Nov. 23 – Muskogee’s new tourism director, William Lowe, says he wants more events and to “get into the beds” of Muskogee motels.
Members of the Muskogee Tourism Authority Trust voted 5-2 Thursday to allow Oxford Productions to hire Lowe. Oxford manages the tourism authority.
“I’m learning about the great history of Muskogee as I go,” Lowe said. “Right now we are planning events and making vacation plans. I hope to have more events in Muskogee and more heads in the beds to get visitors here.”
Lowe said he was director of tourism for the Creek Nation and Grand Lake Association. He said he serves on the Oklahoma Tourism Board, plus tourism boards for Grove, Tahlequah, Okmulgee and Cherokee Nation. He is also a former chairman of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and served on the tribal council.
Oxford President and CEO Avery Frix said, “Of all the resumes we received, we felt Mr. Lowe was the most qualified.”
“Lowe served in this capacity not only for the Creek Nation, but also for the Grand Lake Association,” Frix said. ‘He also had the qualifications in that area. He had gone through the training to get a diploma in tourism.”
Three audience members spoke out against Lowe’s hiring.
Jamie Coburn Speir said Lowe’s resume — and that of the two previous directors — “does not include the robust education and work experience that has made Muskogee a destination.”
“Mr. Lowe has been in this position for 75 days, he has not met with officials from the Civic Center, Hatbox Event Management, the Chamber of Commerce or Port of Muskogee executives to gain insight and understanding of what Muskogee has to offer has to offer. Speir said.
Frix said Lowe has met with Hatbox, Chamber and Civic Center leaders and attended PortMuskogee board meetings
Ivory Vann and Ron Brown criticized Lowe’s position on Creek Freedmen, descendants of Creek Nation slaves.
Lowe was quoted on the news site NonDoc in 2023 saying he supported language in the 1979 Creek Constitution that limited tribal citizenship to descendants of people listed on the Dawes Rolls as “Indian by blood.”
Vann said an 1866 treaty declared that freedmen’s citizenship in the Creek Nation is declared by African descent, not blood.
“It is the 1866 treaty that is the law of the land,” Vann said.
Brown said freedmen “have Indian blood,” even though they are not listed in the Dawes Commission census.
Tourism Authority member Traci McGee said Creek Freedmen issues are important but don’t apply to Muskogee tourism.
“Your issues with the tribe and the way things are done are important,” McGee said. “But this is tourism, and to say this about the tribal position. That’s a platform you should take in a tribal situation, so don’t put that burden on us.”
Tourism Authority member Mark Patel said the board should have received CVs earlier so members could decide who might be eligible. He called for more transparency.
“It doesn’t seem right to me to have four tourism directors in two years,” Patel said.
Patel and Authority member Tracy Cole cast the dissenting votes.
