The First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City is a place where all people can gather for the study, reflection, and celebration of Native American culture. The landscape surrounding the Cultural Center is a distinctive, prideful, signature expression for the Oklahoma Native American population and descendants of the 39 tribes who were forced from their lands on the mass migration known as the Trail of Tears.

The design transforms a 280 acre former oil production site into a museum, a discovery learning center, an 8500 seat outdoor amphitheater and Powwow dance grounds, playing fields, wetland boardwalk, an arts and crafts marketplace, interpretive gardens and hotel and conference facility. Hargreaves Associates, in partnership with Johnson Fain Partners and Ralph Appelbaum Associates worked closely with the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority of the state of Oklahoma representing the 39 federally recognized Native American tribes on the design, programming, and governance for the project.

The completion of phase one includes an 80 foot high landform that originates in the interior exhibition space and ascends to the sky, encircling the central powwow space. As the final exhibit in the museum visitation sequence it expands the experience outdoors and focuses on the interpretation of the heavens and the concept of continuous ascension integral to Native American culture. A passageway cut through the dramatic landform frames the solstice sun and creates another outdoor interpretive piece. Future phases include gardens that interpret the history of the landscape and that will provide food for the on-site restaurant and cooking classes.