Tsa Toke first came to my attention at Christmas time

in 1918 when his family was camped near the Agency at

Anadarko. He was outstanding among the boys to

whom I gave crayons and paints but seldom finished his

pictures. He would try to make them express the life of

his tribal past and when he failed he would throw aside

his work.

He told me, when I asked his reason for not finishing

his pictures, that he "just felt like he was burning inside

with something," so great was the longing to express

what he felt through his paintings - things the white

man did not know. He had a deep feeling and great

longing for the more profound things in life.

Tsa Toke wanted to paint "the spirit of the Indian instead

of something in colors for the white man to look at."

A number of years later he went for a short time to the

University of Oklahoma at Norman. Later he was

selected to to paint the murals in the state historical mu-

seum building in Oklahoma City. Spencer Asah, also a

Kiowa, assisted him.

There came a period of discouragement, when these lads

with talent were back on the Reservation with no sale

for their pictures. They were discouraged in their artistic

efforts by most of the Government employees, whose

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