Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).*  Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum. 


*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" 
This is a evolving and growing resource. If you have any suggestions or would like to recommend additional artists, please e-mail us at antiracistartteachers@gmail.com We thank you for your collaboration!

Indigenous Artists

Artists listed in alphabetical order by first/preferred name.

Artists have many layered identities and art educators need to present them as such.  


Representing diverse artists in your curriculum is only part of an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist curriculum.  It needs to be more than a symbolic effort and art educators need to take into account intersectionality when introducing these artists to students.  How do aspects of an artists’ social and political identities (ex. gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, etc.) intersect within their work?   
In addition, we recognize that race is socially constructed and it is impossible to put humans in clearly defined categories by race. Racial identity is deeply personal, and artists within any given subgroup define themselves differently. Race, ethnicity, and nationality are all factors artist's individually consider as their personal identity. However, as mentioned previously that is not all that there is to their identity. We know that artists have many layered identities and art educators need to do the research to present them as such. These groupings are not perfect, as humans are not meant to be divided into boxes. We hope this resource can help art educators identify who is missing from their curriculum in order to create a curriculum more representative of the incredible diversity among students and artists today.

A

Alan Syliboy
Mi'kmaq

Alex Janvier
Cold Lake 

Andrea Carlson
Ojibwe

Anita Fields
Osage and Muscogee

Arlo Namingha 

Tewa and Hopi

Athena LaTocha
Hunkpapa Lakota 

B

Bill Reid
Haida Canadian

Bob Boyer
(Cree)/Métis Nation

Bonnie Devine
Serpent River Ojibwa

Brian Jungen
Dane-Zaa and Swiss

Bruce Alfred
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Tribe

 Bunky Echo-Hawk
Pawnee & Yakama

C

Cara Romero
Chemehuevi

Charlene Teters
Spokane 

Christi Marlene Belcourt
Métis Canadian

Crystal Worl
Tlingit and Deg Hit’an Athabascan

Courtney M. Leonard Shinnecock

D

D. Ahsén:nase Douglas
Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk)

Dana Claxton Hunkpapa Lakota 

Daphne Odjig
Canadian First Nations of Odawa-Potawatomi-English Heritage

David Bernie
Ihanktonwan Dakota Oyate

Diego Romero
Cochiti Pueblo

Demian Dinéyazhi'
Nádleehí Diné 

Dempsey Bob
Tahltan and Tlingit

Diane Douglas-Willard
Haida 

Duane Slick
American, Mesqwaki, and Ho-Chunk artist

E

Edward Poitras
Métis 

Emmi Whitehorse
Navajo

Erica Lord
Finnish-American, Iñupiaq and Athabascan 

Emily Kewageshig Anishnaabe 

F

Frank Buffalo Hyde
Onondaga and Nez Perce

Fritz Scholder
Luiseno

G

Gina Adams
Ojibwe, Lakota Irish,
& Lithuanian

George Longfish Seneca and Tuscarora

Gregg Deal
Pyramid Lake Paiute

H-I

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds
Cheyenne and Arapaho

 Holly Wilson
Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma and Cherokee

J

James Lavadour
Walla Walla 

James Luna
La Jolla Luiseño-Ipi-and Mexican-American

Jamie Okuma
Luiseño and Shoshone-Bannock

Jason Garcia (Okuu Pin) Santa Clara Pueblo and Tewa 

Jaune Quick–to–See Smith. Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Métis and Shoshone descent

Jeffrey A. Gibson Choctaw and Cherokee 

Jeffrey Veregge
Port Gamble S’Klallam

Joe David
Nuu-Chah-Nult

Jesse T. Hummingbird
Oklahoma Cherokee

Jean LaMarr

Pit River/Paiute

K

Kay WalkingStick
Cherokee

Kenny Alvin Baird
(Cree)/Métis 

Kent Monkman
Canadian Cree 

Kenojuak Ashevak, CC ONu Inuit

Kim Gullion Stewart
Métis

Katie Dorame
Tongva

Kite (aka Dr Suzanne Kite) Oglala Lakota

L

Lewis deSoto
Cahuilla Native American Ancestry

Linda Lomahaftewa

Hopi & Choctaw

Loretta Gould
Mi'kmaq 

M

Marcus Amerman
Choctaw

Marcus Cadman
Navajo and Kickapoo

Maria Martinez
Tewa heritage of the San Ildefonso Pueblo

Maria Martinez

San Ildefonso Pueblo

Margaret Jacobs
Mohawk

Marie Watt
Seneca

Mary Edmonia Lewis
Mississauga Ojibwe and Afro-Haitian 

Matika Wilbur
Swinomish and Tulalip

 Melissa S. Cody
Navajo/Diné

Mer Young Hidalgo Otomi Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache

Michael Kabotie
Hopi

Molly Murphy-Adams
Lakota

Mercedes Dorame Member of the Gabrielino Tongva Indians of Californa

Merritt Johnson
Mohawk and Blackfoot

N-O

 Nadema Agard 

Lakota/Powhatan/Cherokee 

Natalie Ball
Klamath, Modoc, & African American

Nathalie Bertin
Métis, French and Algonquin ancestry

Nayana LaFond
Anishinaabe 



Neal Ambrose-Smith Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation

Nico Williams
Anishinabe First Nation

Nicholas Galanin Tlingit and Unangax̂ 

Nora Naranjo-Morse
Santa Clara Pueblo

Norman Akers
Osage 

Norval Morrisseau
Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek 

P

Preston Singletary
Tlingit

Pop (Merina Lujan) Chalee
Taos Pueblo

Q-R

R.C. Gorman
Navajo

Rebecca Belmore Anishinaabekwe 

Rebecca Gloria-jean Baird (Cree)/Métis 

Robert Davidson
Haida

Rose B. Simpson
Santa Clara Pueblo

Roxanne Swentzell
Santa Clara Tewa

Raven Halfmoon Caddo Nation

Richard Glazer-Danay
Kahnawake (Caughnawaga) Mohawk and Jewish

River Garza Tongva & Mexican

S

Shelley Niro
Mohawk

Shonto Begay
Navajo 

Sonny Assu
Ligwi'lda'xw of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nations

Sonya Kelliher -Combs
Athabaskan

Starr Hardridge
Muscogee

Star Wallowing Bull
Objibwe-Arapaho

Steven Yazzie
Navajo and Laguna Pueblo  

Sydney Pursel
Ioway

T

Tanya Lukin Linklater Alutiiq

Tommy Wayne Cannon Kiowa/Caddo

U-V

Virgil Ortiz
Cochiti Pueblo

Ursula Johnson
Mi’kmaq

Votan Henriquez
Maya and Nahua

W-X-Y-Z

Wendy Red Star
Apsáalooke (Crow)

Will Wilson
Navajo, Diné

DIscover More

Contemporary Native American Artists of the Americas by Lori Santos
Native American Art/Artists - Culturally Responsible Art Education by Lori Santos
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian: Google Arts & Culture
Wendy Red Star Is Teaching Children About the Crow Nation With Her Art
It's Time Pop Culture Stops Embracing the Term "Spirit Animal" BY ALLISON CACICH
Inuit Art Zone Artists
Decolonizing Native American Design by Sadie Red Wing
Minneapolis Institute of Art: Native Art, Native Voices A Resource for K–12 Learners
Hood Museum of Art: Native American Art Teacher Resources
Heard Museum: The Native American Fine Art Movement: A Resource Guide
Art of Conflict: Portraying American Indians, 1850–1900
6.2020.NIEA Virtual Conference Teaching Art Appropriately_FINAL.pdf
National Indian Education Association: 'Teaching Native American Art Respectfully and Responsibly' 
Shanna Ketchum-Heap of Birds: Native American Artists as Agents of Social Change
Explore the West - Kiowa Six
Design of the National Native American Veterans Memorial
National Museum of the American Indian (virtual exhibits)
11 Native American Artists Whose Work Redefines What It Means to Be American
Wendy Red Star and the Indigenous Voice
8 Contemporary Native American Artists Challenging the Way We Look at American History

Aboriginal Peoples: The collective noun used in the Constitution Act 1982 and includes the Indian (or First Nations), Inuit and Metis Peoples so legally it will always have a place at the terminology table.

First Nation(s): First Nation is a term used to identify Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Métis nor Inuit. 

Indigenous: ethnic groups who are the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.

Inuit: Indigenous people in northern Canada, living mainly in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, northern Quebec and Labrador. Ontario has a very small Inuit population. 

Métis Peoples: people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry. The Métis National Council adopted the following definition of “Métis” in 2002: “Métis” means a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation.

Native: An outdated collective term referring to Indians (Status, Non-status, Treaty), Métis, and Inuit but has largely been replaced by Indigenous. While some First Nations individuals refer to themselves as “Native” that doesn’t give non-Indigenous people license to do so.


Terminology defined by Indigenous Peoples terminology guidelines for usage