The final venue of the summer for the Native Voices traveling exhibition was the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma.
[Gov. Bill Anoatubby:]
We're glad to have representatives from the National Library of Medicine join us for this celebration. It is truly a privilege that the Chickasaw Nation is able to host a comprehensive exhibit and promote awareness of the practices that the native people in this country have held closely for centuries.
[Narrator:]
The exhibition was installed at the Artesian Gallery and Studios in Sulphur, Oklahoma. The Artesian is a working studio where artists from the Chickasaw Nation paint, sculpt and weave. In this venue, artwork from the local community complements the Native Voices exhibition.
[Margaret Roach Wheeler:]
The name of my business is Mahota Handwovens and that is my great-great-great-grandmother who was in Mississippi and came at the time of removal to Indian territory so that is also coming this full circle, bringing that back and trying to get my community to carry on something that I've loved for many years and tried to establish.
[Narrator:]
At every stop on the tour, communities are encouraged to augment the Native Voices exhibition by showcasing their own art and artifacts, or hosting it during powwows or other community celebrations.
[Dr. Judy Goforth Parker:]
I think that as native people we're trying to look at the things that we used to do that helped us to be healthy, and trying to incorporate those practices back into our lives. I think that this gives a really unique opportunity for people to be able to hear voices that have not been heard. And so to me that's what the Library of Medicine has done for us as citizens of this great country. They've captured those stories and if i could say it to Dr. Lindberg again, thank you.
