Ardina Moore
Ardina Moore | |
|---|---|
Ma-shru-Ghe-Ta | |
| Born | Ardina Revard 1930 (age 93–94) |
| Alma mater | Northeastern State University |
| Occupation(s) | artist, native clothing apparel |
| Known for | last fluent native Quapaw speaker |
| Notable work | Quapaw language preservation |
Ardina Moore is a Native American from Oklahoma of Osage and Quapaw heritage. She is the last known fluent Quapaw language speaker and has developed a heritage preservation program to teach the language to younger tribal members. She is also a successful businesswoman having founded and run a traditional Indian apparel business since 1983. She has received numerous awards for her fashion designs, has served in multiple leadership positions within the Quapaw tribe and was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.
Biography
Ardina Revard[1] was born in December, 1930[2] in Texas to a family which was part Osage and part Quapaw.[3] Her father was James Osage[1] “Jimmie” Revard, founder of The Oklahoma Playboys[4] and her mother was Martha Dora Griffin, who died when Revard was abut seven years old.[5][6] Her maternal grandparents were Minnie and Chief Victor Griffin, the last Quapaw chief before tribal incorporation.[1][7] Revard grew up speaking both English and Quapaw on the farm of Chief Griffin known as "Devil’s Promenade" in northeastern Oklahoma.[2] After finishing high school, Revard enrolled at Northeastern State University, graduating in 1957.[1]
She began her career as a teacher, first teaching teaching high school health and physical education. Then she taught Indian history and genealogy at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) in Miami, Oklahoma. Between 1967 and 1978, she lived in Montana, but returned to Oklahoma with her family and discovered that the Quapaw language was dying.[2] She joined the Community Service Program, at NEO and began teaching evening language classes to preserve the Quapaw language,[3] creating her own workbooks and tapes, as there are no dictionaries or textbooks on the language.[8] Moore, who had been making Native American fashions for her daughters to wear at powwows, Indian dances or other functions,[7] began commercially marketing Indian apparel in 1983. The company, Buckskin to Silk, is located in Miami, Oklahoma, where Moore lives and designs the clothing. She also cuts the patterns and then Native women sew them from their homes.[9] The company makes inner and outer wear as well as accessories, with traditional and contemporary fashions. Some are simple designs and others feature intricate beadwork and ribbonwork elements.[10] She has toured with her fashions throughout Oklahoma,[7] Arkansas,[2] Missouri,[10] and to both coasts, participating in the Powhatan Renape Nation fashion show in Pennsylvania[9] and Los Angeles where a fashion shows were held at the American Cultural Center and International Trade Center.[7]
From her beginning evening classes Moore has now expanded her program to save the Quapaw language to two series of classes, which span over eight-week held annually at the Quapaw Tribal Museum.[2] The tribe also holds an annual Youth Language Camp, as well as conferences with the Dhegiha Language Conference to preserve and teach the Quapaw language and its closely related tongues, Osage and Omaha.[11] In addition to her efforts to save the Quapaw language, Moore has served as the tribe's Powwow committee secretary/treasurer,[12] tribal historian,[13] chair of the tribe's Cultural Committee,[14] and as an elected member of the Tribal Business Committee.[1]
Moore has received many awards and honors over her career. She won first place in the Santa Fe Indian Market Fashion Show twice, was awarded best in her division in an exhibit at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, was honoed in 2003 from the Heard Museum of Phoenix, and in 2006 was featured in an Oklahoma Educational Television Authority special.[1] In 2011, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Buckskins to Silks style show coming to Pawhuska". Bartlesville, Oklahoma: Examiner-Enterprise. November 15, 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Owen, Rhonda (February 2014). "A Way with Words". Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Life. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Teacher Passes On Tribal Language Northeastern A&M Offers Native American Courses". Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: News OK. December 10, 1989. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Jimmie Revard and His Oklahoma Playboys". Handbook of Texas Online. Austin, Texas: Texas State Historical Association. October 25, 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Barker, Martha (21 May 2013). "Chief Ga'Haheh (Victor Griffin) of the Quapaw Tribe". Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Okeson, Sarah (July 22, 2015). "Quapaw Tribe working to pass on native language". Joplin, Missouri: The Joplin Globe. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d Ponder, Rebecca (March 21, 1986). "Fashion Designer Bases Clothes Collection on Tradition Original Indian Dress Receives Contemporary Treatment". Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: News OK. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Sloan, Dena (November 14, 2004). "A Voice of Tradition". Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Globe. p. 1. Retrieved 17 December 2015 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ a b Masters, Ruth (May 17, 1989). "American Indian By Design". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Special to The Inquirer. Philly. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b "'Buckskins to Silks' program scheduled for April 7 at Van Meter State Park". Marshall, Missouri: Marshall Democrat-News. March 23, 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Quapaw Tribe holds language preservation camp for youth". Indianz. July 23, 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Quapaw Powwow Scheduled". Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Globe. June 15, 1983. p. 39 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
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- ^ "Tribes Tell Their Stories in Arkansas Exhibit". Harrisonburg, Virginia: Harrisonburg Daily News Record. AP. April 7, 2009. p. 11. Retrieved 17 December 2015 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ a b Finnie, D. (January 21, 2011). "Hall of fame inductees to include Miami woman". Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Independent. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
