Harvey Phillip Pratt (born 1941) 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 Soft tissue is all the tissue in the body that is not hardened by the processes of ossification or calcification such as bones and teeth. Soft tissue connects, surrounds or supports internal organs and bones, and includes muscle, tendons, ...

postmortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any d ...

reconstructions.OSBI Forensic Art To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and hundreds of identification of unidentified human remains throughout America. His expertise in witness description drawing, skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, soft tissue postmortem drawing and restoration of photographs and videos have aided law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally.Brown Pratt also assists investigations through training classes, besides lecturing before universities, colleges, schools and civic groups. In the early 2000s Pratt teamed up with David Paulides in researching Bigfoot on the Hoopa Reservation in California, as well as in his home state of Oklahoma.

Life

Pratt was born in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the ...

and is a member of the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...

tribes where he is recognized as one of the traditional Cheyenne Peace Chiefs,McDonnell also known as the Council of Forty-Four. He has been recognized by the Cheyenne People as an Outstanding Southern Cheyenne.Lester, p. 446 He is the great grandson of scout, guide, interpreter and Sand Creek massacre survivor, Edmund Guerrier. He is the great great grandson of American frontiersman,

William Bent William Wells Bent (May 23, 1809 – May 19, 1869) was a frontier trader and rancher in the American West, with forts in Colorado. He also acted as a mediator among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding United St ...

.National Archives #367 Julia Bent Guerrier Pratt lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Forensic Art

Pratt began his career with Oklahoma's Midwest City Police Department in 1965, where, as a police officer, he completed his first composite drawing that resulted in an arrest and conviction. He joined the

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is an independent state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. The OSBI assists the county sheriff offices and city police departments of the state, and is the primary investigative ...

in 1972 as a narcotics investigator and retired in 1992 as an Assistant Director. He is now employed with the agency as a full-time forensic specialist. Pratt's forensic expertise has contributed to many high-profile cases: The Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway),Smith & Guillen, reconstruction credit in photo section Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders (Gene Leroy Hart),Wilkerson & Wilkerson Henry Lee Lucas and

Ottis Toole Ottis Elwood Toole (March 5, 1947 – September 15, 1996) was an American serial killer who was convicted of six counts of murder. Like his companion Henry Lee Lucas, Toole made confessions which resulted in murder convictions, and which h ...

Bobby Joe Long Robert Joseph "Bobby Joe" Long (October 14, 1953 – May 23, 2019) was an American serial killer and rapist who was executed by the state of Florida for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms. Long abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered at le ...

, The I-5 Killer (Randall Woodfield), Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot,Mayer, p. 33 Tommy Lynn Sells,Fanning, p. 108

World Trade Center 1993 bombings The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (Name change, born Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more th ...

, Sirloin Stockade Murders (Roger Dale Stafford, Verna Stafford and Harold Stafford),English & Calhoun, pp. 400-401 Joe Fischer, Roger Wheeler murder,Fossett the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorism in the United States, domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-federal go ...

of the

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States federal government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m. the building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing ...

, Donald Eugene Webb, Oklahoma State Fair Abducted Girls (Roy Russell Long), and Randolph Dial. In the mid 1980s, Pratt developed the soft tissue postmortem drawing method.Stott Using this method, the forensic artist draws or paints on the photograph of a victim to repair tissue damage or decomposition. The drawing repairs the trauma to the victim so that the final image will be more presentable when asking for law enforcement's or the public's assistance in identification.

Native American Art

Pratt encompasses painting, sculpting, wood carving, mural painting, bronze work, architectural design and graphic design.Pratt He is a self-taught artist and creates in the media of oil, acrylic, watercolor, metal, clay and wood. His artwork is a blend of his forensic art and law enforcement experience with traditional Native American environment. Pratt has received awards for his artwork at Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, New Mexico, and

Red Earth Festival The Red Earth Festival is a Native American cultural festival that takes places every June in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. Red Earth, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that hosts the festival and maintained the Red Earth Art Center, ...

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. In 2005, he was given the title "Master Artist" by Red Earth, as well as being selected as the ''Red Earth 2005 Honored One''. His works are in many permanent collections, including the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the Sequoyah National Research Center, and the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

. He accepted state appointments to the Oklahoma Arts Council by Governor

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (initially born as David Rowland Keating) (born February 10, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five governors in Okl ...

and Governor Brad Henry. The Smithsonian's

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

has chosen Pratt's Warriors' Circle of Honor as the design for the National Native American Veterans Memorial. Groundbreaking for the memorial is scheduled for September 2019 and it is expected to open on Veterans Day 2020.

Bigfoot Forensics & Artwork

Pratt provided forensic artwork for David Paulides in the books Tribal Bigfoot and The Hoopa Project. Through extensive research, interviews and travels, Pratt produced dozens of forensic sketches from witnesses that David Paulides and himself met in California and his home state of Oklahoma. Pratt also has an online store on his own personal website where he sells bigfoot artwork.

Notes

References

*Brown, Michele M. "Native American forensic artist featured at Guthrie Art Walk", '' Guthrie News Leader'', 10 November 2005 *Calhoun, Sharon & English, Billie. ''Oklahoma Adventure''. Oklahoma City/ACP, 2001. *English, Billie & Calhoun, Sharon. ''Oklahoma Heritage''. Oklahoma City/Holt, Calhoun, Clark & Quaid, 1989. * Fanning, Diane. ''Through the Window''. St. Martin's Press, 2003. *Fossett, Judy. "Clues Sketchy In Tulsa Killing", ''

The Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'', 29 May 1981 *Lester, Patrick D. '' The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. SIR Publications, 1995. *McDonnell, Brandy. "2005's honoree also fights crime", ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'', 29 May 2005 *McDonnell, Brandy "Monumental opportunity: Oklahoma artist Harvey Pratt's 'Warriors' Circle of Honor' design chosen for National Native American Veterans Memorial", ''

'', 01, July 2018 *Mayer, Robert. ''The Dreams of Ada: A true story of murder, obsession, and a small town''. New York/Viking, 1991. *National Archives & Records Administration, SW Region Fort Worth, Record Group 5, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Concho (Cheyenne & Arapaho Agency), E12 Land Transactions, Report on Heirship
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Art
retrieved 2 January 2008
Pratt, Harvey - Native American Artist & Police Forensic Artist
retrieved 27 December 2007 *Smith, Carlton & Guillen Thomas. ''The Search for the Green River Killer''. New York/Penguin, 1991. *Stott, Kim. "Artist Retouches Photos To Help Identify Victims", '' The Sunday Oklahoman'', 31 October 1982 *Taylor, Karen T. ''Forensic Art and Illustration''. Boca Raton/CRC Press, 2000. *Wilkerson, Michael & Wilkerson Dick. ''Someone Cry for the Children: The unsolved Girl Scout murders of Oklahoma and the case of Gene Leroy Hart''. New York/Dial, 1981.

External links

Harvey Pratt's Native American Art & Forensic Art WebsiteOklahoma State Bureau of InvestigationRed Earth Inc.Oral History Interview with Harvey PrattLibrary of Congress Video Interview with Harvey Pratt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Harvey 1941 births Living people People from El Reno, Oklahoma People from Guthrie, Oklahoma Painters from Oklahoma Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes people Forensic artists Native American painters Native American sculptors People from Midwest City, Oklahoma Sculptors from Oklahoma