Native American Creatives

Friday, March 21, 2025

• Public lecture at 5:30 p.m.
• Bryan Recital Hall
• Moore Musical Arts Center

Saturday, March 22, 2025

• Wood County District Public Library
• 10:00 a.m. in the Atrium

Arigon Starr is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. Her father, Ken Wahpecome (Kickapoo) was a career Navy man and her mother, Ruth (Muscogee (Creek)/Cherokee/Seneca) was a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University. Arigon and her sister Gay grew up on the road as part of their military family, living on or near Naval bases across the US and as far away as Subic Bay, Philippines. Her parents supported her artistic expressions, encouraging her to learn as much as possible about music, composition, art, and drama.

Starr relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked behind the scenes at entertainment companies like Viacom Productions and Showtime Networks. During those years, she honed her songwriting and performance skills at coffeehouses in Los Angeles and Hollywood. In 1996, she left her corporate job behind and became a full-time musician and artist. Over the years she has released numerous CD’s, edited and illustrated comics, illustrated children’s books, performed her music across the country, and acted in plays and on television. Arigon is based in Los Angeles and is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity.

49 Minutes of Fame Artist Profile: Arigon Starr. November 19, 2021. The National Willa Cather Center.

Bernardin, Susan. (May 2017). Vital Kinships: A Conversation with Eric Gansworth & Arigon Starr. World Literature Today.

Sutton, Rebecca. (Jan. 31, 2017). Art Talk with Arigon Starr. National Endowment for the Arts Blog.

What is a Western? Interview Series: Telling the Untold Stories of Contemporary Native America. May 17, 2021. Autry Museum of the American West.