Dr. Dayna Bowker Lee
daynal@nsula.edu
Louisiana Regional Folklife Program
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Oklahoma
M.A. History, NSU
B.A. Anthropology, NSU
Fields of Interest:
Louisiana Folklife; Traditional Cultural Systems; Native American Societies in the Southeastern U.S.; Sense of Place; Regional Development; Ethnohistory; Cultural Preservation; Ethnicity; Population Dynamics; Adaptation
Dr. Lee received early training in folklife, ethnohistory, and anthropology as a student in the Department of Social Sciences at NSU. She served as Associate Director of the Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival and the Louisiana Folklife Center for several years, putting her into contact with traditional communities throughout the state. While pursuing a doctorate at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Lee served as the Traditional Arts Program Director of the Oklahoma Arts Council. While a student at NSU, she began fieldwork with the Caddo Indians of Oklahoma, formerly of Louisiana. Her dissertation, A Social and Population History of the Southern Caddo, is being prepared for publication. Dr. Lee has prepared ethnohistorical studies for the Federal Recognition petitions of the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb/Zwolle, the Clifton Choctaw, the Houma, and the Apalachee, and for the land claims of the Chitimacha Tribe. As the regional folklorist for the Red River Valley and Neutral Strip, she works with traditional artists, communities, organizations, and presenters to provide technical assistance and documentation of folkways in Northwestern Louisiana.
