"I think it is an excellent time," Bear said of the initiative, "Preserving America's Diverse Heritage."

"I think it is a long time coming."

As an example of what is at stake, she describes a basket that members of her tribe made 100 years ago for utility purposes, and how knowledge of the basket's weave had not been passed down.

To save that tradition, Bear said, members of her tribe had to turn to others.

"We had some Cherokees come over to teach us how to do a diagonal weave," she said.

But research, Bear said, indicated Creek baskets also had a rim made with a double false braid, so that had to be added to make them authentic.

"These are replicas of what they did 100 years ago," she said, also referring to pottery and bead work that today are considered artwork.

"In 50 years, these will be just priceless."

Unless such traditions are taught to the younger generation, the items collected today could be the last, Bear said.

The federal initiative also comes as the Creek Nation is in the planning stages for a new cultural center that could be ready within five years.

Among the thousands of items that could be housed in the center are a number of volumes that make up the Smithsonian Institute Bureau of American Ethnology.

"There are only three in the state of Oklahoma, and we have one of them," Bear said.

Obtained when the Chilocco Indian School near Newkirk shut down years ago, she said, the collection is stamped with "Carlisle," which links them to the boarding school in Pennsylvania.

"They could use some preservation, but they are in fairly good shape," Bear said of the collection, which is viewed as an important resource material.

Other items include bandolier pouches and recordings of several of the older members of the tribe with some speaking their native language.

Bear was selected to attend a national forum in Atlanta for the program.

The multiyear federal initiative is a priority for Anne-Imelda Radice, the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Radice called Bear's efforts a model example of what smaller museums, libraries and tribes can do to ensure their collections will be around for future generations.

"The tribe has teamed with a larger museum for help organizing, digitizing and transcribing valuable oral history recordings of tribal elders speaking in the native language," she said.

According to Radice's agency, the Creek Nation has received several federal grants, including one for $129,562 in 2004 for a project to establish a partnership with the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History for its preservation work.

The federal program grew out of a study that found many of the collections across the nation, some 90 million objects, are held by small museums and libraries and could be at-risk.

A lack of funding and expertise has left 65 percent of the organizations with damaged collections due to improper storage and 26 percent with no temperature, humidity and light controls to protect valuable artifacts.

Jim Myers (202) 484-1424
jim.myers@tulsaworld.com