It takes a long time to learn beauty, its process, its principles, its mechanics. When you’re a toddler, and you see something beautiful, it stops you in your tracks, but you don’t understand it. Only later do you start to understand what goes into it.”
— Merlin Little Thunder
Merlin Little Thunder was born at Clinton Indian Hospital to George and Connie Little Thunder. He is an enrolled member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe who has painted professionally since 1980. His art is based on his memories of growing up in the Cheyenne community of Fonda, on family stories, and his involvement with the Cheyenne ceremonies.
Little Thunder has painted professionally since 1980, winning numerous awards for his work, especially in the miniature category. His work can be divided in two subject areas: realistic landscapes with images of Cheyenne people from the turn of the century; and medicine paintings dealing with spiritual matters.
Articles on the artist have appeared in Southwest Art, Native Peoples, Oklahoma Today, and on several book covers. He is one of the featured artists in A Life Made with Artists: Doris Littrell and the Oklahoma Native art scene (2015). Museum collections include the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the Fred Jones Museum in Norman, Oklahoma and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
THE ARTIST ON HIS WORK
2019 First Place Miniatures; 2nd Place Painting, Santa Fe Indian Market
2018 Best of Division and First Place, Abstract painting; 2nd Place, Painting, Santa Fe Indian Market
2017 Best of Division, painting, Santa Fe Indian Market
2017 First Place Painting, Heard Museum
2017 First and Second Place, Miniatures, Trail of Tears Art Show
2016 First Place, Painting, Red Earth Indian Arts Festival
2016 First Place Painting, Tulsa Indian Arts Festival
2015 First Place Miniature, Trail of Tears Art Show
2014 First Place Painting, Santa Fe Indian Market
2013 Best Category Abstract Painting & First Place Transparent Watercolor, Santa Fe Indian Market
2012 First Place Painting, Tulsa Indian Arts Festival
2011 Third Place Painting, Red Earth Indian Arts Festival
2011 Featured Artist, Oklahoma Audubon Society
2010 Moscelyn Larkin Cultural Achievement Award, Tulsa Commission on Indian Affairs
2009 Best of Category Miniatures & 2nd Place Painting, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah
2009 Best of Category Painting, Tulsa Indian Arts Festival
2008 Best of Category Painting, Red Earth Arts Festival
2008 First Place Miniatures, Santa Fe Indian Market
2005 2nd Place Miniatures, Santa Fe Indian Market
2004 1st & 2nd place Miniatures, Santa Fe Indian Market
2004 Gallup Ceremonial Poster Artist, Gallup, New Mexico
2002 Best Miniature, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
2000 Best Miniature, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
1994 Second Place Painting, Kituwah Art Show, Asheville, North Carolina
1994 Best Miniature, Trail of Tears Art Show, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
1992 Best of Class Miniatures, Intertribal Indian Ceremonial Association, Gallup, New Mexico
1991 Gold Medal, Graphics, American Indian and Cowboy Artists Association, Wichita, Kansas
1991 Best Miniature Painting, Tom Mullarky Award; Best in Category, Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonial Association, Gallup, New Mexico
1988 First Place Watercolors, Colorado Indian Market, Denver, Colorado
1988 Best in Category Graphics, Tsa-La-Gi Museum, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
1986 Grand Award, OIO Show, Kirkpatrick Center of the American Indian, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1986 Special Merit Award/Painting; Special Merit Award/Graphics, Tsa-la-Gi Museum, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
National Museum of the American Indian magazine, Winter 2014
Oklahoma Today, July-August, 2013
Southwest Art, September, 1996; May, 1987
Oklahoma Today, 1990
Tulsa Magazine, June 1985
Oklahoma Home and Garden, December 1985
Book cover, Dispatches from the Dakota Wars, University of Nebraska Press, 2011
Book cover, By Cheyenne Campfires, University of Nebraska Press, 1987
Interview: Oklahoma Native Artist Project, Oklahoma State University, 2010, 2011 https://www.library.okstate.edu/oralhistory/ona
2014 “One October Morning,” Lecture and Exhibition, Denver University
2014 “The Art of Remembrance: One Hundred and Fifty Years since Sand Creek, ” Lecture and Exhibition, Denver Art Museum
2006, Solo Exhibit, “Beyond Rivers and Ridges,” Governor’s Gallery, State Capitol, Oklahoma City
2002, “Winter Camp II,” Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2001 “Winter Camp,” Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2000 “Oklahoma Indian Art: Visual Songs of Native America,” National Museum of History, Taiwan in collaboration with the Oklahoma Arts Council and Fred Jones Museum
1998 “A Brush With Reality,” Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Group Exhibition, Wickenburg, Arizona
1993 One-man Show, Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko, Oklahoma
1990 Solo Retrospective, Cherokee Heritage Museum, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
2002 miniature acquisition by Cowboy Hall of Fame for its permanent collection
1999 miniature acquisition, Sam Noble Museum, Norman, Oklahoma
12 paintings held by the Sequoyah Research Institute, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
13 paintings held by the Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
13 paintings held by the Fred Jones Museum, Norman, Oklahoma.
Painting Demonstration, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 2014
Miniature Workshop, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 2009
Guest Instructor, Alternative Education Program, Woodward and Canton, Oklahoma, 1998—2011