Jean Bales (1946–2003) was an Iowa Native American painter, printmaker, and historian from Oklahoma.
[1] Bales taught crafts at a school in Fort Sill run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, also taking up a history course when its teacher resigned.
This led her to a renewed interest in her heritage, and after a year she resigned to become a full-time artist.
She also served as the official historian of the Iowa Tribe, and won more than one hundred awards for her work.
[1] Many of her paintings depict historical and cultural scenes in the lives of Iowa women; examples can be found in numerous public and private collections.