Hopi White Bear (Oswald Fredericks) Tiles

White Bear Tile at Bullion Plaza
Oswald “White Bear” Fredericks (1905-1996) was an artist, cultural historian and educator. He spent a lot of time working for various youth organizations. He also collected oral histories of the Hopi people. Frank Waters used those histories as the basis for Book of the Hopi. White Bear also provided the drawings for that book.

His carved kachinas can be seen in the Goldwater Kachina Collection at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

White Bear was one of the Native American artists who worked with the McKusicks. He provided designs for some of their most intricate and beautiful tiles. Designs included kachina masks, whimsical roadrunner and mudhead figures, kachinas in the desert and at pueblos, and traditional Hopi themes.

Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum has a case dedicated to White Bear tiles.





Hopi White Bear designed McKusick tile
From the Bullion Plaza exhibit

Hopi White Bear designed McKusick tile
From the Bullion Plaza exhibit

Hopi White Bear designed McKusick tile
Two 6" tiles. Many of the White Bear tiles fit together to form longer panels.
From the Bullion Plaza exhibit

Hopi White Bear designed McKusick tile
From the Bullion Plaza exhibit


Hopi White Bear McKusick tile
Male and female Yellow Hornets by Hopi White Bear

McKusick Roadrunner tile designed by Hopi White Bear



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