Creek Nation Plans To Purchase Another Business Property

For the second time within a month, the Creek Nation says it will be buying a business property, this time in the community of Okmulgee.

In a news release, the tribe says it is buying the Okmulgee Golf Club property located at the intersection of U.S. Highways 75 and 62.

The Okmulgee Golf and Country Club sits on 160 acres. Thursday the Chief of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation signed legislation authorizing the tribe to buy the property for $3.6-million.

"We're very pleased to have this property," Muskogee (Creek) Nation Chief George Tiger said.

The purchase includes the clubhouse, pool, and an 87 lot subdivision that already has utilities and infrastructure installed.

Chief Tiger says the tribe has yet to decide what it will do with the property.

"We're just taking it a step at a time," Chief Tiger said. "This particular property, this building, holds a lot of history."

And that history has strong ties to the Creek Nation. The land was an original Creek allotment before opening as a nine hole golf course in 1920. But it was also private and subject to segregation.

George Tiger himself couldn't get on the property as a child all because of the color of his skin, which he says makes this purchase all the more special.

"I think the message today is that we've come a long way as a Muskogee (Creek) people," Chief Tiger said.

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The purchase comes less than a month after the Creek Nation bought RiverWalk Crossing in Jenks. The tribe says both deals are evidence the Creek Nation is trying to diversify its business.

"I think this is a great day for the Creek Nation," golf club owner Mark Dobbs said.

Mark Dobbs and his brother are the current owners of the golf course and members of the Creek Nation. He says the tribe's recent purchases will provide jobs for its members and help the nation continue to grow.

"I think diversifying them into real jobs that they can go out throughout our country and the world and be employable is something the Creek Nation should focus on," Dobbs said.

Chief Tiger says there's very good chance the property will remain open as a golf course. One possibility they're looking into for the land that holds the 87 lot subdivision is building a center for Creek Nation veterans.