OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark

[HOT ROD]

^

I always think of how Texas promotes itself and very effectively...

They are all over the cowboy image, BBQ, the rough-and-tumble type of thing because that is a big part of what makes them so unique. And in no way does it detract from their progress and the massive amount of modern development. The two work together.


As cities and states start to look more and more similar (everyone has the same big-box stores, hotels and similar restaurants) we need to distinguish ourselves and our Native American roots and the Land Run (with all its warts and transgressions) are truly unique and incredibly interesting.

The OKC Chamber has adopted a new promotional campaign called 'The Modern Frontier'. It's a good start and references Native American and Western culture. We need to do more of that. I also liked the license plates that proclaimed Oklahoma as 'Native America'.


Now that the First Americans Museum is open and done to incredibly high standards, time to double down on this identity.

I totally agree Pete, we-OKC needs to better market itself and more than just "we ahve the Thunder". So do other major cities. No, we need to take pride and market OKC on what makes it unique not what makes it the same as other big cities; that's obvious and EXPECTED.

However, I cringe when I hear Modern Frontier or just frontier in general. Was OKC ever part of the wild-wild west? A quick definition check indicates frontier to be a border area; which OKC is not. The second definition "extreme limit of settled land" is still not accuate - to me Frontier would be New Mexico or Arizona, a SW kind of notion or especially the Oklahoma panhandle!!!! Dodge City KS area.

OKC is more Midwest and South or as we all say now South Central; nothing Frontier about it. Now I know as a state we call OKC area as the original Frontier because it was unassigned lands with regard to original and native relocations deemed by Congress. But maybe a better definition would fit OKC than Frontier. I'm not sure what it is but something celebrating our Indian heritage that Pete's thinking is what I'd recommend. What word would come to mind? Frontier does not.

[PoliSciGuy]

Yeah I don't mind the star. Incorporates diversity with the different colors, a bit of a nod to Native American culture with some arrowhead shapes, and the "crossroads" part of our identity all into one image. Not great, but not terrible. That being said I definitely agree that doubling down on our Native American ties would differentiate us from TX (though might put us a bit at odds with NM).

[dankrutka]

I don't agree with the notion that Oklahoma's problem is that it hasn't marketed or promoted Native American culture enough. I still vividly remember attending an event at OU (probably 10-15 years ago) where an Indigenous person complained that the state did, in fact, market Indigenous people, as a commodity for the state's benefit through license plates and statues. The term for this is interest convergence. She said, I feel like "we're Indians on ice" referencing how they are used as a spectacle for others. I would say the problem is that the state wants Indians as a commodity more than empowered Indigenous peoples and nations.

Maybe the best way for the state of Oklahoma to proceed is to respect the sovereignty and will of Indigenous nations. The governor has recently been conducting an insult tour of Indigenous nations by fear mongering to non-Native Oklahomans about the post-McGirt chaos that will ensue if treaties are honored and tribal sovereignty is recognized. Maybe the best way to "promote" Indigenous cultures is to be allies to Indigenous nations as they fight anti-Indigneous suppression in the present. Or maybe ask them, how would the nations like their stories told? Are non-Native Oklahomans speaking out on the issues that effect native nations as much as we're hoping they're marketed?

It has taken me years to unlearn (and I am still unlearning) much of what I learned about Indigenous peoples growing up in the state. I was miseducated in and out of school. I have had to unlearn the Eurocentric perspectives in which Columbus "discovered" a "new world" and where the United States was "settled" through "westward expansion" (never "eastward invasion") and it was God's "manifest destiny" for white people to steal Indigenous homelands. Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier" thesis is also grounded in these perspectives and we should understand that historians have challenged it as anti-Indigenous for the last half century. I cringed when I saw OKC go with the "modern frontier" slogan. The frontier was also a place of invasion and violence for many nations. We need to move past cowboy and Indian romanticizations manufactured by Hollywood. Oklahomans from Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (An Indigenous People's History of the United States) to Angie Debo (And Still the Waters Run) and many others have challenged a lot of these master narratives that still dominate public and school histories of Oklahoma.

I am excited to visit the First Americans Museum and see what the Chickasaw Nation develops here. I hope it's a huge success. I also hope it's on their terms, not because we think Europeans will travel to OKC to gaze at the Cowboys and Indians of their imaginations.

[Bali_Sooner]

I may be in the minority but I really like the star logo

I like it,

[Zuplar]

Wow what a way to derail a perfectly good thread.

[soonerj2015]

At the same time, I think the state Department of Tourism really missed the mark with their recent rebranding.

That star logo with a bunch of colors... It could be from anywhere and says nothing about Oklahoma.

It is interesting. However I will say that my teenage kids love it and always mention it when we re-enter the state from neighboring states.

[traxx]

It looks like we're getting neat, shiny, new toy close to downtown. Yet we still have some people on here focusing on something negative posted on Facebook. Why? Why does it matter? Also, what are you guys still doing on Facebook? I left it years ago and haven't missed it a bit.

Oklahomans need to stop having an inferiority complex and such a low opinion of our state and citizens. But I see so much negative stuff said about other Oklahomans said on these boards and so much of it is just because someone views the world differently from you. We don't need to worry about what others think of Oklahoma. We do a good enough job of bashing it ourselves.

That being said, I agree with Pete that we need to embrace our American Indian and western heritage. He's also correct in that Texas has successfully done that for decades and yet it doesn't take away from their cosmopolitan side either. I said as much on these very boards at least a decade ago. But everyone had such an inferiority complex that they didn't want the rest of the world to see Oklahoma as hicks. But as someone stated earlier, the rest of the world doesn't even think of Oklahoma. Hicks or otherwise.

I remember people on here thinking if we got the right mix of stores or restaurants then others would say we've arrived. Oh if we just get a Dave & Busters then we'll have made it. I remember someone on here being excited at seeing a Girls Gone Wild bus in the metro because we would be seen as world players instead of uptight, religious fanatics.

People on here worry waaaay too much about what others think of them. Especially when they don't even register in other people's mind.

Embracing our western and Indian heritage is what we should've been doing all along.

[catch22]

It's a refreshing logo, it looks nice - doesn't consume a lot of brainpower. But it also looks like you could put any prescription medication name brand next to it and it would have the same effect. It doesn't say "Oklahoma" to me.

[G.Walker]

I'm glad the we will finally a new resort style attraction here. You only can go to White Water Bay & Frontier City so many times.

[G.Walker]

I wonder if they are going to make an exit off of I-235 to get to the property. I can't imagine Eastern being the only connection.

[TheTravellers]

It's a refreshing logo, it looks nice - doesn't consume a lot of brainpower. But it also looks like you could put any prescription medication name brand next to it and it would have the same effect. It doesn't say "Oklahoma" to me.

FWIW, here's what it's all supposed to mean (from okccommerce.gov's website):

"The logo design is inspired by Oklahoma’s heritage. The shapes and colors reflect the earth, sky, water, agriculture and forest. A white star in the middle of the brand is a powerful symbol of America and on the original flag of the state. The chevrons outlining the star acknowledge Oklahoma’s military. All the elements form a circle and direct energy inward, highlighting Oklahoma as a hub at the center of America. "

So yeah, the average person will know nothing about any of this and really nothing about any of it is actually Oklahoma-specific (except made up by the great minds that created this new logo).

[Jersey Boss]

Wow what a way to derail a perfectly good thread.

No kidding. A real killjoy post.

[jerrywall]

I wonder if they are going to make an exit off of I-235 to get to the property. I can't imagine Eastern being the only connection.

You can also access it from I-35 and SE 15th... not the most attractive entrance to visitors but hey, maybe they'll check out the Flea Market while they're in town.

[David]

An exit to this off of I-235 seems really out of the way.

But more seriously, maybe something off I-35 south of the river and right after the bridge of the railroad tracks? There's a stretch of I-35 that isn't elevated starting around https://goo.gl/maps/dYopmLKAb8pQxhD36.

[catch22]

What is wrong with the Martin Luther King exit off I-40? That exit is literally a right turn and a quarter-mile from this place?

[Brett]

What is wrong with the Martin Luther King exit off I-40? That exit is literally a right turn and a quarter-mile from this place?

I would think that all of the tractor-trailer traffic exiting on Eastern/MLK might be a reason.

[Plutonic Panda]

It looks like per Pete’s poster master plans they have a proposed road that will shoot north and connect with SE 15th by I-35.

The state and city needs to work to fix the congestion issues at the MLK/Reno/I-40 cluster. Better timing and perhaps a grade separation at Reno could do wonders. Similar to the situation on Penn near Kilpatrick Turnpike poorly timed lights seems to be a contributing factor to traffic here.

[HOT ROD]

no need for a new exit, let's use what we already have.

Now we could definitely use a refresh of the exits - that is direly needed!

[theanvil]

The international interest in Native American culture shouldn't be underestimated, either. Outside of the Americas, Native American and Cowboy culture are unique draws to this part of the country. Many see it as the "real" American story. So, it is nice to have that story presented in a beautiful facility in an authentic manner, curated and told by Native Americans.

I agree. I believe the state tourism department made a huge blunder when it moved away from the “ Native America” theme. Absolutely nothing they’ve done since then has been memorable. “Discover Oklahoma” is just a generic throw-away line that any state could say. Nothing original or Oklahoma about it.

[G.Walker]

It looks like per Pete’s poster master plans they have a proposed road that will shoot north and connect with SE 15th by I-35.

The state and city needs to work to fix the congestion issues at the MLK/Reno/I-40 cluster. Better timing and perhaps a grade separation at Reno could do wonders. Similar to the situation on Penn near Kilpatrick Turnpike poorly timed lights seems to be a contributing factor to traffic here.

Your correct the MLK/Reno/I-40 is already a cluster and that has to be the longest light in all of OKC. I can only imagine it will increase with the new museum & resort. They will need to make a new connection.

[catch22]

The only reason for all of the truck traffic is the two truck stops. This might be an issue that corrects itself. With the property values increasing and real estate industry closing in on this area; one or both may end up getting sold off at some point. Both are in pretty bad shape.

[Pete]

The bus station is there as well.

When this all starts to come together, I'm sure they can improve that intersection.

[Plutonic Panda]

Aren’t they moving the bus station back to downtown?

[Pete]

Aren’t they moving the bus station back to downtown?

Not any time soon.

[BoulderSooner]

Aren’t they moving the bus station back to downtown?

there is no plan for that