Al Momaday (1913-1981)

Kiowa
Born in Mountain View, Oklahoma in 1913, Alfred Momaday was a painter of works depicting his Indian heritage and was also a renowned teacher.

Al was one of the most accomplished of Native American artists famous for his work and his teaching particularly at the Jemez Pueblo where his program of arts and crafts brought international recognition.

Momaday was the grandson of the first Kiowa judge and a Kiowa Medicine man. He was also the father of Pulitzer Prize winning author N. Scott Momaday. In 1975 he created a medal for Scott, who was the first American Indian to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature.

In 1956 and 1962 he was named outstanding Indian artist. His work is very rare, highly valued and collected.

Al Momaday, whose Indian name was Haun Toa, meaning War Lance, was the son of Kiowa Indian parents, and in 1933, he married Natachee Scott at Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, where he initiated a program that brought international reputation to the school.

His works can be seen in the Gilcrease Museum, Museum of the American Indian and the Philbrook.


Compiled by Carole LeBeau, art professional

Born in Mountain View, Oklahoma, Alfred Momaday was a painter of works depicting his Indian heritage and was also a renowned teacher. His work included alter plaques for churches in Albuquerque.

Momaday, whose Indian name was Haun Toa, meaning War Lance, was the son of Kiowa Indian parents, and in 1933, he married Natachee Scott at Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, where he initiated a program that brought international reputation to the school.

He was educated at Bacone College, the University of New Mexico, and University of California in Los Angeles. From 1942 to 1944, he was in the Ward Department of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. In 1955 to 1957, he was Director of the All American Indian Days in Sheridan Wyoming, and from 1947 to 1967, was principal and art teacher at the Oklahoma Jemez Day School of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior in New Mexico.

In 1975, he created a medal for his son, N. Scott Momaday, who was the first American Indian to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature.

Sources:
Jeanne O Snodgrass, American Indian Painters
Peter Hasting Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art