Betty Gaedtke is an Elder of the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma and a traditional potter. She specializes in recreating vessels made by her Quapaw Ancestors of Arkansas during the Mississippian Period.

The Mississippian Period, (roughly 1,000-1500 CE) was a time of cultural explosion. People across America were experimenting with new forms of farming and government. Trade and new art forms flourished while people built pyramids and America’s first cities.

Ms. Gaedtke will share the history of her Tribe, family, and Quapaw/Mississippian pottery.

Her work is prominently on display in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Angel Mounds State Historic Site in Indiana. Please join us in welcoming her to the Jeffers Petroglyphs!