Roy Boney Jr. (ᎧᏂᎦ ᎪᎳᎭ, born December 1, 1978) is a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

comic artist, fine artist, computer animator and language preservationist from

Locust Grove, Oklahoma Locust Grove is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,371 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 1,423 in 2010 United States census, 2010. History Locust Grove was the sit ...

, a citizen of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

, and a hereditary member of the Deer Clan. Boney was named a

Cherokee National Treasure Cherokee National Treasure is a distinction created in 1988 by the Cherokee Nation to recognize people who have made significant contributions to the preservation of the tribe's art, language Language is a structured system of communication ...

on 29 August 2024.

Background

Roy Boney Jr. grew up speaking the

Cherokee language file:Cherokee Speakers by County, 2000.png, 350px, Number of speakers file:Lang Status 20-CR.svg, Cherokee is classified as Critically Endangered by UNESCO's ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' Cherokee or Tsalagi (, ) is an endangere ...

. He studied at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, earning a BFA in Graphic Design. He received his Master of Arts degree at the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...

, where he was a member of the Sequoyah Research Center team and received the

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (, formerly the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians) is a federally recognized tribe of Neshnabé (Potawatomi people), headquartered near Mayetta, Kansas. History The ''Mshkodésik'' ("People of the Small Prairie ...

Fellowship.

Cherokee language

Boney works as the manager of the Cherokee Nation language program, and previously was as a language media specialist for the Cherokee Nation.

Visual arts

With Matthew Shepherd, Boney created the graphic novel series, ''Dead Eyes Open'', published by

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an American independent comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat adult comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoen ...

. From a comic background, Boney ventured into fine art drawing and painting. His fine art debut in 2006 yielded the Grand Prize at the Cherokee Heritage Center's ''Trail of Tears'' art show and inclusion in the traveling exhibit, ''Frybread and Roses: The Art of Native American Labor.'' Several of Boney's paintings are in the permanent collection of the Sequoyah National Research Center.

Media arts

Boney collaborated with Joseph L. Erb at American Indian Resource Center, Inc., teaching animation to

Muscogee Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsiPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

application for Cherokee language text messaging and are developing Cherokee language social network and video games.Proposal for the creation of RezWorld 3D video game to teach Cherokee.
(retrieved 5 Nov 2009)

Writing

Boney is a regular contributor to ''

Indian Country Today Media Network ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

'' and '' First American Art Magazine''.

References

External Sources

Oral History Interview with Roy Boney Jr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boney, Roy Jr. Cherokee Nation male artists Native American drawing artists Native American painters Living people 1978 births Painters from Oklahoma People from Locust Grove, Oklahoma Animators from Oklahoma 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American artists