When the Earth Remembers
Four Pathways

Participation can take many forms.

This project invites Native Nations, Tribes, Communities, Cultural Departments, Artists, Culture Bearers, Educators, Ecologists, and Supporters to help shape an artwork that reflects the complexity of Oklahoma's shared history. There is no expectation of scale — only an open invitation.

Pathway 01

Cultural Representation

One bone, one story.

Each cast bison bone within the spiral carries its own visual identity. We invite Indigenous Nations, Tribes, Communities, Cultural Departments, Artists, and Culture Bearers to contribute a line drawing, symbol, motif, or visual design that reflects their history, values, stories, or living culture.

Selected designs will be hand-incised into individual sculpted bones before casting, creating a permanent record of Indigenous presence, memory, and continuity within the artwork. Together, these carved forms become a collective archive of cultural expression — each bone distinct, yet connected to a larger story of resilience, remembrance, and relationship to place.

Artwork submissions for inclusion in the project will be accepted through October 2026.

Sculpted bison bone form ready for hand-incised cultural design work
Design in Practice

Artwork submission — best practice for translation onto the bones

  • Simple enough to carve, strong enough to carry meaning
  • Black & white line drawing / symbol / motif
  • Clear linework
  • Adobe Illustrator / vector-based file

Submit your design →

Concept sketch of a cast bone hand-incised with an Osage Nation ribbon work pattern

Design: Osage Nation — Ribbon Work Pattern, Humerus Bone

Contributed designs

Examples already incised and cast, shown with the contributing Nation or artist.

Cast femur bone carved with a design by Brent Greenwood
Brent Greenwood (Ponca & Chickasaw) — Femur
Cast lumbar vertebra bone carved with a design by Tom Farris
Tom Farris (Cherokee Nation & Otoe-Missouria Tribe) — Lumbar Vertebra
Cast caudal vertebra bone carved with a design contributed by Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes — Caudal Vertebrae
Cast atlas vertebra (C1) bone with carved geometric motif
Atlas Vertebra (C1)
Cast calcaneus bone carved with a design contributed by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma — Calcaneus
Cast cervical vertebra bone with carved spiral motif
Cervical Vertebra
Cast humerus bone with carved circular motif band
Humerus
Cast manubrium bone with carved linework
Manubrium
Cast mandible bone carved with a spiral design by Kristin Gentry
Kristin Gentry (The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) — Mandible, Jaw
Pathway 02

Community Casting Workshops

Made by many hands.

In Spring 2027, a series of Community Bone Casting Workshops will be held across Oklahoma in collaboration with Native Cultural Centers, Tribal Departments, and community organizations. These hands-on gatherings invite participants to take part in creating the sculpted bison bones that will become part of the final public artwork.

The spiral is around 200 linear feet, with a need of 350 to 400 cast bones for the final artwork. The cast bones created through these workshops will be permanently incorporated into the installation, embedding community participation, shared authorship, and living memory directly into the artwork itself.

Participants at a community bone casting workshop mixing concrete and preparing molds
Community casting workshop participant working with mold materials

Host a workshop

We would be honored to collaborate with your cultural center, school, museum, community program, tribal department, gallery, or community organization to host a workshop.

We will bring the materials, casting supplies, and guidance. Host partners help invite 15–20 participants and provide a welcoming space for the workshop.

Inquire about hosting
Pathway 03

Ecological Collaboration

Native plants can carry memory through living systems.

The landscape is not background. It is part of the story. The story of When the Earth Remembers is not only about the displacement of Indigenous peoples — it is also about the disruption of ecosystems, wildlife populations, native plant communities, and the relationships that once connected them.

We are seeking guidance on plant selection, cultural and ecological relationships, long-term care, and how the living landscape can carry memory forward. The installation will be surrounded by native plants and landscape elements informed by Indigenous ecological knowledge — a collaboration with Native horticulturalists, ethnobotanists, seed keepers, land stewards, cultural practitioners, and plant knowledge holders.

Together, the landscape can become an extension of the artwork itself — a place where stories are carried not only through sculpture, but through the plants, medicines, pollinators, and ecological relationships that continue to sustain life.

Detail of native plant and grass texture near the installation site
Detail of native flowering plants near the installation site

A living, community-cared landscape

The landscape can become an ongoing, community-cared place for culturally significant plants rather than a static ornamental garden. Participating Nations are invited to guide which plants belong, how knowledge is shared, and the protocols for tending, harvesting, and use.

Youth-and-elder activities could carry plant knowledge forward through seasonal planting, care, seed keeping, harvest, and appropriate community use.

This remains a co-designed concept: one in which an ongoing garden for our plant knowledge systems can be cultivated.

Pathway 04

Direct Support

When the Earth Remembers is being developed through partnerships, community participation, and the generous support of individuals and organizations who believe in the importance of Indigenous storytelling, cultural representation, environmental stewardship, and public art.

Contributions help support community casting workshops, cultural outreach, educational programming, ecological collaboration, material costs, and the creation of the final installation. Every contribution, regardless of size, helps bring this collective artwork and community effort closer to realization.

Recognition levels

Optional levels for those who'd like one. Support below or above these levels is just as welcome — every contribution moves the work forward.

$1,000 Bronze Sponsor
  • Limited edition screen print (from project drawings)
  • Recognition on project donor list
  • Invitation to opening event
$2,000 Silver Sponsor
  • Everything in Bronze, plus:
  • Signed copy of Kulli (artist book)
  • Small concrete cast bone (from artwork molds)
$2,500 Gold Sponsor
  • Everything in Silver, plus:
  • Invitation to a studio visit or private project presentation (in-person or virtual)
$5,000 Platinum Sponsor
  • Everything in Gold, plus:
  • Limited edition small sculpture — bronze or glass cast bone (numbered edition)