Richard Aitson (December 26, 1953- June 24, 2022) was a Kiowa-Kiowa Apache bead artist, curator, and poet from Oklahoma.

He has since curated many group shows, including "Winter Camp 2000" at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

[6] "I am touched by the art of the World War years and the Reservation Era because in my opinion, that is when the finest Kiowa beadwork was produced," he writes.

"Quality beads and supplies were extremely scarce, yet remarkable and ingenious beadwork that bridged the ancient and the future was quietly created.

His work, as Alan Velie writes, "combines the dream vision with animism to produce striking powerful imagery.