in paying for those promotions.  It is only through sponsors that we can continue to present an excellent cultural education event that has become one of the largest gatherings of Native People in the Southeast.