Salute to Harvey Pratt, Native American Forensic & Bigfoot Artist

I dig Harvey Pratt: he spent a lifetime doing what I would have wanted to spend my lifetime doing. Unfortunately, things did not pan out for me to go into that sort of a career in my case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Pratt

Harvey Pratt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harvey Phillip Pratt (born 1941) is an American forensic artist and Native American artist, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue postmortem reconstructions.[1] To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and hundreds of identification of unidentified human remains throughout America.[1] His expertise in witness description drawing, skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, soft tissue postmortem drawing and restoration of photographs and videos have aided law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally.[2] Pratt also assists investigations though training classes, besides lecturing before universities, colleges, schools and civic groups.

Pratt was born in El Reno, Oklahoma and is a member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho tribes where he is recognized as one of the traditional Cheyenne Peace Chiefs,[3] also known as the Council of Forty-Four. He has been recognized by the Cheyenne People as an Outstanding Southern Cheyenne.[4] He is the great grandson of scout, guide, interpreter and Sand Creek massacre survivor, Edmund Guerrier.[5] He is the great great grandson of American frontiersman, William Bent.[6] Pratt lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Forensic Art
Example of Postmortem Drawing by Harvey PrattPratt began his career with Oklahoma's Midwest City Police Department in 1965, where, as a police officer, he completed his first composite drawing that resulted in an arrest and conviction.[3] He joined the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in 1972 as a narcotics investigator and retired in 1992 as an Assistant Director.[3] He is now employed with the agency as a full time forensic specialist.[1]

Pratt's forensic expertise has contributed to many high profile cases: The Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway),[7] Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders (Gene Leroy Hart),[8] Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole,[1] Bobby Joe Long,[1] The I-5 Killer (Randall Woodfield),[1] Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot,[9] Tommy Lynn Sells,[10] World Trade Center 1993 bombings,[1] Ted Bundy,[3] Sirloin Stockade Murders (Roger Dale Stafford, Verna Stafford and Harold Stafford),[11] Joe Fischer,[1] Roger Wheeler murder,[12] the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building,[1] Donald Eugene Webb,[1] Oklahoma State Fair Abducted Girls (Roy Russell Long),[1] and Randolph Dial.[3]

In the mid 1980s, Pratt developed the soft tissue postmortem drawing method.[13] Using this method, the forensic artist draws or paints on the photograph of a victim to repair tissue damage or decomposition. The drawing repairs the trauma to the victim so that the final image will be more presentable when asking for law enforcement's or the public's assistance in identification.

Native American Art
Pratt encompasses painting, sculpting, wood carving, mural painting, bronze work, architectural design and graphic design.[14] He is a self-taught artist and creates in the media of oil, acrylic, watercolor, metal, clay and wood.[14] His artwork is a blend of his forensic art and law enforcement experience with traditional Native American environment.

Pratt has received awards for his artwork at Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, New Mexico, and Red Earth Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[4] In 2005, he was given the title "Master Artist" by Red Earth, as well as being selected as the Red Earth 2005 Honored One.[3]

His works are in many permanent collections, including the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution[4], the Sequoyah National Research Center, and the University of Oklahoma. He accepted state appointments to the Oklahoma Arts Council by Governor Frank Keating and Governor Brad Henry.[3]

Notes
1.^ a b c d e f g h i j k OSBI Forensic Art
2.^ Brown
3.^ a b c d e f g McDonnell
4.^ a b c Lester, p. 446
5.^ National Archives #368 Edward Guerrier
6.^ National Archives #367 Julia Bent Guerrier
7.^ Smith & Guillen, reconstruction credit in photo section
8.^ Wilkerson & Wilkerson
9.^ Mayer, p. 33
10.^ Fanning, p. 108
11.^ English & Calhoun, pp. 400-401
12.^ Fossett
13.^ Stott
14.^ a b Pratt
References
Brown, Michele M. "Native American forensic artist featured at Guthrie Art Walk", Guthrie News Leader, 10 November 2005
Calhoun, Sharon & English, Billie. Oklahoma Adventure. Oklahoma City/ACP, 2001. ISBN 0961948485
English, Billie & Calhoun, Sharon. Oklahoma Heritage. Oklahoma City/Holt, Calhoun, Clark & Quaid, 1989. ISBN 0961949600
Fanning, Diane. Through the Window. St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0312985258
Fossett, Judy. "Clues Sketchy In Tulsa Killing", The Daily Oklahoman, 29 May 1981
Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters. SIR Publications, 1995. ISBN 0806199369
McDonnell, Brandy. "2005's honoree also fights crime", The Oklahoman, 29 May 2005
Mayer, Robert. The Dreams of Ada: A true story of murder, obsession, and a small town. New York/Viking, 1991. ISBN 0670810797
National Archives & Records Administration, SW Region Fort Worth, Record Group 5, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Concho (Cheyenne & Arapaho Agency), E12 Land Transactions, Report on Heirship
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Art retrieved 2 January 2008
Pratt, Harvey - Native American Artist & Police Forensic Artist retrieved 27 December 2007
Smith, Carlton & Guillen Thomas. The Search for the Green River Killer. New York/Penguin, 1991. ISBN 0451402391
Stott, Kim. "Artist Retouches Photos To Help Identify Victims", The Sunday Oklahoman, 31 October 1982
Taylor, Karen T. Forensic Art and Illustration. Boca Raton/CRC Press, 2000. ISBN 0849381185
Wilkerson, Michael & Wilkerson Dick. Someone Cry for the Children: The unsolved Girl Scout murders of Oklahoma and the case of Gene Leroy Hart. New York/Dial, 1981. ISBN 0803782837



Harvey is a very special individual who shows a sensitive attention to tradition. He has a sideline in doing Bigfoot art and I reccomend the online store on his site.

http://www.harveypratt.com/store/index.cfm/product/83_8/my-dark-passenger-bigfoot-sculpture.cfm

Basically in this blog I am championing Harvey's art because he is showing Bigfoot to be about the way I take Bigfoot to be: in the Bigfoot as typical of the Eastern United States and Canada specifically. Harvey works in Oklahoma and I work in Indiana, but as I understand it, we are both talking about the same sort of Bigfoot: the same sort of Bigfoot encounterd in the Apallachian Mountains, in Florida as the more human kind of "Skunk Ape" and the same type that Ivan Sanderson was describing as Wendigo, the Boreal Bigfoot. I am appending illustrations of his Bigfoot art here because I understand it to be a good representation of the shape of the skull and bodily proportions of such creatures. The effect is extremely close to the Minnesota Iceman. And Harvey includes a Bigfoot wearing a wolfskin and one wearing deer antlers in his group shot "Yesterday, Today and Forever", and I can even go with him on that part, too, since I recently posted a CFZ blog which pointed out exactly those features.

I am proud to present Harvey's art here and I just wanted you to know that I specifically asked his permission before posting this blog, out of respect. His permission came last night and I am very happy to go forward with the publication of the blog now. Thanks for everything, Harvey.

Best Wishes, Dale D.












"Berry Bush Jumper"



















"My Dark Passenger"















"Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"

"A Little Scolding"-Bigfoot being told off by one of the Little People. Bigfoot's head shape is just about perfect here.