On November 10, 2023, a new attraction was installed on Route 66 at Hi-Way Cafe in Vinita, Oklahoma: The Big Indian.
The Native American statue was made by Rodman Shutt, a sculptor from Strasburg, Pennsylvania who made giant sculptures across the Northeast in the 1960s and ‘70s. Since 1974, this sculpture stood outside Native and Himalayan Views (formerly the Big Indian Shop) near Charlemont, Massachusetts, along Route 2, also known as the Mohawk Trail.
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In 2023, after months of opposition from local Indigenous groups and a widely-signed petition that said the work perpetuated racial stereotypes, the owners sold the piece to Alan and Beth Hilburn, the owners of Hi-Way Cafe, who had it restored by American Giants in Illinois before moving it to Oklahoma.
You can now find the Native American statue in Vinita, Oklahoma, at Hi-Way Cafe, across the parking lot from the Big Bill Muffler Man, near the Western Motel, along with a Big Boy statue, a Betty Boop statue, and an old 1963 AMC American Rambler.
Photos of The Big Indian in Vinita, Oklahoma
