OKLAHOMA CITY – October 26, 2022 – The Oklahoma Hall of Fame will host an artist reception for OKLAHOMA GENOCIDE: MASSACRE AT WASHITA RIVER, a curated gallery show by eight Native American artists on Thursday, November 3, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The show reflects an effort to bring to light details of what was once considered a battle in the Indian Wars to a massacre of a displaced Southern Cheyenne village where scores were killed and captured, including many women and children.
“Any denial of the facts is a denial of the truth on what happened November 28, 1868. As a descendant of the battle of the Washita, I'm sharing the stories of my ancestors and telling their stories with art, giving them a voice so that their stories live on and to show the strength of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people that endure today,” said Brent Learned, artist and exhibit curator.
The artwork explores the history of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, as well as the actual events that occurred the morning of November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Calvary regiment of the U.S. Army in an attack on the sleeping Cheyenne village of Chief Black Kettle, who sought peace and a reservation for his tribe. Black Kettle was killed at Washita near present day Cheyenne, Okla. Custer would be killed eight years later in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The exhibit includes paintings, drawings and artifacts from contributing artists George Levi, Halcyon Levi, Harvey Pratt, Robert Martinez, Gordon Yellowman, Michael Elizondo, Matt Learned, and Brent Learned. Open through December 15, 2022, in the Tulsa World | Lorton Family Gallery at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the exhibit also features artifacts on loan from the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum. Photos of the exhibit can be accessed here.
To purchase artwork, contact Mattie Barlow at mb@oklahomahof.com or 405.523.3214.
Reservations to the reception are recommended. RSVP to Emma Leach at ef@oklahomahof.com.