As a fifth generation Oklahoman and a member of the Sweet Potato Clan of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, sculptor Paul Moore has long been fascinated by stories depicting the history of his home state. Many of those stories document the involvement of family members in significant events such as the Trail of Tears, cattle drives along the Chisholm Trail, and the Oklahoma land rushes.

Paul Moore

Hopi Snake Dancer
Bronze
42″ High
“Back in the late ’80s, I was fortunate enough to witness the Snake Dance at the Hopi’s first mesa. It was an amazing experience that has remained permanently imbedded in my mind. The dance is performed every year to worship the Hopi ancestors and to help bring rain to the mesas. I hope the viewer can feel a small part of the spiritual emotions of the event that I witnessed so many years ago. Today the ceremony is closed to everyone but the Hopis.”

Paul Moore

Offering to the Sun
Bronze
14.5″ High
“The Sun Dance is a religious ceremony that is practiced by many of the Native American peoples. In this piece, I am showing part of the Blackfoot ceremony. It consists of four to five days of dancing, praying, fasting, and offerings. The dancers are pierced in the chest and fastened to pegs and rawhide thongs that are attached to a center pole and, in some cases, are pierced in the back and attached to buffalo skulls. “In the meantime, he is dancing, fasting, and denying himself water, which eventually causes visions, physical and mental exhaustion, and sometimes unconsciousness. The offering of their bodies as a personal sacrifice in this ceremony is given for many personal reasons, but mostly it is a sacrifice for their community or personal family. “This piece depicts the moment when the dancer, after many days of fasting and dancing finally pulls the pegs and rawhide thong loose from his back and collapses in exhaustion. While sitting on the ground in total exhaustion, he continues to blow his eagle bone whistle and falls into the vision world. “The sage bands are wrapped around his head, arms, and legs. Other than that, he is wearing only his breach cloth and eagle bone whistle. His body is painted white, and marks are made on his body representing the sun, moon, and stars.”