List of Native American artists from Oklahoma
Encyclopedia
This list indexes notable Native American artists from Oklahoma
. Artists listed in this index were born in Oklahoma, at one time lived in Oklahoma or presently live in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Artists listed in this index were born in Oklahoma, at one time lived in Oklahoma or presently live in Oklahoma.
Basket weavers
- Mike DartMike DartMike Dart is a Native American artist of the Cherokee Nation, who is one of the few Western Cherokee men who specialize in Cherokee basketry.-Background :...
(b. 1977), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, basket weaver - Mavis DoeringMavis Doering-Background:Doering was born in Hominy, Oklahoma and was the third generation of a family of basketmakers. She was mostly self-taught. Beginning in the 1970s, she researched weaving techniques from books in libraries and museums.-Art:...
(1929-2007), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, basket weaver
Bead artists
- Richard AitsonRichard AitsonRichard Aitson is a Kiowa-Kiowa Apache bead artist, curator, and poet from Oklahoma.-Background:Richard Aitson was born on December 26, 1953 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. His mother was the Kiowa traditionalist Alecia Keahbone Gonzales , who taught the Kiowa language at the University of Science and Arts...
(1953-), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-ApacheApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, beadworker - Martha BerryMartha Berry (artist)Martha Berry is a Cherokee beadwork artist, who has been highly influential in reviving traditional Cherokee and Southeastern beadwork, particularly techniques from the pre-Removal period.-Background:...
, Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, beadworker - Vanessa JenningsVanessa JenningsVanessa Paukeigope Jennings is a renowned Kiowa-Apache-Gila River Pima regalia maker, clothing designer, cradle board maker, and bead artist from Oklahoma....
, KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-PimaPimaThe Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
, beadwork, traditional clothing and tipis - Lois Bougetah Smoky (1907-1981), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
painter (one of the Kiowa Six)
Dancers
- Yvonne ChouteauYvonne ChouteauMyra Yvonne Chouteau is one of the "Five Moons" or Native prima ballerinas of Oklahoma. In 1962 she and her husband founded the first fully accredited university dance program in the United States, at the University of Oklahoma. A member of the Shawnee Tribe, she is also of ethnic French...
(b. 1929), Shawnee TribeShawnee TribeThe Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma.-History:Sometimes known as the "Loyal Shawnee," the Shawnee Tribe is one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. They are an Eastern Woodland tribe. They originally came from Ohio and were the last of the Shawnee...
, ballerina - Rosella HightowerRosella HightowerRosella Hightower was an American ballerina who achieved fame in both the United States and Europe.-Biography:...
(1920-2008), ChoctawChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
ballerina - Moscelyne LarkinMoscelyne LarkinMoscelyne Larkin is one of the "Five Moons", Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma to gain international fame in the 20th century. After dancing with the Original Ballet Russe and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she and her husband settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where in 1956 they founded the...
(b. 1925), PeoriaPeoria (tribe)The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:...
-ShawneeShawneeThe Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
ballerina - Maria TallchiefMaria TallchiefMaria Tallchief was the first native-American prima ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965.-Early life:...
(b. 1925), OsageOsage NationThe Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
ballerina - Marjorie TallchiefMarjorie TallchiefMarjorie Louise Tallchief was a ballerina of the Osage Nation.-Career:Tallchief was the first American Indian to be "première danseuse étoile" of the Paris Opera Ballet and performed with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. During her career she also performed for politicians such as John F....
(b. 1926), OsageOsage NationThe Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
ballerina
Diverse traditional artists
- Mildred CleghornMildred CleghornMildred Cleghorn was first chairperson of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe.Mildred Imoch Cleghorn, whose Apache names were Eh-Ohn and Lay-a-Bet, was one of the last Chiricahua Apaches born under a "prisoner of war" status. She was an educator and traditional doll maker, and was regarded as a cultural...
(1910-1997), Fort Sill Apache TribeFort Sill Apache TribeThe Fort Sill Apache Tribe is the federally recognized Native American tribe of Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache in Oklahoma.-History:The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is composed of Chiricahua Apache. The Apache are southern Athabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated many centuries ago from the subarctic to...
, dollmaker - Vanessa JenningsVanessa JenningsVanessa Paukeigope Jennings is a renowned Kiowa-Apache-Gila River Pima regalia maker, clothing designer, cradle board maker, and bead artist from Oklahoma....
, KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-PimaPimaThe Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
, beadwork, traditional clothing and tipis - Hastings ShadeHastings ShadeHastings Shade was a former deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was a traditionalist, artist, and master level fluent speaker of the Cherokee language.-Background:...
(1941–2010), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, marble- and gig-maker - Tommy WildcatTommy WildcatTommy Wildcat is a Native American flutist, storyteller, lecturer, and traditionalist. He is a fullblood Native American of Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, and Natchez ancestry.-Background:...
, Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
-Muscogee Creek-NatchezNatchez peopleThe Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek...
traditional artist
Draftspeople
- Roy Boney, Jr., Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, draftsman, painter, animator - St. St. David Pendleton OakerhaterDavid Pendleton OakerhaterDavid Pendleton Oakerhater , also known as O-kuh-ha-tuh and Making Medicine, was a Cheyenne Indian warrior and spiritual leader, who became an artist and Episcopal deacon. Imprisoned in 1875 after the Indian Wars at Fort Marion , Florida, Oakerhater became one of the founding figures of modern...
, "Making Medicine" (1847-1931), CheyenneCheyenneCheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
, ledger artist - Joseph L. ErbJoseph L. ErbJoseph Erb is a Native American computer animator, educator, and artist enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.-Background:Joseph Erb was born on January 7, 1974 and currently lives in Gore, Oklahoma. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania...
, Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, painter, sculptor, animator
Installation artists
- Edgar Heap of BirdsEdgar Heap of BirdsHock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds) creates art that includes multi-disciplinary forms of public art messages, large scale drawings, Neuf Series acrylic paintings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture.-Early life:Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds was born on 22 November...
(b. 1954), Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes installation artist, painter, conceptual artist - Richard Ray WhitmanRichard Ray WhitmanRichard Ray Whitman is a Yuchi-Muscogee Creek multidisciplinary visual artist, poet, and actor. He is enrolled in the Muscogee Creek Nation and lives in Oklahoma.-Background:...
(b. 1949), YuchiYuchiFor the Chinese surname 尉迟, see Yuchi.The Yuchi, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American Indian tribe who traditionally lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee in the 16th century. During the 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina...
-Muscogee Creek Nation photographer, painter, installation artist
Painters
- Spencer AsahSpencer AsahSpencer Asah was a Kiowa painter, one of the Kiowa Five, from Oklahoma.-Early life:Spencer Asah was born around 1905 in Carnegie, Oklahoma. His Kiowa name was Lallo . His father was a buffalo medicine man. His father provided Asah extensive cultural information that he later used in his art.Asah...
(ca. 1905-1954), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, painter (one of the Kiowa SixKiowa FiveThe Kiowa Five or Kiowa Six is a group of six Kiowa artists from Oklahoma in the 20th century. They were Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke.-Background:...
) - James AuchiahJames AuchiahJames Auchiah was a Kiowa painter, one of the Kiowa Five, from Oklahoma.-Early life:James Auchiah was born in on 17 November 1906 in Oklahoma Territory, near present day Meers and Medicine Park, Oklahoma...
(1906-1975), painter (one of the Kiowa SixKiowa FiveThe Kiowa Five or Kiowa Six is a group of six Kiowa artists from Oklahoma in the 20th century. They were Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke.-Background:...
) - Louis W. BallardLouis W. BallardLouis W. Ballard was a Native American composer, educator, author, artist, and journalist.-Life:Ballard, who was of Cherokee, Quapaw, French and Scottish heritage, was born in the Native American community of Devil's Promenade, located near Quapaw, in northeast Oklahoma...
(1931-2007) "Honga-no-zhe", QuapawQuapawThe Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
-CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, painter and composer - Fred BeaverFred BeaverFred Beaver was a prominent Muscogee Creek-Seminole painter and muralist from Oklahoma.-Background:Fred Beaver was born in Eufaula, Oklahoma. His Muscogee name was Ekalanee, meaning "Brown Head." He was the son of Willie Beaver and Annie Johnson, was raised in Eufaula, and attended the Eufaula...
(1911-1976), CreekCreek peopleThe Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
-SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
, painter - Archie BlackowlArchie BlackowlArchie Blackowl was a Cheyenne painter from Oklahoma who played a pivotal role in mid-20th century Native American art.-Background:Archie Blackowl was born in Custer County, Oklahoma, on November 23, 1911 and died on September 15, 1992, in Stillwater, Oklahoma...
(1911-1967), Cheyenne, painter - Acee Blue EagleAcee Blue EagleAcee Blue Eagle , also named Alex C. McIntosh, Chebon Ahbulah , and Lumhee Holot-Tee , was a Muscogee Creek-Pawnee-Wichita artist, educator, dancer, and flute player.-Background:...
(1907-1959), CreekCreek peopleThe Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
-Pawnee-WichitaWichita (tribe)The Wichita people are indigenous inhabitants of North America, who traditionally spoke the Wichita language, a Caddoan language. They have lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas...
, painter - Roy Boney, Jr., Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, draftsman, painter, animator - Blackbear BosinBlackbear BosinBlackbear Bosin was a Comanche-Kiowa sculptor and painter, also known as Tsate Kongia.-Background:Francis Blackbear Bosin was born June 5, 1921 in Cyril, Oklahoma near Anadarko. His parents were Frank Blackbear and Ada Tivis Bosin. His Kiowa name, Tsate Kongia, means "Blackbear" and belongs to his...
(1921-1980), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-ComancheComancheThe Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, painter, sculptor - T.C. Cannon (Pai-doung-u-day), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-CaddoCaddoThe Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
-ChoctawChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States... - Woody CrumboWoody CrumboWoodrow "Woody" Crumbo was an American Indian artist, flautist, and dancer of Potawatomi descent. As an independent prospector, he found one of the largest beryllium veins in the nation. His paintings are held by several prominent museums, including the Smithsonian Institution and the...
(1912-1989), PotawatomiPotawatomiThe Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
, painter - Talmadge DavisTalmadge DavisTalmadge Davis was a Cherokee artist, who explored historical and military themes in his highly naturalistic paintings.-Personal:...
(1962-2005), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter - Cecil DickCecil DickCecil Dick was a well-known Cherokee artist often referred to as "the Father of Cherokee Traditional Art". Cecil, born near Rose Prairie, Oklahoma, was one of the pioneers of 20th century flat-style painting among Eastern Woodland tribes in Oklahoma.In 1983 Cecil was honored for his intellectual...
(1915-1992), CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, painter - Joseph L. ErbJoseph L. ErbJoseph Erb is a Native American computer animator, educator, and artist enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.-Background:Joseph Erb was born on January 7, 1974 and currently lives in Gore, Oklahoma. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania...
, Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, painter, sculptor, animator - Franklin GrittsFranklin GrittsFranklin Gritts, also known as Oau Nah Jusah, or They Have Returned, was a Cherokee artist best known for his contributions to the "Golden Era" of Native American art, both as a teacher and an artist....
(1915-1996), CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, painter - Enoch Kelly HaneyEnoch Kelly HaneyEnoch Kelly Haney is an American politician and internationally-recognized Native American artist from Oklahoma, He has served as Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma from 2005 until 2009, and was previously a member of the Oklahoma Legislature.-Early life and education:Enoch Kelly...
(b. 1940), Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma-Muscogee Creek, painter, sculptor - Albert HarjoAlbert HarjoAlbert Harjo was born on September 25, 1937, deep within the Muscogee Nation in the rural area of Hanna, Oklahoma. He is fullblood Muscogee. Albert attended Jones Academy, Hartshorne, Oklahoma then later Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, just north of Ponca City, Oklahoma...
(b. 1937), Muscogee Creek - Benjamin Harjo, Jr.Benjamin Harjo, Jr.Benjamin Harjo, Jr. is an award-winning Absentee Shawnee-Seminole painter and printmaker from Oklahoma.-Background:Harjo is half-Seminole and half-Shawnee and is enrolled in the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. Harjo’s father was the late Benjamin Harjo, Sr., a full blood Seminole. Harjo’s...
(b. 1945), SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
-Absentee Shawnee, painter - Edgar Heap of BirdsEdgar Heap of BirdsHock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds) creates art that includes multi-disciplinary forms of public art messages, large scale drawings, Neuf Series acrylic paintings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture.-Early life:Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds was born on 22 November...
(b. 1954), Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes installation artist, painter, conceptual artist - Joan HillJoan HillJoan Hill , also known as Che-se-quah, is a Muscogee Creek artist of Cherokee ancestry. She is one of the most awarded women artists in the Native American art world.-Personal:...
(b. 1930), Muscogee Creek-CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, painter - Jack HokeahJack HokeahJack Hokeah was a Kiowa painter, one of the Kiowa Five, from Oklahoma.-Early life:Jack Hokeah was born around 1900 or 1902 in western Oklahoma. He was orphaned at a very young age and raised by his grandmother. His grandfather was the Kiowa warrior, White Horse.Hokeah attend St...
(1902-1973), Kiowa, painter (one of the Kiowa SixKiowa FiveThe Kiowa Five or Kiowa Six is a group of six Kiowa artists from Oklahoma in the 20th century. They were Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke.-Background:...
) - Allan HouserAllan HouserAllan Capron Houser or Haozous a Chiricahua Apache sculptor from Oklahoma. He was one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century....
(1914-1994), Chiricahua ApacheFort Sill Apache TribeThe Fort Sill Apache Tribe is the federally recognized Native American tribe of Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache in Oklahoma.-History:The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is composed of Chiricahua Apache. The Apache are southern Athabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated many centuries ago from the subarctic to...
, sculptor and painter - Sharon IrlaSharon IrlaSharon Irla is an award-winning, Native American artist of Cherokee descent and a registered tribal member of the Cherokee Nation. A self-taught artist, Irla began entering competitive art shows in 2003. Her collective body of works span the fields of painting, murals, graphics, photography and...
(b. 1957), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter - Ruthe Blalock JonesRuthe Blalock JonesRuthe Blalock Jones is an award-winning Delaware-Shawnee-Peoria painter and printmaker from Oklahoma.-Background:Ruthe Blalock Jones was born on June 8, 1939 in Claremore, Oklahoma. Her parents are Joe and Lucy Parks Blalock. Her tribal name is Chulundit.She earned an associates degree from Bacone...
(Chu-Lun-Dit) (b. 1939), Eastern Shawnee-DelawareLenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
-PeoriaPeoria (tribe)The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:... - Barbara McAlisterBarbara McAlister (opera singer)Barbara McAlister is an internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano Native American opera singer from Muskogee, Oklahoma.-Background:Barbara McAlister was born Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1941. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a descendant of Old Tassel, and half German through her mother...
(b. 1941), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter, opera singer - America MeredithAmerica MeredithAmerica Meredith is a Swedish-Cherokee painter, printmaker, and lecturer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work is known for its humorous approaches to social and environmental issues and for combining Native American and pop imagery.-Background:...
(1972), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter, printmaker - Stephen MopopeStephen MopopeStephen Mopope was a Kiowa painter, dancer, and flute player of Spanish descent, from Oklahoma. He was the most prolific member of the Kiowa Five-Early life:...
(1898-1974), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, painter (one of the Kiowa SixKiowa FiveThe Kiowa Five or Kiowa Six is a group of six Kiowa artists from Oklahoma in the 20th century. They were Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke.-Background:...
) - Jackson NarcomeyJackson NarcomeyJackson Narcomey is a Muscogee Creek painter and printmaker, living in Oklahoma.Jackson Leon Narcomey was born on January 25, 1942 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma....
(1942-), Muscogee Creek, painter and printmaker - Fernando Padilla, Jr.Fernando Padilla, Jr.Fernando Padilla, Jr. is a Native American artist. His father was full blood San Felipe Pueblo and his mother is Navajo and Apache. Padilla is enrolled with the San Felipe Pueblo and is listed as half San Felipe Pueblo and half Navajo. Padilla was born in Huntington Park, California...
(1958-), San Felipe Pueblo/NavajoNavajo peopleThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
painter and sculptor - Harvey PrattHarvey PrattHarvey Phillip Pratt is an American forensic artist and Native American artist, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and...
(b. 1941), Cheyenne-Arapaho-SiouxSiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
painter, sculptor - Paladine RoyePaladine RoyePaladine Roye was an award-winning Native American painter.-Background:Paladine H. Roye was born December 8, 1946 in White Eagle, Oklahoma. He was a full blood, enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
(1946-2001), PoncaPoncaThe Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
painter - Silver HornSilver HornSilver Horn or Haungooah was a Kiowa Ledger Artist from Oklahoma.-Background:Silver Horn was born circa 1860 and was a member of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma. His Kiowa name, Haungooah, refers to sunlight reflecting off a buffalo horn, making it gleam like a polished, white metal...
(1860-1940), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, painter - Lois Bougetah Smoky (1907-1981), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
painter (one of the Kiowa Six) - Ernest SpybuckErnest SpybuckErnest Spybuck was a Native American artist. Born on a reservation in Indian Territory, Spybuck was encouraged in his artistic endeavors by a meeting with a visiting anthropologist, M.R. Harrington. His detailed depictions of ceremonies, games and social gatherings were used to illustrate many...
(1883–1949), Absentee Shawnee painter - Virginia StroudVirginia StroudVirginia Alice Stroud is a Cherokee-Muscogee Creek painter from Oklahoma. She is an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.-Early life:...
(1951-), United Keetoowah Band-MuscogeeMuscogee (Creek) NationThe Muscogee Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Muscogee people, also known as the Creek, based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. They are regarded as one of the historical Five Civilized Tribes and call themselves Este Mvskokvlke...
painter - Carl SweezyCarl SweezyCarl Sweezy was a Southern Arapaho painter from Oklahoma. He painted individual portraits, but was best known for his portrayals of ceremonies and dances.-Background:...
(1881-1953), ArapahoArapahoThe Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
painter - Jerome TigerJerome TigerJerome Richard Tiger was a highly influential Native American painter from Oklahoma. Tiger produced hundreds of paintings from 1962 until his death in 1967....
(1941-1967), Muscogee Creek-SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
painter - Johnny Tiger, Jr.Johnny Tiger, Jr.-Background:Johnny Tiger Jr. was born in 1940 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. His parents were Loucine Lewis and the Reverend John M. Tiger. His younger brother, the late Jerome Tiger was a celebrated artist. As a child Johnny traveled with his grandfather Coleman...
(b. 1940), Muscogee Creek-SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
painter and sculptor - Monroe TsatokeMonroe TsatokeMonroe Tsatoke was a Kiowa painter, one of the Kiowa Five, from Oklahoma.-Early life:Monroe Tsatoke was born on 29 September 1904 in Oklahoma Territory, near present day Saddle Mountain, Oklahoma. Tsatokee was his Kiowa name, which meant "Hunting Horse." His father was also named Tsatokee, and was...
(1904-1937), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, painter (one of the Kiowa Six) - Kay WalkingStickKay WalkingStickKay WalkingStick is a Native American painter and educator. She is enrolled in the Cherokee Nation and is also of Scotch-Irish and Ho-Chunk descent. She currently resides in New York and was a Professor of Art at Cornell University from 1988-2005....
(b. 1935), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter - W. Richard “Dick” West, Sr. (1912-1996), CheyenneCheyenneCheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
painter
Photographers
- Sharon IrlaSharon IrlaSharon Irla is an award-winning, Native American artist of Cherokee descent and a registered tribal member of the Cherokee Nation. A self-taught artist, Irla began entering competitive art shows in 2003. Her collective body of works span the fields of painting, murals, graphics, photography and...
(b. 1957), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter - Horace PoolawHorace PoolawHorace Poolaw was a Kiowa photographer from Mountain View, Oklahoma.-Background:Born in Oklahoma in 1906, Horace Poolaw apprenticed himself to a local photographer at age 17, later becoming the most prolific Indian photographer of his generation...
(1906-1984), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
photographer - Richard Ray WhitmanRichard Ray WhitmanRichard Ray Whitman is a Yuchi-Muscogee Creek multidisciplinary visual artist, poet, and actor. He is enrolled in the Muscogee Creek Nation and lives in Oklahoma.-Background:...
(b. 1949), YuchiYuchiFor the Chinese surname 尉迟, see Yuchi.The Yuchi, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American Indian tribe who traditionally lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee in the 16th century. During the 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina...
-Muscogee Creek Nation photographer, painter, installation artist
Printmakers
- T.C. Cannon (Pai-doung-u-day), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-CaddoCaddoThe Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
-ChoctawChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States... - Benjamin Harjo, Jr.Benjamin Harjo, Jr.Benjamin Harjo, Jr. is an award-winning Absentee Shawnee-Seminole painter and printmaker from Oklahoma.-Background:Harjo is half-Seminole and half-Shawnee and is enrolled in the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. Harjo’s father was the late Benjamin Harjo, Sr., a full blood Seminole. Harjo’s...
(b. 1945), SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
-Absentee Shawnee, painter - Ruthe Blalock JonesRuthe Blalock JonesRuthe Blalock Jones is an award-winning Delaware-Shawnee-Peoria painter and printmaker from Oklahoma.-Background:Ruthe Blalock Jones was born on June 8, 1939 in Claremore, Oklahoma. Her parents are Joe and Lucy Parks Blalock. Her tribal name is Chulundit.She earned an associates degree from Bacone...
(Chu-Lun-Dit) (b. 1939), Eastern Shawnee-DelawareLenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
-PeoriaPeoria (tribe)The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:... - America MeredithAmerica MeredithAmerica Meredith is a Swedish-Cherokee painter, printmaker, and lecturer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work is known for its humorous approaches to social and environmental issues and for combining Native American and pop imagery.-Background:...
(1972), Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
painter, printmaker - Jackson NarcomeyJackson NarcomeyJackson Narcomey is a Muscogee Creek painter and printmaker, living in Oklahoma.Jackson Leon Narcomey was born on January 25, 1942 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma....
(1942-), Muscogee Creek, painter and printmaker
Sculptors
- Blackbear BosinBlackbear BosinBlackbear Bosin was a Comanche-Kiowa sculptor and painter, also known as Tsate Kongia.-Background:Francis Blackbear Bosin was born June 5, 1921 in Cyril, Oklahoma near Anadarko. His parents were Frank Blackbear and Ada Tivis Bosin. His Kiowa name, Tsate Kongia, means "Blackbear" and belongs to his...
(1921-1980), KiowaKiowaThe Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-ComancheComancheThe Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, painter, sculptor - Joseph L. ErbJoseph L. ErbJoseph Erb is a Native American computer animator, educator, and artist enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.-Background:Joseph Erb was born on January 7, 1974 and currently lives in Gore, Oklahoma. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania...
, Cherokee NationCherokee NationThe Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
, painter, sculptor, animator - Enoch Kelly HaneyEnoch Kelly HaneyEnoch Kelly Haney is an American politician and internationally-recognized Native American artist from Oklahoma, He has served as Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma from 2005 until 2009, and was previously a member of the Oklahoma Legislature.-Early life and education:Enoch Kelly...
(b. 1940), Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma-Muscogee Creek, painter, sculptor - Allan HouserAllan HouserAllan Capron Houser or Haozous a Chiricahua Apache sculptor from Oklahoma. He was one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century....
(1914-1994), Chiricahua ApacheFort Sill Apache TribeThe Fort Sill Apache Tribe is the federally recognized Native American tribe of Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache in Oklahoma.-History:The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is composed of Chiricahua Apache. The Apache are southern Athabaskan-speaking peoples who migrated many centuries ago from the subarctic to...
, sculptor and painter - Fernando Padilla, Jr.Fernando Padilla, Jr.Fernando Padilla, Jr. is a Native American artist. His father was full blood San Felipe Pueblo and his mother is Navajo and Apache. Padilla is enrolled with the San Felipe Pueblo and is listed as half San Felipe Pueblo and half Navajo. Padilla was born in Huntington Park, California...
(1958-), San Felipe Pueblo/NavajoNavajo peopleThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
painter and sculptor - Harvey PrattHarvey PrattHarvey Phillip Pratt is an American forensic artist and Native American artist, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and...
(b. 1941), Cheyenne-Arapaho-SiouxSiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
painter, sculptor - Johnny Tiger, Jr.Johnny Tiger, Jr.-Background:Johnny Tiger Jr. was born in 1940 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. His parents were Loucine Lewis and the Reverend John M. Tiger. His younger brother, the late Jerome Tiger was a celebrated artist. As a child Johnny traveled with his grandfather Coleman...
(b. 1940), Muscogee Creek-SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
painter and sculptor - Willard StoneWillard StoneWillard Stone was an important Native American artist of the 20th century, best known for his wood sculptures done in a distinctively personal, flowing style inspired by Art Deco.-Biography:...
(1916-1985), unenrolled CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
-descent sculptor
See also
- List of Native American artists
- List of indigenous artists of the Americas
- Bacone schoolBacone schoolThe Bacone style or Bacone school of painting, drawing, and printmaking is a Native American Flatstyle art movement, primarily from the mid-20th century in Oklahoma...