Frank Buffalo Hyde, a Native artist who has been featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and other museums across the United States, was born with one arm and one leg due to a birth defect after his father was exposed to Agent Orange.
In this episode of “Enable: The Disability Podcast,” he talks about using prosthetics and other resources, the ways he tried to avoid feeling different as a child, and the healing power of humor and pop culture in his colorful artwork. Other topics include Bigfoot, Sasquatch, UFOs and cryptozoology, plus a reality TV competition in which he appeared.
“For me, I came into the art scene and became a professional artist at a time when I had to fit into a world that wasn’t necessarily made for me, so I wasn’t necessarily defined by my disability,” says Hyde. “People will find out later when I sign my work and… [be] quite shocked. And a lot of people would ask me, you know, ‘Are you left-handed?’ (laughs) I say, ‘Yes’.”
For more information about Hyde, an Onondaga/Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) painter who was born in New Mexico and largely raised on Onondaga territory near Syracuse, visit his website: frankbuffalohyde.com
“Enable: The Disability Podcast,” which highlights amazing people with disabilities and different abilities, releases new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms, incl Spotify, Apple, Amazon and iHeart.
Follow facebook.com/enablepodcast or @enablepodcast on Instagram and TikTok for more.
About hosts
Born with profound binaural hearing loss, Geoff Herbert is a reporter, SEO lead and content supervisor for syracuse.com | Post-Standard. Although mostly deaf in both ears, he also worked as a DJ for 25 years, including 10 years in radio (as “DeafGeoff”) and 10 years as a wedding DJ in Upstate New York. He has learned how to communicate orally using hearing aids, reading and speech therapy, and uses assistive technology such as visual curves in music programs, closed captioning/captioning, and video calling.
With more than 35 years at Advance Local, Kurt Hower is a leader in the media industry and community. He has been active in leading change as the print industry continues to rapidly evolve, while serving on various boards, including the Central PA Chapter Arthritis Foundation Board, where he was Chairman of the Development Board and a member of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee. Hower has ankylosing spondylitis, a rare disease that causes arthritis in the spine, and encourages others to focus on what they can contribute to society rather than their problems.
Note: The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of Advance Local.
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