A Legacy of Talent and Tenacity

hoker necklace (LEFT) in gold and lapis lazuli, and necklace and earrings (BOTTOM, LEFT) in coral and fourteen-karat gold, are all by Navajo jeweler Harvey Begay. The coral and gold pieces, fashioned by the lost-wax process and handtextured, won first prize and the best-of-division award in 1985 at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Market. (BELOW) Harold Littlebird, Santo Domingo Laguna, crafted this unusual ceramic mask (twelve inches high) and jar (fifteen inches) using slab pinch pot techniques. The mask shows strong African influence. Texturing is achieved with clay stamps. (BOTTOM, RIGHT) Inspired by Art Deco architecture of the 1920s, Larry Golsh spent a year designing and crafting this ring and bracelet of white gold, onyx, fifteen carats of pavé-set diamonds, and a pearl. Golsh's necklace is of lapis lazuli and turquoise beads, gold, and charoite.◆ At the heart of our continent's history are the native people of the pastthe ancient ones who, while enduring the trials and dangers of a primitive world, yet saw and celebrated the beauty around them. In their artwork and ornaments they transmitted their appreciation, and from that timeless heritage have emerged the Native American artists of today. They come from all tribes, men and women of all sizes and shapes, temperaments and life-styles; quiet, effusive, reticent, humorous, shy, gregarious; some from reservation homelands with strongly traditional upbringing, others reared amid the diverse influences of the cities. But regardless of background, they share a fervent pride of ancestry, and even in the most contemporary work they seldom resist including some hint of heritage.

From their roots, from parents and grandparents and tribal elders, they have received not only talent and instruction but inspiration, clarity of vision, and the courage to make the dream come true. Perhaps most important of all is the trait of perseverance, a seemingly unflagging tenacity. None of these men and women have known overnight success; they have experienced years of hard work, repeated disappointment, and the continued growth demanded by life's struggles. There is about them an intensity, an inner determination that keeps them pressing on. Each strives constantly to improve upon what he or she has done before. Materials, techniques, individual styles are reexamined in each artist's self-critique; each continually experiments and explores as the search for betterment goes on. It is partly because of that relentless search, because of the desire to be free of all limitations, that the old rules and constraints are being abandoned. Traditional tribal lines are crossed, cultural elements assimilated, taboos ignored. A few Navajo men have become exceptional weavers; many Hopi men now rank among the best potters; female painters have reached the forefront of an art form heretofore dominated by men. Contemporary artists blend styles freely, leaving no label of tribal affiliation. Tribe, gender, region, cultural background all become secondary to the distinctive qualities and intrinsic merit of the artistic product. Thus the dream becomes reality, through the interaction of creative mind, critical eye, skilled and disciplined hand, and personal style. It is truly the age of the new individualists.

ppppp A Note of Thanks from Jerry Jacka

Preparing a list of those who helped Lois and me with this special project brought to mind not only the people who gave so much of their time and knowledge but also the often-memorable circumstances we shared.

Photographing weavers on the Navajo Indian Reservation began to seem like a hopeless task. Advance scheduling of photo sessions in remote areas is almost impossible, and our luck was running bad: weavers were not at home, or there were no rugs on their looms, and the weather was worsening. But Steve Getzwiller, my adviser and "wagon master," insisted we hang in there, and we did. Later Steve and his wife, Gail, let us photograph rugs from their collection at their ranch near Benson.

Charles Pratt accommodated us by flying from Oklahoma to pose with his life-size brass sculpture, Corn Maiden. For the picture, the owners, Dan and Janet Hidding, helped wrestle all sixtynine inches and eighty pounds of the maiden up a steep granite slope north of Scottsdale.

At Keams Canyon, Bruce McGee procured pottery and helped in many ways, but excused himself from one session and thus missed a heart-stopping moment. As I prepared to shoot one of Richard Zane Smith's large corrugated vessels (BELOW), a breeze toppled it, and it began to roll down a rocky slope. Fortunately Richard's swift, giant strides overtook it in time.

Forrest and Peggy Fenn were our hosts in Santa Fe. Their spacious garden became a studio for photographing Doug Hyde's life-size sculpturean ideal place to work once we got used to the alligators in the Fenn lagoon.

The cooperation of galleries was unbelievable. Art worth many thousands of dollars was loaned without question-and without any promise of inclusion in Arizona Highways. Art objects were delivered to my studio; at other times, galleries themselves were turned into instant studios, despite the disruption of business. Upon entering the Lovena Ohl Gallery, Gallery 10, Artistic Gallery, or the Heard Museum Gift Shop, I began to imagine whispers-"Lock up the cases, Jacka is back"-for invariably I would see new pieces that I couldn't resist photographing.

Among others who so willingly assisted were: ATLATL, Phoenix Battle Horne Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico Suzanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale Marilyn Butler Gallery, Scottsdale Desert Crucible, Inc., Tucson Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe Galeria Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, California Gallery Wall, Scottsdale Will Graven, Flagstaff Mary Hamilton, Scottsdale Hopi Arts & Crafts Cooperative Guild, Second Mesa Horwitch Galleries, Scottsdale Byron Hunter, Scottsdale Indian Arts and Crafts Association Indian Cultural Center, Tuba City Keams Canyon Arts & Crafts, Keams Canyon Sculpture Services, Sedona Squash Blossom Gallery, Palm Desert, California Joy Tash Gallery, Scottsdale Toh-atin Gallery, Durango, Colorado Turquoise Tortoise, Sedona Wadle Galleries, Santa Fe Gene Waddell, Tempe Special thanks must go to the Heard Museum, Phoenix, the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, and the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, for assistance in contacting artists and for allowing me to photograph objects from their collections and gift shops.

And finally, we thank the artists themselves, who gave so generously of themselves and their time with no assurance that they or their work would be pictured or mentioned.

Indian Arts Calendar

A partial listing of Arizona's Indian art museums, exhibits, and special events scheduled throughout the year: The Heard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive Art, 22 East Monte Vista Road, Phoenix. Perhaps the finest museum of its kind in the world, the Heard features permanent displays of more than 75,000 Native American artifacts, including blankets, baskets, pottery, kachinas, and jewelry. The museum's annual Indian Fair is scheduled for the first weekend every March, and an Indian Fine Arts Invitational is held in the fall in odd-numbered years. Excellent gift shop and bookstore. Telephone 252-8840.

Museum of Northern Arizona, off U.S. Route 180 about two miles north of downtown Flagstaff. This excellent museum interprets the cultural and natural history of the Colorado Plateau, and hosts Indian arts and crafts exhibitions second to none. The annual Hopi Craftsman Exhibition offers the best in contemporary Hopi arts and crafts, with ongoing demonstrations by the artists. The annual Navajo Craftsman Exhibition follows the same format. Both are held in July. Telephone 774-5211.

Hopi Cultural Center Museum, on State Route 264, five miles west of the junction with State Route 87. Exquisite pottery and silver work of Hopi artists. Telephone 734-2401.

Navajo Tribal Museum, in the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise building on State Route 264, Window Rock. Impressive display of Navajo weaving and jewelry. Telephone 871-6673.

Coconino Center for the Arts, North U.S. Route 180 (Fort Valley Road), Flagstaff. During the Festival of Native American Arts and Invitational in late June through early August, the Coconino Center for the Arts fills its gallery with paintings, sculpture, jewelry, and weaving of emerging Native American artists from the Four Corners states. The festival also includes workshops, demonstrations, and Indian performing arts. Chosen as part of the Arizona Commission on the Arts traveling exhibition program, the works from this exhibit will be shown nationally and internationally. Telephone 779-5944.

O'odam Tash, Casa Grande. Each February more than 100,000 Indians from nearly every North American tribe gather for the world's largest all-Indian rodeo and a weekend of arts and crafts exhibits, dances, costumes, food, and more. Telephone 836-2125.

Navajo Tribal Fairs, Window Rock (September) and Tuba City (October). Attracting a great number of artists and artisans, these fairs also include rodeos, dances, food, rides, and agricultural displays. Telephone 871-4941.

Pueblo Grande Museum, 4619 East Washington Street, Phoenix. This museum, administered by the City of Phoenix, is built on the site of a Hohokam dig and features artifacts of that prehistoric culture. Pueblo Grande also sponsors an Indian market every December featuring objects ranging from kachinas to basketry to painting-all at bargain prices-plus Indian dances and food. Telephone 275-3452.

Ned A. Hatathli Center Museum, Navajo Community College at Tsaile, north of Window Rock on State Route 12. Gallery of silver and turquoise Navajo jewelry. Telephone 871-2230.

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, on State Route 264, west of Ganado. A huge assortment of baskets, rugs, jewelry, and pottery-all for sale. Telephone 755-3254.

Arizona State Museum, on the University of Arizona campus, Tucson. A variety of permanent exhibits on the prehistoric and historic Indians of the Southwest. Don't miss the Hubbell Trading Post Navajo rug show there each December and the museum's open house each April. Telephone 621-6302.

Meet some of the artists featured in this issue and see examples of their work firsthand at the Heard Museum, 22 East Monte Vista Road, Phoenix, Sunday, May 4, from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. This special event will bring together some of today's finest Native American painters and potters, weavers, jewelers, and sculptors. Sunday's affair will kick off Arizona Highways week at the Heard Museum, an observance that will run through Saturday, May 10, and showcase outstanding art objects. Admission for Sunday at the Heard with Arizona Highways is three dollars for adults, two dollars and fifty cents for senior citizens, one dollar for children, and free for Native Americans. For more information, call 252-8840.

Sunday at the Heard with Arizona Highways

Selected Reading

The Fine Art of Navajo Weaving, by Steve Getzwiller. Ray Manley, Tucson, 1984. Available through Arizona Highways, telephone (602) 258-1000. Rich in excellent color photography illustrating the designs, sources of dyes, and types of rugs. Each type and time period is represented and interpreted. A major book on Navajo weaving. Southwest Indian Arts and Crafts; Southwestern Indian Painting; and Indian Baskets of the Southwest, by Clara Lee Tanner. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1968, 1980, 1983. Available through Arizona Highways, telephone (602) 258-1000. Clara Lee Tanner, author of the introduction to this issue, is highly respected in the field of Native American art. Southwest Indian Arts and Crafts is an overview, complete and precise. Southwestern Indian Painting explores a subject that has received little general attention in the past. Indian Baskets of the Southwest is among the best of the genre.

Hopi Silver, by Margaret Wright. Northland Press, Flagstaff, 1972. Available through Arizona Highways, telephone (602) 258-1000. One of the few publications dealing with the Hopi silver craft, and far and away the best. Traditional Hopi designs and methods differ greatly from those of the Navajo. Ms. Wright gives the reader a keen insight into the subject.

Traditions in Transition: Contemporary Basket Weaving of the Southwest Indians, by Barbara Mauldin. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, 1984. Basket weaving, said to be a dying art, refuses to take its last gasp. The focus here is on design, from the traditional to the contemporary, then back again to traditional. That may prove to be the baskets' immortality.

Navajo Rugs-Past, Present & Future, by Gilbert S. Maxwell, revision by Bill and Sande Bobb. Heritage Art, Santa Fe, 1984. When this work was first published in 1963, Gilbert Maxwell used his thirty-six years of collecting and trading Navajo rugs as a formidable data base. To that the Bobbs, also experts in the field, have added updated information. The result is a valuable standard guide to a specialized and complex art form.

The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, by John Adair. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1946. A standard on the subject, stressing the Navajo craft as it has long dominated the field, but not neglecting the more contemporary designs and methods of the Pueblo practitioners.

Old Navajo Rugs: Their Development From 1900 to 1940, by Marian E. Rodee. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1981. This beautifully illustrated book, mostly in color, is a basic reference for the collector.

Artistry in Clay, by Don Dedera. Northland Press, Flagstaff, 1985. Available through Arizona Highways, telephone (602) 258-1000. This attractive publication gives the reader an understanding of the creation, design, and types of Southwest Indian pottery. Here is an art form created by the interplay of earth and human hand. The author possesses a body of knowledge concerning his subject and an ability to engage the reader.

Õutdoors in Arizona A Guide to Fishing and Hunting A Special Gift for Dad!

If Dad is an outdoor enthusiast, a hunter, or a fisherman, here's the perfect way to say "Happy Father's Day" on June 15. This year give him a copy of Outdoors in Arizona - A Guide to Fishing and Hunting. Written by noted Arizona outdoorsman Bob Hirsch, Outdoors in Arizona is a complete 192-page guide to Arizona's best fishing holes and most promising hunting areas. A dozen maps and more than 150 full-color photographs of fish, wildlife, and scenery illustrate this one-of-a-kind guidebook produced by Arizona Highways. Plus, we will send you an attractive gift card right away, so you may announce your gift and add your personal message. Order a copy of Outdoors in Arizona for Dad-and one for yourself! Only $12.95 each, softcover (includes postage and handling). Outdoors in Arizona and other Arizona Highways products can be ordered through the attached order form or by writing to Arizona Highways, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85009. Phone (602) 258-1000.

(INSIDE BACK COVER) Cheyenne Arapaho sculptor Charles Pratt with his life-size welded brass sculpture Corn Maiden and an untitled work (corn stalks). Pratt was selected as 1985 artist of the year by the Indian Arts and Crafts Association.

(BACK COVER) A kaleidoscopic view of Navajo rugs, representing contemporary trends in styles and colors. The vibrant new looks are produced with new and old dyes. Once many weavers limited themselves to their regional style, but innovators no longer observe such barriers, producing a variety of regional designs as well as new combinations of colors. BOTH BY JERRY JACKA