Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Ian Thompson PhD, RPA
Dr. Thompson works with Choctaw Nation staff and community members to protect Choctaw sacred and historic sites, to research Choctaw history, and to revitalize Choctaw traditional culture. Learning, practicing and teaching many traditional artforms since his early youth, Ian is also a certified Choctaw Community Language Instructor and a bison rancher.
WATCH
Ian Thompson, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma, is an experienced flintknapper. He describes the practice as an indigenous art form. Using a stone with high silica content, flintknappers chip away at the rock until it is transformed into a sharp edge cutting tool. Archaeologists learn a lot about past people when they uncover these bits of ancient technology.
