Silver Horn, 1860-1940

Silver Horn was born circa 1860 to Agiati (Gathering Feathers) and Sa-Poodle (Traveling in the Rain) and was a member of the Kiowa Indian tribe of Oklahoma. His Kiowa name, Haungooah, refers to sunlight reflecting off a buffalo horn, making it gleam like a polished, white metal.[1] He was a well-known artist from the early reservation period who was one of the most respected and talented Plains Indian artists in his time. Haungooah Silverhorn married Hattie Tau-Goom (Bending Knee Woman) together they had 8 children born to their union. The oldest son name was Billie Bow "James" Silverhorn who was a well known Peyote Man. There was May Haungooah, George "Dutch" Silverhorn, Max Silverhorn Sr, Iva Haungooah, Arthur Silverhorn, Sarah Louise Haungooah, Chester Silverhorn.

Silver Horn's father was Agiati or "Gathering Feathers," who was a calendar keeper. Agiati was the chosen artistic successor of his uncle Dohasan, who was the primary calendar keeper for the Kiowas throughout the 19th century.

<p>Plains Indians were artists as well as warriors, and Silver Horn (1860-1940), a Kiowa artist from the early reservation period, may well have been the most prolific Plains Indian artist of all time.</p>

<p>Known also as Haungooah, his Kiowa name, Silver Horn was a man of remarkable skill and talent. Working in graphite, colored pencil, crayon, pen and ink, and watercolor on hide, muslin, and paper, he produced more than one thousand illustrations between 1870 and 1920. Silver Horn created an unparalleled visual record of Kiowa culture, from traditional images of warfare and coup counting to sensitive depictions of the sun dance, early Peyote religion, and domestic daily life. At the turn of the century, he helped translate nearly the entire corpus of Kiowa shield designs into miniaturized forms on buckskin models for Smithsonian ethnologist James Mooney.</p>

<p>Born in 1860 when huge bison herds still roamed the southern plains, Silver Horn grew up in southwestern Oklahoma. Son of a chief and member of an artistically gifted family, he witnessed traumatic changes as his people went from a free-roaming, buffalo-hunting culture to reservation life and, ultimately, to forced assimilation into white society. Although perceived as a troublemaker in midlife because of his staunch resistance to the forces of civilization, Silver Horn became to many a romantic example of the "real old-time Indian."</p>

<p>In this presentation of Silver Horn’s work, showcasing 43 color and 116 black-and-white illustrations, Candace S. Greene provides a thorough biographical portrait of the artist and, through his work, assesses the concepts and roles of artists in Kiowa culture.</p>

Kiowa painter from Indian Territory (1860-1940)