Marcelle Sharron Ahtone Harjo (born 1945) is a Kiowa painter from

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. Her Kiowa name, Sain-Tah-Oodie, translates to "Killed With a Blunted Arrow." In the 1960s and 1970s, she and sister Virginia Stroud were instrumental in the revival of ledger art, a Plains Indian narrative pictorial style on paper or muslin.Pearce 13

Background

Sharron Ahtone Harjo's parents were Evelyn Tahome and Jacob Ahtone. Evelyn's parents were A. Jane Goombi and Stephen "Tahome" Poolant. Jacob served as Kiowa Tribal chairman from 1978 to 1980. Jacob's parents were Tahdo (Tah'ga-da) and Samuel Ahtone. Samuel attended the Hampton Institute in

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and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in

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. Samuel was a ledger artist. Her great-grandmother, Millie Durgan, was taken captive by the Kiowas as a young girl. Durgan acculturated into Kiowa society and became a renowned cradleboard-maker. In 1963, Ahtone Harjo graduated from Billings West High School in

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. She studied art under Southern Cheyenne artist Dick West at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, from 1963 to 1965. In 1965, she earned her AA from Bacone and earned her BA from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In 1965, Ahtone Harjo was chosen as Miss Indian America.Clark 189

Art career

Sharron Ahtone Harjo paints in acrylic, oil, gouache, and watercolor. Her early work used rock art and Plains hide painting as influences before she began to work in the ledger art style. In the 1970s, Ahtone began showing her work professionally. Due to the lack of acceptance for women artists in her area and nationally, she exhibited under the name Ahtone Harjo. She later taught art in schools. Ahtone Harjo views ''Kiowa Sun Dance'' as one of her most important works because of her use of primary sources such as calendars, ledger drawings, and interviews with community members to complete the work. This painting is one of the only historical records of the annual ceremonial Sun Dance in which the entire tribe participated. The dance has not been performed since 1887. The painting took her several years to complete.

Personal

Ahtone Harjo primarily lives in

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, although she also stays in

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, and is from the Zoltone District 2 of the Kiowa tribal nation. Her sister is Deborah Ahtone, a Kiowa visual artist and writer. Sharron is married to Amos Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee). Their daughter Tahnee Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder is a beadwork and textile artist, and curator.

Public collections

Sharron Ahtone Harjo's work can be found in the following public collections. *

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* Center of the American Indian, Kilpatrick Center * Center for Great Plains Studies,

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* Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology * Oklahoma State Historical Society * Southern Plains Indian MuseumPearce 14

Art works

* ''Return Them Safely to Home'' (1971) * ''Woman on Red'' (1976) * ''Kiowa Sun Dance'' (1981) * ''One Daughter of the Earth'' (1985) * ''Looking for Kiowas'' (1985) * ''Last Will and Testament'' (2005)

Published works

* Hail, Barbara, Everett R. Rhoades, and Sharron Ahtone-Harjo. ''Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. . *Pearce, Richard, Sharron Ahtone-Harjo. ''Women and Ledger Art: Four Contemporary Native American Artists.'' University of Arizona Press, Jun 13, 2013

Notes

References

* Clark, Blue
''Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide.''
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. . * Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. . * Pearce, Richard
''Women and Ledger Art: Four Contemporary Native American Artists.''
Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2013. .

External links

The Ledger Art of Sharron Ahtone Harjo
by Richard Pearce
Oral History with Sharron Ahtone Harjo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harjo, Sharron Ahtone 1945 births 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women painters Artists from Oklahoma City Bacone College alumni Kiowa painters Living people Northeastern State University alumni Painters from Oklahoma People from Carnegie, Oklahoma 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American artists Native American women painters Native American painters Kiowa women artists