He has specialized particularly on the histories, social organizations, and cultures of Native North American peoples in Oklahoma, USA.
He completed his doctorate in anthropology at the University of Oklahoma in 1990 with a dissertation that documented the history of the Native American Church among the Osage people.
A companion book-Peyote Religious Art: Symbols of Faith and Belief- was published by the University Press of Mississippi.
[6] In 2009 he completed work on a major project to conserve, interpret, and exhibit a unique pictorial record of Kiowa history compiled by the artist-historian Silver Horn.
The exhibition, K-12 teacher's materials, and scholarly book all shared the title One Hundred Summers: A Kiowa Calendar Record.