— End of week Eight —
Today marks the end of our 8th week in the class as we work towards developing the final components of our project overall. This week, my goal was to visit the Wichita County Archives, and other museums that I thought would be useful for this project.
Today I ventured to the Museum of North Texas History which is located in downtown Wichita Falls. During my visit to the museum, I met with the County Archivist, Bill Steward who although was very kind and knowledgeable during my time there, he actually did not have a lot of information to offer me in regards to the Wichita Indians. This of course was rather disappointing, mostly because I was expecting to have a different outcome in regards to this visit; my expectations may have been set too high which mostly explains that sentiment.
Mr. Steward did mention that the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) might have more information in regards to the Wichita Indians due to the fact that Oklahoma has Indian Reservations located all over the state. He additionally mentioned that if time permits, Anadarko, Oklahoma might be a good source as well.
With each day that passes, it become harder and harder to believe that there are very few, if not any, primary sources to be found in my area. Of course after having conversations with with my professors, it seems that this project I hope to do well on will accumulate all information that is currently available to everyone about the Wichita Indians, even if this means that there is no record of primary sources.
In the meantime, I’ll have to start working on our project site, and getting the information I have collected onto the site itself. This will be tedious work, but ultimately I am excited for it either way.
Please feel free to take a look at our digital COPLAC contract, which I have taken the time to perfect it from its initial form and includes a formal research proposal as well.
Here you will find our working thesis: “The Native American group known as the Wichita Indians suffered through immense forced migration during the 19th and 20th century due to Anglo – American influences in Northern Texas; hence the lack of current representation in places such as Wichita Falls, Texas.”
Until next time, Maria.
Link to MWSU Project Site – partnership.