A really big statue
Monument's benefits toutedA proposed 21-story bronze monument of an American Indian warrior could bring about $36.5 million in revenue to the Tulsa area each year, an economic impact study estimates.
"We know it will bring people to Tulsa," Vicki Adams, principal of Relations Inc., a firm assisting with the project, told members of the Economic Development Commission on Tuesday. "It will bring new dollars; it will bring dollars to Tulsa that will help support all of the other projects on the table."
Dubbed "The American," the 207-foot-tall monument to be created by Osage artist Shan Gray would depict an American Indian warrior with a bald eagle landing on his shroud-covered forearm.
"We know it will bring people to Tulsa," Vicki Adams, principal of Relations Inc., a firm assisting with the project, told members of the Economic Development Commission on Tuesday. "It will bring new dollars; it will bring dollars to Tulsa that will help support all of the other projects on the table."
Dubbed "The American," the 207-foot-tall monument to be created by Osage artist Shan Gray would depict an American Indian warrior with a bald eagle landing on his shroud-covered forearm.
posted by Rob at 4:29 AM
6 Comments:
Writerfella here --
This is one of those grandiose plans that ordinarily begs the imagination and ordinarily never comes to pass. But even if it should come true, does anyone realize that it would make Tulsa a target for terrorism, both foreign and domestic? Does anyone truly wonder why Native emergence to notice by the 'dominant culture' brings more criticism than it does either admiration or praise? That is because the 'dominant culture' consciously or subconsciously (or both) realizes the onus that underlies their very existence. And most matters that would raise their awareness of such a state are not suffered amiably. Natives can be seen in feature films, but certain rules must be obeyed: they must be shown in historical loss or contemporarily as 'lost'. And Natives almost are missing from the larger public media of television, except for rare appearances under the same rules.
And so, both the Crazy Horse carving and the proposed 21-story statue will find themselves under threat in the very near future because the modern form of attack is on symbols rather than the direct existence of a particular subject. Certainly calling it 'The American' is an invitation to trouble.
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I suspect the terrorists would go for the Statue of Liberty or Mt. Rushmore before they'd go for the Crazy Horse monument or "The American."
Maybe we could build a large statue of George W. Bush and call it "The Crusader" or "The Target." That would really give the terrorists something to aim for.
If we don't build a giant statue of an Indian, the terrorists will have won.
More good names for my proposed Bush target: "The Warmonger," "The Death Dealer," "The Killer of Iraqi Babies."
It needs to be built, if only for a future comic-book writer or cartoon scriptwriter to develop a plot in which the statue comes to life and battles radioactive lizards or giant robots.
I don't know about a 21 story statue, it seems over the top and kind of tacky. I don't think I would like to see any statue that big, let alone an Indian statue. I'm all for a tribute to the American Indian which is long over due but I'm afraid something that big may be a white elephant once it's built. Kind of like the Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea coin.
this could make Tulsa a tourism mecca. imagine all the little shops in downtown tulsa and sand springs would be gaining from this!
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