A Chickasaw educator, a native speaker of the Chickasaw language, and Southeastern artists were among those recognized during the Chickasaw Nation Arts and Culture Award ceremony Oct. 4 at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur, Okla.
Mrs. Ellen Brooker, a longtime Chickasaw educator, was named the 2012 Dynamic Woman of the Year by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby.
"Mrs. Brooker truly exemplifies what it means to be a dynamic Chickasaw woman," said Gov. Anoatubby. "She is known as a "Holisso Pisachi"- one who teaches. Her dedication to her students and her desire to share the Chickasaw culture has led her where she is today. She is committed to her students' education and she embodies the unconquerable spirit of the Chickasaws."
An educator for more than a quarter-century Mrs. Brooker provides an engaging classroom through hands-on activities, field trips, creative web development and specialized programs.
Sometimes adorned in Chickasaw regalia and speaking Chickasaw phrases, Mrs. Brooker excites students about American Indian history and offers a unique study of Native cultures, artifacts and storytelling. She also assists Native American students in establishing tribal affiliation, learning about tradition and seeking tribal benefits for higher education.
An avid student of Chickasaw language and culture, Mrs. Brooker is an Outstanding American Teacher award recipient, winning grant writer, department chair and respected history and social studies teacher.
Mrs. Brooker was chosen recently from educators across the nation to participate in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute and has won gold performance awards for social studies.
She is a certified teacher in history and government, gifted and talented programming and instructional technology.
Mrs. Brooker teaches at a 3,000-student San Antonio, Texas, High School.
As vice-chair of the Chickasaw Community Council of South Texas, Mrs. Brooker reaches out to other Chickasaws in her region, furthering study of Chickasaw culture, involvement in tribal activities and fundraising to provide the council's college scholarship. She has also served as an active leader in Boy Scouts of America for 11 years.
Mrs. Brooker earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas - San Antonio, and master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Houston Baptist University.
She and her family make their home in Atascosa, Texas.
Mrs. Brooker credited her family, co-workers and the Chickasaw Nation for obtaining the Dynamic Woman award and shared her passion and devotion for educating youth about their own native heritage and language and the importance of preserving it.
"I believe I am here because I pushed the envelope in the classroom beyond what students can learn in the text book. I look at their educational future and encourage them to go beyond where they thought they could go before. It takes a village to help students be successful and I love to work with the (Chickasaw) Nation to provide the students more learning tools to keep Native history from being pushed out of our history."
Mrs. Brooker also highlighted the need for more teachers who are dedicated to keeping Native history alive.
"Thank you for selecting me as the Dynamic Chickasaw Woman of the Year, it is a great honor and I hope I can continue to learn, grow and have a positive impact on others. We cannot do these things alone, it takes a Nation."
Established in 2006, the Dynamic Woman of the Year Award honors Chickasaw women who have made significant contributions to the Nation, serves as role-models to other Chickasaw women and who have made a difference in the lives of Chickasaws and other citizens, enriching their communities and society at large.
Native Chickasaw speaker Emma McLeod was the winner of prestigious 2012 Silver Feather Award.
A long-time resident of Connerville, Okla., Mrs. McLeod is a Chickasaw native speaker. She is an active member of the Chickasaw language committee, contributing to significant projects including the Chickasaw new words project and Anompilbashsha Asilhha Holisso: Chickasaw Prayer Book.
Mrs. McLeod has taught community classes in Ada, Okla., for several years, sharing her knowledge with community members, tribal citizens and tribal employees.
She is also a language master in the Chickasaw Master-Apprentice Program, teaching Faye McCurtain and Ellen Chapman, both of Connerville, Okla., most recently.
Her apprentice, Ellen, recently completed three years of the Chickasaw Master-Apprentice Apprentice and is planning to take on her own apprentice in 2013.
"Mrs. McLeod demonstrates a deep, abiding and ongoing commitment to Chickasaw language revitalization and is a worthy candidate for the Silver Feather Award," said Gov. Anoatubby.
Mrs. McLeod accepted her award, one of the highest honors given by the Chickasaw Nation, in the Chickasaw language.
Created in 1999, the Silver Feather Award honors Chickasaws who have committed their lives to the preservation and revitalization of Chickasaw culture, language and life ways. Past recipients include the following individuals: Adam Walker, Pauline Walker, Charlie Carter, Juanita Byars, Sim Greenwood, Geneva Holman, Leerene Frazier, Rose Jefferson, Stanley Smith, Marie Beck, Jerry Underwood, Catherine Pickens Willmond and Weldon Fulsom.
Ezra Johnson was named the first place winner of the Chickasaw Historical Society "Holissochi" essay award and Erica Hanna received second place. Developed this year for Chickasaw youth, essay participants drafted essays on the topic "How have Chickasaw traditions influenced my life and values."
The Holisso Center Research Fellowship was granted to Kari Ann Lewis Chew, of Newbury Park, Cali. This fellowship, for Chickasaw students or for persons studying Chickasaw history and/or culture, provides a one-week period of research to be conducted at the Holisso Center of the Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur.
Raymond Doherty, Kari Ann Lewis Chew and Dr. Karen Goodnight were each honored with Heritage Preservation Research Awards.
Mr. Doherty received the Best Unpublished Article award for his article "On the Waters of the Coonawaugh: History of the Colbert-Walker Site". Mr. Doherty splits his time between Woodstock, New York and Tupelo, Miss., where he stays on the family farm that is the Colbert-Walker site, the subject of his article.
Ms. Chew won the Best Master's Thesis award for her thesis entitled "Pomanompa' KilanompolikaChokma (It is Good that We Speak our Language): Motivations to Revitalize Chikashshanompa' (Chickasaw Language) Across Generations". She recently completed her masters in American Indian Studies at UCLA and is now pursuing a doctorate in education at the University of Arizona.
Dr. Goodnight won the Best Doctoral Dissertation award for her essay "Chikashsha Poya Tingba': Coping with the Devaluing of Diversity in America: A Study of the Perspectives of the Chickasaw Tribe". Dr. Goodnight holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum from the University of Oklahoma.
SEASAM winners
Awards were also presented to winners of the Southeastern Art Show and Market.
The top winners in each category were:
Best in Show – Troy Jackson, Cherokee
Best in Division, Cultural - Scott Roberts, Choctaw
Best in Division, 3D art - Micheal Cornelius, Chickasaw
Best in Division, 2D art - Sharon Irla, Cherokee
The show is open to all artists of Southeast and Woodlands tribes. The winning artworks, as well as works from more than 65 participating artists, will be showcased Friday - Saturday, Oct. 5-6, at Chickasaw Nation Capitol grounds during the 2012 Annual Meeting and Festival.
Also during the awards ceremony, three new Chickasaw Press publications were released.
"Chickasaw Lives, Volume Four: Tribal Mosaic" by Richard Green is the culmination of Green's project to research and write the stories of Chickasaw history and the tribe's people. Green presents 26 essays in six categories and a wide range of topics from eighteenth and nineteenth century sketches to book and treasures to cultural revivals.
"Chikasha Stories, Volume Two: Shared Voices" by Glenda Galvan and illustrated by Jeannie Barbour is the companion to the award-winning volume, Shared Spirits, Chickasaw storyteller, Glenda Galvan shares five more stories with the original, tradition-inspired illustrations by Chickasaw artist, Jeannie Barbour. These beautiful stories are told in Chickasaw and English.
"Anompilbashsha' Asilhha' Holisso: Chickasaw Prayer Book" by the Chickasaw Language Committee. Edited by Joshua Hinson, John Dyson and Pamela Munro, thisground-breaking project by the Chickasaw Press combines topics prayers, readings, and selected passages from the Holy Bible (King James Version) and presents them in a Chickasaw-English format. This volume marks the first time multiple selections from the Bible have been translated in Chickasaw and made available to the tribe's community, general readers, and students and scholars of Native languages.
For more information on the books and other Chickasaw Press publications, please visit www.chickasawpress.com.
