Santa Fe Indian Market

The 2002 Santa Fe Indian Market officially opens Saturday, August 17, but the buzz starts long before. After more than 80 years, the excitement that comes with Indian Market still flows strong.

Some 1,200 of the top Native American artists in the country assemble here, bringing pieces they've created especially for this show, the biggest market of its kind anywhere. Santa Fe's Plaza fills with 600 booths. The city's population, normally about 60,000, increases to 100,000 or more. Buyers arrive, hoping to take home something unique and beautiful-jewelry, pottery, painting, photographs, drums, beadwork, etchings and much more.

The show features artists from reservation towns and urban studios, from Alaska to Wisconsin. They introduce new works, meet old friends and see what their peers-the best of the best-have been up to.

Add the auxiliary fun-a preview of award winners, a sparkling benefit auction, the crowd-pleasing Native clothing show and more-and you've got the recipe for decades of success.

Indian Market is produced by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), a not-for-profit organization established in 1922 to support and strengthen American Indian cultures. SWAIA focuses on educational programs and art-oriented events that encourage cultural preservation, intercultural understanding and economic opportunities for American Indians. Indian Market, the oldest juried show of its type, is SWAIA's preeminent event.

2002 Fellowship Winners
Among the highlights is the opportunity to see the prize-winning work of the SWAIA 2002 Fellowship winners, up-and-coming artists of above-average merit. Fellowship winners receive a coveted booth during the show in addition to $3,000 grants. The 2002 winners are Zuni jeweler Dale Edaakie and six artists from the Navajo Nation: weavers Michelle Laughing, Morris Muskett, Tahnibaa Naataanii and Anita Tsosie; painter Keith Smith; and jeweler Michael Slim.

Edaakie says he and his family have been on the waiting list for an Indian Market booth for a number of years (selection for the show is highly competitive), and he's pleased that the fellowship now allows him to participate. Edaakie will show stone- and shell-inlay animal and bird designs, including iridescent hummingbirds, used in jewelry including necklaces and concho belts.

He will spend his fellowship money on showcases for a gallery studio where his family and other Zuni artists can sell their work. "Also, I'll pay artists to demonstrate their craft to the community," he says.

Another winner, Morris Muskett, a self-taught weaver, is one of a few males who weave in the Navajo tradition. He works full time as a civil engineer.

"I was very surprised when [SWAIA] called me," he notes. "I couldn't believe it. The fellowships are so competitive. I'd tried before and been turned down. One reason SWAIA is there is to foster Native art and innovation, to offer the best to the world. I think they want to help bring the weaving that's shown at Indian Market to new heights, and they are helping by nurturing artists who want to do different things," Muskett says

A Volunteer Army
Preparation for Indian Market begins long before Market weekend, and volunteers shoulder much of the work. Wendy Blackwell, volunteer coordinator, schedules roughly 350 volunteers to cover 800 shifts. Chairpersons of SWAIA's committees donate countless hours for the big event.

"Our volunteers are local people and out-of-towners who don't want to be just tourists," explains Blackwell. "We always have room for new faces. If they're into the art, volunteers like working during the judging because they get to see the work as it arrives. If they like hoopla and the media, they enjoy the preview and auction. That's exciting and fun."

Volunteers range from college students to people in their 70s. "We have plenty of Native Americans who volunteer, mainly from the Pueblos, and we'd like to have more," she adds. People who want to help should inquire early. "By mid-July we have to be pretty much set. But we can also use a few extra people."

What's Happening When & Where
Thursday, August 15: Assisted by a cadre of volunteers, artists bring select examples of their pottery, jewelry, textiles, baskets, paintings, sculptures, beaded pieces and other treasures to Sweeney Center for judging.

Thursday evening: SWAIA honors its Lifetime Achievement winners (whose names were not available in time for our deadline) and the 2002 Fellowship winners. This invitation-only event at a private gallery allows the organization's top donors, special guests and sponsors to meet the winners and see their art.

Friday, August 16: During this long-awaited judging day, seasoned eyes and hands select the winning entries in many divisions. Winners receive cash awards and the prized Santa Fe Indian Market ribbons that can increase an artist's prestige--and sales. Finally, judges make the prestigious Best of Show selection. Last year's honor went to a lovely silvery-black micaceous pot by Nambe Pueblo artist Lonnie Vigil.

Friday evening: Head to Sweeney Center to preview prize winners, check out other treasures that will be on the Plaza the next morning, and participate in an exciting SWAIA benefit silent auction of some 50 works in a wide range of media, donated by the artists. The "sneak peek" begins at 5 p.m. for VIP SWAIA members; the doors open to general SWAIA members at 7 p.m. (memberships are sold at the door). The artist who created the poster for the 2002 Indian Market-a mystery at press time-will be on hand to sign copies. The preview ends at 9 p.m. so the artists can gather their work and be ready for opening morning.

Saturday, August 17: 7 a.m. marks the beginning of Indian Market sales. The most serious buyers gather before the cool dawn outside their favorite artist's booth to get first crack at the new and/or award-winning pieces. Energize your shopping with a breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee from the food booths outside Sweeney Center.

Saturday evening brings the live SWAIA auction, and another silent auction. This year's probable theme is "Route 66," with Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians, best known for their hit song "NDN Cars," tentatively lined up to provide the tunes. The auction's centerpiece is a Triumph TR-6 convertible. Donated by the La Fonda hotel through SWAIA board member emeritus Sam Ballen and his wife, Ethel, the car has been painted by Dan Namingha and accessorized by Marcus Amerman, Upton Ethelbah Jr., Connie
Tsosie Gaussoin, David Gaussoin, Wayne Gaussoin, Teri Geeves, Oreland Joe, Jamie Okuma and Virgil Ortiz. Finishing touches include a beaded map holder, a special license plate frame, a customized gearshift and a unique "passenger" to go along for the ride. Proceeds will benefit the Institute of American Indian Arts and SWAIA.

If the Triumph doesn't tempt you, how about art by other prominent SWAIA artists or the chance to purchase a maquette version of the acclaimed Popé sculpture by Cliff Fragua? Expect admission in the $100 range. The event usually starts at about 6 p.m., La Fonda.

Sunday, August 18: As Market continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., don't miss the Native American Clothing Contest, usually held in the morning on the Plaza. A colorful array of traditional and contemporary clothing turns the stage into a fashion experience. In addition to its visual splendor, the free show helps teach the audience about differences among Native American cultures.

In addition to these scheduled events, throughout the weekend Market-goers can visit the Youth Market (an area set aside for about a dozen artists under 18 years of age), and drop by the demonstration booths to see arts and crafts being made. Also on hand are education booths set up by other nonprofit organizations and institutions, and the Book Booth, where authors discuss their recent releases on Native subject matter and sign copies for the public. And for the munchies, chow down on Navajo tacos, mutton stew, roasted corn and other Indian and Southwestern fare.

For more information on the Santa Fe Market, call SWAIA at 505/983-5220 or visit www.swaia.org.

Related Events:
Market Magic Spreads Beyond the Plaza

In addition to the official main show on the Santa Fe Plaza, Indian Market now features a constellation of other Native arts-related events. Here's a sampling of what's happening. For the most complete information on Indian Market and related events, look for Native Peoples Magazine's special "Pocket Guide to the Market," available prior to and during Indian Market at select Santa Fe hotels and retail locations, as well as at the Native Peoples booth located in the courtyard of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum.

Gallery Openings/Visual Arts

The Institute of American Indian Arts
Marking its 40th year of existence, IAIA hosts its fourth annual Contemporary Native American Art Show and Sale, with works by some 100 artists at the IAIA Museum. Reception Aug. 14, 58 p.m.; runs through Sept. 22. 108 Cathedral Place, 983-8900.

Also, the IAIA Museum gift shop hosts sale of works by jeweler Denise Wallace (Chugach Aleut) and sculptor and jeweler Ed Archie NoiseCat (Coastal Salish). Artist reception Aug. 15, 47 p.m.

LewAllen Contemporary
The Indian Market exhibition at LewAllen Contemporary features paintings by Rick Bartow (Yurok/Mad River Band), contemporary tapestry by Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi), abstract paintings and prints by Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo) and Keri Ataumbi (Kiowa), and jewelry by Gail Bird (Santo Domingo/Laguna Pueblo) and Yazzie Johnson (Navajo). Show Aug. 931, with opening reception Friday, Aug. 16, 5:307:30 p.m. 129 W. Palace Ave., 505/988-8997.

Nedra Matteucci Galleries
Indian Market works include new stone and bronze sculptures by Doug Hyde (Nez Perce/Assiniboine/Chippewa) and the pottery of Hopi sisters Jean Sahme and Nyla Sahmie. Reception Friday, Aug. 16, 24 p.m. 555 Canyon Road, 505/982-4631.

Zaplin Lampert Gallery
An exhibition of works by T.C. Cannon, Personal Canon, is Zaplin Lampert Gallery's annual Indian Market offering, organized in conjunction with the Institute of American Indian Arts. More than 70 paintings, drawings and prints by this Native American of Kiowa-Caddo ancestry will be exhibited-a rare opportunity to view the scope of Cannon's achievements as an artist. Cannon, who attended IAIA in the mid-1960s, died in an untimely accident in Santa Fe in 1978 at the age of 32, but he had already emerged as a pioneer in the contemporary Indian art movement of the era, with major national and international exhibitions.

Benefit preview Friday, Aug. 2, 47 p.m., $50; proceeds benefit IAIA's Cannon Scholarship Fund. Public exhibition Aug. 331. 651 Canyon Road, 505/982-6100 or 505/424-2309.

Council for Indigenous Arts & Culture
Special exhibition of more than 15 artists in a variety of media. Aug. 15-Aug. 18, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Hotel Eldorado, Sunset Room, 309 W. San Francisco St.

Premier Native American Art Show
At least 50 artists working in a wide array of media. Aug. 15-Aug. 18, with reception with live music evening of Aug. 15. Eldorado Hotel, Zia Rooms and Anasazi Ballroom North. www.swnap.org

Ancient Echoes: Reflections of Tribal Spirit
Five renowned Native artists-Cliff Fragua, Roxanne Swentzell, Dan Lomahaftewa, Kim Seyesnem Obrzut and Jim Jackson-gather to show and sell their work at the Hotel Plaza Real, just off the Plaza. Events kick off with an invitation-only reception hosted by New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson on Aug. 14, 58 p.m., honoring sculptor Fragua (Jemez Pueblo). Fragua is carving a 10-foot-high marble sculpture of Popé, who led the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The figure will be installed in the U.S. Statutory Hall in Washington, D.C. in November. A bronze maquette will be on display for viewing (orders can be placed for copies) and a drawing will be held to win a maquette. Proceeds will support the project. The talented sculptor Swentzell, especially beloved for her ceramic figurines, will conduct a book-signing of Roxanne Swentzell: Extraordinary People, the notable new book on her life and work by Gussie Fauntleroy, on Aug. 15, 58 p.m. Lomahaftewa (Hopi/Choctaw) is a fine printer and painter with a phantasmagoric eye. Seyesnum Obrzut (Hopi) is well known for her stylized female bronze figures (see profile page 40). Jackson (Klamath/Modoc) is another outstanding sculptor. Aug. 1418, 11 a.m.7 p.m.,Aug. 19, 11 a.m.3 p.m. 125 Washington Ave., 988-4900.

Music

Native Roots & Rhythms 2002
On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 17, Native Roots & Rhythms will present its eighth annual Native American performing arts showcase featuring the premiere of "First Nations, First Peoples, First Voices: An AmerIndian Multimedia Dance Theater Ensemble," an inspiring collaboration of contemporary and traditional sounds, images and movement. Announced performers include the Little Wolf Band, 2002 Grammy Award winners Primeaux & Mike, NAMA 2001 Best Female Artist and Flutist of the Year Mary Youngblood, acclaimed Peruvian musician Tito La Rosa, Sadie Buck and the Six Nations Singers (who performed at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics), Aztec composer/musician Mazatl Galindo, steadfast percussionist Benito Concha of Taos Pueblo, the Tzacol Tribal Dance Theater, the Native Roots & Rhythms Dance Ensemble, and flautist/composer Brent Michael Davids-who will perform with the ensemble during a screening of a segment of the 1930 silent film classic The Silent Enemy. Hosting will be Native America Calling's Harlan McKosato.

At Paolo Soleri Amphitheater, on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School on Cerrillos Road. Showtime: 7:30 p.m. 505/989-8898 or www.santafe.net/nativerootsnrhythms.

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
This free three-hour event spotlights the Festival's nationally acclaimed artists in a program of Native American music, jazz and classical favorites. Friday, Aug. 16, 710 p.m. at historic St. Francis Auditorium in the Museum of Fine Arts, just off the Plaza. The atmosphere is casual; come and go as you please. 505/983-2075.

Theater

The Indolent Boys
Indian Market visitors score a rare treat this year with a chance to see The Indolent Boys by Pulitzer Prizewinning author and painter N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa). Referred to as "the dean of American Indian writers" by the New York Times, Momaday based this play on the true story of three young boys who ran away from the Kiowa Indian Boarding School in the Oklahoma Territory in January 1891, where the motto was "Kill the Indian, save the man." Tragically, the boys froze to death in a blizzard before they could reach their families. The play examines the reactions to this unfolding disaster by both Natives and non-Natives within the boarding school.

The play has been staged only once before, in Syracuse, New York. This production, directed by Ken Martinez and featuring artist/actor Michael Horse as Emdotah, is a collaboration between the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture and the Southwest Repertory Theater Company. Performances will be held outdoors at Milner Plaza next to the museum. The play will open with a gala on Thursday, Aug. 15. Performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. Aug. 1518 and 2225. Admission is $15 per person (other than the gala at $50 per person, which includes cocktails and a post-performance reception); seating is limited to 200. In addition, the museum will host guest speakers at 5 p.m. on Aug. 18, 22 and 25. The speakers are people who worked at or attended boarding schools, including Agnes Dill (Isleta Pueblo), Catherine Augustine (Laguna Pueblo) and Dr. Amanda Cobb (Chickasaw). Serving as dramaturge is Jill Momaday, the playwright's daughter. 505/476-1250 or www.southwestrep.com.

Fundraisers

Wheelwright Museum Benefit Auction
The Wheelwright's auction, launched 25 years ago, takes places over the two days immediately preceding Indian Market weekend. On Thursday, Aug. 15, at 5 p.m., check out the silent auction and live auction preview. On Friday, Aug. 16, the live auction preview runs from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and the auction. Bid cards are $10; no admission fee. Proceeds provide operating funds for the museum, which is the oldest private nonprofit museum in New Mexico.

This year's auction items include pottery by Rachel Concho (Acoma), who won Best of Show in traditional pottery at the 2001 Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Arts and Crafts Show. Also up for bid: a weaving by D.Y. Begay (Navajo); jewelry by Verma Nequatewa "Sonwai" (Hopi), who apprenticed with Charles Loloma; a textile by Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi); a piece by fashion designer and quilter Margaret Wood (Navajo/Seminole); and a work by non-Native artist Rick Dillingham. Pottery, jewelry, sculpture, paintings, beadwork, textiles and more have been donated by artists, dealers and gallery owners specializing in Native American art. 704 Camino Lejo, 800/607-4636 or www.wheelwright.org.

Native American Rights Fund
The first annual benefit "Visions for the Future" art auction for this legal force (see p. 62) will include work by potter (and San Ildefonso Governor) John Gonzales, the Lucy Lewis family of Acoma, Amado Pena, Victor Vigil and Andrew Rodriguez, and music by Joanne Shenandoah. Aug.15, 7-9 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe.

Miscellaneous

School of American Research Tours
SAR opens the doors of its treasure-filled research storage vaults to the public Aug. 1618 on guided tours being held at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. By appointment. 505/954-7205.

Public Forum
Join a debate, discussion and reminiscences by current and former faculty of the Institute of American Indian Arts on the topic "Forty Years of Contemporary Indian Art." Aug. 18, 1:30 p.m., La Fonda.. 100 E. San Francisco. 983-8900.

Artist Auction Silverware Set
Saturday, Aug. 17, noon, 13 highly talented jewelers will auction a collaborative work. Last year's successful collaboration-the Millennium Concho Belt, which sold for a record $41,000 to benefit SWAIA-inspired the new project. For the 2002 Market, the same collaborators will contribute a fork, knife and spoon of their own design. The assembled collection of 36 pieces, the Silverware Sampler, will be sold to benefit the artists. The work will be displayed at Vernon Haskie's booth (E52-PLZ), where sealed bids will be accepted up to 3 p.m. www.nativeamericansilverware.com.

Participating in the Silverware Sampler project are Kenneth Johnson (Muscogee/Seminole), Verma "Sonwai" Nequatewa (Hopi), Veronica Poblano (Zuni Pueblo), Myron Panteah (Zuni Pueblo/Dine), Anthony Lovato (Santo Domingo Pueblo), Ken Romero (Taos/Laguna Pueblo), and Dine (Navajo) artists Daniel "Sunshine" Reeves, Vernon Haskie, Arland Ben, Allison Lee, Gary Reeves and Allen Aragon.

Three sets from the Silverware Sampler to be auctioned off during market, by (clockwise from top) Aragon, Panteah and Poblano.

Anne Hillerman is the co-author of The Insiders' Guide to Santa Fe and the founder of Wordharvest writers' workshops. She has written for many major magazines on New Mexico subjects and was an editor for many years with the Albuquerque Journal North.