Donna Standing Steinberg, Kiowa-Wichita and Josephine Parker, Kiowa, with their beadwork
Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, Kiowa-Pima-Kiowa Apache regalia maker

Kiowa art is the visual art of the Kiowa, an indigenous people of the Southern Plains. Today they are centered in southwest Oklahoma.

As early as 1891, Kiowa artists were being commissioned to produce works for display at international expositions. The "Kiowa Five" were some of the earliest Native Americans to receive international recognition for their work in the fine art world. They influenced generations of Indian artists among the Kiowa, and other Plains tribes. Traditional craft skills are not lost among the Kiowa people today and the talented fine arts and crafts produced by Kiowa Indians helped the Oklahoma Indian Arts and Crafts Cooperative flourish over its 20 year existence.

Painting

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Hide painting

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Ledger art

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A Kiowa ledger drawing possibly depicting the Buffalo Wallow battle in 1874, a fight between Southern Plains Indians and the U.S. Army during the Red River War.

Early Kiowa ledger artists were those held in captivity by the U.S. Army at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida (1875–1878) at the conclusion of the Red River War, which also is known as the Southern Plains Indian War.[1] Ledger art emerges from the Plains hide painting tradition. These Fort Marion artists include Kiowas Etadleuh Doanmoe and Zotom, who was a prolific artist who he chronicled his experiences before and after becoming a captive at the fort. After his release from Fort Marion, Paul Zom-tiam (Zonetime, Koba) studied theology from 1878 until 1881, when he was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal church.[2]

Kiowa Six

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Following in Silver Horn's footsteps are the Kiowa Six, or, as they have been called in the past, the Kiowa Five. They are Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Bougetah Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke[3] Coming from the area around Anadarko, Oklahoma, these artists studied at the University of Oklahoma. Lois Smoky left the group in 1927, but James Auchiah took her place in the group. The Kiowa Five gained international recognition as fine artists by exhibiting their work in the 1928 International Art Congress in Czechoslovakia and then participated in the Venice Biennale in 1932.[4]

Sculptors

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Blackbear Bosin, Parker Boyiddle

Beadwork

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Noted Kiowa beadwork artists include Lois Smoky, Richard Aitson, Judy Beaver, Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, Leatrice Geimasaddle, and Teri Greeves.

Photographers

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Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906–1984) was one of the most prolific Native American photographers of his generation. He documented the Kiowa people living near his community in Mountain View, Oklahoma beginning the 1920s. His legacy is continued today by his grandson, Thomas Poolaw, a prominent Kiowa photographer and digital artist.[5]

 
Kiowa parfleche, ca. 1890, Oklahoma History Center
 
Kiowa beaded moccasins, ca. 1920, OHS
 
Detail of painting by Silver Horn (Kiowa), ca. 1880
 
Kiowa ledger art, ca. 1874

Notable Kiowa artists

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Notes

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  1. ^ Southern Plains Indian war
  2. ^ Viola 16
  3. ^ "About the Kiowa Five." Jacobson House Native Art Center. (retrieved 10 Nov 2010)
  4. ^ Dunn 240
  5. ^ "Urban 5 Show at USD." American Indian Journalism Institute. (retrieved 7 Oct 2010)
  6. ^ Lester 63–4

References

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  • Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8061-9936-9.
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