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Oqwa Pi (English: Red Cloud[1] or Kachina Stick) also known as Abel Sanchez (1899–1971), was a San Ildefonso Pueblo painter, muralist, and politician. Pi was known for his brightly colored paintings.[1] He served as governor of the San Ildefonso Pueblo for six terms.[1]

Oqwa Pi
Born	1899 San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, U.S.
Died	1971 (aged 71–72) Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.
Other names	Abel Sanchez, Red Cloud, Ogwa-Pi, Oqua Pi, Aqua Pi, Kachina Stick
Occupation	painter, muralist, politician

Biography

Oqwa Pi was born in 1899 in San Ildefonso Pueblo (Tewa: P'ohwhóge Owingeh) in New Mexico.[2] He was educated at the Santa Fe Indian School, where he learned watercolor and mural paintings;[3] he studied with Dorothy Dunn. The Indian School later commissioned him to create murals at the school. He then returned to the pueblo where he married and had a number of children.[2]

In 1931, the Exhibition of Indian Tribal Arts at the Grand Central Galleries in New York City happened, and as a result, Pi's work toured and was shown nationally including at the Museum of Modern Art.[4][5] He attended the Santa Fe Indian School, studying under Dorothy Dunn.[6] Pi has a mural at the Santa Fe Indian School, in the dining room.[7]

Oqwa Pi's paintings were executed in one of the two specific styles that are associated with the San Ildefonso school, a Native art movement of self-taught artists from 1900–1935. His subjects include festivals, dances and native ceremonies.[1] Regarding his paintings of Native ceremonial dances, his son Gilbert, also a painter, stated that Oqwa Pi painted spiritual, but not secretive dances that "didn’t exploit their spirituality in a senseless way”.[8]

Pi also was a politician, having served serving six terms as governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo.[1]

Later in life, Pi and his wife move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to live. Pi died in 1971 in Los Alamos, New Mexico.[2] Two of his sons became painters, Gilbert Sánchez,[8] and Ramos Sánchez (born 1926).^{[citation needed]}[9] His grandson, Russell Sánchez is a painter and potter.[10]

Collections

His work is included in museum collections including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[2] Detroit Institute of Arts,[11] Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,[12] Brooklyn Museum,[3] Ackland Art Museum,[13] and Denver Art Museum.[14]

See also

• List of Native American artists
• Julian Martinez

References

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