Santa Rosa Tourist Development Council votes to fund Native American Cultural Center

The Indian Removal Act of 1830, in the words of Dan "Sky Horse" Helms, "made it illegal to be an Indian east of the Mississippi River," and those Native Americans who were caught practicing any aspect of their culture faced deportation or death.

Helms, who is now chief of the Santa Rosa Band of Lower Muscogee, said his ancestors were forced to strive in secret to preserve what parts of their heritage they could. But as of Thursday, with help from a $70,000 grant from the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council, Helm's generation will be able to proudly display what they've held onto at a Cultural Center near Milton.

Tribal leaders are confident that constructing a center inside its 3,000-square-foot building on Willard Norris Road near Milton will allow the Muscogee Creek to educate the public, and in particular school age children, about the heritage, language and culture of the Santa Rosa Band, which has called the county home for more than 200 years.

Before voting unanimously to provide the funding, board members questioned Tourist Development President Julie White about the legality of the expenditure, which would not be considered a traditional expenditure designed to lure tourists to the county. White confirmed the grant would be legal, as the Cultural Center would be available to tourists, and Colten Wright, the TDC Board Chairman, explained his rationale for supporting the center.

More: Santa Rosa Commission asked to pay $70K into Native American cultural center

"It's obvious this is not going to drive people to stay in hotels, it's not going to generate bed tax dollars," he said. "What this is is an opportunity to show the true and complete history of Santa Rosa County, Santa Rosa County before the county was created."

The grant request must still be brought before the Santa Rosa County Commission for final approval, but Wright, who also chairs the commission, said he is confident there will be little or no opposition.

Commissioners have already debated the project at length and considered funding it themselves with a $100,000 federal grant. It was ultimately decided to try to secure tourist bed tax dollars first.

"We did everything the way everyone seemed to want it," Wright said. "I think it will pass. I know it will pass."

The commission vote will be taken at an April 13 regular meeting.

The Cultural Center will be located at the tribe's 92-acre property on William Norris Road near Milton. When completed, it will include five 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 Native American 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 Native Americans that resided in this region.

A fourth would provide education about the Muscogee language, which the tribe is working to revitalize.

"We have a saying, that when a language dies, the culture dies," Helms told the TDC Board. "We're doing everything we can to keep that language alive."

The fifth, "keeping of the fire" wall would be dedicated to information about the tribe of today and its future.

"Hollywood has done us a great disservice and stuck us in 200 years ago or 300 years ago," Helms said, in explaining the rationale for the "keeping the fire" wall. "A lot of people think if I don't show up in my regalia I'm not an Indian and I have to apologize for leaving my bow and arrow and horse outside."

The tribe also spent an estimated $25,000 to install a display case 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.

Helms told the TDC Board that tribal leaders plan to work with the Santa Rosa County School District to build educational programs that fit into an educational curriculum.

Helms has said that since he originally approached Santa Rosa County leaders for financial assistance, the goal of the tribe has been to secure the funding in time to have the Cultural Center up and running when its annual Creekfest gets underway on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Following the TDC meeting, he said he remains confident the goal of a November opening remains intact.

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

"We're getting started on it right away," he said. "We already had everything, resources, venders, prices, model numbers locked down. We are ready to pull the trigger. We just needed the funds."

The tribe won't, however, be rushing to move forward on another historically relevant project that it had originally included in its request for funding. Helms said construction of an authentic "square grounds," which he has described as "an astrological calendar" used by ancient people to keep track of the seasons, will be slow-going.

The square grounds is intricately constructed so that, based on how the sun reflects off four poles strategically placed around the square, the Native Americans who deployed them could judge the time of year or even what day it was.

Only three people in the Southeast have retained the skills required to build a square grounds, Helms said.

"This is a little more involved. Not something we can or even want to rush," he said.

When work on the Cultural Center is complete, plans call to open it originally only on weekends and as visitor traffic builds to slowly grow the number of days it is available to the public. There will be no admission charged to tour the Cultural Center.

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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Muscogee tribe cultural center on track after TDC funding