Bunky Echo-Hawk

Bunky Echo–Hawk
Born
Walter Roy Echo-Hawk Jr.

1975 (age 48–49)
Yakama Nation Reservation, Toppenish, Washington, U.S.
NationalityYakama Nation
EducationAssociate of Art degree, Creative Writing, Institute of American Indian Arts; Toyota Fellow, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Naropa University
Known forAcrylic painting, poetry
MovementHip hop, Native pop

Bunky Echo–Hawk (born 1975) is a Native American artist and poet who is best known for his acrylic paintings concerning Native American topics and hip-hop culture. He works in a variety of media that include paintings, graphic design, photography, and writing.

Biography

Walter Roy "Bunky" Echo–Hawk Jr.[1] is a descendant of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and an enrolled citizen of the Yakama Nation.[2] He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in the 1990s. He served as the "co-founder and the Executive Director of NVision, a national Native nonprofit that focuses on Native youth development,"[3] and he is also a traditional singer and dancer.[4] In 2020, Echo-Hawk was featured in the PBS series American Masters for his work on Native rights and environmentalism.[5]

Themes and style

Scholar Olena McLaughlin, writing in the journal Transmotion, categorizes Echo-Hawk's work as follows: "Although it is within the stream of Native Pop, Echo-Hawk's work leans more towards Pop Surrealism or Lowbrow, a movement that emerged in the 1970s after Pop Art. It engages popular culture, but in a more concrete story-telling way with slightly less ambiguity."[6] In 2011 and beyond, Echo-Hawk collaborated with Nike to develop Native-inspired apparel through their N-7 and Power of Perseverance Collection.[7]

Personal life and arrest

On October 16, 2021, Echo-Hawk was injured and his 15-year-old daughter Alexie was killed in a head-on crash early morning, as they were driving to the Pawnee Nation for a ceremonial tribal dance in Oklahoma.[8]

On January 10, 2022, Bunky Echo-Hawk was arrested for "lewd or indecent acts to children under 16."[1] A young girl reported to a Pawnee County DHS worker that "she was repeatedly touched inappropriately by Echo-Hawk, 46, between 'from the time she was 7 or 8 until 11 or 12 years old'."[1] His preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 15, 2022.[1]

Public collections

Exhibitions

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kunze, Jenna (7 February 2022). "Renowned Artist "Bunky" Echo-Hawk Charged in Oklahoma". Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Bunky Echo-Hawk". University of North Dakota. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  3. ^ "Bunky Echo-Hawk". Beatnation.org. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  4. ^ "Making Pathways w/Bunky Echohawk". Snag Magazine. 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  5. ^ "Bunky Echo-Hawk: The Resistance | American Masters | PBS". Pbs.org. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  6. ^ McLaughlin, Olena (2017). "View of Native Pop: Bunky Echo-Hawk and Steven Paul Judd Subvert Star Wars". Transmotion. 3 (2): 30–52. doi:10.22024/UniKent/03/tm.223. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  7. ^ "N7: The Power of Perseverance". News.nike.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Family Tries To Move Forward After Double Fatal I-70 Crash That Killed Colorado Teen Heading To Pawnee Ceremonial Dance". Denver.cbslocal.com. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Founder's Day Performance". Willamette University. 2010-01-19. Archived from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  10. ^ "Bunky Echo-Hawk". Beatnation.org. Retrieved 2012-09-02.