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 ArtNative 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