Owanah Anderson

Owanah Anderson, undated.

Owanah Anderson, a member of the Choctaw Nation, was born on February 18, 1926, in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, where she grew up surrounded by an extended family led by “a diminutive but iron-willed” grandmother. Raised Presbyterian, Anderson converted to the Episcopal faith after marriage.

Anderson earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma and was later awarded an honorary doctorate in Canon Law from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. In addition to raising a family, she was a leader in multiple areas of social reform both in The Episcopal Church and the wider community, serving as chair of The Episcopal Church’s National Committee on Indian Work (1978-1982) and as a member of President Carter’s Advisory Council on Women (1978-1981) among other achievements. Additionally, she founded Ohoyo, “a national consortium of Native American professional women,” which published multiple books and held leadership conferences around the country. After her husband’s death in 1983, Anderson joined the staff of the Presiding Bishop in the Office of Indian Ministry, where she remained until her retirement in 1998. During her career, Anderson published two books on the history of the relationship between Indigenous Americans and The Episcopal Church, entitled, 400 Years: Anglican/Episcopal Mission Among American Indians and Jamestown Commitment: The Episcopal Church and the American Indian.

Owanah Anderson died on March 24, 2017, at the age of 91.