Halito! Wondering how a small-town Oklahoma, Native girl ended up at Dartmouth? Well, you've come to the right place! My name is Claire, I'm a proud Chahta ohoyo (Choctaw woman), and I'm a Senior Admissions Fellow. You can find me in the library studying for History/Native American Studies courses or reading about Indigenous religions! I'm a DREAM mentor, involved in Greek Life, and an Undergraduate Advisor. I love to travel and read for pleasure. If you see me around, say hello!
Academic Program
Religion and History double major with a modification in Native American Studies
This was the first course at Dartmouth that I truly fell in love with! The content of the course, the professor (Colin Calloway-who would later become my major advisor!), and the other Native students who quickly became some of my best friends have me reminiscing on this class with the fondest of memories.
‘The Crusades’ was my first real experience taking a European History course! It was an awesome introduction to the subject and taught me how to read and write historically from a nuanced perspective.
Somewhat surprisingly, my First-Year Seminar was my favorite class of Freshman Spring. Taught by the same professor as ‘The Crusades’, ‘Joan of Arc’ was the clear historical follow-up course. Learning about an inspiring and interesting historical woman was awesome!
SummerWright City, Oklahoma
I spent the Summer term after my thoroughly exhausting, and exhilarating, First-Year at home in Southeastern Oklahoma. It was a great opportunity for me to reconnect. While home, I worked for my tribal work program, enjoyed time with my family, and basked in the Oklahoma sun!
By far the most wonderful term of my Dartmouth career! While in Scotland, I studied religion and found my love for the subject. I am now a double major! This was the first time I had traveled outside of the U.S. I took advantage of this opportunity to become a global citizen and traveled to four other countries, but Scotland will always be my favorite.
In the world of academia, the importance and credibility of oral history as a valid source is all too often questioned. In Indigenous communities, our stories, traditions, cultures, and histories are all tied to orality. This was a refreshing course that allowed me to step away from colonial understandings of knowledge and relish in Indigenous ways of knowing. I loved that this class, taught at our Western institution, was unapologetic in the emphasis it placed upon oral traditions.
To be completely honest, this course was meant to simply fulfill my ART distributive requirement, while also conveniently checking off another course for my NAS modification. However, it turned out to be so much more. This course introduced me to Native American Art History. We spent some days walking around and viewing the Indigenous art that is placed throughout our beautiful campus. Other times, we went to the HOOD and learned about the numerous Native artworks and artifacts housed there.
After living for a term in bonnie Scotland, I was missing the wonderful nostalgic, historical, and almost mythic quality which my favorite country holds onto even today. This course, while not exclusively based in what is today Scotland, spent the majority of our class period discussing the old religions and cultures of this area.
My second term abroad! By now you’ve probably figured out how much I love studying in other countries. The great thing about the History FSP was that I wasn’t just taking classes in London, but I was also utilizing archival resources in the British Library to complete a Native American Studies Independent Research Project too!
I'll just say it, Winter is not my favorite term to be on campus, but Junior Winter feels like the first term that I truly hit my stride with course load choices. I loved ALL of my classes! Maybe these classes added up because two of them were literally focused on what I want to study for the rest of my life, and the third one was a totally amazing way to fulfill a SCI distributive requirement, but also... maybe I just had a lucky term.
SpringWright City, Oklahoma
My first term off after six terms on! I just let out a huge sigh of relief! I spent this term at home again in Oklahoma. I still worked remotely for the Admissions Office, but during this period I also spent a lot of time reading and writing for pleasure. Something I don’t always have time to do at Dartmouth.
SummerTecumseh, Oklahoma
This Summer term, I am living with family in Tecumseh, Oklahoma and have begun my full-time job for the Dartmouth Admissions Office as a Senior Fellow. I am also doing some Native American Art curatorial work for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma. No Zoom classes for me, but I’m still on the work from home grind!
In this course, we investigated how Muslims from the medieval to modern eras made use of poetry, art, religious and scientific literature to understand bodies, especially in terms of disease and desire. This course was interesting because of how pertinent the subject matter was in relation to this particular period of time where we are living during a pandemic and navigating love and desire through it all! Super relevant content and compelling discussions in this virtual class!
This course explores how archaeological methods can help us better understand religious phenomena in past societies. Topics include the religion (or lack thereof) of our hominid ancestors (e.g. Neanderthals), the state religions of ancient civilizations, and the complementary perspective that archaeology provides on the World Religions. As a Religion major, this course is right up my alley! I'm very excited to explore the intersections of anthropology, history, and religion.
Since we last talked, I've been immersed in a whirlwind winterim period! There's been work, applications, family time, and now, the beginning of classes! I'm back to blogging and ready to give you all the real run down of my break!
My first order of business upon returning home to Oklahoma was to finish up my internship with the University of Oklahoma's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. I've been working both virtually and in-person (under strict social-distancing protocols) as the museum's Mellon Foundation Curatorial Intern of Native American Art. For the first month of my winterim, I completed my remaining internship hours. Throughout the internship, I primarily wrote social media posts that paid homage to some of the amazing Black and Indigenous artists within the museum's collections. I also managed to curate two rotations for the James T. Bialac Gallery. This two-part rotation is titled Native Women in Southeastern Tribal Traditions and will go up in the summer and winter of 2021. I researched label and wall text for the entire exhibit and curated this gallery of specific artworks portraying Native women of Southeastern tribal heritage by only Southeastern Native American female artists. I am so excited to see this gallery officially installed! It is one of my proudest accomplishments.
A photo of me outside the FJJMA on my first day as a Mellon Intern! It was an amazing experience!
This piece is by Jeffrey A. Gibson, a Choctaw and Cherokee artist and is titled Tricks and Unusual Gestures. It is one of my favorite pieces in the FJJMA's collections!
Over the course of the holidays, I spent time with my family and, much to my dismay, working on post-grad opportunity applications. As my blogger bio indicates, spending time with my family is (and always will be) one of my favorite things. However, this holiday season looked a bit different. Typically, we would have a large family gathering filled with the laughter of aunties, uncles, and cousins. This year, I was only able to share the holiday season with my mom, brother, and grandparents. Nonetheless, we made the most of it by eating lots of good food, making Christmas candy, and ringing in the New Year together. Somehow, in the midst of all this holiday cheer, I also managed to work on post-graduate opportunity applications. After applying for undergraduate, I thought I was done with seas of essays and letter of recommendation requests, but now I find myself in this world once again! The difference between then and now though, is that now I'm an Admissions Office Senior Fellow with the insider scoop on all things admissions related. Hopefully, this gives me a leg up!
This is a photo my mom snapped of me on Christmas Eve. Even though I had nowhere to go, I still decided to dress up for the occasion!
This is just a snapshot of my beautiful New Years Day in Oklahoma! The words on my shirt are a reminder that we are all living on Native land. A fact we should remember every year!
Wow! I can't believe we've made it this far. It's finally winter term of my senior year, and while I had a very eventful winterim, I know that the real chaos is yet to ensue! I'm taking three classes again this term and I'm looking forward to all of them. Don't worry, I'll keep y'all updated on the journey!
This winter break, I was among the group of students who participated in DCSI's "Winterim Impact Winter Intensive," and I pursued an internship in Istanbul about interfaith dialogue sponsored by DCSI funding!
After six months of internships, vacations with friends, studying abroad and spending time with friends, I'm finally back on campus, living and taking classes at Dartmouth.
I spent Fall 2022 in Washington, D.C. at the Department of State (DOS), which is our country's foreign policy arm. From this experience, I thought I would share two hidden benefits of Dartmouth's unique D-Plan.
A photo of me outside the FJJMA on my first day as a Mellon Intern! It was an amazing experience!
This piece is by Jeffrey A. Gibson, a Choctaw and Cherokee artist and is titled Tricks and Unusual Gestures. It is one of my favorite pieces in the FJJMA's collections!
