Tahnee Ahtone facts for kids

Tahnee Ahtone is a talented Kiowa artist. She is known for her beautiful beadwork and for creating special traditional clothing called regalia. She also works as a curator in museums, which means she helps organize and care for art collections. Tahnee is from Mountain View, Oklahoma. Since 2024, she has been a curator of Native American art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

About Tahnee's Family

Tahnee's full name is Tahnee Marie Ahtone Harjo. Her father, Amos Harjo, is from the Seminole and Muscogee tribes. Her mother, Sharron Ahtone Harjo, is a Kiowa artist, known for her paintings and ledger art. Ledger art is a special type of Native American drawing. Tahnee is an official member of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

Tahnee's grandparents were Evelyn Tahome and Jacob Ahtone. Her grandfather, Jacob Ahtone, was important to the Kiowa tribe. He was the Kiowa tribal chairman from 1978 to 1980. He also worked for the U.S. government and helped create laws that protect Native American religious freedom and art.

Tahnee was named after her great-aunt, Ah-stom-pah Ote, who passed away as a child. Her name means "The One Chosen to Lead In." Tahnee's family has a long history of art and leadership. Many of her ancestors were famous ledger art artists. Her family is also known for being one of many Kiowa families where many generations have earned college degrees.

Tahnee's Education

Tahnee studied museum studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She earned her degree in 2015. Later, she earned a master's degree in museology from Harvard Extension School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Museology is the study of how museums work.

Her Amazing Artwork

Tahnee is a dancer at powwows, which are Native American gatherings with dancing and singing. She became very skilled at beadwork and sewing dance regalia. This is the special clothing worn for powwow dances.

Besides making regalia for her community, Tahnee also shows her art at big Native American art events. These include the Santa Fe Indian Market and the National Museum of the American Indian. Her beadwork has won many awards at these events. She is especially known for creating beaded pictures of people. Her art has been shown in special art shows, like Generations and Current Realities. In 2008, she had her own art show at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

Working in Museums

Tahnee Ahtone is currently the curator of Native American art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. A curator is like a detective and storyteller for art. They research, organize, and present artworks to the public.

Before this, Tahnee was the director of the Kiowa Tribal Museum in Carnegie, Oklahoma. She also worked at the Oklahoma History Center. There, she helped connect the museum with Oklahoma's 38 federally recognized tribes. She was also the curator for the museum's textile and American Indian collections.

Tahnee also worked at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Ledyard, Connecticut. She helped create an art show there called Without a Theme. This show featured art by First Nations and Native American artists. These artists created art that didn't always use traditional Native images.

Tahnee has also helped other museums. She was a cultural adviser for an art show in Germany. She also helped with a research project about Kiowa and Comanche cradles at Brown University. Her family even contributed to this project.

In April 2024, Tahnee officially became the curator of Native American art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. She specializes in textiles, which are fabrics and woven art. She also knows a lot about Native American textile art and beadwork, including beaded medallions.

Tahnee and her husband, George Growing Thunder, own a company called GT Museum Services. They help other museums with their collections and projects.

Awards and Honors

Tahnee has received several important awards and fellowships for her work as a curator. These include:

• Center for Curatorial Leadership (2021)
• Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Journalism Fellowship for Curators (2021)
• Oklahoma Museums Association, Service to the Profession Award (2019)

Tahnee's Family Life

Tahnee is married to George Growing Thunder, who is from the Assiniboine tribe. Her married name is sometimes listed as Tahnee Ahtoneharjo–Growingthunder. Her mother-in-law is the famous beadwork artist Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty. Tahnee has three step-children and two daughters with her husband.