Phyllis Fife (born 1948) is a

Muscogee Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsOklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Personal life and education

Fife was born near Dustin, Oklahoma to James Fife and Carmen Griffin Fife. She belongs to the Raccoon clan and Tukvpvtce Tribal Town. She was first educated in a rural school before enrolling in the

Institute of American Indian Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

in Santa Fe from 1963 until 1966. She studied under Howard Warshaw at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

and transferred to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1970. At OU, she earned her BFA degree in 1973. She then earned her Master of Education degree at

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

and her Doctor of Education degree from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Fife has three daughters.

Art career

Fife was a fashion designer and painter, who exhibited in Oklahoma and nationalwide. Along with her sisters Sharon Fife Mouss,

Sandy Fife Wilson Sandy Fife Wilson (born 1950) is a Muscogee (Creek) art educator, fashion designer and artist. After graduating from the Institute of American Indian Arts and Northeastern Oklahoma State University, she became an art teacher, first working in t ...

and Jimmie Carole Fife Stewart, who are also visual artists, she launched the Fife Collection, a fashion design company that incorporated

Southeastern Woodland Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an ethnographic classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the Southeastern United States and the nor ...

aesthetics and was based in Henryetta, Oklahoma.

Education career

Phyllis Fife has taught at

Northeastern Oklahoma State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

(NSU) and

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern, SE, or SOSU) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had an undergraduate enrollment of 4,824 in 2019. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an a ...

. She served as the director of the Center for Tribal Studies at NSU from 2003 to 2014 and coordinated NSU's Symposium of the American Indian for many years in Tahlequah.

Honors

In 2013, Fife was inducted into the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's Muskoke Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Oral History Interview with Phyllis Fife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Phyllis 1948 births Living people Native American painters Native American women artists American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women artists University of California, Santa Barbara alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Northeastern State University faculty Southeastern Oklahoma State University faculty Muscogee (Creek) Nation people People from Hughes County, Oklahoma Painters from Oklahoma Indigenous fashion designers of the Americas American women fashion designers American women academics 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women American educators American women educators