Tulsa City Council approves plan to better preserve historically black artifacts, burial sites

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa City Council voted to approve a proposal from Beyond Apology aimed at setting a new standard for how artifacts found within historically Black communities like Greenwood are processed and preserved.

The organization's mission centers on preserving artifacts found within historically Black communities like Greenwood, including items that were left in a closet until recently discovered.

"Technically the compliance was done. Technically they met the standard. So what we're proposing is to try to prevent things like this from happening in the future," Odewale said.

Odewale said the policy would set a new standard, not just in Green Country, but around the nation.

"This one would be the first of its kind in the country to specifically cover ancestral remains, specifically cover in the wake of a massacre, uh, and for a historically black district," Odewale said.

The group detailed how the plan protects found artifacts from being sold and from invasive testing, while also protecting burial sites like those at Oaklawn.

"It establishes procedures for protecting discoveries, consulting descendants, handling associated cultural materials, and providing respectful re-internment," Mattece Mason said.

A significant part of the discussion during the city council work session came from people involved in the Graves Investigation. They were worried the proposal might affect the work being done at Oaklawn Cemetery. The people with Beyond Apology said it shouldn't.

The proposal ultimately passed after lengthy discussion in the morning session.

"Thank you for having us involved in that work as well and bringing to us meaningful policy that can change the trajectory of how we've been doing it and where it's going to go," Tulsa City Councilor Lori Decter Wright said.

For organizers, the policy is about accountability down the road.

"100 years from now, when future generations ask what did we do to protect Greenwood, I want us to have an answer. We cannot change what happened to our ancestors in 1921, but we can change what happens when their history is uncovered in 2026," Kristi Williams said.