Oklahoma Capitol artist is finalist to design Native American veterans memorial at Smithsonian 

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State Sen. Enoch Kelly Haney raises his arms as he celebrates the installation of his sculpture “The Guardian” atop the state Capitol dome in 2002. The bronze statue weighs 3 tons and is 17½ feet tall. Tulsa World file

Having already designed the statue that stands atop the Oklahoma Capitol, former lawmaker Enoch Kelly Haney is now a finalist to design a Native American veterans memorial at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

An internationally recognized Seminole/Creek artist who also happens to be a former Democratic legislator from Seminole, Haney won a competition to design a statue for the top of the new state Capitol dome, which was put in place in 2002.

Now, along with partner Dan SaSuWeh Jones, who is a writer, artist and former chairman of the Ponca Tribe in north-central Oklahoma, Haney has submitted one of the five final designs competing for a place in the nation’s capital.

“It’s meant to show the patriotism of the Native American people,” Haney told the Tulsa World. “It’s a great tribute to those who have served.”

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian received 120 submissions for a National Native American Veterans Memorial. A blue-ribbon jury of Native and non-Native American artists, designers and scholars selected a handful of design concepts to advance to a second stage of the competition.

The museum will introduce the finalists Feb. 7 in Washington, where each designer will have 15 minutes to share initial concept-design drawings. The finalists will then have until May 1 to refine their designs, and the winning concept is scheduled to be placed on the grounds of the museum in 2020.

Haney served as a state representative from 1980 to 1986 and as a state senator from 1986 to 2002. He later served as chief of the Seminole Nation.

Another finalist, multimedia artist Harvey Pratt, is a retired police forensic artist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Michael writes news features and personal columns on a variety of topics. Phone: 918-581-8383

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