#THROWBACKTHURSDAY

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As Ponca City was set to commemorate 100 years since the Cherokee Strip Land Run of Sept. 16, 1893, members of the Ponca City American Indian Movement announced they would protest the centennial celebration. Edwin Little Cook and Richard Whitman held a news conference in September 1993 in front of the "Pioneers of 1889" statue in downtown Oklahoma City. Little Cook said the planned protest was related to a statue, originally named "This Land Is Mine," that was to be dedicated in Ponca City. Although a compromise was reached to remove the name of the sculpture, the name already had been printed on brochures and event programs. On Sept. 16, 1993, the dedication event occurred with the addition of about 300 Native Americans marching and protesting. Whitman said the goal of the protest was to include the Native Americans' perspective on the land run.