By Cherokee 411 | 6-6-2026
CHEROKEE NATION CITIZEN JANE MAXEY was there — and she never forgot it. 🎶🏹
On JULY 4, 1976 — the exact day of the United States Bicentennial — Elvis Presley took the stage at Tulsa’s Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University at 2:30 p.m. in front of nearly 12,000 fans. He wore his iconic BLUE EGYPTIAN BIRD JUMPSUIT and delivered a 25-song set for the ages.
Jane Maxey — Cherokee Nation citizen and daughter of the late Barbara Goss Dunlap of Chouteau, Oklahoma — was IN THAT CROWD. She recently sat down with the Mabee Center ahead of their upcoming 4th of July show and called the experience one word — “MIND-BLOWING.” 🎸✨
What Jane didn’t share in her video interview? Her FAVORITE song Elvis sang that night was SUSPICIOUS MINDS. 💙
Jane comes from a family of DEEPLY ROOTED Cherokee women. Her mother Barbara was a Cherokee Nation citizen and officer in the GOINGSNAKE DISTRICT HERITAGE ASSOCIATION, THE ASSOCIATION OF THE DESCENDANTS OF NANCY WARD, the OKLAHOMA CHAPTER AND NATIONAL TRAIL OF TEARS ASSOCIATION, the DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION at the Union Mission Chapter in Pryor, and the TULSA CHEROKEE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION — among many others. Jane’s late sister, JERI WOOD, walked that same path alongside their mother. 🌿
And the reason they were members of the Association of the Descendants of Nancy Ward? BECAUSE THEY ARE. Jane, Barbara, and Jeri are DIRECT DESCENDANTS of NANYEHI — NANCY WARD — the last Cherokee Beloved Woman, one of the most revered figures in all of Cherokee history. 🌺🏹
Jane carries that legacy forward today as an active member of the TULSA CHEROKEE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION — just like her mom and her sister before her. Look up TCCO on Facebook to join them and meet Jane yourself! 💙
Tulsa hosted Elvis on America’s 200th birthday. That’s a flex this city gets to keep FOREVER. 🇺🇸
Watch Jane’s video interview and grab tickets for the Mabee Center’s 4th of July show — the next best thing to being there in 1976! 🎟️
Cherokee 411 — Unfiltered. Independent. Cherokee. 🏹
