Published: October 08, 2008 09:41 am      

Many honored in Tishomingo

Tishomingo — A physician, a life-long advocate of Chickasaw culture, tribal historians and southeastern artists were honored at the Chickasaw Nation Arts and Culture Awards ceremony 6 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Murray State Ballroom in Tishomingo, Okla.

Family practice physician Dr. Tina Marie Cooper was named the Dynamic Woman of the Chickasaw Nation.

Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby presented the award.

“This is a great example of what the Chickasaw people can do,” he said.

Dr. Cooper is the current Service Chief of Family Practice for Carl Albert Indian Health Facility and has been a health care advocate for more than ten years.

“I couldn’t be more proud to be Chickasaw than I am tonight,” she said.

Aside from her duties at CAIHF, Dr. Cooper helped establish the Compassion Outreach Center, a free health clinic in Ada, Okla.

She serves her tribe as a volunteer supporter of the Ada Chickasaw Senior Citizen Center and as a Board Trustee for the Chickasaw Foundation.

Dr. Cooper remembered her grandmother as an example that many dynamic Chickasaw women quietly do their job, inspiring and moving people without recognition.

“It is those people who have made us strong.”

Marie Colbert Beck was the recipient of the Silver Feather Award for service in preserving Chickasaw heritage and culture.

Ms. Beck is a long-time member of the Chickasaw Language Committee and the Chair of the Council of Elders.

She recently teamed up with the Chickasaw Nation Multimedia department to produce and narrate the Chickasaw cartoon “How the Rabbit Lost Its Tail” and continues to instill the Chickasaw language, culture and history into her 17 grandchildren.

Julie Bennett-Jones and Michael Lovegrove each received a Research and Publication Award.

Bennett-Jones was given the award for Best Master’s Thesis for her essay entitled “‘A Giant in Oklahoma Politics and Public Service’: The Political Life of Helen Cole, 1960-2004”.

Lovegrove received the Holisso Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript for “Douglas Henry Johnston and the Chickasaw Nation, 1898-1939”.

Awards were also presented to winners of the Southeastern Art Show and Market.

The top winners in each category were:

Best in Show – Robert Perry (Chickasaw) for his blown-glass sculpture “Black Drinking Cup”

Best in Division - 2-D – Brent Greenwood (Chickasaw) for his painting entitled “Swan Lake”

Best in Division - 3-D – Daniel Worcester (Chickasaw) for his large fighting knife.

Best in Division - Cultural – Margaret Roach Wheeler (Chickasaw) for her regalia adornment piece.

The show was open to all artists of Southeast and Woodlands tribes and included entries from members of each of the Five Civilized Tribes.

Artists, who were juried into the market by a panel of judges, were also able to enter the art show to compete for a number of cash awards.

The Chickasaw Press announced the release of three new titles: “They Know Who They Are,” by Mike and Martha Larsen; “Picked Apart the Bones,” a poetry book by Rebecca Hatcher Travis; “Edmund Pickens (Okchantubby)-First Elected Chickasaw Chief, His Life and Times,” by Juanita J. Keel Tate.

Dozens of those in attendance purchased books during a reception and book-signing immediately following the award ceremony.

Outgoing Chickasaw Historical Society board members Jeannie Barbour, Buck Cheadle, Glenda Galvan, Wenonah Gunning, Matthew Morgan, Robert Perry and Johnna Walker were honored with Chickasaw Historical Society Service Awards for their work for the society.

Incoming board members Dr. Tim Baugh, Steven Bond, Michael Cornelius, Mary Hartley, Lisa Impson, Debbie Jackson, Adam Stafford and Dinah Worcester were also recognized.