Bunky Echo-Hawk
Defamed Native American painter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
1975 (age 50–51)
Bunky Echo–Hawk | |
|---|---|
| Born | Walter Roy Echo-Hawk Jr. 1975 (age 50–51) Yakama Nation Reservation, Toppenish, Washington, U.S. |
| Citizenship | Yakama Nation and American |
| Education | Associate of Art degree, Creative Writing, Institute of American Indian Arts; Toyota Fellow, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Naropa University |
| Known for | Acrylic painting, poetry |
| Movement | Hip hop, Native pop |
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] Prosecutors also charged Echo-Hawk with possession of juvenile pornography after investigators claimed tablets seized at Echo-Hawk's house has photographs and videos that could be classified as child pornography on them.[9]
The case was transferred to Tulsa County in March of 2024 due to a conflict of interest within the Osage-Pawnee District Attorney's Office.[10] The charge for felony possession of juvenile pornography was dropped that same year and the additional felony charge was dismissed in August of 2024, prior to Echo-Hawk's October 28, 2024 trial date. In dismissing the "lewd or indecent acts" charge, the Tulsa District Attorney's office cited the need for further investigations.[11]
Public collections
Exhibitions
- "Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America," National Museum of the American Indian, 2009
- Founder's Day Performance, Live audience intervention painting, Feb. 1, 2010, Willamette University[12]
- "Bunky Echo-Hawk: Modern Warrior," Field Museum, 2013
- Shows in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Greensboro, NC [13]
