Area artist paints Native American mural
GRAVETTE — Samuel Hale, an area artist from Pineville, Mo., has been busy painting a mural on the north side of the Blended Ends beauty salon, just south of Hillcrest Cemetery. The eyecatching mural features a bear, a native American woman smoking a pipe and a giant serpent, figures from a Cherokee Indian legend.
Hale is a Gravette native who moved to Bentonville when he was in third grade. He graduated from Bentonville High School in 1996. He got married shortly after graduation and, with a wife and daughter he soon had to support, he went to work as a carpenter. He was always interested in doing art, he said, but just as a hobby, with his carpentry work the primary means of supporting his family.
Hale attended a few art classes at Northwest Arkansas Community College and began to make a little additional money painting portraits. As his reputation as an artist grew, he was hired to do some large murals on buildings in the area. Some of his noted works include a mural of the
Boston Mountain range on the side of Tusk and Trotter American Brasserie in Bentonville, a Rosa Parks, 1955, mural on West Walnut Street in Rogers and an Indian chief in full headdress on the side of a building in Kansas City. Two years ago, he decided to quit his job as a carpenter and do artwork full time.
Hale has always been interested in American history. When Hilarie Booher, owner of Blended Ends Salon, and Mark Lester, owner of 420 thang, the other business in the building, contacted him about doing a mural on the side of their building, he asked them if they had a particular concept in mind. Lester, who is of Cherokee descent, mentioned that Gravette was one of the last stops on the Trail of Tears, as Cherokees were being removed to Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma).
Hale said he would rather not depict the Trail of Tears, as there was too much sadness attached to that story. That’s when Lester told him about the Cherokee legend of Red Arrow Woman and the Sacred Pipe. This is one of several Cherokee legends that have been passed down from generation to generation among Cherokee citizens. Hale studied the story of this woman and became fascinated with the legend. His mural includes prominent features from the story.
The legend of Red Arrow Woman is of a brave woman warrior who could shoot straight and throw a spear into the eye of a hawk in flight. One day she saw the tracks of Yona, the bear, and drops of blood that indicated he was injured. Arrow Woman followed the tracks high into the mountains where she encountered Yona with a deep cut in his side. He was praying and soon the grass nearby turned into a lake. Yona dived into the lake and came out completely healed. He explained to Arrow Woman that the lake, Atagahi, was known only to the animals and was the place where they came for healing and strength. She was the first human to have seen it.
Arrow Woman lay down beside the lake to rest and, when she awoke, she was confronted by the Great Uktena, a giant serpent whose home was in the lake. She raised her spear to throw at Uktena but he assured her that he meant her no harm. He dived beneath the waters, brought up a leather pouch and laid it at her feet. The pouch contained the sacred pipe of the Creator. Uktena explained that the bowl of the pipe, made of red clay, represents womankind. Just as a woman bears children and brings forth life, the bowl brings forth smoke. The stem is man, rigid and strong. Like a man, it supports the bowl, just as man supports his family.
Uktena showed Arrow Woman how to join the bowl and the stem of the pipe, fill it with tobacco and light it with an ember from the fire. The smoke, he explained, is the breath of the Creator and brings wholeness and healing. He continued into the night, teaching Arrow Woman prayers used with the pipe and reasons for using the pipe until the moon began its journey across the sky. He told Arrow Woman that she would never be able to find the location again but she would remember the lessons she had learned. Then he suddenly returned to the lake and the waters again became grass.
Hale’s mural shows Yona, the bear; Red Arrow Woman smoking the sacred pipe; and Uktena, the giant serpent, rising up from the lake. Nearby is the moon shedding colorful beams across the sky as they might have looked that night when Arrow Woman received the pipe. Hale works fast. He began work on the mural Tuesday, July 21, and said he hoped to finish by Friday but too many people stopped by to visit. He also worked short days, arriving at 7 or 8 a.m. and working only until about noon when the heat became more oppressive. But the finished product has been well worth the wait. Hale says he hopes people appreciate the mural for its beauty but also for the intriguing story of Red Arrow Woman and the sacred pipe.
Hale lives in Pineville with his wife Malhoree; their 2-year-old son Oda Lee; and his stepdaughter, Rylee, age 12. The Hales are expecting another child in October. Hale’s 22-year-old daughter from his first marriage is attending college in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Hale is available to do artwork on commission. Persons wishing to see more of his work can contact him by Instagram, @ samuelhaleart, or on his new website, samuelhaleart.com.