Jennifer Saenz (Cherokee Nation)

Oklahoma Cherokee Nation beadwork artist Vicky Watson was born and resides in Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma. Her Cherokee name is Kamama, meaning “Butterfly.”

Vicky’s Cherokee Nation roots run deep in Oklahoma. Her grandfather and father lived on Cherokee allotment land in Yonkers, Oklahoma, in Wagoner County within the Cherokee Nation, land that has remained within her family for generations. This connection to family, place, and Cherokee Nation heritage is an important influence on her life and artwork.

Vicky began her journey into Native American beadwork in 2022 at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum. From that foundation, she continued developing her skills through independent study and hands-on practice while expanding her knowledge through classes and instruction at Native American museums and cultural centers throughout Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Arts Institute.

In 2024, Vicky expanded her practice into portrait beadwork, using beads as a medium for visual storytelling. Her portraits honor Native Americans and other individuals whose lives and stories are connected to Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and the broader history of the region.

Together with her daughter, Jennifer Saenz, Vicky creates portrait beadwork inspired by their shared passion for honoring people and stories from the past. Through their artwork, they bring these individuals forward through beadwork, connecting the past with the present and keeping their stories visible for future generations.

Vicky’s portrait beadwork has been acquired by the Cherokee Nation, including her portrait of Sequoyah, for display in Cherokee Nation facilities.

Some of Vicky’s early portrait beadwork was created in collaboration with design artist Debbie Franklin Richard and featured in the exhibition Into the Mirror at the Oklahoma History Center.

In 2025, Vicky joined her daughter, Jennifer, in the joint exhibition Threads of Untold History. As the exhibition’s two beadwork artists, they created portraits of Freedmen and Freedmen descendants of the Five Civilized Tribes, using portrait beadwork to bring greater visibility to their lives, histories, and stories. The exhibition has been presented at multiple museums and cultural venues across Oklahoma, including Fulton Street Books on historic Greenwood Avenue (Black Wall Street) in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Indian Territory Museum of Black Creek Freedmen History in Oklahoma City, and the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee.

For Vicky, beadwork is more than an art form. It is a connection to Cherokee Nation culture, family, history, and identity, and a way to carry those connections forward for future generations.