Watching TV the other night I saw a woman offer a solution for people who are too late to order and have their gift shipped in time for Christmas arrival.
Here’s how it works. You call us at 800-305-0185 and we discuss the item you want the gift certificate for (or the amount of purchase money you want to give).
Part of the reason was just the rush of seasonal business. But that should be no excuse for a business that always “booms” at this time of year.
The most recent complication was a gall bladder attack sending me, Bill, to the hospital on the Sunday morning (December 10) I was planning to compose the newsletter/blog. Since the symptoms for gall bladder infection and a heart attack are similar, after four hours of distress, it was off the Lee Memorial Health System’s HealthPark.
The care was extraordinary, especially for an early Sunday morning.
It started with a catscan, followed by ultrasound, followed by the cut de gras.
Not to make too much out of a personal story, I’ll stop there, except to say it turned out be massive surgery – “one of the 10 worst gall bladders I’ve seen”, said the surgeon.
Standing even higher on my Pantheon of heroism in care is my wife. Susanne was remarkable. Always there when I need something – pulling up a blanket, helping me out of and into bed, getting a cup of ice chips, calling for staff assistance when needed and countless other things, including just “being there.”
Susanne continues to accept and fulfill orders, so if you are planning a Christmas order from any of our web sites, ZuniLink, TribalWorks, Native-PotteryLink, and Native-JewelryLink, we still can take your order and ship in time for Christmas.
The Post Office tells that USPS Priority can be shipped as late as December 20th for Christmas delivery. After that, special arrangements must be made for overnight delivery or FedEx, which clearly are more expensive. Nevertheless, even though it has passed the qualification time, on any jewelry order in excess $100 after discounts, we will deduct the normal USPS Priority shipping rate for any overnight or FedEx shipment. In other words, you will only pay for difference between USPS Priority and the Express shipping you use. Of course, until December 20th we will ship USPS Priority unless you request otherwise.
Finally, if you find yourself against the wall and it is flat out too late for your order to reach you or your gift-receiver before Christmas, there is another solution. We can create and email a gift certificate. It can be for a flat sum of money or, if you are concerned about sharing the cost of your gift with its intended receiver, we can prepare a gift certificate for the actual gift item, including a picture of it.
The recipient will need only to contact us by email and we will arrange for the gift item to be shipped.
There is no extra charge for this service, although free shipping is not included in this offer..
What if the person receiving your gift is unhappy with it? We have extended our approval return privilege for seven days after Christmas. All they need to do is notify us, NOT THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY, within that seven day period after Christmas Day and send it to us in a reasonable time after that, and we will provide a refund of the purchase price.
Sorry, there isn’t more “other news from the world of tribal art”. As strength returns, so will the frequency of blog entries and Tribal Artery newsletters.
One is to spare our readers another thing to do in the midst of the pressure of preparing for the Thanksgiving Day feast, reunions and family gatherings. The other has been to give us time to post some items before the Thanksgiving weekend shopping fest is too far gone.
Of course, you, as a knowledgeable fan of Native American and other ethnographic crafts and art, know exactly where to go to find the good stuff. Native-JewelryLink for top quality Native American jewelry, Native-PotteryLink for fine Native American hand-made pottery, TribalWorks for Arctic art, Navajo folk art, Australian Aboriginal art and African art and ZuniLink for spirit-moving carvings from Zuni, Cochiti and other Pueblos.
His Nativities don’t hang around for long and they have arrived.
Pictures aren’t up yet but should be before Monday. So check out the ZuniLink website and go to
We’ll try and post a message when they actually are up. But, as this late edition of Tribal Artery evidences, our publishing schedule is not that reliable.
A few blogs back we announced a drawing that would award a fascinating engine and passenger coach train to some lucky winner.
Fascinating? Consider that it was hand-made from palm fiber by an East African native artisan.
You could say, when it is not being toyed with, it doubles as a work of folk art.
Anyway, all that is required is to subscribe to a feed for this Tribal Artery blog and send us an email notifying us that you have done so. Bingo! Your name goes in the hat.
There is nothing to buy. And, if you tire of the blog feed, you can unsubscribe at any time. How easy is that?
So scroll down through past blog posts to see a picture of the prize train, sign up to get the feed and email us. The train will go to someone. It might as well be you.
We have been posting a lot new earrings lately, including some that will be going up this weekend.
As you know, we don’t bulk order anything, including earrings. We hand-pick each pair based our feeling for what is beautiful, extremely well-done and will accent the high-class apparel of our customers. (That’s you.)
So, as the party season kicks in and the New Year lies waiting behind December’s door, consider earrings for yourself or for a loved one.
Start your earring search at the first of twenty pages featuring them on Native-JewelryLink, and page through the remaining pages until the perfect pair its your eye, We have posts, wires, hoops and dangles.
They are not necessarily less expensive than full size pieces because of the intricacy of the detail required to create them.
For some collector’s, however, they fit right into their lifestyles. Because of their size they can easily fit on a knick-knack shelf or a mantelpiece.
If you know someone who collects miniatures, or if you do yourself, check out the minis on our Native-PotteryLink web site.
Imagine this palm fiber engine and passenger car, hand-woven in East Africa, as part of your holiday decorations or as a surprise toy for some youngster in your family. It will be given away to some lucky subscriber to this blog. The engine is 7" high, 5" wide and 10" long. The passenger car is 8" high, 5" wide and 9" long. 
An extension of this religious tradition has been the creation of Nativity sets, primarily in pottery. For a selection of these creations now available in our collection, visit our Native-PotteryLink web site. Each potter has her own style, easily identifiable by students of that potter’s work.
Some also have become more whimsical in their approach. The Fragua family of Jemez Pueblo in particular, have extended the nativity tradition to creatures such as mice, bears and others. 
While some may find these somewhat sacrilegious, we think they are charming and represent a valid perception of God’s creation by the original inhabitants of
More recently, Wilson Romero of Cochiti has begun to carve nativity sets from stones found on the Cochiti Pueblo grounds and elsewhere in the area. An example of one of his first nativity sets in shown here. 
It shows the beginning of a style that was to mature just a few months later. His most recent works have sold quickly.
We talked with
The Federal Government is very serious about protecting American Indian artifacts found on Federal Lands and very serious about prosecuting people who steal them. Case in point is that of an
Harelson prior conviction was for stealing artifacts and mummified remains in 1996. The scene of the crime was
The moral of this story is always be sure of your sources when considering pre-historic artifacts. If they didn’t come from private land and your seller can’t verify it, you could end up paying a high price for the acquisition.
Tribal Artery is a periodic blog about the world of tribal art, brought to you by the web sites of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person, including Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink, TribalWorks and ZuniLink.
It’s short notice, we know, but if you are in
Principal access to Big Cypress Reservation is via
Incidentally, the
As for the secure order form, when you click through to it, it will appear with the letters “https” (the “s” signifying “secure”) in front of the "//" and a padlock icon in the browser bar field. This is your assurance that your information is safe from unauthorized access.
We hope that the introduction of the toll-free 800 number and the secure order form will make it easier for you to do your holiday shopping this year. We offer assured delivery by Christmas for all orders received by
Currently, only our Native-JewelryLink web site has the secure order form. But if you want to use that form to order something from one of the other three sites, feel free to do so. As long as you include the item code and your phone Number, we will be able to figure it out or call you for clarification.
Happy Holidays.
No harm was meant, explains Richard Brownjohn, a vice president in Legacy’s
Mr Brownjohn—a New Zealander who is not Maori—is overseeing the $30m, 15-acre, 250-apartment complex which broke ground in June and will open by next summer. The apartment buildings have Maori-inspired steeply pitched roofs with finials, and landscaping includes ferns, a significant motif in Maori culture that appears on Kia Ora promotional literature and the web site. “The theme came from us looking for something new and different,” he explains, noting that Tuscan and Spanish-colonial themes are more common in
“We are not trying to create a theme park, but trying to create name recognition,” he says, “and we are trying to be sensitive.” But Maori activist Ken Mair has called the plan "cultural theft and possibly theft of intellectual property" and suggested that Legacy consult with Maori advisors. Mr Brownjohn says the company has no intention to do so, but he did contact the
Many speakers at the conference echoed the sentiment emphasizing the need for tribal members to apply for certification as minority businesses in order to qualify for government assistance and contracts.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was designated by President Woodrow Wilson as a time of commemoration of those who fell in the battlefields of World War I. Subsequently, President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated the entire day, November 11th, as the day each year to remember the fallen and others who have risked their lives in defense of the nation’s freedom and lived to talk about it. Veteran’s Day, as we know it in 2006, should be one of our most somber days of thoughtful remembrance.
We owe these heroes greatly. Among them are the Native American code talkers who were instrumental in helping the Allies defeat Japan and Germany by using their native dialects to to communicate about military movements and coordinate plans. The enemy forces, which were prepared to decode systems using English language, were befuddled by the use of Native American languages. Most well-known of the groups was the Navajo Code Talkers. Others, such as the Choctaw, Chippewa/Oneida, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Sioux, Crow, Missisauga, Cree, Comanche and Hopi, also participated and contributed their patriotic part in the victory over Nazi fascism and Japanese imperialism.
An article that came out today suggests that, between the predicted closeness of so many election races and the increase in paper ballots, it may be weeks before all the ballots are counted and the results certified. In very close races, there may very well be re-counts and lawsuits too.
The article's author’s concern is that it could be mid-December before many races are finally determined.
First, be aware that the holidays are approaching at warp speed and anything you want to purchase as a gift should be near the top of your "things to do list".
By the way, any item purchased as a gift may be returned by the gift recipient through December 31 for a full purchase price refund - assuming it is in original condition. Items returned after that MAY qualify for a store credit. Be sure the recipient contacts us first, before sending the item back so that we can look for it in the mail.
Well aware that the World Wide Web is populated by people who are not as reputable as we are, and most who are, we thought you might take some reassurance from some of the things people who have done business with us have said about us.
“Item was better than picture and service was quick and pleasant.”
“Carefully packaged and quickly shipped. Thank you.”
“Thanks for this beautiful piece of history! Fast shipping. VERY NICE sellers!”
“Adorable items. Hope to buy from you again.”
“Outstanding service and product”
“It’s beautiful. Thanks much.”
“Beautiful merchandise, safely pkgd, fast delivery, couldn’t ask for better.”
“Superb! Even better than expected and really fast safe service! Top Notch!"
If these sound like eBay feedback comments, they are. Yes. We also have an eBay store at Art of the First Person. We use it either for items that don’t fit in our regular categories or to give people, who might not otherwise find our web sites, a sample of our offerings and service. Within the limitations of eBay, we include links back to our web sites at Native-JewelryLink.com, Native-PotteryLink.com, ZuniLink.com and TribalWorks.com.
Anyway. These are honest-to-goodness comments about the way we do business. You can check them out for yourself by visiting the eBay store. You will also see that we have a 100% positive score as an eBay player, which we have been since 1998.
None of the above is to brag – although we are proud of our record and performance. We offer it simply to reinforce what most of readers already know. You can count on us.
We have added secure protection to our order form at Native-JewelryLink.com. It is a work in progress, however. Each and every link to the order form must be coded to refer to the new secure form, instead of the old order form.
With hundreds of links from various pages, it is a long and time-consuming process. So far, Cases #1, #1A, #2, #3, #3A, #4, #5, #6, #6A, #7 and #7A have been upgraded so that all the order form links on those pages, and for the items listed on them, should link to the secure order form page. You can tell it is “secure” by looking a the browser bar. If it is yellow, has "https" at the start and a padlock icon at the end, it is secure for transmitting confidential information, such as that associated with credit cards.
If you land on the order form and it doesn’t have those indicators, it is not secure. But – GOOD NEWS – there is a link on the insecure order form that will take you to a secure version of it. Check the browser bar to be sure. That's good advice no matter who you are dealing with.
Second, we have added about 50 new fetish carvings to the ZuniLink site. They are scattered around the site. Sorry. It’s the way the site is organized. But, if you see a red header with the word “NEW” in it, the carving is either new or very recent. They tend to be at the bottom of the page they are added to, so scroll down.
Third, we have added two new Michael Kanteena pots to the Native-PotteryLink site. We also are in process of repairing links, especially to the order form. If you have trouble getting where you want, please call us on the toll-free 800 line – 800-305-0185. We are here and available almost every day from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time (Daylight Savings at the moment). If we are not here, leave a message on the answering machine and we will call you back as soon as we get the message.
So, have had a busy week – with more work ahead – accounting for the delay in getting this blog, and the email newsletter alert, posted. Thank you for your patience
Women's Body Painting, Acrylic on linen, 26" x 22",
Originally from
The Stern collection of African art given to UMMA has been broadly studied and published, and was presented in a major exhibition and accompanying catalogue at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1999 entitled Spirits Embodied: Art of the Congo—Selections from the Helmut F. Stern Collection, which was curated by former UMMA Director Maurer and Niangi Batulukisi.
In recent years, UMMA has stepped up its presentation and acquisition of African art, an especially dynamic and exciting field, and one with increased scholarly attention at the University due to the appointments of African art historians Ray Silverman and David T. Doris to the faculty.
In addition to expanded exhibit space for African art, the Museum's new wing will provide a variety of object study classrooms and open storage galleries, as well as housing the
University of Michigan Museum of Art is located in
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Tribal Artery is the periodic blog of tribal art news and information of
Aboriginals: Art of the First Person, an online gallery with more than 25 years of experience in the collection and sales of authentic tribal art from Africa, Aboriginal Australia, Native America and the Arctic, with web sites at ZuniLink.com, TribalWorks.com, Native-JewelryLink.com and Native-PotteryLink.com
The collection of approximately 180 works of African art represents the results of four decades old collection from Brill’s travels and relationships with some of the most knowledgable dealers of his time, including Charles Ratton and Rene Rasmussen in (
A various-owners sale of African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art, including an Important European Private Collection, will also be held on November 17th.
A new “Carnival of Tribal Art" has been created to serve as a gathering place for links to blogs (and websites) that cover various aspects of tribal art.
To include a link to your blog, email the link and a summary of the blog to sanibelart@comcast.net. I will see that any relevant and appropriate blog is linked on the Carnival of Tribal Art
Whilst poking around in our unposted earrings, we came across a handful of Calvin Begay’s pieces.
If you are a fan, take a look at Native-JewelryLinks.com. Here are some examples.
Click on the links to see more.
Smithsonian's
Contact: Amy Drapeau, 202-633-6614 or drapeaua@si.edu; Leonda Levchuk, 202-633-6613 or levchukl@si.edu, both of the Smithsonian Institution; Public only: 202-633-1000
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- To celebrate American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month in November, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., will host a variety of free public programs.
Panel Discussion: On Friday, Nov. 3, at
Dance Performance: The Lepquinm Gumilgit Gogoadim (Our Own Dance in Our Hearts) Dance Group from
Storytelling: Hope and Company, led by Ishmael Hope (Inupiaq/Tlingit) and storytellers, will share stories about Alaska Native heritage Tuesday, Nov. 7 through Thursday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12, at 2 and
Art Demonstration: David Boxley (Tsimshian) will demonstrate the art of wood carving from Friday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Nov. 12 at
Family Day: A Family Day program on "North Pacific Coast Weaving Traditions" will take place Saturday, Nov. 11, from
Performance: Tobias Vanderhoop (Aquinnah Wampanoag) will present "A Wampanoag Thanksgiving" Tuesday, Nov. 14 through Thursday, Nov. 16, at 10:30 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. in the Rasmuson Theater. Through story, song, drumming and dance, visitors will learn how Wampanoags traditionally offered thanks before contact with non- Natives.
Film: "Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii" will be screened in the Rasmuson Theater Friday, Nov. 24, at
All programs are subject to change, for a complete schedule of public programs, visit http://www.AmericanIndian.si.edu .
If you click on the thumbnail here, you will go to a larger photo, with dimensions, price and a link back to his page to see more of his outstanding work.
Again, click on the thumbnail photo to go to a larger picture with dimensions and pricing. We get many request for her pairs from people who want to give them as unique gifts to couples who are getting married or are expecting a family addition.
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Tribal Artery is the periodic blog of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and our online galleries at Native Jewelry Link, Native Pottery Link, TribalWorks and ZuniLink. Thanks for visiting our blog. Let us know if you find it interesting and/or informative.
Click on anyone of them to go to the page that will give you more detail.
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Tribal Artery is the periodic blog of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and our online galleries at Native Jewelry Link, Native Pottery Link, TribalWorks and ZuniLink. Thanks for visiting our blog. Let us know if you find it interesting and/or informative.
One of them was a canteen-style, corrugated-finish by pot by the late Stella Shutiva of Acoma Pueblo. 
A second one was a nice older olla by Nambe artist, Lonnie Vigil.
The third was a past Indian Market prize winner by Christine McHorse, Navajo.
Each of these vintage pots was available at a bargain price simply because we acquired them several years ago and never raised the selling price to replacement value.
Stella Shutiva is deceased. Lonnie Vigil’s reputation has grown over the years so that his work now earns much higher prices than we paid a few years ago. Christine McHorse has abandoned making pottery in favor of creating bronzes.
If you are so inclined, give the site a look-over for some vintage treasure at prices from the past that may be waiting there for you.
Tribal Artery is the periodic blog of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and our online galleries at Native Jewelry Link, Native Pottery Link, TribalWorks and ZuniLink. Thanks for visiting our blog. Let us know if you find it interesting and/or informative.
