Cultural tourism has various expectations which aren’t always fulfilled. The Plaza outside the Palace of the Governors nowadays reflects the subtle changes that impact all Americans. Tourists still arrive in Indian Country with outdated ideas about Native life and arts. The Indians they find under the portals in Santa Fe may be as savvy as those who work in Lower Manhattan art galleries. On the other hand, there are still many conservative Pueblo artisans who rely on selling their crafts in a tourist setting. Courtesy and an open mind are needed these days.
Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, Palace of the Governors, the day before the crowds of Indian Market.
Concho belts as we know them — small to huge discs of silver shaped and stamped and made to link together — are becoming fairly rare adornment. Conchos made in the early decades of Southwestern Indian silversmithing are now immensely valuable objects. The best examples appear in museum displays or are hidden in bank vaults. A certain kind of fashionable concho belt shows up on Fashion Week runways and artsy fashion magazine spreads. An even more sketchy type lives in in contemporary western wear.
Indian arts dealers will tell you that these items, originally derived from Spanish and Mexican horse and bridle gear, are hard to sell. Forgeries do abound. Theories about this phenomenon also proliferate. The best concho belts are relatively heavy to wear. What everyone does agree, however, is that when someone models a genuine article that person has made an irrefutable fashion statement!
Window display of concho belts, Santa Fe.
I’m not an urban planner by trade, but sometimes caring about something causes ideas to form. Border towns do have their dark sides, with plentiful bars to cater to those whose thirst for liquor exceeds their good sense. As a collector of American Indian jewelry, I’m also aware that Gallup can cater to the darker side of the Indian jewelry business with its back room silversmiths turning out specious works. Yet there’s truth in the title “Indian Jewelry Capital of America.” Much jewelry does pass through here.
There is so much on offer here in terms of local businesses, restaurants, shops, and the remaining Indian arts shops of merit. I see the local WalMart as an example of the successful integration of local Native, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures. There are beautiful murals throughout the city, a nice local history museum in the train station, and attractive architecture. Gallup’s residents need to rework its reputation as a Gateway to Indian Country, with an emphasis on the positive. Gallup is a workaday place, but it draws great local loyalty. At the Gallup hotel we stayed in recently, the young desk clerk, who looked Indian, told us with pride that she loved where she lived.
America always seems to require help in understanding its Native peoples, and our outmoded social studies curricula for schools doesn’t help matter by placing Indians firmly in the past. Native culture is alive and well in Gallup as the Saturday parade demonstrated. Yet, just as trading posts have changed in the face of modernism, so must the story alter to fit the times.
Even a parking lot in Gallup is an opportunity to celebrate art and culture, in this case Mibres images.
Recently the New York Times had an article on “36 Hours in Albuquerque.” It’s got interesting tips on the new and trendy, but it left out the best places for Indian jewelry and pottery. We can fill that gap right now:
Wright’s Indian Art: This is the oldest of the three business mentioned here. Wright’s was founded back in 1907, and was originally on Route 66 (where “everything” used to be in Albuquerque). They offer a wide selection of excellent Native American jewelry, pottery, paintings, fetishes and other examples of the best available.
Cowboys and Indians Antiques: If you’re looking for vintage Native American (and Western) art, including jewelry, Navajo weavings, Pueblo pottery, andHopi kachinas, this is the place for you. They’re on historic Route 66.
Andrews Pueblo Pottery: This Old Town business has a wonderful selection of Native American pottery, plus other Native art such as painting and sculpture. They also have some fine Indian jewelry. Andrew Pottery has ben a source of fine Native American art since 1974.
Disclaimer: While we purchase merchandise from these companies, we have not received any gifts or remuneration from them in return for mentioning them in this website.
Do you begin to sweat when you walk into a store, gallery, or exhibit space that offers Indian arts for sale — especially arts that you collect? I’ve had this particular affliction since 1986. It does NOT get better over time. There are two kinds of places that affect me most: 1) new emporiums I’ve never visited before, and 2) the shops of the Heard Museum and Museum of Northern Arizona.
At times, depending on the weather, I have to carry a small terry cloth with me to wipe the sweat away from my face and keep it from landing on the desirable objéts I am looking over. Buying a four-pack of terry baby wipe cloths is a good investment. Other people will sidle up to me and whisper that they have the same condition. One woman told me she got so excited during a Crownpoint Navajo Rug Auction, she had to run outside the school building to cool down. Straight into below freezing weather. Years ago, we attended an auction at Crownpoint in November. We bid successfully on three small weavings. We lurched all the way to Gallup that night on icy, snowy roads — and the entire time we forgot to turn on the heater!
I’ve been working on a project related to why we become collectors. Certain interconnected things happen during this process. Having been through this, even though it was back in 1986, I still remember each development unfolding as clearly as if it took place yesterday.
Collector passion begins between a human being and an object or group of objects. I call this a first phase (a pun on the name of a period when antique Navajo weavings were first made.) The focus of the collector passion – a state of intense consumer desire – is on that object. For me, it was an Indian-made ring. Others make the discovery that their passion flares for a katsina carving, a clay pot, a piece of intricate beading, etc. Yes, we are talking about an inanimate object, something created.
We still remember that tourist from Europe we ran into in Scottsdale a year ago who wanted to know where “all the Indians” lived and worked! Someone we’ve known for a while, who resides in Prescott, is a Native equally at home in his traditional society and in the wider world of art, antiques, and collectibles. We’re referring to talented Navajo silversmith and jeweler Ernie Lister, who runs a small antiques shop off the lobby of the Montezuma Hotel, a historic old-time lodging place. His Hotel Trading Company features tantalizing Native and non-Native vintage works, from concha belts to pottery to estate jewelry and adornment.
While he minds the store, Ernie also runs his work bench, from which spot he fashions delectable silver and stone creations. He’s a top-of-the-line artist, able to switch back and forth from old style to avant-garde forms, whose works are sought by collectors at home and abroad (he has a following in Japan). One of his pieces appears in our forthcoming book Southwestern Indian Rings (Schiffer, November 2011). Lister is a refreshing example of a Native art expert in Indian country, and a change from the non-Native dealers who dominate the vintage Indian arts market.
A trip to Tucson for those touring Indian Country should take in Grey Dog Trading Company. Run by Kent McManis, the Native-made stone carvings you find here are chosen by THE expert. McManus and his wife have authored a number of key reference publications on Zuni stone fetishes. Their research and knowledge of the subject are prized by collectors around the country (one from New York City called during one of our visits). McManus personally knows virtually all the carvers of Zuni Pueblo, and has worked over the years to trace and place key artists within their complicated web of family relationships.
McManus has a limited amount of jewelry in his shop, a careful selection of fetishes (he travels to Zuni every month), and in recent years has begun carrying a small but remarkable number of Inuit carvings. Every piece in Grey Dog Trading has been chosen by someone with a master collector’s discerning eye.
The major Indian arts shows in the Southwest have been around since the 1920s. Most of these venues have juried art competitions where Native artists can win awards — designated by Blue Ribbons — for the best work. Artists agree that winning ribbons can help elevate a career and attract sales and collectors. Many of these same people also admit that prizes can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, they bring valuable attention to the artist’s work. On the other hand, they create jealousy, arouse discontent, and place undue pressure on the competitor. One artist, a veteran of more than thirty years, confided to me one time that he was glad he won so many ribbons when starting out but now finds them superfluous. He feels the true reward comes from the buyer.
During the Scottsdale Art Walk before the Heard Guild Fair, I learned about a new initiative. Some members of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association (IACA) had set up a table to advertise, among other things, that the IACA has created a Collector’s Guild that permits members to attend the bi-annual IACA wholesale shows’ Collector’s Market. After some questioning, I learned that this Market was added onto the two Collector’s Markets, as a means of allowing collectors to view and purchase arts made by IACA members. (Up until now, these shows — which are usually held in Albuquerque and Mesa — had been restricted to wholesalers only.) Proceeds from this new Collector’s Guild will aid the IACA Artist of the Year program.
I have always been tantalized by the arts shown in ads for the IACA wholesale shows; now, there seems to be an opportunity to buy directly from the artists while perusing the latest trends. Check this out at the IACA website; individual membership is $50 annually. It looks as though longtime collectors like me have two new Indian arts show opportunities…
