Margaret Janeese Brixey Flanagan, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, # C00066485, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday the thirteenth of November, 1953. She currently lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma with the youngest of her six children, Dan, who is a 17-year-old student at the Oklahoma School for the Blind.

In the 1830’s, her father’s family came to Delaware District of the Indian Territory with the Removals, or what is commonly called “The Trail of Tears.” Some of that family sill live in the Cherokee Nation in what is now Delaware County.

“My family lived near Eucha, (pronounced OO-Chee), just a mile or so from where my Dad built the tar paper cabin that we lived in when I was small. It cost him $90 to build our little cabin in the woods. A love for my Cherokee heritage and our history is deeply ingrained in me through my raising.

Oklahoma is home to over 65 tribes that were forcibly moved to new homes here. The people of Oklahoma are largely the remnant of those that not only survived but also succeeded in the face of great adversity. I enjoy researching and studying the history and culture of each tribe as I work. And to me, there is not a more perfect symbol for the perpetuation of a tribe than a baby.”

Margaret has been drawing and creating art since the first grade, but it is her particular love of sculpting that is reflected so well in the life-like appearance of her dolls and in her sculpture. Recently, Margaret began sculpting in clay.

Margaret plans to offer it and other Limited Edition bronze sculptures reflecting Cherokee history and culture.

Margaret’s style and method is self-taught, and she learns something new each time she creates a sculpture. When you look at the exquisite detail of her work, you may find it amazing and inspiring to know that Margaret has been legally blind since she was a teenager. She has an approximate 10-degree filed of vision, like a small tunnel, due to Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a hereditary eye disease. She is able to achieve her amazing level of detail with the aid of a very bright light and magnification.

Margaret says of her visual impairment, “If I had to choose an eye disease, I would choose the one I have! It does not disfigure your eyes, first of all. Most people have to be told that I am legally blind...they cannot tell by looking at me or by watching me move around in a familiar setting. My central vision is good, so what I do see, I see just fine. I just have no peripheral vision. Also, it is not painful. It is so gradual...you have plenty of time to adjust, and the progression is so subtle that it is hard to notice the changes. It is not like waking up from a bad wreck and being blind.

Because of my limited field of vision, I cannot see a person’s entire face at once. Nor can I see the entire face when I am working on a project. I can see one eye at a time, or a nose, or a mouth...but the list of things I can do is far longer than the list of things I cannot do!”

Not only has she learned to live and create in spite of her RP; she has also been instrumental in the efforts to find a cure for the disease. She and her six children, five of whom also have RP, are directly involved with the research team at the University of Texas Health Science Center (be sure to see other information on my “Links” page) that located the gene that carries their type of RP. Of the 34 types of RP, theirs is the closest to finding a cure!

Another interesting fact about her history is that Margaret was once a professional singer for Decca Records in Nashville. Be sure to see her page at Tulsa TV Memories. She has recently started singing again in the greater Tulsa area.

Margaret’s work is considered highly collectible and has been carried in several museums, including the Cherokee National Museum, the Cherokee Courthouse Museum, the Thomas Gilcrease Museum, the Will Rogers Memorial, the Davidson Interpretive Center, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Native American Orphan dolls have also graced private collections worldwide, including those whose owners are know for their own work, such as the famed Cherokee sculptor and artist Willard Stone and many other well-known Indian artists.

Her work has been displayed at these locations: Magnifico! Art Space, Albuquerque City MuseumAlbuquerque, New Mexico Santa Fe Doll Art, World’s Largest Doll Show of Its Kind Santa Fe, New Mexico Sixth Annual Aural Doll Festival Sussex,Brighton, England “Art Beyond Sight” Philadelphia Art Alliance Satellite Gallery Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Homecoming” Cherokee National Museum Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tulsa Indian Arts Festival Tulsa, Oklahoma Cherokee Art Market Red Earth Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Davidson Interpretive Center Springfield, Ohio Her work can also be seen on permanant display at the Cherokee Casino in Catoosa.