Team Gadugi is a team of Cherokee artists who came together to create The Passage. Five core team members were involved throughout the project - Bill Glass Jr., Demos Glass, Ken Foster, Robby McMurtry, and Gary Allen. Wade Bennett, an engineer, was also an important part of the team. Knokovtee Scott, a gifted artist credited with reviving the ancient art of shell gorget carving and the elder of the team, had to drop out of the project early on for personal reasons.

While all the team members knew each other, they had never worked on a project together as artists. Their ability to work together well as a team lies in the meaning of their chosen team name, Gadugi. Gadugi is a Cherokee word meaning “to come together.” According to artist Bill Glass, “Gadugi spirit means working together, not only as people, but also in harmony with nature and mother earth.”

Bill Glass functioned as the chief artist for the project. All the work on the ceramic disks and team meetings took place at his studio in Locust Grove, OK. Bill is a ceramic stoneware sculptor and is a recognized Master Artist at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee, OK. He uses a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques and creates his own glazes. His work is influenced by the art of the Temple Mound Era, pre-dating the establishment of Cherokee and other Southeast Native American tribes. He studied at Central State University in Edmond, OK, but his primary training as an artist was in the 1970s at the highly acclaimed Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. His art is in collections of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Heard Museum in Phoenix AZ, the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, GA, the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Sante Fe, NM and at the Stovall Museum in Norman, OK. He has received numerous awards for his work.

Robby McMurtry (1950–2012) received his Bachelor of Arts at the Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts in Chickasha, OK. He served as the Director of Indian Education for the Morris, OK, public school system, and at the time of his death, he was an art teacher for Morris Public Schools. Known for his two dimensional graphic art, Robby’s work was shown in galleries and at art festivals across the United States and abroad in Europe. In 2003, he published an illustrated children’s book Song of Moon Pony (Eakin Press, Austin, TX). On The Passage project, Robby served as the head draftsman on all preliminary planning designs and drawings. His designs were used to create the seven large stickball figures and the stars of the Pleiades Constellation.

Gary Allen is a professional arts educator and accomplished artist. He received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arkansas where he majored in sculpture. His painting and sculpture has received several awards at the annual Five Civilized Tribes Art Show in Muskogee, OK. The National Park Service selected his design as the logo for the Trail of Tears routes and publications. Gary designed two of the seven disks (Warrior Birds and Strength of Life) at The Passage and was the primary colorist for the team. He is half Cherokee and half Navajo.

Demos Glass, the son of Bill Glass, was the youngest member of the team but had already distinguished himself as a mixed media artist specializing in non-ferrous metals, wood, steel, and earthenware. He studied welding and attended the Fine Arts program at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL, majoring in sculpture and metals. He has received numerous awards for his work. Demos designed the steel water spider at The Passage and served as the metals fabrication supervisor for the team.

Ken Foster works for the Cherokee Nation where he has held a variety of positions, from cultural arts and education posts to facilities management. While he attended Oklahoma State University and Northeast State College in Tahlequah, OK, his training as an artist came from studying with practicing artists such as the Kiowa painter David Williams, ceramist Bill Glass, and potter Jane Osti. Ken works in a variety of media but specializes in pottery. He designed the Four Journey Directions disk at The Passage and also served as the linguist for Gadugi, translating interpretive panels and signage into Cherokee.