Margaret Roach Wheeler

As an award-winning weaver, Margaret Wheeler balances fashion with art. Some consider the two to be intertwined. Wheeler's weavings have been featured in museums in Oklahoma, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, Indiana and Arizona. Her weavings have been seen in fashion shows as well.

Margaret considers herself an adaptable Chickasaw, using modern technology to help her with an ancient pastime. She uses computers to help her design the weavings that may adorn mannequins and eventually customers. Her deep roots in the Chickasaw heritage influence the look and feel of these weavings.

Margaret is also a teacher. She taught in Joplin, Missouri, for ten years before deciding to weave full time. Her decision to weave proved to be a fruitful one for her, and she hasn't looked back since that time. She now teaches workshops and seminars on Native American fibers and her own particular style of weaving.

She's been featured in several museums and was one of four Native American fashion designers chosen to speak at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Her creativity draws in an audience to see her work, but her extensive labor is something to marvel at as well. Some of her designs take weeks of full days of work. Margaret has Chickasaw and Choctaw ancestry, and this flows through her fingertips into the weavings she designs.