Native American Handwoven Costumes & Textiles by

Chickasaw artist Margaret Roach Wheeler

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About the Artist

Chickasaw textile designer Margaret Wheeler honors the spirit of her great-great-grandmother, Mahota, and a legacy of creative Chickasaw women. Margaret has become known internationally as a painter, sculptor, educator, Native historian, and award-winning weaver. From her earliest business in handwoven fashions to creative textiles to the field of fine arts, Margaret’s art and work continue today in selling original handwovens and in the national brand of Mahota Textiles, both collaborations with the Chickasaw Nation. It is this legacy of Mahota, Nancy Mahota, grandmother Juel and mother Rubey - centuries of tradition and craftsmanship handed down through generations of Indigenous makers. Through her detailed historical research and creative innovation, Margaret connects the inspiration of our ancestors to all of us in a modern world.

Margaret has also received a research fellowship to study at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Her intricate textiles have exhibited works at prestigious institutions, including the Museum of Art and Design and the Museum of Contemporary Native Art (MoCNA), Oklahoma, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, Indiana, and Arizona museums. Alongside her museum exhibitions, her “Street Clothes" weavings have been seen in fashion shows as well.

She has earned numerous awards including Best of Class-Heard Museum Indian Market, First place in SWAIA (Santa Fe Indian Market), and Purchase Award at Eitel Jorg. In 2010, Margaret Roach Wheeler was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame and was honored by the State of Oklahoma with the Governor's Arts Award in 2018 for her unique contributions to art.

“The loom and the act of weaving brought me an awareness of my ethnic heritage. Today, fibers have become the paint and metal wherein I work. I feel my training, my heritage and my artistic talent have found completion in the act of weaving.”
— -Margaret Roach Wheeler

The Mahota Project

Margaret is the founder of Mahota Textiles, a national textile brand based in Sulphur Oklahoma. Mahota Textiles is the first tribally owned textile company in the United States. Drawing inspiration from Southeastern Native American heritage to create elevated and meaningful textiles designed in Oklahoma by Native American Artisans, Mahota Textiles beautifully crafts sustainable blankets, pillows, home goods, and wearables woven celebrating Chickasaw heritage and symbology.

The Mahota name can be traced back to five generations of lineage within Margaret’s family and it is her dream to honor the spirit and legacy of creative Chickasaw women: Mahota, Nancy Mahota, grandmother Juel and mother Rubey.

“We’re makers of art, of story, the threads that connect the inspiration of our ancestors to all of us in a modern world. These tell our stories; these create our brand.”

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Biography

  • Margaret Roach (1943) South Dakota

  • 1978, Masters of Arts
    Pittsburg State University; Pittsburg, Kansas

  • 1975, Bachelor of Science in Education
    Missouri Southern State College, Joplin, Missouri

Awards

  • 2000, Fellowship with the National Museum of American Indian, Washington DC

  • 2009, Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, Best of Class

  • 2010, inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame

  • 2018, Oklahoma Governor's Arts Award

  • 2020, Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year award

Museum Collections

  • Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN

  • Museum of Arts and Culture,  Santa Fe, NM

  • Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ

  • Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

Research Fellowships

  • Artist on Residence with Chickasaw Nation 2007-2020

  • Artist-in-residence program, sponsored by Atlatl and The National Museum of American Indian - Smithsonian Institution

    • Under the Artist-in-residence program, Margaret had the chance to research at the following museums: Peabody Museums, Harvard, Peabody Museum, Andover, MA, The New York State Museum, Albany, NY

    • Research fellowship granted to study textiles of the ancient Mississippian culture at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, National Museum of the American Indian, NYC, NY

  • The Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC and the Smithsonian Support Center, Suitland, MD, May 2000

Selected CV

  • Lowak Shoppala’, a Performance. 2009

    • Created 86 costumes depicting 1,000 years of Chickasaw clothing.

    • Created the set design.

  • Chickasaw Arts Academy 2008-2017

    •    Taught Textile Design

    • Chaperoned my Scholarship students to Fashion Institute of                Technology for workshops, NYC. 2011-2016

  • Mahota Weaving Studios at the Artesian Gallery. 2013-2020

    • Taught weaving, had 14 weavers at time of closing.

Organizations  

  • 1981-Present, Handweavers Guild of America

  • 1981-2020, Missouri Fiber Artist: An organization dedicated to nurturing creativity and promoting an interest in the Fiber arts, Executive

    • Board Member, 1982-1983 and 1986-1987

  • 1980-2010, Midwest Weavers Asociation: An organization promoting weaving in the Midwest United States

  • 1996-2010, Weavers Guild of St. Louis

  • 1998-2000, MISSOURI ARTS COUNCIL

    • Visual Arts panelist

  • 1987-1996, SP1VA ART CENTER

  • Executive Board Member 1987-1996

Teaching

  • 1989, Southwest Missouri State, Springfield, Missouri | Adjunct Professor

  • Misroui Southern State College, Joplin, Missouri | Interim Professor of Art Education

  • Joplin R-8 School District, Joplin, Missouri

    • 1981-1985, Memorial High School

    • 1975-1981, Parkwood High School

  • Instructor: Fiber and Metal (Weaving, Batik, Papermaking, and Jewelry)