Jennifer Byram
About Jennifer Byram
Jennifer Byram is PhD candidate in archaeology at the University of Arizona who specializes in Indigenous textiles of the Southeastern United States. Her dissertation systematically documents Southeastern Indigenous textiles and basketry from 1700-1830 in museum collections in the US and Europe. Jennifer worked as a research associate for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma from 2016-2021 where she worked to digitize the Choctaw Nation museum collections, co-curated an exhibit with the Musée du quai Branly, and organized community efforts to revitalize Choctaw and Southeastern textiles. She received an MSc in Visual, Material, and Museum Anthropology from the University of Oxford in 2015 and her Bachelor’s in French Studies and Visual and Communication Arts from Franklin University Switzerland in 2014. Jennifer continues to work as an artist and researcher which includes coordinating activities for the Choctaw Traditional Textile group and as well as the creation of a series of textiles for the Choctaw Cultural Center in Durant, OK and the 2024 Marvel series “Echo.”
Selected Publications
Journal Articles:
Byram, Jennifer and Megan Baker, 2022, “Museums & Renewed Relations: Choctaw-French Nations of the 18th Century and Present.” Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archive Professionals 18(1): 59-68.
Byram, Jennifer 2021, "Many Makers: Collaborative Renewal of Chahta Nan Tvnna (Choctaw Textiles)." Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice 9(3): 335-358.
Byram, Jennifer, Vincent Haegele, Hortense Longequeue, Paz Núñez-Regueiro, Cady Shaw, and Nikolaus Stolle, 2021, “La Curiosité d’un Prince: Le Destin Du Cabinet Ethnographique Du Comte d’Artois, de La Révolution à Nos Jours: Une Exposition Retrace l’histoire d’une Collection.” La Revue des Musées de France: La Revue Du Louvre 1: 11–13.
Published Conference Proceedings:
Byram, Jennifer and Eveline Steele, 2025. “Plying Together Knowledges: Revitalization of Indigenous Textile Knowledge through Language.” Textile Society of America Proceedings, UNL Digital Commons.
Byram, Jennifer, 2018. “Reawakening Chahta Nan Tvnna (Choctaw Textiles).” Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, UNL Digital Commons.
Curated Exhibit
“La Curiosité d’un Prince,“ Bibliothèque Municipale de Versailles, France, 2021. Co-curator for Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation, collaboration with Musée du quai Branly and Bibliothèque municipale de Versailles
Selected Non-Academic Publications and Videos
Levi West, Alyssa Quan, Jennifer Byram, 2023. “Integrating rivercane as Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the Southeast Conservation Blueprint,” SECAS Strategy blog.
Byram, Jennifer, 2022. “How to Dye,” in Stories by Choctaw Women. Durant, OK: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Scribe Accroupi, 2021. “[Visite privée] "La Curiosité d'un Prince" à la Bibliothèque centrale de Versailles”/“[Private visit] "An Inquisitive Prince" at Versailles Public Library,” YouTube.
Chahta Tosholi, 2021. “Chahta Textile Revitalization with Jennifer Byram,” ChoctawNationOK, YouTube.
Byram, Jennifer, 2017. “Sketches of Choctaw Men in 1828 and 1830,” Biskinik. Durant, OK: April.
Byram, Jennifer, 2017. “Trial by Fiber: Mulberry Bark,” Biskinik. Durant, OK: March.
Byram, Jennifer, 2016. “1884.69.15 bison hair bag of the Pitt Rivers Museum,” Biskinik. Durant, OK: June.
Courses Taught (Teaching Assistant):
ANTH 160A1 World Archaeology
ANTH 150C Humanity – A How-To Guide
ANTH 160D2 Origins in Human Diversity
CLAS 160D2 Classical Mythology
Areas of Study
North America
Research Interests
Museum Anthropology, Material Culture, Indigenous Archaeology, Textiles, Basketry, Experimental Archaeology, Traditional Arts Revitalization, Collaborative and Community Research