The Chickasaw Cultural Center will host Ithana: The Learn and Lunch Series at noon on Dec. 16.

The presentations are free and open to the public. There is an optional lunch available to purchase which includes an entrée and drink.

Due to limited seating, reservations are preferred. Contact the Special Events Department at (580) 622-7130 or email Special.EventsCCC@chickasaw.net.

*IDP credit is available for Chickasaw Nation employees who attend.

Schedule:

Dec. 16, 2025 - noon - 1 p.m.

"First Encounter" presented by Jacquelyn Sparks

In December 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto led an army of men into the historic Chickasaw Homeland. This presentation discusses the impact of European arrival in the Southeast and will feature a screening of the Chickasaw Nation Productions short film “First Encounter.”

Biography:

Jacquelyn Sparks is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, long-time resident of the Chickasaw Nation treaty territory, and has worked for the Chickasaw Nation since 2013. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Oklahoma and currently serves as the Director of Collections for the Chickasaw Nation Collections and Support Division, located at the Chickasaw Cultural Center. She is an interdisciplinary researcher with subject area interests in Removal, visual culture and photography of Indian Territory. Her article, "Lowak Sipokni': Fire Practices in Chikashshiyaakni' Before the Stars Fell," was featured in the Journal of Chickasaw History and Culture in the summer of 2025. She also contributes to Cherokee studies as an independent scholar and was a fellow of the inaugural Digadatseli’i ᏗᎦᏓᏤᎵᎢ Cherokee Scholars Workshop Fellowship, hosted at Harvard University. She is a member of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums, the Society for American Archaeology, Western History Association, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association.