Oral History Interviews

Oral History Interview Introduction

The Center conducts oral history interviews with performers featured in the Homegrown Concert Series as well as with other indigenous visitors. These interviews are usually conducted by AFC staff and are intended to provide additional insights into their work and into each artist's creative process and the rich history of the cultural traditions they express.

Performances connected to many of these interviews can be found on the Concerts subpage.

See also the blogpost on exploring Native American event videos.

Tribal Librarian

Lotsee Patterson discusses her life and work as a librarian and advocate of tribal libraries and Native American librarianship with staff from the American Folklife Center.

Homegrown Concert Series Oral History Interviews

Master Hawaiian slack key guitarist, ukelele player and vocalist Ledward Kaapana discusses his life and musical career in a companion interview to his performance in AFC's Homegrown Concerts series. Ledward "Led" Kaapana is a master of the two leading string instruments in Hawaii: the Hawaiian ukelele and ki ho'alu, the slack key guitar, a fingerstyle guitar art form that originated in Hawaii. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.

Singer-songwriter Charly Lowry speaks with Stephen Winick and Megan Nicholas from the American Folklife Center. An Indigenous woman from Pembroke, North Carolina belonging to the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes, Lowry considers her work a platform for raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and underserved Native communities. Lowry is a songwriter who accompanies herself on acoustic and electric guitars and Native American hand drum. She earned a semi-finalist spot on season three of American Idol, and tours solo and as the frontwoman for the multi award-winning band, "Dark Water Rising."

Conversation with Pamyua
As part of the Homegrown from Home concert series, AFC Folklife Specialist Stephen Winick interviewed Pamyua's founding members, Philip Blanchett and Stephen Blanchett about their lives and music. The conversation touched on their heritage, their influences, and their experience including both Alaskan and Greenlandic Inuit peoples in their group.
Conversation with Jeneda & Clayson Benally
The Library's Steve Winick chats with Sihasin, duo of Jeneda and Clayson Benally, award winning musicians from the Diné Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The siblings performed in the 2019 Homegrown Concert series as members of the Jones Benally Family Dancers. They have also made their mark (along with brother Klee) as the award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The name Sihasin is a Diné word that means hope and assurance, and the music reflects hope for equality, healthy and respectful communities, and social and environmental justice. Sihasin combines harmony vocals with bass and drums, in a style rooted in Native, rock, punk and world music.

Veterans History Project Interview Collections

Jamie Fox Collection
Call Number: AFC 2001/001/114479
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
War or Conflict: Afghan War, 2001-
Branch of Service: Air Force
Unit of Service: 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron
Location of Service: Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; McChord Air Force Base, Washington; Doha, Qatar; Kandahar, Afghanistan
Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
Following a childhood spent on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana, Jamie Fox chose to pursue her childhood fascination with airplanes and the venerated tradition of military service within her culture. She joined the Air Force in 2007 at the age of 17, and deployed twice to the Middle East, first to Qatar and then to Kandahar, Afghanistan. As she describes in her oral history interview, though she adjusted quickly to the military, her eventual transition to civilian life was not as easy. Her lifelong passion for music--she is an accomplished fiddler--gave her a sense of direction and helped bridge the gap between the two worlds.

Jamie Fox is an accomplished fiddler and is also featured on the Concerts subpage.

Tecumseh Nathaniel Underwood Collection
Call Number: AFC 2001/001/107900
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
War or Conflict: Cold War
Branch of Service: Army
Unit of Service: 592nd Signal Company; 42nd Engineer Company; Berlin Brigade
Location of Service: West Berlin, Germany
Highest Rank: Private First Class
A Seminole Indian, Private First Class Tecumseh Nathaniel Underwood faced limited employment prospects in his home state of Oklahoma. A strong sense of patriotism drove him to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps and enlist in the Army. Stationed in West Berlin from 1962 to 1965, he comments in his oral history interview, "I was in the middle of the destruction of a city."
Virgil George England Collection
Call Number: AFC 2001/001/111840
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
War or Conflict: Cold War
Branch of Service: Army
Unit of Service: 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Location of Service: Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Arkansas
Highest Rank: E-4
George England, a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation, grew up attending the Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma, and utilized the discipline he learned there during his time in the Army. England elected to attend jump school, becoming a paratrooper and served with the 101st Airborne Division. A chance encounter with the bandmaster of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team Band gave him the chance to play the clarinet in the band at the National Cherry Blossom Festival and other events around the country from 1955 to 1958. England also notably served with the 101st Airborne forces deployed to maintain order during the desegregation of Central High School in 1957. An active member of the Chilocco Alumni Association in addition to his tribal community post-military life, England continually felt support from his family and his tribal community as a veteran, particularly at a period when other U.S. veterans were overlooked.

Additional Collections of Interest

D.J. Battiest-Tomasi interview
Call Number: AFC 2011/031
Oral history interview with Homegrown 2011 performer, Choctaw storyteller, and flute player, D.J. (Deborah Han) Battiest-Tomasi. D.J. Battiest-Tomasi is a Choctaw/Chickasaw woman who has served in the Sundance Ceremonies of the Lakotas. She plays flute for clients and patients in her practice for the Oklahoma City Indian Health Clinic and has worked in the mental health field for 22 years.
Tim Tingle interview conducted by Rodger Harris, 2011 May 10
Call Number: AFC 2011/032
Video oral history interview with author and storyteller Tim Tingle, conducted by Rodger Harris, for the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Library of Congress on May 10, 2011. Author, folklorist, and storyteller Tim Tingle was born and raised near Houston, Texas. He grew up with a strong Choctaw influence since his grandmother was full-blood Choctaw and his grandfather, John Carnes, walked the Trail of Tears. His family was considered Oklahoma Choctaw, meaning that one of his ancestors survived the Trail of Tears and made claims to an Indian land grant in Oklahoma. Tingle talks about his upbringing in Houston, Texas; playing basketball; race relations; studying literature in college; his theater and dance experience; work experience; the Texas Folklore Society and J. Frank Dobie; his Choctaw family stories; literary influences; writing; and how he began storytelling and research on Choctaws. He walked a re-enactment of the Trail of Tears with Charlie Jones, listening to Charlie's stories. He talks about the border, ethnicity, and storytelling in Spanish. The interview was conducted in advance of his performance in the Homegrown 2011 series at the Library of Congress on June 29, 2011.