We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arthur Monroe Tsatoke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Arthur Monroe, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I come from a well known family in the Kiowa tribe. My grandfather was an original member of the Kiowa five, now known as the Kiowa six. Monroe Tsatoke was a well known Native American artist. I am named after both my grandfathers, who are brothers, Arthur Monroe Tsatoke. Growing up, I always liked drawing.
In the third grade, I was asked to draw a cartoon for the school newspaper. I took that task seriously and my cartoon made it in the edition of the school newspaper. I was very proud.
In the fifth grade, my teacher caught me drawing and made me hold my hands out and she whipped my hands with a ruler. But that didn’t stop me.
In junior high, we had student teachers from southwestern State University to come and teach art. They just let us play with art materials and really didn’t teach us anything.
In high school, there was no art classes and so when I went to college, it was starting all over. I had to learn art terms that were basic to other art students. For me, it was difficult at times. I did learn art terms and was taught basic art techniques. Which was good but I wanted to learn to paint subject matters from my own tribe, things I could relate to. I am a Native American and I wanted to paint Native subject matter. I studied a lot of history from my tribe and learn on my own., Kiowa culture, regalia, horses, buffalo, myths and legends and other historical events of my tribe. I met this well known Cheyenne artist, Archie Blackowl and he told me, “paint what you know, paint things from your tribe. If you paint others things beside your tribe, you can be criticized for it.” So I took that to heart.
I taught education for forty-six years,demonstrating, teaching students the fine arts and arts & crafts. I had a student ask me, “are you a professional artist?” I told them, no, maybe one day I’ll be a professional artist.” Well, I retired in 2020 and my opportunity came for me to express myself with my art skills. I had my first major art show December through February 2023 at the Southern Plains Museum and cultural center in Anadarko, Oklahoma. This would tell me if my art work would be good enough for me to continue producing Kiowa art work. I paint in the old style two dimensional, flat style.
After the show, I was so encouraged, I sold all my art work that I had for sale. I felt like I had made it as a professional Native American artist. I have since produced works of art that the art enthusiast likes.
I also bead work mainly Kiowa style moccasins. I am so thankful that I have the support of my family and friends. I want to continue to produce works of art as long as I can so people can enjoy Old Style Kiowa tribe works of art. Thank you for this opportunity to share my story. God bless!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My nam is Arthur Monroe Tsatoke. I am from the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma. I was born in June 1952. I am the son of John and Elva Mae Tsatoke. I have four brothers and two sisters. Both my parents are World War II veterans. My dad is a veteran Kiowa Tribe code talker and was given a medal of Honor in 2014 in Washington D. C.
I was the first in my family to go to college. I taught art education for forty-six years. In 2006, I received my masters degree in education from the university of Oklahoma. I also graduated from SMU school of Theology that same 2006.
I have been married to Johanna Bigbow Tsatoke for forty-nine years. We have two children, Fawn and Melissa. We have eight grandchildren. And in October, we are expecting our first great-grandson.
Currently I am a Methodist minister and have three churches. My wife and I enjoy our churches and church families. On my spare time, I enjoy painting and beadworking.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of the things that was hard for me was to read and learn my tribal history on my own. There are not a lot of resources that I can find about the history of Native Amercans, especially about my Kiowa Tribe. I wanted to learn about the culture, tribal background, clothing, tribal houses, teepees and so forth. The colleges and university are limited on information libraries and history books. Even in the Oklahoma history book. The shortest chapter iin th Oklahoma history book is about Native Americans and Oklahoma is one of the states with the most populations of Native Americans. Our stories, myths and legends are handed down from generation to generation and a lot of this history is being lost forever.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One thing that I had to teach myself to do is be patient.

When I first began to paint, I would paint until I finished the artwork sometimes staying up all night. Sometimes it was frustrating to leave an unfinished work of art.

Since retiring from teaching, I have taught myself to take my time when working on a piece of art. I can leave a painting and return to it later refreshed and ready to continue working on my art work. Now, sometimes I can have two or three paintings going at once. Paint on one and while it’s drying, start working on painting number two and so forth. Painting relaxes me and I enjoy it more than ever.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Arthur Monroe Tsatoke

Image Credits
Arthur and Johanna Tsatoke Arthur Monroe Tsatoke Kiowa style art Arthur Monroe Tsatoke regalia