Keynote Speaker   

Ms. Cecile Carter                           

Ms.  Carter, a member of the federally recognized Caddo Indian Nation of Oklahoma, retired from teaching, but continues to work as a historian, writer, and speaker. Her primary research focuses on Caddo Indian history, culture, and traditions. She writes and speaks with authority based on thirty-five years of scholarly research and a collection of oral histories she began collecting from tribal elders in 1970. She continues to research close to the Red River on the Oklahoma side of Lake Texoma and is actively engaged in Caddo cultural and historic preservation programs administered through the Caddo Nation headquarters near Binger, Oklahoma, about 47 miles west of Oklahoma City.

Her book, Caddo Indians:  Where We Come From published by the University of Oklahoma Press, is a well documented and easily read narrative detailing the history of the Caddo Indians. It won the Oklahoma State Historical Society History Book of the Year award in 1995 and was finally made available in a paperback edition in 2001.

Ms. Carter has held appointments as the Caddo Nation Cultural Representative and Liaison, she was also the Caddo Nation's first coordinator of the Native American Graves Protection Act, and was instrumental in establishing the Caddo NAGPRA office in 1995. Currently Ms. Carter is a Charter Member of the Caddo Heritage Museum Board of Trustees and servers as the Board's Senior Advisor.