Video: Oklahoma artist Harvey Pratt talks about the Native American Veterans Memorial under construction in Washington, D.C.

In honor of Memorial Day, watch Oklahoma artist Harvey Pratt, the designer of the National Native American Veterans Memorial, talk about the symbolism of the memorial's design and how he was inspired to create it in this new interview.

As previously reported, the National Museum of the American Indian hosted last September the groundbreaking for the National Native American Veterans Memorial, which is on the grounds of the museum in Washington, D.C.

In this new video Pratt, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, talks with Mandy van Heuvelen (Cheyenne River Sioux), manager of the museum's Cultural Interpreter staff.

The dedication of the memorial is planned to take place on Veterans Day, which is Nov. 11.

As previously reported, Pratt, an award-winning artist based in Guthrie, was named in 2018 the winner of the National Native American Veterans Memorial design contest. His design concept, titled “Warriors’ Circle of Honor” was selected unanimously by the jury for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The memorial is to be located prominently on the Washington, D.C., museum’s grounds on the National Mall, which draws nearly 24 million visitors a year.

“We’ll be in the company of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument. We’ll be in that company,” Pratt told me in a 2018 interview. “I think that reality is just going to hit us in the face full force for quite a while.”

Projected to cost about $8 million to build, it is slated to open in November 2020, around Veterans Day.

The National Museum of the American Indian was commissioned by Congress to build the National Native American Veterans Memorial. Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at a higher rate per capita than any other population group, according to the Smithsonian.

An internationally known painter, sculptor and forensic artist, Pratt retired in 2017 as the forensic artist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation after a more than 50-year career in law enforcement. He’s also a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Marine Corps, and he said the idea of a National Native American Veterans Memorial resonated with him.

Pratt’s “Warrior’s Circle of Honor” design has as its focal point an elevated stainless-steel circle that symbolizes the cycles of life and death as well as unity among Native veterans. Since the memorial is supposed to represent all Native Americans and not one specific tribe, the artist said he incorporated symbols that are universal among American Indian nations, including the cardinal directions, sacred colors and the elements of the Earth.

As part of preparing his proposal, Pratt had to assemble a team of architects, engineers and contractors to build his “Warriors’ Circle” in the event it was named the winning design. Although he didn’t know them well, he reached out Oklahoma City architects Hans and Torrey Butzer, who have earned international acclaim for their work on the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the Skydance Bridge.

They assembled a team that included fellow Oklahoma firms Obelisk Engineering and Guernsey Engineers, as well as out-of-state companies that employ Oklahoma talents. For the team, Pratt also recruited his wife, Gina Pratt, and his son and fellow artist Nathan Pratt.

For more information, go to americanindian.si.edu.

-BAM

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