The Tree on 18th Street.

Maybe I’m biased, but I think you can understand all the major forces of American history at the corner of 18th Street and Cheyenne Avenue. You won’t find a museum there, or a monument to some Great Man. You will find a gnarly old tree protected by an iron gate flanked by some modest townhouses.

If you’re from Tulsa, you might know this bur oak as the Council Oak Tree where a Muscogee tribal town rekindled its ceremonial fire in 1836 after its forced removal from its ancestral home in Alabama. Let’s put aside the 1898 date on seal of the City of Tulsa—the real beginning of Tulsa is here.

1898, I think, should be remembered not in celebration but infamy. It is part of our history and should not be erased, but let’s be honest about what went down at that time. The Curtis Act of that year explicitly terminated tribal self-determination. It eliminated tribal courts and would eventually make the title of Chief subject to appointment by the U.S. President. Most importantly, it eliminated tr…