ROSE â Learn the intricate skillset of a lifelong Cherokee craftsman in a new exhibit at the Saline Courthouse Museum. âVyrl Keeter: Points of Originâ is open to the public from May 4Â
âto June 26 and showcases the Cherokee National Treasureâs private collection, as well as handcrafted items available for sale.
A Cherokee Nation citizen from Muskogee, Keeter was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 2016 for flint knapping and has been knapping stone into arrowheads, spear points and blades for most of his life. He also makes hatchets, knives and other one-of-a-kind tools, working with naturally occurring materials such as chert and obsidian in addition to manufactured storefront glass.
TULSA â Cherokee National Treasure Vivian Garner Cottrell will demonstrate how Cherokee people gather and process river cane to make baskets at noon on March 16. The free presentation will be a virtual event broadcast using Facebook Live and was rescheduled from February due to severe winter weather.
Gilcrease Museum is hosting the event and the program is sponsored in part by the Cherokee Nation. This project is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.Â
Cherokee basket weaver Vivian Garner Cottrell credits her late mother, Betty Scraper Garner, for teaching her how to make Cherokee baskets the way they were made in ancient times. Her mother, who was named a Cherokee National Treasure in 1993 for basketry, taught her how to make baskets using white oak splits and honeysuckle and buck brush ârunnersâ or reed. The duo also gathered natural dye materials to color their baskets.Â
NORMAN â The nonprofit Norman Cultural Connection on Feb. 19 presented a virtual screening of âSpirit Flute: Healing of the Heart,â a documentary featuring Oklahoma flute players and artists, including Cherokee Nation citizen Tommy Wildcat.
â¨The 56-minute documentary narrated by Cherokee actor Wes Studi showcases different generations talking about the art of creating the flute, creating music, concerns in keeping the art form alive as well as exploring gender roles and its impact on flute making and flute playing in contemporary times, according to a NCC press release.
Wildcat is featured among several renowned flute players and makers such as Timothy Tate Nevaquaya of the Comanche Nation, John and Jerry Haney of the Seminole Nation, Wendell and Jack Pettigrew of the Chickasaw Nation and multi-Grammy nominated artist R. Carlos Nakai of the Navajo Nation.
KANSAS, Okla. â A fluent Cherokee speaker and longtime translator, Anna Sixkiller has become a caretaker for the language she holds dear.
âThat is my language. Itâs my first language,â said Sixkiller, a Cherokee National Treasure since 1991. âItâs what I work with every day. I really think about a lot of things when I translate something â whoâs going to be looking at it and how theyâre going to look at it, how theyâre going to feel, what theyâre going to say. I want to put the right words in there so they can understand.â
For more than two decades, Sixkiller, 75, of Kansas, Oklahoma, has helped translate the language for the Cherokee Nation and its immersion school, museums, universities, libraries, hospitals, the Cherokee Phoenix and even large tech empires such as Microsoft.