About

Keepin' it Native since 1962

McKee’s Indian Store is a long-standing and treasured landmark in the Anadarko community, with a rich history in Native art and as a local source for materials used in creating Native art, crafts, and traditional clothing.

In addition to providing Indian supply materials, McKee’s selection is carefully curated to reflect the vibrant Indigenous culture present today in Oklahoma and across the United States.

Indigenous-owned and operated, our goal is to serve the community, support the continuation of traditional cultures, and showcase Indigenous artists alongside contemporary Native brands.

There have been only three owners of the store since its founding. Ray and Ethel McKee opened McKee’s Indian Store in August 1962. When Robert and Lorene Stephens took ownership, they relocated the store to its current location, connecting it to the Susan Peters Gallery.

Since its opening in the early 1980s, the Susan Peters Gallery has been home to the work of countless Native artists across Oklahoma. Like its namesake, the gallery has served as a place within the community where the artistic traditions of diverse tribes are celebrated.

The artists who have worked with both the Susan Peters Gallery and McKee’s are icons in Native art, and their legacies remain deeply cherished in Oklahoma.

Caddo Nation

On March 13, 2023, the Caddo Nation purchased McKee’s. The acquisition included both McKee’s Indian Store and the Susan Peters Gallery.

This transition marks a significant moment, as a tribe now owns and operates the only Native art gallery and Indian supply store in the area. In a community rich with artistic talent, the Caddo Nation recognized an opportunity to support and promote its own artists while continuing the long-standing tradition of showcasing the abundance of Indigenous talent in the Anadarko area—a place where five tribes intersect.

Brief history of the Susan Peters Gallery

The Susan Peters Gallery is named in honor of Susan Peters, a field matron for the U.S. Indian Service among the Kiowa. She was known for encouraging and promoting the artistic development of a group of young artists during their time at St. Patrick’s Mission School beginning around 1918.

Peters played a pivotal role in advancing their careers, helping facilitate their continued artistic education at the University of Oklahoma in 1923 and introducing them to Oscar Jacobson in 1926. These artists—Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, and Monroe Tsatoke, along with later member Lois Smokey—became known as the Kiowa Six, earning international recognition for their work.

Peters also helped launch the career of Potawatomi artist Woody Crumbo into the fine art world by facilitating the sale of several of his works to the Smithsonian Institution in the 1930s.