INSIDE NMAI


........................


THE LOVING CAMERA OF HORACE POOLAW


BY MARGARET SAGAN K


iowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906–1984) took more than 2,000 photographs during his lifetime. A major project has scanned and digi- tally restored 1,400 negatives from his work housed at the


University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha. Many of these pictures, still owned by his family, are going on display at the National Museum of the American In- dian in New York. The exhibition For a Love of His People: The


Photography of Horace Poolaw opens August 9 at the Museum’s George Gustav Heye Center and runs through Feb. 15, 2015. Through Poolaw’s photographs, Museum visitors will have a glimpse of life in southwestern Okla- homa from the late 1920s through the 1960s. These black and white images document


with affection moments of ordinary beauty and participation in social groups by residents of Oklahoma. Most of his photographs depict Native people from the diverse Native nations who call Oklahoma home, among them Kio- wa, Caddo, Cherokee, Comanche and Creek. Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory


became the state of Oklahoma in 1907. The Native communities who live in Oklahoma today include the descendants of people who were forced to relocate from homelands east of the Mississippi River during the removal period, as well as communities that histori- cally moved widely across the Great Plains, such as the Kiowa. Despite the painful his- tory evident in forced relocation and exile, the photographs tell a story of resilience and thriving


communities, where people take


pride in their heritage. A striking all-American quality marks the images, many of which depict community in-


Vivian Bigbow (Kiowa/Caddo) at the American Indian Exposition. Anadarko, Okla., ca. 1945. 78 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER/FALL 2014


©2014 ESTATE OF HORACE POOLAW


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