Sharron Ahtone Harjo

Sharron Ahtone Harjo
Sharron Ahtone Harjo
Born	Marcelle Sharron Ahtone-Harjo (1945-01-06)January 6, 1945 Carnegie, Oklahoma
Nationality	Kiowa
Education	Bacone College
Known for	painting, ledger art, basketry
Movement	ledger art
Elected	Miss Indian America (1968)

Marcelle Sharron Ahtone Harjo (born 6 Jan 1945) is a Kiowa painter from Oklahoma. Her Kiowa name, Sain-Tah-Oodie translated to "Killed With a Blunted Arrow." She and sister Virginia Stroud were instrumental in the revival of ledger art, a Plains Indian narrative pictorial style on Western supports, such as paper or canvas.

Background

Sharron Ahtone Harjo's parents were Evelyn Tahome and Jacob Ahtone. Evelyn's parents were A. Jane Goombi and Stephen "Tahome" Poolant. Jacob served as Kiowa Tribal Chairman from 1978 to 1980. Jacob's parents were Tahdo and was Samuel Ahtone. Samuel attended the Hampton Institute in Virginia and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Samuel was a ledger artist.

Her ancestor, great grandmother- Millie Durgan, was taken captive by the Kiowas as a young girl. Durgan acculturated into Kiowa society and became a renowned cradleboard-maker.

Ahtone- Harjo graduated from Billings West High School in Billings, Montana in 1963. She studied art under Cheyenne artist Dick West at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma from 1963 to 1965. In 1965, she earned her AA from Bacone and earned her BA from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

In 1965, Harjo was chosen as Miss Indian America.

Art career

Sharron Ahtone Harjo paints in acrylic, oil, gouache, and watercolor. In the 1970s, Ahtone began showing her work professionally. Due to the lack of acceptance women artists in her area, she exhibited under the name Ahtone Harjo. She later taught art in schools.

Personal

Ahtone-Harjo primarily lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, although she also stays in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is married to Amos Harjo (Seminole/ Muscogee) {68} for 46 years. Her daughter Tahnee Ahtoneharjo- Growing Thunder is a successful beadwork and textile artist, married to George Growingthunder (son in-law).

Public collections

Ruthe Jones' work can be found in the following public collections.

• Brown University
• Center of the American Indian, Kilpatrick Center
• Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska
• Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology
• Oklahoma State Historical Society
• Southern Plains Indian Museum

Published works

• Hail, Barbara, Everett R. Rhoades, and Sharron Ahtone Harjo. Gifts of Price and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 978-080613604-2.

References

• Clark, Blue. Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0806140605.
• Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8061-9936-9.
• Pearce, Richard. Women and Ledger Art: Four Contemporary Native American Artists. Tempe: University of Arizona Press, 2013. ISBN 978-081652104-3.