Between Two Cultures

Art historian Moira F. Harris analyzes the known Fort Marion drawings attributed to Wo-Haw, Kiowa warrior and artist (1855-1924), in relationship to then contemporary events.. Her work shows how Kiowa Indian painting developed from its traditional beginnings to the preset day. This most unusual colony of artists developed at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida, where more than seventy men from five hostile tribes of the Southern Plains were imprisoned from 1875 to 1878. Their humanitarian jailer, Captain Richard H. Pratt, believed they could be made into useful productive citizens if given direction and the opportunity to develop their native abilities. He provided them with paper, pencils, and colors, and offered them the opportunity to produce art works for sale to whites. More than a third of these "Florida boys" participated and hundreds of their works are preserved in widely scattered public and private collections.