The towering mound, which was inspired by ancient earthworks constructed across Oklahoma and in eastern North America, was built using 1.7 billion pounds of red earth brought to the site by 42,000 dump truck loads.
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"From all across this continent, cultures indigenous to this land have experienced a continuous uprooting and dislocating of our people. We refer to these as ‘times of moving fires,'” Timberman said. "Well, if you look around and you see the construction and what's happening around the state, you see that the fires still burn. The progressive act of building something this challenging in today's world ... is proof that our cultures do endure.”