Harvey Pratt


Harvey Phillip Pratt is an American forensic artist and Native American artist, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and hundreds of identification of unidentified human remains throughout America. His expertise in witness description drawing, skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, soft tissue postmortem drawing and restoration of photographs and videos have aided law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally. Pratt also assists investigations through training classes, besides lecturing before universities, colleges, schools and civic groups. In the early 2000s Pratt teamed up with David Paulides in researching Bigfoot on the Hoopa Reservation in California, as well as in his home state of Oklahoma.

Life

Pratt was born in El Reno, Oklahoma and is a member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho tribes where he is recognized as one of the traditional Cheyenne Peace Chiefs, also known as the Council of Forty-Four. He has been recognized by the Cheyenne People as an Outstanding Southern Cheyenne. He is the great grandson of scout, guide, interpreter and Sand Creek massacre survivor, Edmund Guerrier. He is the great great grandson of American frontiersman, William Bent. Pratt lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Forensic Art

Pratt began his career with Oklahoma's Midwest City Police Department in 1965, where, as a police officer, he completed his first composite drawing that resulted in an arrest and conviction. He joined the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in 1972 as a narcotics investigator and retired in 1992 as an Assistant Director. He is now employed with the agency as a full-time forensic specialist.
Pratt's forensic expertise has contributed to many high-profile cases: The Green River Killer, Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders, Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole, Bobby Joe Long, The I-5 Killer, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, Tommy Lynn Sells, World Trade Center 1993 bombings, Ted Bundy, Sirloin Stockade Murders, Joe Fischer, Roger Wheeler murder, the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Donald Eugene Webb, Oklahoma State Fair Abducted Girls, and Randolph Dial.
In the mid 1980s, Pratt developed the soft tissue postmortem drawing method. Using this method, the forensic artist draws or paints on the photograph of a victim to repair tissue damage or decomposition. The drawing repairs the trauma to the victim so that the final image will be more presentable when asking for law enforcement's or the public's assistance in identification.

Native American Art

Pratt encompasses painting, sculpting, wood carving, mural painting, bronze work, architectural design and graphic design. He is a self-taught artist and creates in the media of oil, acrylic, watercolor, metal, clay and wood. His artwork is a blend of his forensic art and law enforcement experience with traditional Native American environment.
Pratt has received awards for his artwork at Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, New Mexico, and Red Earth Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2005, he was given the title "Master Artist" by Red Earth, as well as being selected as the Red Earth 2005 Honored One.
His works are in many permanent collections, including the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the Sequoyah National Research Center, and the University of Oklahoma. He accepted state appointments to the Oklahoma Arts Council by Governor Frank Keating and Governor Brad Henry.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian has chosen Pratt's Warriors' Circle of Honor as the design for the National Native American Veterans Memorial. Groundbreaking for the memorial is scheduled for September 2019 and it is expected to open on Veterans Day 2020.

Bigfoot Forensics & Artwork

Pratt provided forensic artwork for David Paulides in the books Tribal Bigfoot and The Hoopa Project. Through extensive research, interviews and travels, Pratt produced dozens of forensic sketches from witnesses that David Paulides and himself met in California and his home state of Oklahoma. Pratt also has an online store on his own personal website where he sells bigfoot artwork.