Turtle Logo
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The logo designed to represent the Tulsa City-County Library's American Indian Resource Center is a turtle surrounded by a circle. The turtle is a stylized representation of an engraved shell figurine pendant found at the Spiro Mounds archaeological site in Spiro, Oklahoma. (see The Spiro Ceremonial Center, James A. Brown. University of Michigan, Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, Number 29, 1996, p. 597). Artifacts found here show that prehistoric Spiro people created a sophisticated culture which influenced the entire Southeast. The image of a turtle suggests the Lochapokas, a Creek tribe, who settled in the area now know as Tulsa in 1828. The city's name derives from Creek words "tulla" (town) and "hassee" (something old). |
Surrounding the turtle is a circle, a symbol common to American Indian cultures. The circle suggests continuity, wholeness and interconnectedness. The history of American Indians is integral to American history as well as the history and culture of Oklahoma. The library's American Indian Resource Center -- over 6,300 books, recordings and videos -- forms an integral part of its holdings at each of its 23 locations.