Odie Brant Porter, pictured, has been named to the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Advisory Council. Submitted photo

The Smithsonian Institution recently named Odie Brant Porter, a long-time Seneca Nation advocate and current Council member, to the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Advisory Council, whose board met Wednesday.

In December 2020, Congress established a comprehensive women’s history museum within the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum expands the story of America through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women–individually and collectively–to better understand the nation’s past and to inspire future generations. Through new scholarship, diverse viewpoints, and innovative forms of exhibition, storytelling, and participation, the Museum seeks to promote a more equitable world for all people.

“I am honored to serve with this amazing group of American women to help tell the story of American women. In the Seneca Nation, women have always held a place of equality with men in matters of family and government,” Porter said. “I am hopeful that including stories of Indigenous women in the American Women’s History Museum will help inspire future generations of Americans.”

Porter, who won election to the Seneca Nation Council in 2022, previously served in senior executive roles in Seneca Nation governmental entities, higher education, and the private sector. Porter also serves on the WNY Women’s Foundation Board and the Burchfield Penney Art Center Board of Trustees.

Porter joins 25 other members of the Advisory Council, including New York Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, former Ambassador and Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Alice L. Walton, clothing designer Tory Burch, and actresses Lynda Carter and Rosario Dawson. See https://womenshistory.si.edu/about/leadership.

Porter, born and raised in the Allegany Territory, where she still lives, is a member of the Turtle Clan. She is the daughter of Carolyn Watt Brant and Randy Brant, and her husband is former Nation President Robert Odawi Porter. They have four children.