Vanessa Jennings

Who is Vanessa Jennings?

Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings is a Kiowa-Apache-Gila River Pima regalia maker, clothing designer, cradle board maker, and bead artist from Oklahoma.

Jennings is enrolled in the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and is the granddaughter of artist Stephen Mopope.

"I do my grandmother's work," Jennings said. "I do my great-grandmother's work. This is what they used to do. They are the ones who should be honored." Besides finished pieces, she is one of the few artists who brain-tans her own hides.

In 1989 Jennings was made a National Heritage Fellow. She was also named a Living National Treasure by the US President and the congress. In 2004, she was named the Honored One by the Red Earth Festival.

She lives in Red Stone, east of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma.