American Indian Cultural Center and Museum

Oklahoma City, OK

American Indian Cultural Center and Museum

Cultural Theming & Design: Ramona Sakiestewa, LLC.,
Andrew Merriell + Associates
Architects: Johnson Fain, Los Angeles, CA

The First Americans Museum offers visitors to Oklahoma City a central location for an introduction to the 39 Native American tribes with territory in Oklahoma. The Center’s facility sat idle for several years after funding dried up due to the economic downturn of 2008. When the project restarted in 2018. Ramona Sakiestewa advised the designers regarding culturally appropriate theming for the facility’s interior spaces. The $65 million project opened to the public in 2022.

Although Oklahoma’s Native population is diverse, most of the tribes descend from ancient moundbuilder cultures of the eastern half of the North American continent. Ramona applied moundbuilder pottery patterns, tribal identity colors, local natural materials, and themes from the work of contemporary Oklahoma Native artists to create a palette for use by the interior designers.