MEET THE ARTISTS
Daughter/Mother Team + Best Friends
Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer…
…is a story archaeologist. She digs up shards of past lives, hopes, and truths, and pieces them together for readers today. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian honored her as a literary artist through their Artist Leadership Program for her work in preserving Choctaw Trail of Tears stories. A tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, she writes historical fiction from her hometown in Texas, partnering with her mother, Lynda Kay Sawyer, in continued research for future works.
Lynda Kay Sawyer…
…is a multidisciplinary artist (photography, jewelry, writing, filmmaking), devoted to preserving and inspiring appreciation for First American Native history and culture, featuring her Choctaw heritage. She creates art based on stories handed down and extensive research.
Her photography depicts the Chahta spirit in people, artifacts, nature, and historical places. She captures images from the mountaintops where the last strain of Choctaw horses roamed, to the faces of those keeping the spirit alive today. Her photos have been published in national magazines and on the book covers of Touch My Tears and Anumpa Warrior: Choctaw Code Talkers of WWI, and coincide with historical fiction books by author Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. Photographing images across the United States, Lynda Kay views the world through her camera lens by the light of her Christian faith in the Creator.
Inspired to preserve and honor the legacy and faith of her ancestors, Lynda Kay's jewelry designs tells their stories. With imagistic form, coordinate colors and creative stories, she journeys through the lives of her forebears.
As a filmmaker, Lynda Kay had the opportunity of producing an artist profile documentary for the Artist Leadership Program of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute. Producing short films to hone her skills, she hopes to immortalize her ancestors' dedication to future generations by putting their stories on the big screen.
Lynda Kay Sawyer is a registered artist of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
