Photo: J. NiCole Hatfield Speaks Through Canvas

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"Oglala"

“Oglala” is by J. NiCole Hatfield, who is Comanche/Kiowa. (Courtesy of the artist)

Photo: J. NiCole Hatfield Speaks Through Canvas

By:

ICTMN Staff

1/29/16

As a child, Comanche and Kiowa artist J. NiCole Hatfield studied old pictures of her people. In many cases, the men would be identified, but the women would not be listed by name.

“Growing up, I used to see these old photos,” Hatfield said. “I would see the photos of the women. They wouldn’t have a name. It would say, ‘This is the wife of so-and-so. This is the squaw of’ so-and-so.’ It made me mad. I wanted to know who this woman was. I started painting the women from those old photos, and then I started painting the men. It started from that—the women not having any recognition. I wanted to honor them and give them a voice.”

She began studying art on her own in ninth grade, in Apache, Oklahoma. She said her art teacher “gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted, as long as we brought something in the class to show him. I had a lot of time to experiment with paint.”

This image was featured in this week’s Indian Country Today Media Network newsletter.

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