Amy is the great-granddaughter of Eastman Kaney (an original Dawes Commission enrollee) and a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation. She is an award-winning storyteller and educator, artist, and a founding member of her stomp dance troupe Hithla. Amy’s appreciation for cultural awareness came at an early age. She was raised in a military family; she lived in Germany, Okinawa, Turkey, and Scotland before returning to her Chickasaw roots in America.

Amy shares Chickasaw and Southeastern tribal customs with audiences of all ages through lively programs at schools, museums, libraries, and festivals throughout the United States and the world. Several performances at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York and DC are personal highlights. Her dance troupe, Hithla, also performs at events and festivals around the nation including the Smithsonian NMAI in New York.

Amy is a recipient of the Coleen Salley Storytelling Award for her commitment to the art of storytelling, by The University of Southern Mississippi. She has recently been chosen as a Spring of 2025 artist in residence at A Studio in the Woods, a program of Tulane University’s ByWater Institute, and one of the leading artistic and academic residency programs in the Gulf South region.

Amy is also an accomplished artist. Her artwork is sold at several museums and stores as well as powwows and festivals around the world. Amy has roots in Oklahoma and Texas, but now lives in Cork Ireland with her husband Carl, and a houseful of pets. She also has two daughters who have also taken to Chickasaw culture and stomp dance.