Lois Smoky

Lois Smoky Kaulaity (1907–1981) was a Kiowa beadwork artist and a painter, one of the Kiowa Six, from Oklahoma.

Early life Louise "Lois" Smoky was born in 1907 near Anadarko, Oklahoma. Bougetah was her Kiowa name, meaning "Of the Dawn." Her mother was Maggie Aukoy Smokey (1869–1963), and her father was Enoch Smokey (1880–1969), the great-nephew of Kiowa chief Appiatan.

Smoky first studied art at St. Patrick's Indian Mission School, under the guidance of Sister Mary Olivia Taylor, a Choctaw/Chickasaw nun, and received encouragement from Father Aloysius Hitta and Sister Deo Gratias at the school. in which they were coached and encouraged by Edith Mahier.

Kiowa Six The Kiowa Six included Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky Kaulaity, and Monroe Tsatoke. In the mid-20th century the group was known as the Kiowa Five. Smoky was the only woman and the youngest of the group. Finances were tight for the artists, so Smoky's parents helped them out by renting a house in Norman, where all they lived together. Smoky only studied at OU in 1928. James Auchiah joined the group after she left. and she lived in Verden, Oklahoma for most of her life. Kaulaity's niece, said in 1995, "Aunt Louise was a hard worker... for her family. [She] started doing some beadwork, too. She really enjoyed it. And I think she had ambition [that] could have furthered... [her] art ability... But after she got married, she said, 'It's just impossible now with the children.'"

Public collections Smoky's work can be found in the following public art collections:

National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center Gilcrease Museum Jacobson House Native Art Center McNay Art Museum Millicent Rogers Museum Philbrook Museum of Art

Death Kaulaity died February 1, 1981.