Betty Nixon

Betty Nixon (November 28, 1928 – February 3, 2013) was an American Kiowa artisan, preservationist, guidance counselor, and museum administrator. Nixon was a co-founder of the Mid-America All-Indian Center, which opened in Wichita, Kansas, in 1976, and later served as chairwoman of the center's board of directors.

Nixon was born near Anadarko, Oklahoma, on November 28, 1928, to Homer Sampson Yeagtaupt Buffalo Tabbytite and Alice Ahtapety. She was a relative of Kiowa Chief Satanta, who was called the "Orator of the Plains" by journalists during the 19th Century. Nixon's grandfather, Kiowa Chief Touhason, signed the Little Arkansas Treaty of 1865. Her father, Homer Buffalo, was a Kiowa historian, cowboy, semi-professional baseball player, and game warden. Nixon's mother, Alice Ahtapety, was a homemaker who, along with her grandmother, taught her traditional Kiowa sewing and beading techniques, as well as cuisine. In a 1992 interview with the Wichita Eagle, Nixon explained the importance of her family in learning Kiowa culture, "I learned traditional beadwork and cooking...My grandmother would take us into the woods and tell us what plants to use. For instance the roots from soap weed could be used for shampoo. If we had a rash or mosquito bites, she would look for toadstools and dry them. Then she would crack them open and take the gray powder and rub them on our hands. She’d always tell us, ‘Don’t touch or taste. They are poisonous.’ "

Professionally, Nixon worked as a guidance counselor with the Wichita Public School system until her retirement. Nixon encouraged a preservation of traditional, Native American traditional arts and oral traditions, while seeking to expand the knowledge of indigenous culture among non-Native Americans.

Nixon, who made her own buckskin dresses, moccasins, and other pieces, was one of the few Kiowa who knew how to create apparel using traditional methods. She was a member of the folk arts apprentice program at the Kansas Historical Society, where she taught bead, textile, and buckskin techniques as master artist. Nixon was also a member of the Kansas State Historical Society folk arts advisory panel. She led efforts to preserve the crafts and art of the Plains Indians throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Betty Nixon died on February 3, 2013, at the age of 84. She was survived by her husband, Everett E. Nixon; three of their children, Sheri, Virginia, and Scott; nineteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by two sons, Everett Wayman Nixon and Allen Eugene Nixon.