This page is a loose working document for noting Native people working in type, layouts, illustration, etc. in roughly the first half of the 20th century and earlier, though there’s a lot of gaps of historical information from then until the present. I really have a lot of research to do to flesh things out here, but do let me know if you have any leads or wish to share your own research.
Sequoyah (Cherokee)
c. 1770–1840
Invented the Cherokee syllabary. Did not speak or read English.
Angel De Cora (Hinook-Mahiwi-Kalinaka) (Winnebago)
1871–1919
Artist, Illustrator, Designer, Educator
“An American Indian Artist,” feature obituary on Angel DeCora by Natalie Curtis, The Outlook: An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Current Events, Wednesday, January 14, 1920, New York.
Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall (Mohawk from Kahnawake)
January 15, 1918 – ?
Created artwork/designs for the American Indian Movement
Sam English (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians)
Well-known contemporary artist whose work has been featured in many posters in Indian Country.
Mary Morez (Navajo)
1946–2004
“A multidisciplinary creative, her work ranged from stylized paintings to realistic drawings depicting moments of daily Navajo life. She created book and record illustrations, textiles, and graphic design and was also an art consultant to the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art, now the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, and a curator at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.” – Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian