The National Museum of the American Indian purchased Jereldine Redcorn's ceramic pot titled "Intertwining Scrolls" in 2005. This was significant recognition for the Norman artist's one-woman resurrection of the traditional Caddo methods in making both fine and utilitarian pottery. Important as that acknowledgement was however, there's no way Redcorn could have known that someday this piece would be chosen by first lady Michelle Obama for display in the White House's Oval Office.

That's what happened this fall.

"It's quite an honor to have my work selected along with other artists such as Maria Montoya Martinez," Redcorn said recently during an interview at University of Oklahoma's Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

Her art will be among work by others such as Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns on display for the commander in chief's daily enjoyment and inspiration.

"When President Obama was elected, I received e-mails from German friends congratulating us on the outcome," Redcorn said. "His election has made a difference all over the world by opening doors."

Redcorn knows something about opening doors through her art. In 2000 she made friends with a collective of German artists called the Group of Five. Along with other Native American artists, Redcorn traveled to Bremen. They worked and shared ideas together as well as had a great time getting to know each other.

"In 2004, they came to America," Redcorn said. "We've kept the conversation going and it has been a wonderful exchange."

How a little girl from Washita County grew up to be an international artistic ambassador, her work admired by the most powerful couple in the world, is a fascinating story. Redcorn also is a wife, mother, retired educator and has been an artist in residence at the Smithsonian Institution.

"I grew up on my dad's cotton farm in Colony," she said. "We went to Caddo dances and also Cheyenne and Arapaho because their reservations were nearby."

One of Redcorn's favorites was the Alligator Dance.

"When you're young it's a social dance and you hope you'll be holding hands with some guy you like," she said. "The alligator aspect never occurred to me then, it had just been handed down through the centuries."

Obviously, there were no gators in western Oklahoma where she grew up but the reptile's symbolism was something Redcorn wouldn't forget.

It wasn't until 1991, as a member of the Caddo Culture Club, that she visited the Museum of the Red River in Idabelle and realized the enormity of what had happened to her nation.

"Not only had we been removed from the lush pine forests and river banks of Louisiana by President Andrew Jackson," Redcorn said. "Our amazing culture had been totally upset and in 1859 we arrived in Oklahoma barely with our lives."

Exposure to European diseases had begun decimating the Caddo population starting in the 16th century. Violent white settlers pushed the maize and squash farmers west. It's estimated only a few hundred Caddo made it to what would become the Sooner State.