Amazing naive sketches by "Plains Indians" of their observations and a documentary of late 19th century America

Amazing naive sketches by "Plains Indians" of their observations and a documentary of late 19th century America

In the late 1990's I was developing a marketing programme for fashion and home products predominantly for the European  and Australian markets where the rationale and design direction had been much  influenced by earlier journeys to a particular area of the States.

I was a regular visitor to Kansas City - Missouri where I was advising Hallmark Cards as one of their pairs of 'eyes and ears' as to what were the trends and happenings in Europe and certain areas of the Far East.

I noted in those days - early/mid 90's that when ever I flew into Kansas City International Airport there were always a number of prop aircraft on the runways owned by Ozark Airways .

In organising my travel schedules with the Hallmark Card people I seemed to have to organise my trips around 'away/weekend/long weekend days ' where they were for ever going off to the lakes and mountains(high hills) of what is known as the OZARKS.

This truly is the MID WEST.

It was my gathering interest and subsequent research into the area that straddles South Missouri, Northern Arkansas and Northern Oklahoma that helped to create the Marketing programme Ozark .

This research took me to the Ozark lakes and mountains and the people that have lived there over the centuries. So I'd now like to make you privy to some of the visits, appraisals and personal insights of this absorbing creation.

We visited and photographed the area very specifically, particularly being there for the FOUR SEASONS.

This blog is about the Indian tribes of 'The Plains' and identifying the Osage tribe whose lands were in Northern Oklahoma.

The stunning beauty of these delightful coloured drawings all drawn, coloured and painted in the second half of the 19th century - 1860's to the turn of the century -  is a wonderful example of NAIVE art which is a priceless documentary of social history when standing up to developing oppression.

I also visited the wonderful George Gustav Heye Center of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian near Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

We will be creating further blogs about the climatic seasons of the Ozarks, the Shakers and photographic albums of our many visits.