“KIOWA SIX” PAINTER JACK HOKEAH DIED
One of a group of Kiowa artists (including Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Stephen Mopope, Monroe Tsatoke, and Lois Smoky) who became famous studying painting at the University of Oklahoma in the 1920s, Jack was born in western Oklahoma circa 1902. Raised by his grandmother, he attended mission school before attending the University of Oklahoma. Hokeah’s subjects came from his southern plains heritage and include dancing and other ceremonial occasions. His murals are found in Santa Fe at the U.S. Indian School and at the St. Patrick Isidore Ricklin Memorial Chapel, now located at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko. For a brief time, he appeared on the New York stage and worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1966, he received the Certificate of Appreciation from the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. His work is in collections of the Gilcrease Museum, the Philbrook Museum of Art, the Cleveland Art Museum, and the Denver Art Museum. Hokeah died at Fort Cobb, Oklahoma.
Source: Mary Jo Watson, "Hokeah, Jack," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved 7/23/2019, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=HO009. Photo: Author unknown, 1944. 20912.14.193, Tartoue Negative Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society. Courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society.
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