The Chickasaw Cultural Center will celebrate National Library Week at the Holisso: The Center for Study of Chickasaw History and Culture (Holisso) from April 21-25. Library-themed activities will be taking place within the Holisso. These will include giveaways, author readings and chances to win a Chickasaw Press gift basket.
Andrea L. Rogers will provide readings of her award-winning historical and contemporary fiction and will also be in conversation with Chickasaw Press authors Friday, April 24.
Rogers is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts with a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas.
Her first book, “Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story,” was named an NPR Best Book of 2020 by both NPR and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Cherokee people are featured in this collection, along with a cast of vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, ghosts, two handsome princes and a goat boy. It includes illustrations by Jeff Edwards (Cherokee citizen). The novel received the Walter Dean Myers Award and several other accolades. Her most recent young adult novel is a Cherokee futurism called “The Art Thieves,” released September 2024.
Her debut picture book about Southeastern tribes and wild onion dinners is called “When We Gather” and is illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight, a Chickasaw citizen. It was released in May 2024. A second picture book, “Chooch Helped,” was released in October 2024, illustrated by Rebecca Kunz, a Cherokee citizen, and received the Caldecott Medal.
Book readings will take place within the Holisso throughout the celebration, with book themed film screenings in the Anoli' Theater. All three movies of “The Twilight Saga” will be shown April 25 beginning at 10 a.m. at no charge.
According to the American Library Association, National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening communities. This year, the theme will be “Find Your Joy.”
The Chickasaw Cultural Center is located at 867 Cooper Memorial Drive, Sulphur, Oklahoma. For more information, visit ChickasawCulturalCenter.com or call (580) 622-7130.
About the Holisso: The Center for Study of Chickasaw History and Culture
Home to meticulously preserved Chickasaw archives, stories, culture, language and historical accounts passed across generations, Holisso: The Center for Study of Chickasaw History and Culture is a 20,000-square-foot specialty library focusing on the study of the Chickasaw Nation and other southeastern tribes in the United States.
The Holisso takes pride in maintaining thorough records of Chickasaw and Southeastern tribal genealogy, as well as presenting various workshops, scholarly lectures, conferences, digitization events, roundtables and book signings. The purpose-designed climate and light-controlled artifact storage room protect genealogy records, photo archives and historic documents.
Many Chickasaw artifacts are only available to view in person by appointment. For visitors’ convenience, an online Holisso archives page has been established, where one can view hundreds of documents, photographs, 3-D objects, paintings and other mediums.
Visit CNCC.Chickasaw.net to browse the collection site and check back often as new items are added. To make in-person appointments, email Archives@Chickasaw.net or call (580) 622-7130.
The Special Collections Room located inside the Holisso hosts a rotating display of exclusive exhibits. Featured exhibits vary to include artifacts from the tribal archives, event collaborations and items from museums across the world.
For genealogy research to help with family lineage, the Holisso offers access to the Dawes Rolls, Chickasaw muster and annuity rolls, federal census records, cemetery records, government records and genealogical family files. For more information, please call, visit or email Genealogy@Chickasaw.net.