"[3] By the time he was born the Absentee band of Shawnee, like many tribes originally residing east of the Mississippi River, had been forcibly removed to Indian Territory by the U. S. government.

[5] At the age of 19, Spybuck married his wife Anna Scott, and the couple had four children, Thomas, Flindie, Hewitt and Virgie Louise.

The family lived the entire time on Spybuck's allotment in the Brinton Township, west of Tecumseh, Oklahoma, near the Little Axe community among other Shawnee Tribal members.

He appreciated the detailed accuracy of the equipment and dress Spybuck depicted and encouraged him to create watercolors of ceremonies and social life of the tribes in the vicinity.

[4] One reviewer discounts Harrington's patronage, claiming that Spybuck was already known for depicting daily life among the local tribes when the two met.

His style was representational, featuring local scenes of ceremonies, games, social gatherings and the home life he was familiar with and often participated in.

His scenes provide subtle hints of attitudes and personalities of individuals and often include whimsical details that contrast with the central activities.

Along with Spybuck, Dobkins names Jesse Cornplanter (Seneca), Peter Pitseolak (Inuit), and Frank Day (Maidu) as artists who practiced autoethnography to regain control over representations of their cultures and to retrieve and preserve their traditions.

[11] Other reviewers recognize Spybuck as an Indian artist who is a recorder and preserver of traditional practices in the midst of social change.

They adopted and adapted western techniques of art and ethnography to produce works that documented the transformation of traditional ways.