SEPTEMBER 4, 1985

OSAGE ACTIVIST, NOTED RIBBONWORKER WAH-KAH-SAH (GEORGEANNE ROBINSON) DIED

Born October 13, 1917, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma (OK), her tribal name meant “My Deer Is Running Pairs.”  After boarding school, Georgeanne earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Northeastern State University and taught in public schools.  In 1958, she and her sisters established the Red Man Store in Bartlesville, OK, producing the old design of Osage ribbonwork.  Their trademark was “Ribbonwork a Specialty.”  She also became active in the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) becoming recording secretary (1960), 1st elected woman vice president (1966), acting president for its 25th Annual Convention (1968) and deemed one of the “most influential Indian women in the country.”  After her sisters died, Robinson ran the store herself until 1978.  A member of the City Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Bartlesville Indian Women’s Club, and Parents Indian Education Committee, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1982.  She died in Tipton, Indiana.

Sources: 
 “Georgeanne Robinson,” NEA National Heritage Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, 1982.  Retrieved 6/26/2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20170610083611/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/georgeann-robinson
 Katherine Red Corn, Nona Kerr (transcriber), "Robinson, Georgeann," Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Libraries Western History Collections. Doris Duke Collection, Volume 048, Tape T-270-1, Document 326, 5/16/68. Retrieved 6/26/2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20180820182734/https://digital.libraries.ou.edu/utils/getfile/collection/dorisduke/id/6227/filename/6217.pdfpage
Photo:  NEA, 1982. Courtesy, NEA. Public Domain.