Alfred Momaday, Kiowa Pueblo Artist

Kiowa artist Alfred Momaday was a painter of works depicting his Indian heritage and was also a renowned teacher. His work included altar plaques for churches in Albuquerque.  He was born in Mountain View, Oklahoma.

Alfred Momaday (1913 - 1981) Haun Toa - War Lance was the son of Kiowa Indian parents, and in 1933, he married Natachee Scott at Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, where he initiated a program that brought international reputation to the school.

He was educated at Bacone College, the University of New Mexico, and University of California in Los Angeles. From 1942 to 1944, he was in the War Department of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. From 1955 to 1957, he was Director of the All American Indian Days in Sheridan Wyoming, and from 1947 to 1967, was principal and art teacher at the Jemez  Pueblo Day School of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior in New Mexico.

Interesting fact: in 1975, he created a medal for his son, N. Scott Momaday, who was the first American Indian to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature.

Sources:

- Jeanne O Snodgrass, American Indian Painters.

- Peter Hasting Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art.

TAGS: Albuquerque, Kiowa Indian, Jemez Pueblo, Native American Paintings