Pawnee Artist – Charles W. Chapman

Charles W. Chapman (1944-2017) — click here for full bio — spent his life creating art that showed the past, the customs, and the ceremonies of his people. Charles was determined to do his part to help his tribe recover the grandeur, traditions, and heritage that came so close to being wiped out.

Charles and Sue Denver were engaged a long time ago. She helped him promote his art to a wider audience — which is how she had color slides of all his art shown below. Charles helped her understand more about Pawnee customs, ceremonies, and their relationship with wolves. He agreed with her that if any Great Plains tribe knew the secret of how to transform to wolf — it would be the Pawnee. He was amused at her idea of a Pawnee werewolf — but he wasn’t much into fantasy. He was working to recover his tribe’s reality — in as much detail as possible.

Charles wanted people to see his art and to learn more about his tribe. Sue put up this site to help with his mission — and to show others what a great artist he was.