Content area
Full Text
Our publication has had the great privilege of sharing the stories of several exceptional Oklahoma men whose exploits and deeds earned them the respect and admiration of people around the globe. Men like Jim Thorpe, Wiley Post, and Will Rogers were native to Oklahoma, but ultimately received worldwide acclaim. Oklahomans blushed with pride at the mention of these names, which will live on forever in our hearts. Another Oklahoma man who brought tremendous glory to our state, and who is qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as those other Oklahoma dignitaries, is the famed Native American artist and flutist...Doc Tate Nevaquaya.
Born Joyce Lee Tate Nevaquaya on July 3, 1932 in Apache, Oklahoma, he was later given the nickname "Doc" after the family's physician. Orphaned at 14 and raised by his grandparents, he graduated in 1951 from Fort Sill Indian School in Lawton, Oklahoma and went on to study at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, to be an electrician.
In 1953, Doc returned home with Charlotte, whom he had met at the Institute, and they married settling in Apache, Oklahoma where they continued to live, raising their children: Sonny, Jereaux, Sue, Edmond, Joycetta, Timothy, Sonia, Joseph and Calvert.