Native American Affinity Group Chair John Haney Shares the Role of Art in his Family's Culture

John Haney: I want to talk a little bit about my experience with art, Native American art and its role in Native American culture. My father in 2002 finished a 22-foot sculpture, which is called "The Guardian," and The Guardian sits on top of the Oklahoma City state capitol building. I was just a kid when that went up, but man, is it still impactful today. It's a warrior that is holding a staff and holding a shield. And the meaning behind it is that this guardian represents all 39 tribes of the state of Oklahoma and watches over the people of the state of Oklahoma. The Guardian is so impactful because thousands of people drive by it every single day, whether they're driving by the highway or on roads, because you can see it from all angles. That's how high up it is, and again, it's 22 feet tall. What a sight that is, to see a Native American warrior on the capitol building and that it's going to be there forever.

I want to talk a little bit about my grandpa. His name was William Woodrow Haney. He was an internationally recognized Native American flute maker and flute player. He passed away when I was just a kid in 1995. However, I did spend some time with him when I was younger. There is a painting that my father, Enoch Kelly Haney, created called "Grandfather's Gift." And this painting represents a day in 1992 when I was in my grandfather's woodshop and he was teaching me how to play flutes, and he was also just showing me around his woodshop. And it's one of the few memories that I really remember at that age. And, you know, while the origins of the Native American flute aren't exactly known, what I have always heard and understood is that our flutes were a gift from the Creator to Native American people. And one of the primary uses of the flute is to make the flute player feel good and to make others feel good, also to tell stories. My grandpa was a very, very gifted storyteller of Seminole culture and tradition, and one of the ways in which he told those stories was through playing the flute. And what is interesting is today I also make flutes just like my grandpa did. And while he wasn't there to physically show me how to make the flutes, I still did learn from him through studying his flutes and playing them. So I always considered flute making and flute playing to be his gift to me.

So this is one of the recent flutes that I have made, and what you'll see right here is my name and then the number 13, and that's exactly how my grandpa Woodrow made his flutes. He also had beadwork, so I designed and worked on the beadwork. And then what I really love about this flute is that this is a flute that I made the body, but this is my grandpa's wood piece that he made on one of his flutes. So again, this is a way for me to kind of reconnect with my ancestors. Even though they're no longer walking on the earth, I can still connect with my grandpa in this way. Being able to inform people through our stories about how Native American people, we survived so much, and we've been thriving and we've been evolving, and just to be able to share my grandpa and his life and his flute, that's something that is an honor to me. And it's something that I'm able to pass on through the flutes that I make.