Class of 1980
1980 Maroon Spotlight
Tammy Faw Faw
Basketball, F.C.A., Indian Club, Indian Club Vice-President, Indian Club President, Basketball Royalty Attendent, Band, Track.
1980 Graduation EditionPerry Daily Journal
A 1979-80 basketball attendant and named most valuable player of the girls 1979-80 PHS basketball team was Tamara Dawn Faw Faw, 18. She was born Dec. 24, 1961, and is the daughter of Mrs. Patricia Faw Faw, 1309 Ivanhoe street. She has been a student of Perry public schools the past 12 years. She was active in the school basketball program from fifth through 12th grades, band from fifth grade through 11th grade and the PHS Indian club from ninth through 11th grade. Art is the favorite subject of Miss Faw Faw, who lists drawing and basketball as her hobbies. She plans to move to Tulsa and become employed following graduation. Miss Faw Faw is a member of the Baptist church.
Tamara Dawn (Faw Faw) Goodson
December 24, 1961 – June 30, 2025
Tammy (Tamara) Dawn “Miha Xege” Faw Faw, 63, died on June 30, 2025 at the age of 63.
Born in Perry, Oklahoma on December 24, 1961, she was the daughter of Billy Don and Patricia Ann (Durbin) Faw Faw. She was the granddaughter of Louis Morgan Faw Faw and Edna Euginie Dupee. She was the great-granddaughter of William “Wanosa” Faw Faw and Lucy Ruth Missouria Chief; and Victor Dupee and Lydia Childs. She was a member of the Owl Clan.
Tamara attended Otoe-Missouria Head Start and then attended Perry Public Schools until she graduated in 1980. She stayed friends with her Perry classmates all her life, especially her 80’s Ladies. In her youth, she loved to play basketball, draw, and hit the powwow trail with her family. Tammy was a free spirit, hippie chick. She lived in College Station, Texas and Monterrey, California, before moving back to Oklahoma in the late 1980s. In 1991, she met Jeff Goodson, and they wed October 26, 1991. Their daughter, Christina Goodson, was born the very next year, her eternal pride and joy.
She attended Oklahoma State University until the family moved to Manhattan, Kansas, in 1997. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000 from Kansas State University. There, Tammy found her voice and purpose through activism, art, and leadership. In 2001, she moved back to Stillwater where she resided until her death.
Learning from Otoe-Missouria seamstresses before her, she made traditional regalia for herself, her daughter, and many others. She was proud to be Otoe-Missouria more than anything in this world. She loved Sammy Hagar, Kenny Chesney, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Game of Thrones! Music was her lifeline and how she expressed her feelings. Her favorite place in the world was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She loved the movie “Almost Famous.” She was an accomplished artist and her works can be seen all over the United States. Tammy never met a stranger and had friends from Taiwan to Italy, France, and Scandinavia. Her life touched many others.
Preceding her in death were: her parents, Patricia and Billy Faw Faw; brother, Marc Faw Faw; niece, Haley Luttrell; nephew Dennis Michael Sindone Jr., and two angel babies, Hunter and Forrest Goodson.
Survivors include: her daughters, Christina Goodson and Mariah Enloe; son, Bradley Henson; brothers, Michael (Kern) Faw Faw, Willie Faw Faw, and Quinton (Rada) Shaw; sister Lillie (Willie) Nelson; nieces Bailey (Colton) Somers, Tashena Bird, and Patricia Diane Faw Faw; nephews Morgun (Vanessa) Frejo, Louis Faw Faw, Christopher Sindone, and Willie Nelson, Jr.; and grandchildren Sha’yu’ and Caius.
Burial will be at the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Cemetery in Red Rock, OK. Memorials can be made to Wings Foundation in her memory at https://www.wingsfound.org/donate/