Osage Nation

The Osage Tribe opened the WhaZhaZhi Cultural Center in early 2005. One of its inaugural programs is entitled "WhaZhaZhi Elders Expertise and Oral History Repository Project." The tribe will audiotape, videotape, and photograph elders who will share Osage histories, genealogies, values, traditions, stories, and songs. These recordings will then be duplicated, with the originals remanded to the archivist for storage and the copies made available to researchers and tribal members. Funding will be used to compensate the elders involved in the project and to purchase storage cabinets and equipment for the recordings. This project will enhance the museum services of the cultural center, as the Osage Tribe plans to design exhibits and other educational programs associated with these oral histories.