Comanche painter Rance Hood passes at 83

A renowned Comanche artist known for his traditional imagery detailing the pre-reservation lives of Southern Plains Indians died Friday at a Snyder nursing home.

Rance Hood, 83, used first oil and, later, acrylic paintings that echoed traditional Southern Plains Indian culture before the change to the modern world.

Born to a Comanche mother and a white father in 1941 between Cache and Indiahoma, Hood was raised with his maternal grandparents. That’s where he learned his culture, he told The Constitution in a past interview. He didn’t speak English until the age of 6 when he began elementary school.

Following his grandparents’ deaths, Hood dropped out of school and began a life of working on Texas oil rigs and riding in the rodeo circuit.

Hood said he’d traveled to California to live with his brother. That’s where he began to paint and draw. It was always about his culture, he said.

Upon his return to Oklahoma in the 1960s, Hood began learning techniques from well-known Native painters, including the late Doc Tate Nevaquaya.

Hood, too, soon became an internationally acclaimed artist. During his interview with The Constitution, Hood told tales of high times during the 1970s as being a Native American artist became an entryway into the world of California rock icons, he shared stories of hanging out with members of The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. He said they treated him like the rock star.

Hood’s nephew, Clanton Miller, said his uncle and his father were artists who gave him inspiration to make art.

“He and my dad did inspire me to become who I am today as an artist,” he said. “My stepdad is a woodworker so in a way to honor my stepdad and my real dad I combine the two mediums and do wood art.”

Another renowned Comanche artist, Tim Saupitty, said Hood was his father’s cousin. He said he will be “sincerely missed.”

“My uncle, was always proud to be related,” he said. “He was one of my inspirations to be an artist.”

Comanche tribal member Vicki Biazzo-Laine said the Comanche Nation is talking about honoring the late artist.

“In honor of the passing of renown Comanche artist, Rance Hood, the Comanche Tribal Administrator, Lisa Dawsey, orders all Comanche Nation flags be flown half-mast,” according to the The Comanche Nation News.