[Haungooah]
(b Western Oklahoma, 1861; d Stecker, Oklahoma, Dec 14, 1940).
Native American Kiowa draughtsman, silversmith and beadworker. He was the son of Chief Dohasan III, keeper of one of the Kiowa pictographic calendar counts, and younger brother of Ohettoint (1852–1934), one of the Fort Marion artist–prisoners also known as Charlie Buffalo (see Native North American art, §IV, 2 and Howling Wolf). Silverhorn was a key cultural figure and the most significant and prolific Native American artist in the last part of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th. He probably learnt pictography at an early age. As a ceremonial leader, he was keeper of one of the sacred Kiowa medicine bundles. As a craftsman, he produced beadwork, war bonnets and jewellery made from German silver, an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc. For anthropologists, he illustrated religious ceremonies, myths and folklore, and painted model tipis and shields. Most of his works on paper and muslin are romantic evocations of the past and do not refer to specific events or individuals. An exception to his general output is the ...
