Story

Storyteller: Dr. Alicia Odewale

Most people in the U.S. use the term “witness tree” to describe centuries old trees rooted in battlefield sites related to Revolutionary War or Civil War era landscapes such as the infamous Valley Forge “Pawling Sycamore” Tree. But our team at the Black Heritage Tree Project uses the term witness tree to acknowledge the connection between Black heritage and the natural world as these living monuments to history continue to use their bark, their branches, and their roots to tell stories. Not just stories of war but stories of the birth, destruction, and rebuilding of America’s Black Towns…just like the heritage trees in the Historic Greenwood District aka Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK.

The Heritage Trees at Standpipe Hill were made famous by Tulsa born archaeologists @ode2dream and @nparkervan who found this historic grove of hackberry trees growing in a square shape around a structure that had long been destroyed and was no longer visible above the earth’s surface on the hill. Only the trees remembered what the soil had hidden. And these trees inspired a movement. 🌍 Serving as the inspiration behind the creation of the Black Heritage Tree Project.

We are proud to add them to our Global Black Heritage Tree Map—connecting Black communities across the Diaspora through the trees that remain anchored to our historic landscapes.