Pauline Carpenter Brown was a fluent speaker of the Chickasaw language and had considerable knowledge of Chickasaw history and culture.

She was born in Fillmore, Oklahoma, in 1931, and spent her childhood in the country on her mother’s allotment of land. Eventually, she was sent to Goodland Indian Orphanage for schooling because her mother had died and her father was rarely home.

Time at Goodland proved to be both good and bad for her. Although she had friends there, Brown was not allowed to speak Chickasaw.

This did not deter her from growing up to be a fluent speaker of the Chickasaw language and notable historian of the Chickasaw culture. She served on the Chickasaw Language Committee, the Chickasaw Nation Historical Society and the tribal election board. One highlight of Brown’s career was portraying Widow Harjo in the award-winning, feature-length film, “Pearl.”

She also made use of her knowledge in her work as a consultant to Wickliffe Mounds Archeological Site in Kentucky, the Union County Historical and Genealogical Museum in Mississippi, and The Old Post Office Museum also in Mississippi.