. Image from Trailer for MGM Studios Film of Sarah's Oil
Exitement has arisen with the recent production of the film Sarah's Oil, released this coming weekend in movie theatres around the nation.
The story highlights the story of a young girl who was a Creek Nation citizen living in Taft Oklahoma. As a citizen, she received a land allotment of 160s acres, near the Cimarron River. To the surprise of many, her allotment contain an impressive amount of oil. Once that was discovered, her life was changed, as many people tried to obtain access to her land and her money.
Fifteen years ago I wrote a blog article entitled Remembering Sarah Rector Creek Freedwoman.
Four years later, I had the honor of being consulted by author Tonya Bolden in her book Searching for Sarah Rector.
The story highlights the story of a young girl who was a Creek Nation citizen living in Taft Oklahoma. As a citizen, she received a land allotment of 160s acres, near the Cimarron River. To the surprise of many, her allotment contain an impressive amount of oil. Once that was discovered, her life was changed, as many people tried to obtain access to her land and her money.
Fifteen years ago I wrote a blog article entitled Remembering Sarah Rector Creek Freedwoman.
Four years later, I had the honor of being consulted by author Tonya Bolden in her book Searching for Sarah Rector.
Blog post about Tonya Bolden's book about Sarah Rector
Last year I had the opportunity to visit the set as the filiming was going on. And I have also learned that my name also appears in the credits at the end of the film Two weeks ago there were two screenings of Sarah's Oil, one in Muskogee and the other in Kansas City which was a gala event attended by not only the actors, and director and others who made the film, but also the descendants of Sarah Rector were present - the erandchildren of Sarah Rector and her nieces as well.
Over the years numerous people have claimed ties to Sarah unaware that she had living relatives. Several years ago, one of the nephews from the Rector family was able to address one young man who had made claims to Sarah's story and stating that she had been killed for her land - which is simply nnot true. Thankfully, many of those making false claims have now faded and the true relatives have now been given the opportunity to share their stories of their ancestor, who showed resilience throughout her life, and who lived to make decisions about her own life and journey.
On a recent trip to the Arkansas/Oklahoma area in October, I had the chance to meet some of the family members from Sarah Rector's family.
Some of Sarah Rector's Family Members
Fort Coffee, Oklahoma
This week I have also had two interviews about Sarah's Oil, one was on the Afro-Indians Table Talk on KBOB Radio in Tulsa and the other on the podcast Ancestors Footprints, hosted by Bernice Bennett.
Sarah Rector was a Creek Freedwoman, a citizen of the Muscoggee Creek Nation. Her story is part of a larger story of over 20,000 Freedmen in the land that became Oklahoma. Hopefully, the film about Sarah Rector will generate much more interest in the story of all of the Oklahoma Freedmen and how they were able to shape their lives on the western frontier.
Sarah Rector was a Creek Freedwoman, a citizen of the Muscoggee Creek Nation. Her story is part of a larger story of over 20,000 Freedmen in the land that became Oklahoma. Hopefully, the film about Sarah Rector will generate much more interest in the story of all of the Oklahoma Freedmen and how they were able to shape their lives on the western frontier.
