Mahota: Celebrating the Chickasaw Spirit with Artesian Textiles and Handwovens
Hi there! Welcome to Mahota. We’re an all-woman team of Chickasaw artisans. Tucked away in the heart of the Chickasaw Nation, you can find both of our brick-and-mortar locations in the beautiful town of Sulphur, Oklahoma.
Our showroom, Mahota Textiles, is the first North American tribally-owned textile company and features an array of designs created locally in Oklahoma and commercially woven in the United States. We’d love to have you visit our showroom at 309 West Muskogee Avenue, Sulphur Oklahoma.
Mahota Studios, located inside the ARTesian Galleries and Studios, is a weaving co-op showcasing a unique selection of handwoven pieces created by exceptionally talented local Chickasaw weavers. Interested in checking it out? Mahota Studios is located at 100 West Muskogee Avenue.
Where it All Began: Mahota Handwovens
Mahota Handwovens was founded in 1984 by Margaret Roach Wheeler, an award-winning textile artist, and fiber expert. Margaret always saw the beauty in hand weaving as a beautiful art form and spent the early years of her business sharing her work with museums and art shows around the country.
Interested in learning more about our founder and her business journey? Click here to read more.
Though she loved hand-weaving, Margaret was frustrated with some design limitations in creating the circles and curvilinear lines common to the Chickasaw culture. She could create designs that looked somewhat like a circle on her handloom, but a computerized loom would allow her to create circles and other shapes. On the other hand, she knew she didn’t want to be an artist who worked on a computer all day.
This dilemma led Margaret to a pivotal transition in her business that evolved Mahota Textiles as an extension of Mahota Handwovens.
The Beginnings of Mahota Textiles
Margaret continued to think about the creation of traditional Southeastern Tribal designs with the use of computerized looms. She sought the help of her friend, Joanna John, who graciously helped her write a business proposal. Margaret took her proposal to Governor Bill Anoatubby and Secretary of Commerce, Bill Lance of the Chickasaw Nation, and they accepted.
After that, Margaret joined forces with Taloa Underwood and Bethany McCord to create our trio of powerful women. Our luck continued when we went on to showcase our products in the Chickasaw Shark Tank, and subsequently found a mill in Pennsylvania to weave our Southeastern Tribal designs. Mahota Textiles launched in 2018 with the backing of the Chickasaw Nation and a mission to educate by creating meaningful designs inspired by our cultural heritage.
While hand-weaving a blanket would take at least a month of steady work, commercial looms can create many blankets at a time. Upon arrival from the mill, we carefully inspect each item for the slightest flaw. We take great pride in providing only the highest-quality, and with proper care, our products can last a lifetime.
Have Your Own Mahota Textile!
If you’re interested in investing in your own Mahota Textile or Handwoven, we’d be honored to serve you at our showroom, on our website, or at any one of our 20 current retail partners across the United States.
Our products will also be available in the First Americans Museum opening in Oklahoma City beginning fall 2021. We were honored to create a custom upholstery fabric and a commemorative blanket for their grand opening event.
Plus, be sure to connect with us on Facebook and Instagram!
Looking at the Future of Mahota Textiles
Southeastern Tribal designs have not had much recognition in the United States up to this point, and it is our mission to incorporate them into our products to tell the stories of our culture.
When envisioning the future, our founder Margaret hopes to expand our reach nationwide by having a large warehouse space with offices occupied by many employees creating, packing and shipping our products…Shipping trucks would be lined up to get our products into the hands of customers.
Taloa is excited about Mahota Textiles receiving additional exposure in the First American Museum in Oklahoma City. She also envisions our products being featured in more magazines and expanding our reach on social media.
Bethany looks forward to expanding our product line. We recently expanded into cosmetic bags, tote bags, and scarves. She envisions future additions of home products, fabric-by-the-yard for interior design companies, and a clothing line. She would like to secure an independent Oklahoma City storefront and consider additional expansion into other cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York.
Looking back at where we’ve been, we are so proud of how far we’ve come, and the bright future we have to look forward to. Thank you for being here to support Mahota Textile, and the Chickasaw Nation.