Duffy Wilson
Duffy Wilson (1925-2022) - Biography
Duffy Wilson was born on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in 1925 and was a lifelong resident there. He was a member of the Beaver Clan, and his Indian name was Ha-Da-Noh (Keeper of the Logs). Wilson worked as a union painter after serving with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
An early interest in arrowheads turned into a career for him, including promoting Native American arts, history, music and dance. He also helped to create and direct the old Native American Center for the Living Arts, more commonly known as "The Turtle," in Niagara Falls. Wilson served on the Board of Regents for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., for more than a decade. He had also been a producer of Native American cultural festivals for Artpark in Lewiston, the Erie County Fair, Smithsonian Institution and many communities across the United States.
He established a community museum on the Tuscarora Reservation in the 1960s. He also lectured extensively on Iroquois history and culture and was a strong advocate for preservation of traditional ways of the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse. Wilson's lifelong dream was that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora nations would rise to the level of cultural and political prominence that it once enjoyed.
While searching for arrowheads in former homelands of the Tuscarora Nation in North Carolina, Wilson came across a soft stone from which he carved a small bear. From that beginning, Wilson, a self-taught artist, went on to become recognized as one of the leading Native American sculptors in North America. His work led an artistic revival among the Haudenosaunee, and today there are more than 60 artists whose work was directly influenced by his groundbreaking artistry.
Selected Collections:
Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
Department of Indian Affairs, Ottawa, ON
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
