Wes Studi: Chilocco Indian Agricultural School Alumni

Interview Date: 05/28/2016
Interviewer: Little Thunder, Julie Pearson
Interview Location: Newkirk, Oklahoma

Long before beginning his illustrious career on the big screen, Wes Studi (Cherokee) got his life's start in small-town Oklahoma, spending a few years of his youth at Chilocco. Born in 1947 in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, Studi and his Cherokee family spoke only their Native language in the home. It wasn't until first grade that he started to learn English, which was a shock to the family's system. He attended Murrow Indian Children's Home for the first few years of his schooling before transferring in ninth grade to Chilocco, where his father had also attended. At the school, he worked in one of the kitchens (giving him coveted access to the bakery) and later went into laundry and dry cleaning, starting a side business of his own to make a little money.

This interview was conducted as part of the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School Alumni Oral History Project at the OSU Library. For more information on this interview or to view the transcript, visit https://cdm17279.contentdm.oclc.org/d.... To learn more about the collection or the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, visit https://library.okstate.edu/oralhistory/ © Oklahoma State University

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