Gerald Tailfeathers

Gerald Tailfeathers, artist (born 13 or 14 February 1925 at Stand Off, AB; died 3 April 1975 at the Blood Reserve, AB). Gerald Tailfeathers was one of the first Indigenous people in Canada to become a professional artist. He came to prominence in the 1950s. Throughout his career, he was influenced by multiple different schools of art. His work was featured in numerous exhibits and represented the real lives of Kainai people. He is perhaps best known for contributing work to the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec.

Early Life and Art Education

Gerald Tailfeathers was the son of Sakoyena and Estomachi Tailfeathers. As a child, Tailfeathers trained at the St. Mary’s Lake Summer Art School in Glacier National Park with New York portrait painters Winold Reiss and Carl Linck. He also studied at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts (now the Banff Centre for Continuing Education) and the Provincial School of Technology and Art in Calgary.

Art Career

Throughout his career, Gerald Tailfeathers’ art was influenced by multiple schools of art. In addition to his training, he was influenced by the cowboy school of painting led by Charles Russell and the Oklahoma school of Indian painting. His work focused on the lives of Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) people in the late 19th century. Thus, his work features Kainai people participating in traditional activities like hunting and ceremony. Tailfeathers later began experimenting with cast-bronze sculpture that depicted themes inspired by cowboy art. He studied cowboy art on a 1969 visit to the Arizona studio of George Phippin. In 1967, Tailfeathers contributed to the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67.