By Dana Attocknie,

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune

West receives honors

A video montage of art from the late Walter Richard (Dick) West, Sr. serves as the backdrop for an evening honoring his son W. Richard West, Jr.

“I’m just really overwhelmed with this opportunity to give something back to Rick West who gave so much to me through the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI),” Russell Tall Chief, Jacobson Foundation director, said.

The Jacobson Foundation honored West during their Pony Moon Gala on Sept. 20, 2008 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City.

“The Jacobson Foundation is honored to host this major event and exhibition in celebration of Rick West’s historic role in the founding of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, in addition to his vast contributions to American Indian cultural, educational, legal, and governmental affairs,” Tall Chief stated.

The gala began with a reception and silent auction, followed by dinner, acknowledgements, a dance performance and a live auction.

“The tribe is very proud of Rick. Rick has accomplished many things,” Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes Gov. Darryl Flyingman said. “Rick is a role model. If there’s one thing we need in our tribe it’s role models.”

Flyingman said he spoke to West in Colony, Okla. a couple of weeks ago about possibly helping the tribes establish a museum.

“He’s accomplished many, many things,” Flyingman said. “Not only are the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes proud of him, but the state of Oklahoma.”

Introducing West was Dr. Mary Jo Watson, University of Oklahoma (OU) School of Art director, who said the opening of the museum on the National Mall was probably one of the most important days of her life.

“It’s a pleasure to be here … on behalf of the school of arts and art history,” Watson said. “I am honored to be here to honor the Jacobson Foundation and Rick West.”

West, 65, served as the founding director emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) NMAI from 1990 to 2007, and during that time he also supervised the establishment of SI’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York City and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Md.

West said NMAI is profoundly about the present, the future and the past.

“When I became the director of the National Museum of the American Indian in 1990, what I and others envisioned for the National Museum of the American Indian for the Smithsonian Institution was a place … that was not simply a palace of collections, a house of ethnography, but in recognizing this group of people in the past and the history and the experience … also recognize their place in the present and in the future,” West said.

West said NMAI is sometimes referred to as an international museum of living cultures, rather than a museum, which usually focuses on the collection of people rather than on the people themselves.

West is currently the International Council of Museums vice president, and serves on the board or is a member of the following organizations:

American Indian Resources Institute, Ford Foundation, National Support Committee of Native American Rights Fund, American Association of Museums, Stanford University, National Parks Conservation Association, and the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience.

Prior to working at NMAI, West worked as a lawyer for the Indian-owned law firm of Gover, Stetson, Williams & West, P.C., in Albuquerque, N.M.

He was also a partner in the Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson law office in Washington, D.C.

West holds his bachelor’s degree in American history from the University of Redlands in California, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in 1965. He earned his master’s degree in American history from Harvard University in 1968, and his doctorate of jurisprudence degree was earned at Stanford University School of Law in 1971.

West, a southern Cheyenne peace chief, is the son of Maribelle McCrea and Walter Richard West, Sr.

He grew up in Muskogee, Okla., and has one brother, Jim.

West is married to Mary Beth Braden and they have two children, Amy and Ben.

“A man like Rick will never retire,” Tall Chief said.

Tall Chief said West was his boss at one time, and much of the leadership he has came from West.

He also said the artwork assembled for a gala was just a small sampling of work from Dick West.

Dick West was an American Indian master artist who studied under Oscar Jacobson at OU. He also worked at Bacone College, in Muskogee as the art department director.

In combination with the gala honoring West, the Jacobson Foundation is hosting an exhibition of his father’s art and sculptures. The work of Dick West can be seen from Sept. 20 to Nov. 16, 2008 at the Jacobson House in Norman, Okla.

“Dick’s work is so hard to find anymore,” Tall Chief said. “You have to go to museums and see his work.”

West said he commends the work of the Jacobson House and all the work it tries to do, and he was, “glad to see it in full flower here this evening.”

West said Oscar Jacobson’s work was as much about the future of native art as it was about the people and preservation.

“His work interested me the most because in a way it was piercing boundaries,” West said.

West also said that over time he has seen, “what the native people in Oklahoma have done in respect to art and culture, and those in the non-native community have done so much to collaborate with us … I marvel at the courage and steadfastness of people whom I see here.”

Art in the form of interpretive dance also took center stage near the conclusion of the gala when Holly Tall Chief and Cheyla Clawson performed.

The ladies are from the OU School of Dance and premiered an original dance composition, which was inspired by the artwork of Dick West.

Of the entire evening, West said he was honored, he hoped to see everyone again soon, and he thanked everyone for attending.

“Wherever I’ve been and wherever I may go Oklahoma for me is home. I appreciate that feeling,” West said. “I appreciate the representatives of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes for being here. One can be honored no more than to be honored by his own.”