Space is limited, and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Learn more about the songs and language of the Caddo Nation with this presentation by Alaina Tahlate and singing by the Caddo Culture Club Drum featuring Mike Meeks, Mason Meeks, Michael Meeks, and Chad "Nish" Earles.
The Caddo Culture Club is an organization formed in 1988 in an effort to preserve the culture and traditions of the Caddo People. They have appeared at universities, public schools, and museums throughout the United States exhibiting their songs, dances, and providing information about Caddo history and current activities. The Caddo Culture Club has participated at many local events as well as exhibited at events across our ancestral homelands of Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
Alaina Tahlate is a member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and a Caddo language advocate. She is a descendant of the Natchitoches and Hasinai branches of the historical Caddoan Confederacy in what is now called northeastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana.
Tahlate is one individual in a 70-year-long collective effort to preserve the critically endangered Caddo tribal language, of which there are fewer than five fluent speakers remaining. She studied tribal languages at the University of Oklahoma. She has shared the Caddo language since 2015 under the guidance and mentorship of knowledgeable elders and colleagues. She is currently developing Caddo language learning resources with the help of fellow Caddo community members and allies.
This program is part of Late Nights at the Dallas Museum of Art.