Michael Daugherty is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe. As an aspiring Shawnee artist, Michael also dreams of becoming a writer, filmmaker, and comic book creator. He loves creating new and meaningful art inspired by his Shawnee culture.
In December of 2016, Michael self-published his first children’s book on lulu.com called The Snake Hunter, about a little Shawnee boy named Eli Tecumseh who dreams of being a brave water protector like his dad, who is away fighting the “black snakes” that are destroying Mother Earth.
His second children’s book, Koko’s Secret Treasure, followed a few months later. It is about a young Shawnee girl who goes on a treasure hunt through Koko’s (Grandma’s) house to find her hidden treasure.
Like his two children’s books, Michael wants his future stories to have strong, beautiful, and resilient Shawnee characters. Whether he’s writing a book, short film, or painting a canvas, he wants the subject matter to be Shawnee. It is his hope that in the future he can translate his books into the Shawnee language to better help in the preservation of his ancestral language.
Michael’s first poetry publication was in This Land Press, a quarterly magazine out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June of 2014. (You can find his poem ‘Only Indians Can Talk to Animals’ on their website)
Michael is a visual artist who wishes to express himself through meaningful and powerful art, specifically inspired by his own culture and other cultures all across Indian Country, and has an Etsy shop where he sells his work.
Though they may seem small to some, Michael is very proud of his accomplishments. He hopes to publish many more books in many different genres in the future.
Michael Daugherty 