TULSA, Okla. — The Osage Nation Museum is launching a new website to gather information on Osage veterans.
"It's a way of building, keeping our connections together, family connections and things like that as a tribe," Marla Redcorn-Miller, director of the museum, said.
Redcorn-Miller said the tribe has a rich and diverse history and that tribal members spread far and wide off Osage lands.
"We want to reach out to those communities as well," Redcorn-Miller said.
The museum is looking for information like when the veteran served, where they were stationed, pictures of the Veteran, discharge papers, or anything the family would be willing to have archived.
"There is a focus, you know, to honor and to remember and respect the sacrifices that our veterans have made for our country, and for, you know, our Osages,” Redcorn-Miller said. “It's really tied also to our warrior tradition that we have."
The museum is located directly next to the Osage Veterans Memorial.
Franklin McKinley is the chair of the Osage Veterans Memorial Commission and is a Vietnam veteran.
"We're proud to be Americans,” McKinley said. “We want to show that in preserving our military history."
McKinley comes from a family of veterans and wants to honor their memory and that of other Osages.
"As long as I live, they will live,” McKinley said. “What they did for this country. And what they still do today is very important to me as an individual. You know, I take great pride in it."
What they did will also live on through the museum archival project.
"We're trying to preserve this information for this generation and the generations in the future," McKinley said.
The museum will use the information and pictures for exhibitions on Osage veterans, all to share how the tribe has served this country.
Veterans must be registered with the Osage Veterans Memorial Commission. Instructions to register can be found here.
To submit information on an Osage veteran, visit the website here.
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