Linn D. Pauahty
Linn D. Pauahty, a Kiowa Indian born in Indian Territory in 1905, was a Methodist minister, a historian, a teacher and counselor. He spent his life as a leader to all Indian people. During his long ministry he observed the spiritual needs of his people included a need for knowledge and pride in their heritage.
Graduating from high school as an adult, Linn entered Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma before transferring to Oklahoma A & M to finish a degree in animal husbandry and agriculture. He was “called to the ministry” and became the first Indian and first Kiowa to graduate from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
In the middle 1940’s he completed a film documentary for the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church on the history of Indian people in the church. This inspired the lifelong work for he and his wife, Edna Hokeah Pauahty, to document for preservation the songs and stories of Indian people.
It was also the beginning of the American Indian Soundchief, Inc. He eventually amassed a collection of over 4,000 songs and stories of the Plains and Southwest Indians. His travels to record the songs and stories took him from Maine to California. The Sioux people gave him the name “Soundchief” and it became the business name for the first Indian owned and operated recording business.
Understanding that with the passing of his generation, first hand information of Kiowa people would be lost to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He founded the Kiowa Historical Society and with the Kiowa elders compiled the stories and history of Kiowa people. “Kiowa Voices” was published on conjunction with the History Department of Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, Texas
He and his grandchildren, Alvin Deer and Mary Helen Deer, founded the Linn D. Pauahty Foundation, a non-profit corporation, to continue his historical research.
Video productions and audio tapes and discs of songs and stories are in production for educational purposes and for tribal museums and schools and universities.
The Board of Directors is composed of Indian people who share the vision of preservation of American Indian history and culture.