Welcome to Tulsa!

For the first time ever, the Southeastern Archaeology Conference will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Tulsa. Modern Tulsa is within the boundaries of the Creek, Osage, and Cherokee Nations but is surrounded by many of the Nations of the Southeastern Tribes and we are hoping for a greater attendance from those communities.

Situated in Green Country along the Arkansas River and Route 66, you will find Tulsa to be an international, diverse, musical city full of arts and history with a population of about 1,000,000 in the greater Tulsa region. The New York Times recently listed Tulsa as one of the 52 places to visit because of the Art Deco architecture, downtown revitalization, and museums such as the Woody Guthrie Center, Philbrook, and Gilcrease.

We are excited to be bringing SEAC to Tulsa, one of many Native American communities that were settled in what was Indian Territory in the nineteenth century. Tulsa is within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and borders the Cherokee Nation. The name Tulsa is derived from the Creek word for Old Town, Talwa Hassee/Tallahasee/Tulsi.

Arrive early! We have a unique Opening Ceremony Wednesday night. The drum will be performed by Oliver Littlecook. Dancing will be with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Social Dancers, the Chickasaw Nation Dance Troupe, The Muscogee Creek Stomp Dancers, Ryan Mackey and the Squirrel Ridge Ceremonial Grounds, and the Littlecook Family. This will be a SEAC like no other!

The Conference hotel venue is at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tulsa. We have room blocks at two other hotels. More information about Tulsa can be found here. Tulsa International Airport is only about 10 minutes away. The Hyatt Regency offers free 24 hour transportation and free parking for hotel guests.

More information and links to hotel registration can be found on the conference hotel page.

Registration deadline for paper/poster presenters is August 31, 2017. Advance registration for others is October 13, 2017.

• Regular member: $100
• Student member: $60
• Tribal member: Free (with Tribally Issued Identification or CDIB card, required)
  • For a coupon code for free registration, please send a photo or scan or your card to aregnier@ou.edu. Coupon code will be provided within 24 hours.
  • To serve as lead author on a paper or poster, tribal members must be a member of SEAC. To join, visit the Membership page.
• Non-member: $130
• Student non-member: $65

Please see the registration page to sign up. Onsite registration will cost $20 more per category except for Tribal Members.

Given the location and the unique opportunity to participate with the Tribal Nations in Oklahoma, we are going to have an opening ceremony. There will be a drum and dancing from a variety of local tribes to participate with and begin our Southeastern Archaeological Conference. The drum will be performed by Oliver Littlecook. Dancing will be with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Social Dancers, the Chickasaw Nation Dance Troupe, The Muscogee Creek Stomp Dancers, Ryan Mackey and the Squirrel Ridge Ceremonial Grounds, and the Littlecook Family. 8:00 to 10:00 PM, Wednesday night. Free, no registration required.

Join us for a Bar Crawl in Downtown Tulsa’s Brady Arts District and Blue Dome District. The Brady Arts district is a diverse, culturally robust district in Downtown Tulsa. Grown from an historic oil-rich past with icons including the Brady Theater and Cain’s Ballroom, the District has evolved over time to become a creative, community-driven engine of the Tulsa economy. The Blue Dome district is one of Tulsa’s most popular entertainment districts, anchored by the 1924 Blue Dome building, it offers a great nightlife scene and nice selection of restaurants, often considered to place to go before and after a big show or just to relax with friends. The district has a down-to-earth vibe that is very welcoming to both local and visiting guests. Free, No registration required. See Kara Foster for details, kara.g.foster@gmail.com

In honor of American Indian cultures, a Native Art Market will be held in conjunction with the 74th Annual SEAC meeting this year in Tulsa. Dozens of Southeastern and Woodlands native artists will be exhibiting in a special room in the conference space with art works for sale in various media from paintings and textiles to metalwork and miniatures. The show will span Thursday and Friday, Nov. 9-10, and will be open only to SEAC attendees on Thursday morning. The public will be admitted Thursday afternoon and Friday, so make sure to visit early and make your purchase before the best pieces are gone. Contact Laura Steward at Laura.Stewart@chickasaw.net for information.

The Thursday night reception is at the nationally renowned Gilcrease Museum from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. The Gilcrease is home to a wide collection of Native American ethnographic samples, artifacts, and documents relating to the discovery of the Americas and the recently acquired Bob Dylan collection. Free, no registration required.

The Student reception is Thursday at the Helmerich Center for American Research (HCAR) from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. HCAR is a research center of the Gilcrease Museum and The University of Tulsa that focuses on rare documents and maps. Among other documents, it curates an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and documents from the earliest colonial exploration of the Americas. Free, no registration required.

Native Artists Bring Past to Present: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Mississippian Culture Pottery at the Gilcrease Museum

In this informal, roundtable discussion we will describe and discuss a current project (funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services). We will present work that has been accomplished to image and catalogue 3,500 ceramic vessels from the Lemley collection and demonstrate a new Distance Cataloguing Interface that was created for experts to assist with cataloguing from any location. Dr. Ann Early, a participant in the project, has been reviewing the catalogue records and adding commentary that will be stored in the Gilcrease Museum database. Native Artists are cataloguing these same vessels in a different way by adding tags and search terms from the artist's perspective. Project participants, including Archeologist Dr. Ann Early, Osage Native Artist Anita Fields. Project Director Diana Folsom and Project Team Leader Jesse Nowak will describe challenges and accomplishments along with lessons learned, followed by a question and answer session. The workshop will be held at the Helmerich Center for American Research at the Gilcrease Museum. Friday from 11:00 to 1:00 PM. The cost is $20 and includes lunch and transportation.

Following the business meeting Friday from 9:00 to 12:00 PM, a local, existential indie rock band from Oklahoma City, The So Help Me’s, will play covers and original music from their latest album, Relativity. Formed in 2014, and hailing from the Flaming Lips helmed Academy of Contemporary Music, the band prides itself on elaborate avant-garde live performances often featuring costumes and 3D light shows.

Musically, the band fuses elements of math rock, indie pop, and shoe gaze. The band's rhythm section is heavily influenced by modern jazz-funk grooves and is grounded by two female lead singers with indie pop vocals and harmonies. Free.

Spiro Mounds Field Trip

Join us on Saturday for a guided tour of the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Park in Spiro, Oklahoma! We will depart from the hotel at 12:30 PM and travel by bus to the site, where you will receive a guided tour of the mounds from several Spiro researchers, including Jim Brown! Your fee covers the bus trip, park admission, and a boxed lunch to eat on the two-hour bus ride. We plan to return to the hotel by 6:30 PM on Saturday evening. Cost is $40/person. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now!

Saturday afternoon Stick Ball and Dinner at Ceremonial Grounds

Saturday afternoon, join the community of Tvlahassee Wvkokaye (Tullahassee Wakokai) for an afternoon of stick ball and traditional dinner on their ceremonial grounds. View the arbors, ceremonial grounds, stick ball field, and camps while being hosted by one of the many communities that maintains traditional ceremonies and descends from the historic southeastern native people. $25/person to cover the costs of food and preparation. Bus transportation is provided by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.