Building Design and Construction-First Americans Museum uses design metaphors of natural elements to honor native worldview

First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City honors the 39 tribes in Oklahoma today, reflecting their history through design metaphors of nature’s elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The design concept includes multiple circles suggested by arcs, reflecting the native tradition of a circular worldview that encompasses the cycle of life, the seasons, and the rotation of the earth.

The central expression of this concept is a 1,000-sf-diameter spiral earthen mound rising to 90 feet at its peak. This element was constructed with 400,000 cubic yards of red earth fill from local construction sites. The spiral mound represents the earth and features a passageway through which the winter solstice is marked. The project was designed to align with the cardinal directions and serve as a cosmological clock, commemorating and honoring the special times of equinox and solstice.

The east-facing museum entrance, framed by stone walls, aligns with the sunrise of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, with the sun rising directly in the center between the walls. During the winter solstice, the sun sets through the tunnel embedded into the FAM Mound; during the summer solstice, the sun sets at the peak of the mound.