Zuni Festival at Museum of Northern Arizona

This is the weekend for the Annual Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture at the Museum of Northern Arizona in flagstaff.

In its 18^th year, the festival will be held on Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25 as a collaboration of the MNA and the A’shiwi A’wan Museum and Heritage Center at Zuni.

The Zuni Pueblo is one of New Mexico’s largest, covering more than 600 acres. More than 11,000 Zunis exist in and around the Pueblo, with about 80% of the families involved in some artistic endeavor. These include the creation of everything from pottery to carvings to jewelry and two-dimensional graphic art. Some families also create beautiful beaded figures, such as the one by Jeannette Dewesee, shown to the right.

The following artists and craftspeople are schedule to exhibit and/or demonstrate at the festival.

Colin Coonsis―inlay jewelry
Kenneth Epaloose―pottery
Rolanda Haloo―jewelry,
Silvester Hustitio―painting
Otto Lucio―jewelry
Claudia Peina―fetish carving,
Lynn Quam―fetish carving
Octavius and Irma Seowtewa―needlepoint jewelry
Margia Simplicio―beadwork
Noreen Simplicio―pottery
Raylan and Patty Edaakie - silver and inlay jewelry
Lorandina Sheche - fetish carvings
Todd Westika - fetish carvings

According to A:shiwi A:wan Director, Jim Enote, the Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture is “…more than an event about Zuni, it is a very public gesture, acknowledging Zuni presence and influence on the Colorado Plateau.”

Robert Breunig, director of the Museum of Northern Arizona agrees, “The Zuni culture is an integral part of the Colorado Plateau, with close cultural connections to the land and ancestral villages in southeastern Arizona and western New Mexico. The spiritual and ancestral landscape of the Zuni or A:shiwi includes the San Francisco Peaks or Sunha:kwin K'yaba:chu Yalanne in the west, Steamboat Wash in the north, Mount Taylor in the east, the Salt and Gila River Basins to the south, and of course, the Grand Canyon, the Zuni place of origin. By creating a collaborative relationship with the Zuni Tribe, MNA is able to ensure that the dialogue and cultural exchange about the Zuni people and their lifeways comes directly from the source.”

More information about the event is available at the Gallup Independent newspaper website and the website of the Museum of Northern Arizona.

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This message is brought to you as a public service in support of all tribal arts by William and Susanne Waites, proprietors of online galleries featuring Zuni carving, Zuni jewelry and Zuni pottery.