ONEOK Newsroom - Story: A Portrait of Craftsmanship and Heritage | ONEOK

Brittney Trout, accountant in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and her sister are subjects in a portrait now part of the permanent collection of the Beach Museum of Art.

Brittney Trout, accountant in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a member of the Osage nation, and her grandmother makes all her family members’ traditional clothes for taking part in ceremonies and dances. Among these handcrafted items are beautiful, colorful belts, which visitors to Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas, can now see in a photo of her. 

“As a family of predominantly women, you can see that she has put in thousands of hours working to make sure that we all have everything we need to participate, including these belts,” said Trout. “Each of the belts is worn by my sister and I, our grandma, our cousins and our aunts, and they also will be worn by our children and grandchildren someday.”

The result is a striking portrait of Trout and her sister, taken by Osage artist Ryan RedCorn. RedCorn also is a writer and actor, with credits including the FX network’s show “Reservation Dogs.”

RedCorn’s portrait was shown in two museums before recently being voted into the permanent collection of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.

The summer the photo was taken, RedCorn put out a request to the Osage community to take portraits to showcase that Indigenous people are still thriving and to give a present-day representation of who they are, Trout explained. He also asked that anyone with ideas on unique backgrounds or locations for the photos submit their ideas. 

Trout’s sister had the idea to use finger-woven belts created by their grandmother as a backdrop for their portrait, said Trout. "Ryan loved the idea,” she said.

As the only two granddaughters in the family, she and her sister thought it was very special to be able to showcase all the time and work that their grandmother has put in – “not only for those of us who wear them now,” she said, “but also for her future great grandchildren and generations beyond. The belts are very much heirloom pieces, and we wanted to honor the love that she has shown all of us through her work by having it be the focus of our portrait.”

The sisters were excited for the opportunity to honor their grandmother and her craftsmanship.

“Without her dedication to making these belts and the rest of our traditional clothes, none of us would be able to participate in our ceremonies and would not be as connected to our culture,” Trout said. “We are very appreciative of the work that she constantly does for us to make sure we can be involved in our Osage community, and we wanted to show our gratitude by having this portrait made.”

Their grandmother is “absolutely ecstatic” about the photo, Trout said.

“Creators like her in our Native communities take great pride in seeing their work worn and appreciated by those that they create for,” Trout said. “Any time any of her family or friends get to wear her work, she is extremely proud. I know she feels that pride immensely seeing not only her work but also her granddaughters displayed in a museum representing her family and our strong heritage.”