Flagstaff All-Indian Pow Wow

George Elbert Burr

(continued from page 16) the artist, who, during those illustrator days, drew the beechnut trademark of the Beechnut Brands; he was the official artist with President Harrison's party on his presidential tour of the nation; he spent four years making over 1000 drawings of the jades, ivories, ceramics and bronzes in the Heber R. Bishop Oriental collection for the Metropolitan Museum. These are today considered the finest pieces of workmanship of their kind; he was a noted watercolorist in this country after his return from Europe, where he and Mrs. Burr lived for several years. For Mr. Burr all of this was merely rungs on the ladder to the position of a truly great etcher, which was his goal from the beginning.

There have been numerous articles written about his work by many of the most able writers in this country and abroad. E. L. Allhusen in the English magazine, "The Print Collector's Quarterly", said, "While Mr. Burr's most distinguished work has been done in the desert, his allegiance has not been altogether devoted to it. From his childhood trees were his favorite study, and it is significant that in this whole 'oeuvre', which comprises nearly three hundred plates, at least fifty are studies of various trees. His treatment of his subjects is his own, as are the subjects themselves, at least so far as the desert prints go. They can no more be compared with the work of other men than four pounds of butter can be added to four o'clock. After all, the essential, perhaps the only canon of criticism should be 'has he done what he wanted to do, and has he done it well?' I think that the answer in Mr. Burr's case must be 'Optime!' "

Upon another occasion the Christian Science Monitor wrote, "Among etchers, George Elbert Burr-'The Etcher of the Desert', as he is calledseems to have found himself face to face with nature and to have felt the big and vital factors of the great outdoors which are not human. He seems to have read a page from the life history of each natural object, and to have made it convincing for us in his prints."

John Taylor Arms, the president of the American Society of Etchers and a famous artist himself, was once asked to give his creed. He replied, "To keep your mind open and your imagination fresh, to feel your subject deeply and learn to express it beautifully, to realize the importance of hard work and daily to put that realization into effect, to look first for the good in the work of your fellow artists before you seek the faults, to be uncompromisingly true to your ideals, to know yourself and always to be yourself. If an artist travel such a path he may not attain to a great goal, but it will be the highest within his powers to reach."

No man could have followed this path more closely than George Elbert Burr, and he reached the summit.

Flagstaff's All Indian Pow-Wow, spectacular show of the Southwest's colorful Indians, will again be held July 2-4, and, as in previous years, several thousand Indians, representing more than a score of tribes, will gather in friendship and festive spirit to participate in this all-important celebration-the real life pageant of the American Indian.

The Navajos from New Mexico, Utah and Arizona predominate. They begin the long trek from their vast 25,000 square mile reservation on horseback and by wagon, bedecked in their finest, with silver and turquoise jewelry flashing against colorful velvet blouses.

The Hopi, whose reservation is within the great Navajo reservation, leave their high mesa-top homes for the big show. From the utmost depths of western Grand Canyon come the Havasupai, with their neighbors to the south, the Hualpai. From east-central Arizona the range riding Apaches head for Flagstaff and other Arizona tribes usually present are the Colorado River tribes the Yuma, Cocopah, Mohave and Chemehuevi. From the northern boundary come the Paiute and from the southern desert region the Maricopa, Pima, Papago; and from Prescott's pine clad hills the Yavapai.

The New Mexico pueblos are represented-Zuni, Jemez, Laguna, Santa Ana, Taos and others, and there are a few tribes from other neighboring states.

The snowy heights of the San Francisco Peaks-Arizona's highest mountains, bordering Flagstaff on the north-form a colorful backdrop for the Pow-Wow. Flagstaff's 300-acre municipal park is transformed into an unique Indian village, the thousands of Indians setting up camp, usually in tribal groups, in the beautiful pine forest on the outskirts of the city.

A visit to the Pow-Wow celebration is an unforgettable experience. There is something going on all the time. The Indians themselves are guests of the city of Flagstaff and there are many features and midway attractions for their amusement, including the merry-go-round and ferris wheel. It is interesting to see Indians ride the merry-goround for hours the same Indians who practically live on the back of a saddle pony.

The main events of the Pow-Wow, aside from the rodeo and ceremonial dances, have attracted national attention the Indian Girls' Beauty Contest and the Better Babies Contest. The latter is by way of encouragement to Indian mothers to further acceptance of the reservation