By Hill Rylander
Special to the Record
July 05, 2008 02:58 pm
—
The Leadership San Marcos class of 2007 had no idea their class project of honoring the Tonkawa Tribe would have such an impact to so much people.
But it has.
Class project leader Rodney van Oudekerke, classmate Madeline De Long and artist Eric Slocombe, who constructed the statue that sits in San Marcos Plaza Park, traveled to Fort Oakland to present the Tonkawa with a miniature bronze copy of the seven foot Tonkawa monument. Van Oudekerke says that they tribe members had no idea what was in store for them. The presentation was made during the Tonkawa’s annual pow wow.
“We were treated like royalty,” van Oudekerke said.
The pow wow is a three day and night celebration, and the presentation was made in the second evening of the pow wow. Before the presentation, van Oudekerke said they were given one of the highest honors given: The delegation was asked to join the tribe for several tribal dances.
“Not only did they invite us to be part of the pow wow. We were also guests at dinner, usually reserved for other Tonkawas. We were served traditional Tonkawa dishes, which were very good.”
The group was also give a personal tour of the local museum and to the original burial grounds of the reservation.
The original idea behind the project was to remind San Marcos residents that the city had been the home of the Tonkawa long before Burleson and Lindsey were ever born. The group did fundraising, worked on publicity and searched for the actual site location of a monument to honor Chief Placido and the Tonkawa tribe.
The research eventually took van Oudekerke and other classmates from Northern Oklahoma to South Texas.
“All along the way I was learning more and more about the importance the Tonkawa played not only in the history of San Marcos but also in the history of Texas. At one point early in my research I was told by a so called expert that the Tonkawa were an extinct tribe of people and very little is known about them. This gave us all the good laugh when I was sitting in Tonkawa, Okla. talking to one of the Elders of the Tonkawa tribe.”
Last November, local community leaders, as well as 40 Tonkawa members, joined to see the monument unveiled.
Van Oudekerke says he feels honored to be part of reaffirming those ties between San Marcos and the Tonkawas.
“I am looking forward to many more meetings with the Tonkawa. I am really looking forward to next year’s pow wow,. I am also looking forward to the future and developing stronger ties and friendships with my new brothers and sisters,” van Oudekerke said.
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