Oscar Howe Contemporary Native American Art

Oscar Howe was born on May 13th, 1915 to George Howe and Ella Not Afraid of Bear on a small Indian reservation in South Dakota. He was born into poverty and was frequented quite often by illness and frustration. He attended The Pierre Indian School, which was extremely strict with its students. The students were forced to wear uniforms and any misconduct was dealt with quickly and severely. One of the first rules that were told to the student is that they were forbidden to spea

During World War II Oscar Howe spent three and a half years touring around North Africa, Italy and Germany. He obtained the rank of corporal and while in Germany met his soon to be wife Miss Heidi Hampel. After the war he financed her trip to America with his first national award. Soon after in an attempt to make some money Oscar Howe entered his tempera picture “Dakota Duck Hunt” in the second annual National Indian Painting Exhibition at Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa Oklahoma.

When looking at the descriptions of how Oscar Howe decorated the outside of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota the theory of representation rings through. It is written that he decorated the walls with murals of “Plains Indian life and farming and ranching” (Huseboe 219) these images are imitations of their real life counterparts according to Aristotle’s theory. I feel that this holds true for the murals. There is no real emotion being brought out by the different corns and grains that are arranged to look like pictures. They are mere imitations.

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