Choctaw Black Turtle Storyteller By Randy Chitto

Late 20th/Early 21st Century

7.5" H x 6.375" L x 5.25" W

Hand Built from Natural Clay and Pit Fired for a Matte to Glossy Black Finish and Wet Sanded for Smoothness Bear with 2 Baby Bears Climbing on Him with a Leather Pouch 

From a Private Colorado Collection

In Very Good Condition

Randy (Randall) Chitto (born 1962) was born on the Choctaw Reservation in Philadelphia, Mississippi. His family relocated to Chicago under the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, where he initially pursued baseball before discovering art through a family friend's sketches. A missed scholarship led him to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the early 1980s, where a clay class ignited his passion for ceramics. Since graduating, Chitto has focused on clay sculpture, blending Choctaw storytelling with Southwestern techniques. His cheerful, animated figures have earned him awards like the Southwest Indian Art Association Fellowship and the Five Civilized Tribes Museum Heritage Award. His works are held in major collections, including the Heard Museum (Phoenix), Denver Art Museum, and National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC).

Chitto's turtles draw directly from Choctaw lore, particularly the story of the Trail of Tears and forced relocation in the 1830s. According to the legend, as the Choctaw people were displaced from their Mississippi homeland to Oklahoma, medicine elders entrusted sacred stories to three animals—the bear, raccoon, and turtle—to safeguard them until the people could return. The turtle, with its protective shell, embodies resilience and the enduring spirit of the nation. Chitto incorporates this by hand-building each piece from clay sourced near his studio, firing them to achieve a high sheen, and adding details like tiny medicine pouches filled with broken pottery shards (symbolizing ancestral earth carried by warriors).