21 story tall American Indian statue

July 24, 2005 10:03 AM

21 story tall statue of an American Indian to tower over the central US. Builders believe it will be as significant a monument as the St. Louis Arch, Seattle Space Needle, Mt. Rushmore.
posted by jmccorm (45 comments total)

So does Tulsa get +1 commerce in any square already producing commerce if they build that thing?
posted by wfrgms at 10:12 AM on July 24, 2005

My favorite quote from the newsclip was the woman on the street interview: "if you see the arch you know you are in st. Louis, if you see the space needle you know you are in Seattle. If you see Mt. Rushmore you know where that is."
posted by gagglezoomer at 10:21 AM on July 24, 2005

A heads up on the fact that the link contains a video would have been nice.
posted by signal at 10:22 AM on July 24, 2005

agreed.. I don't have video players on this computer and have no idea what this is all about.
posted by rolypolyman at 10:27 AM on July 24, 2005

Apologies. Here you go.
posted by jmccorm at 10:30 AM on July 24, 2005

Well, the bad news is that it's going to be ugly.

The good news is that it will be in Tulsa.
posted by kickingtheground at 10:30 AM on July 24, 2005

"If you see Mt. Rushmore you know where that is."

Well, obviously. It's in...one of those Dakota states, right? South? Whatever. The point is that monuments are important.
posted by graventy at 10:36 AM on July 24, 2005

Yeah, gagglezoomer, I liked that too. She clearly wasn't 100% sure which Dakota she was gonna say, and switched on the fly. This whole thing reminds me an awful lot of the Colossus of Rhodes. Frankly, giant human shaped statues don't get enough play in the modern world, for my money.
posted by jonson at 10:38 AM on July 24, 2005

Wasn't no "woman on the street" interview, gagzoom! That was Suzanne Stewart, spokeswoman for the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

But in her defense, how easy is it to say, "Mount Rushmore, set between Custer and Hermosa, SD, which botha are nothing but a bump in the road and about 40 miles south of Rapid City, which these days is probably best known for being about the same distance from Sturgis, where all those Harley bikers show up, or nearby Deadwood, which gets some notice because of the HBO series and of course the casinos"?
posted by beelzbubba at 10:40 AM on July 24, 2005

Well, at least it can't possibly take as long to finish as Crazy Horse.
posted by sellout at 10:42 AM on July 24, 2005

Not that this isn't proper recognition, but before we talk the talk, could we walk the walk?
posted by dreamsign at 10:46 AM on July 24, 2005

I've been to Rushmore, and I still don't know where it is.
posted by letitrain at 10:49 AM on July 24, 2005

That's the biggest ugliest knick-knack I've ever seen. Tulsa must change its tourism motto to "America's grandma's basement".
posted by fleacircus at 10:51 AM on July 24, 2005

Anyone else think that, as statues go, it's the kind of thing that you see advertised in a certain class of magazine or shopping channel?

Also, that right arm looks incredibly unstable.
posted by Hogshead at 10:51 AM on July 24, 2005

Yeah, sellout, that Crazy Horse monument story is pretty amazing, and the scale is simply impossible to comprehend unless you are actually looking at it in person.
posted by voltairemodern at 10:52 AM on July 24, 2005

It's in Tulsa, and the giant Indian isn't reading a Bible and holding a cross aloft? Huh. Color me mildly surprised.

Maybe him and his eagle buddy will help Tom Coburn root out them lesbians from the universities. Until then, the eagle will be the eagle, and the giant Indian will be... THE EAGLER!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:53 AM on July 24, 2005

Nowhere on Earth will larger nipples exist!

Anyone else bugged by all the talk of "business" and "tourism" and no mention of it being done to honor Native Americans?
posted by zerokey at 10:57 AM on July 24, 2005

I've been to Rushmore, and I still don't know where it is.

The only appropriate answers are:

Mt. Rushmore is about an hour west of Wall Drug, or
Mt. Rushmore is about 5 hours west of the Corn Palace.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:57 AM on July 24, 2005

hay guyz, the midwest is dum and backwards, am i rite?!!!1!ELEVEN1!!
posted by keswick at 10:58 AM on July 24, 2005

So does Tulsa get +1 commerce in any square already producing commerce if they build that thing?

no, because someone's already built the internet great wonder ... i think someone beat them to darwin's theory of evolution, too
posted by pyramid termite at 11:06 AM on July 24, 2005

keswick, noooo, just parts of it.

And Rushmore is S.W. South Dakota, in the Black Hills, which are pretty. One of the best parts of the state.
posted by edgeways at 11:08 AM on July 24, 2005

As a Tulsan (and Mefite) I have to say that locals think building a 21 story monument in path of almost yearly tornadoes is laughable. Hence the public money being pulled. I give it a year before its destroyed.
posted by TetrisKid at 11:10 AM on July 24, 2005

I'm going to guess (without googling, honest!) that the nearest post office address to Mt. Rushmore other than the monument shops themselves is Keystone, SD.

You've got the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial....and now "An Indian". Maybe it's just me, and I don't want to get all PC about this, but could there be just a whiff of "mascot" around this?

On the other hand...I get the Home Shopping Network reference, but still, isn't this a little, um, sexy for the hometown of Oral Roberts U.? What do you see if you're standing right smack underneath? Maybe this aspect would be a good thing for Tulsa?
posted by gimonca at 11:10 AM on July 24, 2005

please warn me when you link to something with audio! Click, wait for link to open in background tab, and then there's this loud voice over my music -- scary.
posted by Grod at 11:13 AM on July 24, 2005

Well, at least it can't possibly take as long to finish as Crazy Horse.

That croquet player across the river from the St. Louis arch is behind schedule, too.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:37 AM on July 24, 2005

I agree the statue looks a bit ... cheapish, its a shame to becuase you could do so much with the concept..

and the lack of noble reasons behind it... sad... i doubt any of the profits will help the natives that we screwed over.
posted by crewshell at 11:49 AM on July 24, 2005

Hmmm . . . a 21-story Native-American? How original.
posted by esquire at 1:11 PM on July 24, 2005

Isn't Tulsa where Oral Roberts had his vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus? Now that would be quite a monument.
posted by alumshubby at 1:44 PM on July 24, 2005

It certainly has a kitschy quality to it. The comparison with Mt Rushmore was a bit off. More like this.
posted by QuietDesperation at 1:45 PM on July 24, 2005

The statue will be 25 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty (without the base), and five feet taller than the Statue of Mother Russia in Volgograd.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:57 PM on July 24, 2005

Tulsa is the home of the world's largest praying hands.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:59 PM on July 24, 2005

QuietDesperation: Thank you! That's the coolest site I've seen in a while, and timely, too. The Boyfriend™ and his 14 year old daughter left yesterday for a two week road trip. I just sent him the link.
posted by Corky at 2:04 PM on July 24, 2005

posted by SPrintF at 2:49 PM on July 24, 2005

Yeah, it's ugly, but the sheer size sort of negates the ugliness.

"Tourist money to Tulsa"? Yech. I've been to Tulsa several times, it's an armpit. Build this thing and tourists will have exactly one tourist attraction to visit.

Crazy Horse will look cooler. Why can't some cash be thrown that way?
posted by zardoz at 7:06 PM on July 24, 2005

That crying Indian was actually an Italian.

Although, back in my bookstore clerk days, I was looking out the window of the strip mall we worked in. Next to me were a Polish guy from Yonkers, and a black guy from South Norwalk.

We looked at all the trash swirling around on the grounds.

"What a mess," the Polish guy, my boss, said.

"Yeah," I answered, "All we need is an Indian with a tear in his eye to complete the picture."

We all instantly got it and chuckled. Commercials are truly our lingua franca.
posted by jonmc at 7:29 PM on July 24, 2005

Tulsa is the home of the world's largest praying hands.

Don't forget! Tulsa also has the Expo Oil Man.
posted by sourwookie at 7:31 PM on July 24, 2005

I'm with all the people who are pointing out that this is not exactly what the Native American people are prioritizing right now. Kind of trite.

Also, is it just me, or does it ring hollow when someone declares the thing they're doing is going to be as significant as insert-iconic-symbol-here?
posted by purtek at 7:34 PM on July 24, 2005

I wonder if the enormous draping smallbox blanket was a value add that got nixed in the final construction docs.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 8:48 PM on July 24, 2005

You think that's something, you should see the cigar store it's going in front of.

*ducks*
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 9:49 PM on July 24, 2005

I'd never heard of the Mother Russia statue, it looks really impressive. So impressive that I'm surprised I'm this ignorant of it. Shame it's made of cement rather something more... historically secure. Can't see it being much good in 100 year's time.

As for the native American statue, how would a bronze that big work? Would it be cast sheeting over a frame? What sort of frame is going to be strong enough to hold that arm?
posted by NinjaPirate at 3:09 AM on July 25, 2005

Let's hope it never snows asshole deep on this one.

OK , that may require an explanation.
posted by nofundy at 5:39 AM on July 25, 2005

link

Ahem, maybe I've got it this time.
[hits self and mumbles "always use preview"]
posted by nofundy at 5:43 AM on July 25, 2005

I'm just happy that no one has use the term "totem pole" while discussing the loin cloth and attributes therein.
posted by mania at 7:55 AM on July 25, 2005

Sometimes, the heavens open and a convergence occurs. Roughly equidistant from the splendor of Mt. Rushmore and the thrill of the World's Tallest Indian lies Oakley, Kansas, home of the 8,000 pound Prarie Dog. (the two-headed calf was alive when we visited in '96--and don't miss the feinting goats!)

Y'all can bust on South Dakota all you want, but I'll agree with edgeways that the (unfortunately named) Custer State Park in SWSD is a beautiful spot. And the much vaunted (but I've seen 'em--don't need to see 'em agian) Badlands are near by, as are real-live Siouxians who could probably all nominate better ways to honor native Americans than the 21 storey Tonto.
posted by beelzbubba at 8:28 AM on July 25, 2005

Won't the world's tallest be jealous?
posted by mouthnoize at 11:16 AM on July 25, 2005