Her Indigenous roots

Mvskoke fashion designer makes a statement with contemporary take on tradition

SHAWNEE – By day, she works at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center as production assistant, but by night, she makes a name for herself in the fashion world.

Native American apparel designer Leslie Deer, Muscogee (Creek), has been building her fashion line for 20 years, applying traditional Mvskoke designs in her contemporary womenswear collections.

“My mother was really interested in fashion and she was a very stylish lady when I was young,” Deer said. “I’m partially inspired by her and partially just because I like to play with colors, sketch things, and create. I’m also inspired by my tribal background and I like to apply that – I just use apparel as an outlet.”

Chickasaw storyteller movie now in national release

TULSA – A Chickasaw icon is getting re-introduced to a national audience on the big screen.

After more than a year on the festival circuit, “Te Ata” opened commercially in Oklahoma recently with red carpet premieres in Ada and Tulsa. Produced by the Chickasaw Nation and distributed by Paladin, the storyteller’s biopic is now in national release.

Chickasaw storyteller, movie star touch young girl’s life

Cerrenah Chesbro presents “Te Ata” film star Q’orianka Kilcher with a homemade Peruvian bracelet at the Tulsa Circle Cinema premiere of the Chickasaw Nation feature film of the same name.

TULSA, Okla. – Cerrenah Chesbro waited a year to meet her hero, “Te Ata.”

The Coweta Southside Elementary School third-grader lightly stroked a homemade gift for Q’orianka Kilcher, the actress who brought “Te Ata” to life in the Chickasaw Nation feature film of the same name.

Combating infant mortality one baby at a time

OKLAHOMA CITY – One goal of Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKCIC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit clinic providing services to American Indians in central Oklahoma, is to educate Oklahomans on the steps that can be taken to prevent and combat many unnecessary infant deaths.

September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Infant mortality is defined as the number of deaths to infants less than one year of age. Oklahoma is ranked 46th in the country for infant mortality, with 8.5 deaths per 1,000 births, compared to the national infant mortality rate of 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births. Unfortunately, Oklahoma and Native American infant mortality is higher than the national rate.