Pioneer Woman Museum to host lecture on Native women writers Saturday

Dr. Lindsey Claire Smith will present a public program at the Pioneer Woman Museum on Native women artists at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 26.

Smith is Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma State University. She is the Editor of American Indian Quarterly and author of two books, a monograph titled Indians Environment, and Identity on the Borders of American Literature and an edited collection of essays titled Alternative Contact: Indigeneity, Globalism, and American Studies. She is currently at work on a book project on urban Indian literature.

Her program is titled “Searching for Pioneers: Native Women Writers of Oklahoma in Urban Homelands.”

This lecture discusses writings by LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) and Joy Harjo (Creek) that link homelands in Oklahoma with often overlooked Indigenous legacies in cities such as New Orleans and Santa Fe, where Native American women have long been thriving participants in arts, music, and commerce.

Though our concept of “pioneers” usually applies to non-Indians seeking to displace Native Americans , together we will consider how we may rethink what it means to be a “pioneer.” Reconsidering this concept may allow us a more accurate understanding of Native women’s contributions to urban cultures and to our own communities.

The event is free and is made possible by a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Council.

For more information, contact the Pioneer Woman Museum at 580-765-6108 or [email protected]. The Pioneer Woman Museum, a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 701 Monument Road in Ponca City.