Book Co-Authored by Anthropology Professor Wins Award

Monday, May 23, 2005

The “Art of the Osage” book, much of it written by University of Tulsa anthropology professor Garrick Bailey, has been named by the Oklahoma Historical Society as the “Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History” for 2004. Bailey received a plaque during a ceremony April 29 in Muskogee.

The 232-page book, including 140 illustrations, served as the catalog for an exhibition in the Saint Louis Art Museum that was described as the first major showing of the art and culture of the Osage people. It featured more than 100 works of art from 1750 to the present day, ranging from engraved pipes and quirts to decorated blankets and shields.

Bailey wrote the catalog’s introduction and four of its seven chapters. Three chapters span 1670 to 1900, covering Osage economic and political history, traditional Osage tribal religion, and daily life in the early and middle part of the 19th century. The other chapter discusses the Osage’s growing wealth and its effects on their lifestyle. Co-author is Daniel C. Swan, formerly with Gilcrease Museum and now director of the Chucalissa Museum at the University of Memphis.

Bailey specializes in Native American Indian culture and the impact of European contact on indigenous people. He has worked extensively with the Osage.