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Peyote Dancer
Tempera | Watercolor
I: 13.25” x 9.25”
F: 10” x 15”
Walt Harris (1923–1986) was a prominent Otoe-Missouria Native American artist, athlete, and military veteran known affectionately as the "Happy Indian Artist." An enrolled member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, his mother was the tribe's last hereditary princess.
Early Life & Education
Birth: Born on December 2, 1923, near Red Rock, Oklahoma, on the Otoe Reservation.
Upbringing: Raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma, graduating from Ponca City High School in 1942.
Artistic Beginnings: Self-taught, he was encouraged by his grandfather to draw accurate depictions of animals.
Military Service & Athletics
World War II: Served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
College Athletics: Attended the University of Oklahoma on a football scholarship, studying journalism and public relations.
Professional Baseball: Left college football to play minor league baseball as a pitcher, outfielder, and catcher; his athletic career cut short due to a severe arm injury.
Career & Art Legacy
Journalism: Worked in the composing room of The Ponca City News for 18 years, also serving as a cartoonist and illustrator.
Art Style: Specializing primarily in watercolors, his work blended a traditional Native American three-dimensional effect with realism, heavily focusing on horses, portraits, and portraying Native Americans in a joyful, home-loving light.
Accolades: Named Oklahoma's Outstanding Indian Artist. His work has been displayed globally, including at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He notably painted a piece titled "All At Once There Were No More" for Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife, Joan.
Peyote Dancer
Tempera | Watercolor
I: 13.25” x 9.25”
F: 10” x 15”
Walt Harris (1923–1986) was a prominent Otoe-Missouria Native American artist, athlete, and military veteran known affectionately as the "Happy Indian Artist." An enrolled member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, his mother was the tribe's last hereditary princess.
Early Life & Education
Birth: Born on December 2, 1923, near Red Rock, Oklahoma, on the Otoe Reservation.
Upbringing: Raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma, graduating from Ponca City High School in 1942.
Artistic Beginnings: Self-taught, he was encouraged by his grandfather to draw accurate depictions of animals.
Military Service & Athletics
World War II: Served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
College Athletics: Attended the University of Oklahoma on a football scholarship, studying journalism and public relations.
Professional Baseball: Left college football to play minor league baseball as a pitcher, outfielder, and catcher; his athletic career cut short due to a severe arm injury.
Career & Art Legacy
Journalism: Worked in the composing room of The Ponca City News for 18 years, also serving as a cartoonist and illustrator.
Art Style: Specializing primarily in watercolors, his work blended a traditional Native American three-dimensional effect with realism, heavily focusing on horses, portraits, and portraying Native Americans in a joyful, home-loving light.
Accolades: Named Oklahoma's Outstanding Indian Artist. His work has been displayed globally, including at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He notably painted a piece titled "All At Once There Were No More" for Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife, Joan.
