One way or another, Santa Rosa Native American Cultural Center on track to be funded

It appears the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council will win what has become almost a race to fund a cultural center for the Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Moscogee tribe.

After much debate during which the county's commission wavered between using a $100,000 federal grant to fund the cultural center or going to the TDC to see if bed tax dollars could be used to cover the $70,000 requested by the tribe, TDC President Julie White stepped up to say she thinks her board will vote April 6 to come up with the money.

"I'm going to put it on the TDC agenda. It's an allowable use as an attraction. I'm sure it will be well received by the TDC board. I don't know why it wouldn't be," White said. "It's a really worthy cause. My thought is it would be a responsible use of tourist development money."

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With TDC board approval of the expenditure the funding request could be brought before the Santa Rosa County Commission for discussion at its April 10 committee meeting and voted on at its April 13 regular meeting.

Dan Helms, chief of the Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee tribe, said he believes the cultural center, which has been in the planning stages for three years, can be up and running within six months of funding being received.

"Absolutely we want it done and in place before our Creek fest, the week before Thanksgiving," Helms said.

Helms originally presented the county with a request for $70,000 to build the cultural center Monday and on Thursday the item appeared on the regular meeting agenda for discussion.

On Monday the chief told commissioners that tribal leaders believed having the center located at its 4,000-square-foot building on Willard Norris Road near Milton would allow for greater outreach with which to educate school children, and the public at large, about the heritage, language and culture of the Santa Rosa Band, which has called the county home for more than 200 years.

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The project, which is expected to cost $85,000 overall, would include the installation of Heritage Walls around the inside of the existing building that will be used as educational devices to help the public understand the history and culture of the Creeks in Northwest Florida.

One wall will display historic lands and townships, a second will provide information about the lives of the people and a third would be dedicated to the culture and sacred practices of the tribe. A fourth would provide education about the Muscogee language, which is being revitalized, and the fifth "keeping of the fire" wall would be dedicated to information about the tribe of today and its future.

The tribe also wants to install display cases to showcase historical artifacts of its own and those on loan from museums and universities. The cultural gallery would also provide touch pad technology through which the public can access oral histories, examples of music, language and dance.

Also planned is construction of authentic "square grounds." Helms described the square grounds as "an astrological calendar" that was used by ancient people to keep track of the seasons. Based on how the sun reflects off four poles strategically placed around the square, the chief said, a person who knew what they were looking at "could walk into the square ground and tell what day it was."

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At Thursday's meeting, during which commissioners were originally scheduled to vote to either approve using federal funds it had received as a local assistance and tribal consistency grant to help the tribe or send Helms to the TDC, Commission Chairman Colten Wright conceded the board had moved too quickly to step in and help.

The tribe's request had been scheduled Monday as a presentation and not as a request for funding, Wright explained. For that reason a vote on the matter Thursday would have been premature.

That did not prevent a lengthy discussion over the merits of having the county fund the cultural center project versus seeking TDC funding. Helms spoke passionately, urging commissioners to weigh the value of preserving the heritage and culture of a long suppressed people against whatever infrastructure needs could be paid for with $70,000.

"What we're hearing is that there is something more important than keeping a culture from becoming extinct and what's more important is roads and infrastructure," he said.

Commissioners pledged to one way or another find a way to get the cultural center funded.

White said it appeared from what she saw of the discussions between the county and the tribe that there were misguided concerns the TDC could not move quickly to provide funding for the cultural center.

"This is really just about coming to us and asking for money for this," she said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Native American Cultural Center likely to be funded by TDC