New License Plates... Vote!

[Townsend]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle
[br
Our biggest cash crop is meth I think, thanks to donors like yourself. : )

How would you represent meth on a tag though?  A toothless hag with a skin condition I guess.

At least pot is universally recognized.

[dsjeffries]

From KTUL

quote: Native America is getting a new look.

The "Native America" logo that has adorned Oklahoma license plates for the past 15 years will be overhauled thanks to pending legislation.

The bill awaiting Gov. Brad Henry (web|news) 's signature will reissue license plates to owners of an estimated 3.1 million vehicles registered in the state.

The reissuance plan is scheduled to begin January 1st.

State tourism officials are close to picking the final design for Oklahoma's new license plate. It will retain the state mantra "Native America" and feature the image of American Indian artist Allan Houser's striking bronze statue "Sacred Rain Arrow" at Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum.

Thank God they didn't pick the cowboy crap.

[breitee]

Great. Another Indian symbol. What a no brainer. Is it any wonder that Oklahoma is viewed as the backward state that it is. It's unreal that nobody could come up with a more forward thinking symbol of our state. The wild wild west is long gone people!

[cannon_fodder]

We have to brand ourselves... we can't brand ourselves as a tech capital.  Kentucky has horses.  Alaska has the stars.  We don't have lots fields of crops all over the place.  Texas and Louisiana have more oil.  Florida, NC & Ohio can fight over aerospace.  We don't have an iconic fruit crop (peaches in Georgia).  We aren't on the sea.  We don't have looming metropolises to depict.  Montana and Wyoming have the cowboy angles all locked up.  Minnesota has the lakes (though Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state).   Michigan and Pennsylvania have much more heavy manufacturing.  We don't have mountains.

What branding strategy would you go for?  Something that is unique to Oklahoma.  Something that people can associate without state.  

"Native America" is a fine saying in my book.  Not only does it talk to the Indian legacy of our Red Man's Land but it also implies a down-home Midwestern feel.  One could argue it also hints at our xenophobic anti-immigration tendency too.  []

[bacjz00]

I'm with you Cannon.  This is just fine in my book.  

Some of you all are making me wonder about your own attitudes towards Native Americans.  Somehow you feel that celebrating this heritage is some how backwards, ignorant or inferior?? There are plenty of Native Americans in this state who contribute more to society than a lot of the white-trash, gun totin' Cletuses runnin' around these parts.  

Would you all rather see Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel on our plates?

[sgrizzle]

Wasn't one of the problems with getting money for "The American Project" from tribes was the opinion that it portrayed "a view not in line with current day Native Americans?"

[bacjz00]

That's an interesting point grizz.  I suppose I hadn't thought of whether or not Native Americans WANT to be portrayed the same way that they were a hundred or more years ago.  At the same time, I know they do like to embrace their history and culture when it comes to their art and their dance.  

I wonder what their feelings are (or have been) about the Gilcrease sculpture itself.  Who was the artist?? When was it done?  Which tribe is represented and was it originally accepted or endorsed by Native Americans on the whole?  Did anyone even care about offending people back when that sculpture was created?