Hoorace Poolaw

Born in Oklahoma in 1906, Horace Poolaw apprenticed himself to a local photographer at age 17, later becoming the most prolific Indian photographer of his generation. During the five decades in which he photographed the Plains Indians, tribal cultures underwent profound changes, including the arrival of white settlers to the Plains, the division of tribal lands into farm allotments and the disappearance of some traditional religious practices.

Horace Poolaw was a photographer in a time of huge transition for Native American People. He was able to document this huge transition from the inside. His photographs differ significantly from photographs taken at the same places and same times from non-Natives. Poolaw was able to show Natives in day to day life. He photographed Kiowa women in the latest fashion as well as Kiowas in cars with headdresses. Horace was able to capture the transition of children being taken into boarding school. They had their worn Native clothing when they arrived and transition was drastic – they transformed into boarding school children in their new hard shoes and military uniforms, as well as the cutting of the hair that represented so many different spiritual things in Native culture. Poolaw was capturing the transition from the inside out as opposed to the official documentation by the government. Horace Poolaw captured the truth in the transition, which makes his photography so precious. He visually proved how adaptable Native people really are.

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