The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Presents

Opulence

A fashion show and sale featuring Orlando Dugi, Connie Tsosie Gaussoin, David Gaussoin, and

Wayne Nez Gaussoin

(SANTA FE, NM) Santa Fe, NM - The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) will present Opulence, taking place at the Museum Store and Lloyd Kiva New Gallery, 108 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe, NM. The show exhibition runs from August 5th through August 31st, 2011 with an opening reception on August 18th, 2011 from 4:00-7:00pm.

The exhibition will feature new work by Orlando Dugi, Connie Tsosie Gaussoin, David Gaussoin, and Wayne Nez Gaussoin.

Orlando Dugi referred to Opulence as "Going beyond monetary wealth projecting rich creativity, posh artistry, superior elegance, affluent innovation and above all creating a luxurious image."

MoCNA Gallery Hours:

Monday- Saturday 10:00AM- 5:00PM

Closed on Tuesdays

Brought to you Native American Indian Jewelry,

a website of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person.

2011 Santa Fe Indian Market Official Schedule

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts has issued the official events schedule for the 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market in August. We will attend and report on most of these events on this blog and on websites at ZuniLink, Native-American-Jewelry, TribalWorks and Native-PotteryLink

2011 Santa Fe Indian Market Week
Official Schedule of Events
August 15-August 21

Class X Film Screenings
Monday, August 15, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
New Mexico History Museum
113 Lincoln Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Free Admission

This special evening of film screenings features the work of Classification X winners. This is the tenth and one of the newest art classifications at Santa Fe Indian Market. Classification X is the moving images category. It is divided into four divisions: Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Animation Short and Experimental Short. The Santa Fe Indian Market Awards Program invites art experts and collectors to Santa Fe to judge more than 1,000 artist entries and distribute over $70,000 in prize money in numerous categories to SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market artists. Awards are given to recognize an artist's dedication and skill in working with traditional materials and techniques, as well as experimentation with new media and innovative art forms.

Native Cinema Showcase
Monday, August 15 to Sunday August 21, 2011
Film Schedule: TBA
New Mexico History Museum
113 Lincoln Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Free Admission

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), present the 11th Annual Native Cinema Showcase, a celebration of films and videos by and about indigenous peoples in connection with the Santa Fe Indian Market. All films will be shown at the New Mexico History Museum.

SWAIA and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Present: Breakfast With the Curators
Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
710 Camino Lejo
Santa Fe, NM 87501
$25 per person, or $20 per person for MNMF members
Museum Admission Included

Learn all about the history, splendor and future plans of the 90th Annual Santa Fe Indian Market over breakfast with SWAIA's Executive Director, Bruce Bernstein, PhD.

Janet Marie Rogers and Alex Jacobs
Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffee House
202 Galisteo St. #A, Santa Fe, 87501
Free Admission

Mohawk spoken word performance about living away from their homelands while maintaining Indian identity. Jacob’s says, “I am creating spiritual and emotional landscapes that speak and connect through the Soft Therapy of my Fabric Collage, and to tell large political and historical narratives with paper cut outs, and to connect directly with people through spoken word performances.”

Robert Mirabal Presents: Po’Pay Speaks
Tuesday, August 16 to September 4, 2011
The Lodge at Santa Fe
750 N. St. Francis Dr.
$45 Per ticket

Robert Mirabal, a two-time Grammy Award winner, will be performing Po’Pay Speaks from August 16th thru September 4th at The Lodge at Santa Fe. This new one-man show will showcase the history of Po’Pay during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, and his continuing influence today. Mirabal, a native of Taos Pueblo, has released nearly a dozen CDs, ranging from traditional ceremonial music to Rock n’ Roll. His highly praised PBS special, Music from a Painted Cave, was aired in 2002. The multi- talented Mirabal is also an artist and published author. His novel, Running Alone with Photographs, was published in 2009, and, Skeletons of a Bridge, a book of poetry, was published in 1994. When not touring, he lives a traditional life at Taos Pueblo with his wife, Dawn, and three daughters. Po’Pay Speaks is being developed with the aid of a grant from the New Mexico Multi-Cultural Foundation. Tickets are $55.00 for floor seating and $45.00 for mezzanine, and can be purchased at www.TicketsSantaFe.org. Collaborating with Mirabal on the production are Taos writers Stephen Parks and Nelson Zink. For more information, please contact Danette Lovato at 505.242.8355 or visit www.Mirabal.com.

Welcoming Reception at Patina Gallery
Thursday, August 18, 2011, 9: 00 a.m.
Patina Gallery
131 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, 87501
Free Admission

Join us for a continental breakfast and a welcoming orientation to Santa Fe at the internationally renowned Patina Gallery on Palace Avenue--an ardent business supporter of SWAIA and Indian Market. Tom Maguire, former Director of Arts and Cultural Tourism for the City of Santa Fe, will give a brief talk on the rich history, culture and creative energy of our vibrant community. Based on the Navajo Beauty Way, this audio-visual presentation conjures up the wealth of inspiring experiences you can discover during your visit here.

Simon Ortiz and Sara Maria Ortiz
Thursday, August 18, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffee House
202 Galisteo St. #A, Santa Fe, 87501
Free Admission

Readings by a father and daughter. Sara will be reading from her manuscript Red Milk: A Requiem in Three Act, and “…we’ll be engaging in an open dialogue about ‘the business of writing,’ our creative processes, inspirations, experiences, our challenges as contemporary Indigenous writers, etc.”

SWAIA Presents Music on the Plaza Bandstand
Thursday, August 18, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Downtown Santa Fe

The final day of the inimitable Santa Fe Music Bandstand Series sponsored by SWAIA featuring Clan/Destine (Native Soul Operation Peace) and Levi & the Plateros (Native high powered Rock and Blues)

Best of Show Ceremony and Luncheon
Friday, August 19, 2011, 11:30am-2:00pm
Santa Fe Convention Center
201 W. Marcy St., Santa Fe, 87501
For Ticket Information, Please Contact SWAIA (505) 983-5220

This annual event, which precedes the Santa Fe Indian Market, is where the Best of Show Award is presented to a SWAIA artist; it is the Native art world’s most prestigious prize. Over 1000 pieces of artwork are submitted for judging in 10 art classifications. At no other time during Indian Market Week are the most exquisite works of art gathered in one location. This intimate gathering is a ticketed event and reserved for SWAIA Members only. Ticket information TBA. For more information on becoming a SWAIA Member, click here. For ticket information visit swaia.org or call 983-5220.

Sneak and General Previews
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sneak Preview, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
General Preview: 7:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Convention Center
201 W. Marcy St., Santa Fe, 87501

SWAIA's Artist Awards Sneak Preview gives SWAIA members the early opportunity to see the best of Indian Market art after the Best of Show Awards Ceremony. The General Preview that follows opens the doors to the public for a glimpse at the award-winning artwork.

The 90th Santa Fe Indian Market
Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21, 2011, 7:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
The Plaza, Santa Fe
Free Admission

The Santa Fe Indian Market is the preeminent Native arts market in the world; it simultaneously embraces the past, present and future of Indian Arts. There is simply no other time and place in the Native arts world where the impact and influence of Native culture and identity is reinforced, reestablished and reinvented. The Indian Market features visual arts, literature, film, music, culinary arts, symposiums and much more. The Santa Fe Indian Market hosts over 1100 artists from 100 tribes and is the largest cultural event in New Mexico, attracting 100,000 visitors per year.

SWAIA Live Auction Gala, Dinner and Auctions
Saturday, August 20, 2011, 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
La Fonda on the Plaza
Santa Fe, NM
For Ticket Information, Please Contact SWAIA (505) 983-5220

As SWAIA's largest fundraiser of the year, the Live Auction Gala is the most glamorous and exciting event during Indian Market Week. Each year, some of the country's most exceptional Native artists donate a piece of artwork to be auction in the silent or live auction. The auction items represent an eclectic array of Native art. Many of the one-of-a kind art pieces have been specifically made for the auctions. Tickets sell out well in advance of this event. For ticket information visit swaia.org or call 983-5220.

Lifetime Achievement Allan Houser Legacy and Povika Awards Presentation
Saturday, August 20, 2011, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Santa Fe Plaza Stage
Downtown Santa Fe

The Houser Award is the highest honor that SWAIA bestows upon a Native artist. The annual award recognizes the contributions by a distinguished Native American artist to Native arts and Native culture. The Povika Award recognizes service, leadership and support that Native and non-Native people (the broad range of individuals who make up the Indian Market family) provide to the annual Santa Fe Indian Market and to Native artists and their communities.

Native American Clothing Contest
Sunday, August 21, 2011, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The Santa Fe Plaza Stage
Downtown Santa Fe

Among the many cherished traditions at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Native American Clothing Contest (NACC) is one of the most beloved and anticipated events. For over twenty years, the NACC has been the most photographed event at the Santa Fe Indian Market. The contest includes categories for traditional and contemporary Native American fashions, features children and adult participants, and awards prizes in over 20 categories.

Open Studio Santa Fe Art Institute
Thursday, August 25, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Art Institute
1600 Saint Michaels Dr., Santa Fe, 87505
Free Admission

Every month, the Santa Fe Art Institute hosts an Open Studio for the Artists & Writers in Residence to show their work to the public and to give folks a sneak peek into the closed door world of studio practice. The artists in residence for August will be:

Ryan Lee Smith, Park Hill, OK, SWAIA Residency Fellow - painter
Lisa Hageman Yahgulanaas, Masset, BC Canada, SWAIA Residency Fellow – weaver
Lenka Novakova, Quebec, Canada – video and installation
Pricilla Hollingsworth – Augusta, GA – ceramicist
Alyssa Phoebus and Murad Kahn Mumatz, Pakistan – mixed media
Marylin Waltzer, Haverford, PA – botanical illustrator
Judith Stein, Philadelphia, PA - writer

Another happy customer

An interesting aspect of doing business on line is that customers have to take us at our word that we are are presenting Zuni fetish carvings accurately, and that, when their Tribal Art purchase arrives it will satisfy them. In a retail store or gallery, the customer can pick it up and hold it before deciding to buy. He or she can't do that on line.

It helps when the seller can guarantee satisfaction. We do. After all, even if the item is described and pictured 100% perfectly, when the buyer holds in his or her hands, if may not live up to expectations. So we guarantee that the item will satisfy or we will refund the buyer's purchase price.

That makes it all the more gratifying when we receive a note like this one.

"Hi Susanne,

The carving arrived today in perfect condition!

It does look exactly like the photo on your web side, however holding it and seeing it in reality and knowing - this is mine now - is quite a wonderful experience.
This carving is such an outstanding masterpiece and I was very touched when I was holding it in my hands.

Thanks a lot for your prompt delivery and I can surely recommend your address to others, who are sharing the same passion for this kind of art!"

Thanks for sharing our gratitude.

William & Susanne Waites
ZuniLink.com
Native-American-jewelry.og
TribalWorks.Com
Native-PotteryLink.com

Our Native American pottery website, offers pottery made by artists in a wide range of Native American pueblos and tribes.

It also includes a selection beautifully made pots from the famed Village of Mata Ortiz in northern Mexico. I would like to present one of the most stunning examples, a large olla (11" tall) by Lionel Lopez Saenz. The artwork adorning it is simply spectacular.

If you enjoy this, you may be similarly charmed by other pottery presented on the website.

A Primer on Old Zuni Pueblo Art

We have recently come across a video that was recorded by Deb Slaney, currently Curator at the Albuquerque Museum, when she was with the Heard Museum, Phoenix.

It is a fascinating discussion of the background of the C.G. Wallace Collection and the artists and work represented in it.

This link will take you to it on YouTube. http://youtu.be/0J1Kwij6PJs

As collectors, dealers and students of Native American jewelry, and Zuni art particularly, we are always interested in learning more about the history of Zuni jewelry and carvings, and the techniques of the artists who created it a generation ago.

Another Small World Story concerning Native American Art

A few days ago, we decided to post a couple of items from our inventory to eBay.

One of them was a Choctaw river cane basket by Rosie Joe. The buyer turned out to be someone who had previously owned the basket. He recognized it when he saw it listed in our eBay store. Upon completion of the transaction, he notified us of his prior involvement with the basket. Here are some excerpts from what he wrote us.

"Thanks, I'll tell you a little more about it. I sold items regularly to OIAG and this was one of the items I should have kept, but accidently (sic) got included in a group package that I had put together for them. I could not get it back because they told me it was not available for sale.

I had met Rosie Joe some years before that and had purchased many of her baskets from her. I had helped her collect river cane in Eastern Oklahoma and watched her prepare the cane and start weaving baskets. One day as I had gone to pick her up in Shawnee Oklahoma to take her to Eastern Oklahoma to gather river cane, she came out carrying this basket and gifted it to me for my help to her.

I was upset when it got away from me, and am glad it is returning home.

Rosie Joe also went by the name Rosie Lewis, never signed her baskets that I am aware of, and came from Eastern Choctaw family where her mother and grandmother taught her to weave baskets.

Thanks again for the opportunity given to me, to regain this lost basket back into my now very small collection."

This one of the things we love about trading in tribal art, whether it's Navajo folk art, Zuni carvings, pueblo pottery, African tribal masks and figurative carvings, Australian Aboriginal art and artefacts or Arctic/Inuit carvings, there is a friendly circle of shared interests and values.

We are glad to include you, dear reader, en the circle.

Count on Delbert Buck for Navajo folk art with a smile.

Among the names that stand out in the circle of talented Navajo Folk Artists, Delbert Buck may be the most “creative”.

Born in Shiprock, NM in September 1976, Delbert began carving at a very early age. Some say his first carvings were when he was around nine-years-old and he carved toy guns to play with. Others say he began to hit his carving stride in his early teens, when his fascination with horses and airplanes inserted those subjects into his portfolio of carvings.

In any case, this son of Wilford and Jenny Buck quickly expanded his carving activities, with his first “shows” at 13. His work soon was included in the authoritative books about Navajo folk art, “The People Speak – Contemporary Navajo Folk Art” and “The Trading Post Guidebook.”

The single characteristic that consistently emerges from Buck's creations is his sense of humor.

He has been quoted as saying his favorite part of what he does, and what he hopes others will get out of it, is a “smile”. His eclectic sculptures, combining horses, broncs, motorcycles, airplanes and a wide range of other colorful characters from Navajo culture, and his own unconventional imagination, are very popular and highly collectable.

He works in a shack at his home, using simple tools such as a hand saw, utility knife and hammer. He carves from pieces of cottonwood that are found on in nearby washes. Delbert does the carving and the painting, with assistance from his mother and sisters when it comes to dressing up the carvings.

As buyers, collectors and resellers of Delbert's work, we often are drawn to his pieces simply because of their delightful perspective on subjects that are otherwise cliched, but not in the hands of Delbert Buck.

They also often have a patriotic quality, which appeals to us, and makes them wonderful works to display around national holidays such as the 4^th of July. The flag-toting, red, white and blue, biker grandma to the left, is and example.

See also the portrayal of Uncle Sam piloting a bi-plane with sheep as his wing-critters.

Special Note: TribalWorks.com is taking temporary mark-downs on Delbert Buck's pieces in stock. You are encouraged to take advantage of these savings now.

Santa Fe Getting Ready for August

Among the events that happen in Santa Fe in August, triggered by Indian Market, are the WhiteHawk shows.

We've now received notice that the 28th Annual Antique Ethnographic Art Show will take place on Thursday, August 11, Friday, August 12 and Saturday, August 13.

The hours are 6-9PM on Thursday, 10-6PM on Friday and 10-5PM on Saturday.

This usually is an extraordinary show, featuring antiquities offered by the most reputable dealers in the country.

The venue is the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Admission for the Thursday preview, which includes beer and wine, and eats by Cowgirl Catering, is $75 per person. That also includes admission to the Friday and Saturday openings. These are otherwise priced at $10 each. Bring cash or a checkbook. No credit cards accepted.

The 33rd Annual Antique Indian Art Show follows, with a $75 preview on Sunday, August 14 from 6-9PM, and open shows from 10-5PM on Monday, August 15 and Tuesday, August 16. The venue is the same and the $75 deal is the same.

An additional value is offered by the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), who will be offering workshops concerning the laws of collecting antique Native American artifacts. These will be open to the public at no charge. For more information about ATADA, visit their website at http://www.ATADA.org. WhiteHawk's web site is at http://www.WhiteHawkShows.com.

Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its websites devoted to African, Australian, Arctic and Native American art; Native American Indian Jewelry; Native American Pueblo Pottery and fetish carvings from Zuni, Cochiti, San Felipe and other Native American sources is a member of ATADA.

Controversy continues to boil in artifacts case.

The Indian Trader issue of this month reports a story about Indian trader Bill Malone, who was abused and deprived of property under false pretenses by the National Park Service. According to a book about Malone by Paul D. Berkowitz, "The Case of the Indian Trader", After his investigation into the case, Berkowitz was able to get the case against Malone dropped and the government was forced to return his property - after several years and significant damage to Malone's reputation.

Such over zealousness now shows up in cases the Federal Government brings against dealers and collectors of Native American artifacts. This subject is covered in ongoing commentary by the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association. Despite the law exempting material that was collected before 1979 and material collected from private land, the Feds routinely raid and seize privately held and museum collections, based on flimsy allegations.

The recent case in Utah was based on the testimony of a disgruntled trader, who allegedly was paid by the government to entrap fellow traders. Based on that "evidence", collectors premises were raided with entire collections confiscated for supposed lack of provenance. The case is till working its way through appeals and trials, without incidentally any further testimony from the government informant, who committed suicide.

What contributes to this attitude about lawful trading in Native artifacts, including those contributed to museums and made available for research and viewing by the public? There may be an answer in a recent talk given to collectors in Santa Fe, when a federal agent said he wished the legal trade would dry up. Theoretically, it would make his job easier, which is an interesting standard on which to base policy decisions that affect lawful activities.

We have seen, however, what happens when lawful activities are prohibited. In the case of alcoholic beverages, a perceived problem was not solved, but was worsened by the fostering of crime gangs that still operate in other areas.

Good intentions don't matter when bad ends result.

ATADA Alerts of Native American Art Theft

Recently, the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, of which Aboriginals: Art of the First Person is a member, published an alert about two Navajo weavings stolen from a Santa Fe, NM gallery.

Alerts like this are intended to call attention to items that may subsequently show up in the resale or collector market. This time, as in the past, it worked. With one of the weavings being recovered already.

Please look at the linked-to page to see a photo of the weaving that still is at large. If you run across it, please report your information to ATADA or the gallery. It is against the law to possess stolen merchandise.

Aboriginals offers Native American art at ZuniLink (Zuni and other Native carvings), Native-American-jewelry (Native American silver and turquoise jewelry), Native-PotteryLink (Pueblo Pottery) and TribalWorks (Navajo folk art).

In Memoriam

As we approach Memorial Day in the United States, we at Aboriginals and its associated web sites at ZuniLink.com, Native-American-Jewelry.org, Native-PotteryLink.com and TribalWorks.com, want to pause to recognize and thank those who sacrificed life, limb and family for our American freedoms. We encourage you to do the same.

Pause your holiday fun long enough to contemplate the loss of these heroes and the benefits we gained from their heroism.

Then celebrate the freedoms they protected and preserved for us. God bless freedom loving people everywhere.

Susanne & William Waites

SWAIA ANNOUNCES 2011 POSTER ARTISTS

As members of Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its associated websites offering authentic Native American jewelry, hand-made Native American Pueblo Pottery and Zuni fetish carvings, are happy to publish the following news concerning SWAIA's 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market
~~~~~~~~~

(SANTA FE, NM) The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) will unveil the Official 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market poster on Friday, May 20 at the Hotel Santa Fe (1501 Paseo De Peralta Santa Fe, NM) 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Brother and sister Tulane John and Myleka John (Dine) have been selected as the 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market Poster artists. Tulane (13 years-old) and Myleka (12 years-old) live in Phoenix, AZ. Their father is renowned sculptor, Alvin John. Both of these young artists are painters and will create a collaborative work of art for the poster. The image will also be incorporated into 2011 Santa Fe Indian Market Merchandise.

The selection for the 2011 poster artists is relevant in several ways. This is the first collaborative work of art to be selected for the Indian Market poster and they are the youngest artists ever to be selected. As a tribute to the 90th Anniversary of the Santa Fe Indian Market, SWAIA decided to search for a youth artist (15 years-old or younger) to design an image for its poster to recognize the future of Indian Market.

Tribal Art Adventures in Elementary School

This week, Susanne and I gave a presentation to the third and fourth grade art classes at J. Colin English Elementary School in North Fort Myers.

We presented Australian Aboriginal art to the third graders and African Tribal art to the fourth graders.

What well-behaved, attentive and interested audiences they were!

Our Australian program covered dot paintings from the Central Desert, bark paintings from the top end, carved, poker-burned animals, pottery painted by Aboriginal women, didgeridoos and boomerangs. We even showed them a dot-painted emu egg.

For the fourth graders, we concentrated on masks from West and Central Africa. Among those presented were masks from Bule, Guru, Senoufo, Dogon, Marka and Tchokwe. We let the students touch the masks and inspect the insides as well as the outer surfaces.

The exhibits were well-received and treated respectfully.

An interesting aspect of the presentation was a discussion of "spirit". How do you explain the concept of "spirit" to a fourth-grader? Especially when references to God or religion seemed inappropriate in a classroom setting.

The instructor came up with what I thought was a brilliant explanation. So much so that I told her I shall use it myself in the future. She likened it to the feeling that happens when you think you are alone, but you realize you are not alone. You are surrounded by people who share your ideas and values. That is the manifestation of the spirit that resides in the mask when it is danced.

That explanation resonated with me. I think the kids "got it."

We enjoyed doing these presentations. Susanne has taken them to schools before and, when we had our physical gallery on Sanibel, we invited classes to come for private presentations.

Now, we must take our collection and interest to the students, reinforced by information we present on our websites; TribalWorks.com for African and Australian art, Native-American-jewelry.org for jewelry art from native artisans, Native-PotteryLink.com for pueblo pottery and ZuniLink.com for carvings from Zuni, Cochiti and other Native American carvers.

Opal in Native American Jewelry

Opal is one of the most beautiful and fascinating stones used in Native American jewelry.

Opal is a form of silica. Water makes up from 6% to 10% on average of its content, which makes it advisable to protect it from extreme dryness.

It appears in shades of white, black, red, orange, green, blue, yellow and a rainbow of other colors, of which the most common are white and green, with the rarest being red in black. The colors shimmer due to the refractive structure of the material. The term "opalescent" is erroneously used to describe this phenomenon. In fact, that term refers to the milky look of a form of opal-like substance known as "potch", often found near opal deposits.

Opal veins tend to yield material that is very thin. In order to use this material in jewelry, a special technique often is applied to create "doublets" and "triplets." The former is accomplished by backing the opal with a black material, emphasizing the way the colors play for the eye. The latter also backs a thin slice of natural opal with a dark material and adds a thin, clear dome of quartz or plastic atop. The dome tends to magnify the color display while protecting the opal beneath it, which is inherently fragile.

There are other forms of natural opal that are seldom used in jewelry. These include milk opal, fire opal, Peruvian blue opal and boulder opal. These material are occasionally used in carvings.

Opal mining is hot, dry, dusty and often frustrating work.

About 97% of jewelry-quality, natural opal comes from mines in Australia. I have visited the opal mines in Coober Pedy, South Australia, which is a major source for natural opal. The otherwise barren, outback landscape is studded with deep vertical shafts and mounds of earth that has been extracted during the mining process. These earthen mounds are often picked through by visitors looking for potch that, while not usable for quality opal, may have some scraps of color. These make interesting souvenirs. We have a few pieces in our collection.


As an aside, "fossickers" - that's what they are called - are not advised to do so at night.
The holes often are unseen in the dark and they are very deep. Bye-bye.

An interesting aspect of Coober Pedy is the homes and rooms carved into the escarpment excavations left behind by mining. One is even a chapel. Because they are underground, they maintain a constant cool temperature, even at mid-day when the outside temperatures exceed 100 degrees.

Andamooka, also in South Australia, is a major source of black opal, as is Lightning Ridge in New South Wales.

Black opal is highly valued for the intensity of the color found in its black specimens.

Importing natural opal from Australia is very expensive. As a result, natural opal usually is priced beyond the reach of Native American jewelry makers.

Given the high cost of natural opal, most opal in Native American jewelry is man-made. The difference can be discerned by the human eye when a magnifier is used to view it. It is much more regular in its color display. Man-made opals also are not as dense as natural opals and may be more susceptible to drying out due to their porosity.

There is nothing inherently wrong with man-made opal, although at one point the Indian Arts and Crafts Association forbade its use in jewelry displayed for sale at the IACA Wholesale Market.

I believe it has since been permitted but only if clearly identified as man-made. It certainly approximates the flare and flash of natural opal when used in jewelry, and at significantly more affordable prices.

If you are considering purchasing jewelry with opal cabochons or inlay, be sure to ask the seller if the opal is natural or man-made. Don't pay for natural opal if you are getting man-made opal.

Opal is the birthstone for people born in October, under the sign of Scorpio.

Boulder opal sometimes has been used by Zuni fetish carvers, such as Gibbs Othole, Dee Edaakie and the late Jeff Tsalabutie. It has an almost magical appearance, displaying flashes of color in otherwise bland, brown ironstone matrix.

Delbert Charging Crow - Oglala Lakota Fetish Carver - Concluded

This is the third and final part of an article about Delbert Charging Crow, written by the proprietor of ZuniLink.com, which features fetish carvings by Zuni artists and those of other tribes, such as Delbert.
To catch up to the story, scroll down to the last episode. Thank you.

He indeed had been back to his homelands in the Dakotas but was now back in Albuquerque, carrying for his granddaughter, who was attending school in Albuquerque. He was living temporarily in a motel on the east side of town. That was where we met him to look at his most recent carvings.

The more we have learned about Delbert, the more we have come to respect him as person, a friend and a kindred soul, in addition to admiring his gift as a carver. If this is your first encounter with the story of Delbert Charging Crow, we think you will find him as interesting and worthy of admiration as we do.

Delbert tells us he is an Oglala Lakota Sioux, who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Wanblee, South Dakota. He attributes his inspiration as a carver to his Big Grandma and his Grandpa Jim, who was a stone carver. Delbert proudly states that some of the pipestone pipes his Grandpa Jim carved are in the Smithsonian Institute.

After completing high school, Delbert studied dentistry and became a dental assistant in Wanblee. Three years into this career, he was recognized for his excellence with an Award of Achievement in Dentistry. Delbert's transition from dentistry to full time fetish carver came as the result of a dream, “One day I dreamed Great Grandma appeared to me. She had a handkerchief tied to rope belt with 15 knots. She took them off and showed me they were vertebrae shaped like buffalo, and she told me I needed to carve one. It was a spiritual animal she used for good luck. That day I carved my first buffalo out of alabaster with good thoughts.” (Source: Article written by Delbert Charging Crow.)

Native American Indian names referring to historic activities are not unusual. Delbert's surname is one of those, and refers to a specific event. His great, great, great Grandfather went into battle against the Crow Indians, who were Sioux enemies at the time. He counted many “coup”, which was the act of touching the enemy with a coup stick, without getting hurt. This earned his the family surname name of “Runs After Crows”. It was later changed to “Charging Crow”.

As a fetish carver, Delbert's a style is highly recognizable. He also signs every fetishes with his “hallmark”. He carves many creatures, from many materials, and provides them with sacred medicine bundles. The bundles contain South Dakota sage in a small hide bag, accompanied by crystals, an occasional arrowhead, other stones, beads and feathers.

Each item brings a special power to the carving. The bears carry crystal symbolizing health. They also sometimes carry arrowheads, as direction finders and lenders of strength on the Red Road. Beads stand for luck and health, and represent the burdens the fetish owner carries. Feathers are collected from prairies chickens that die by the side of the road. Delbert goes out of his way to explain that he blesses the dead bird and gives it an offering of tobacco before taking the feathers. He leaves the meat for other animals to feed on.

There are exceptions to adding the sacred medicine bundle. The buffalo does not need one because of its inherent strength. Buffalo were an important part of Sioux life on the plains. The tribe's hunters followed the herd to harvest meat to feed the tribe and skins for clothing.

In this respect, the horse became integral to the survival of the tribe. Once horses were introduced to the plains, the Sioux learned to ride them. Crazy Horse earned his name as one of the first to tame wild horses. Horses allowed the tribe to keep up with the moving herds of buffalo, making hunting, eating and living much easier. When Delbert carves a horse, he adds a stick to the medicine bundle. He told us that it is so the rider will have a “walking stick” in case he wants to dismount and walk instead of riding.

The horse also has been called the “Sacred Dog” because prior to the horse's introduction to native people, dogs were used to carry burdens of the traveling party. Horses became known as “Sacred Dogs” as they more effectively took on the task of carrying people and burdens across the plains.

Delbert says that he thinks about health, strength and travel as he carves horses. He sings and prays that the spirit of the horse will be a strong traveling companion and will help it's owner be more positive in life.

“When I carve the bear, I think about how fiercely she protects. The bear digs for roots, therefore giving her the power to heal,” Delbert informs. He also says his bears all are female. We later learn, however, that bears with turned heads, called “turning bears”, are male. It is said they also represent the act of turning one's life in a good direction from a bad path. Many people acquire them for exactly that reason.

Delbert Charging Crow - Oglala Lakota Fetish Carver - Continued

This is part two of a special report on Delbert Charging Crow, Lakota Sioux Native American fetish carver and how he carves. Scroll down to read Part One.

Delbert carves primarily from Pillar (black) slate, Zia alabaster, also called “white buffalo turquoise,” and catlinite (or “pipestone”). Pipestone, used for ceremonial smoking pipes, and representing the blood of the ancestors, is particularly sacred to the plains tribes,

Delbert use a specific carving ritual to invest his fetishes with the spirit and power of the stone. He starts by washing with sweet grass and offering prayers to the Creator, the ancestors and the stone people. He gives an offering of tobacco or other substance to Mother
Earth, thanking her for the precious minerals.

People ask how Delbert decides what animal to carve. His answer is typical of that given by most sculptors. The stone tells them what animal spirit is inside. But, for Delbert, the process is much deeper. Animal spirit is not just the evidence of the animal's presence. It is the animal itself, with all the power and support the animal can bring to the fetish owner.

He starts each carving by “blocking” the stone, removing its outer layer. Once that is done, the carving is placed in water, with a request to the water that it bless the stone. The surface of the stone fetish is smoothed and polished while it is underwater. This encourages the positive energy of the water to enter and be absorbed by the stone. When the smoothing is completed, the carving is held up to the Sun, with the request that the Sunboy drink water from the stone and bless the emerging fetish.

To be continued

The World of Oglala Lakota Sioux Fetish Carvings and Delbert Charging Crow

The Zuni people of New Mexico rightfully hold the claim to being the original and most prolific carvers of stone fetishes. Their cosmology and carving traditions go back eons, based on religious beliefs associated with their origins as a people.

Delbert Charging Crow, however, is not Zuni. He is Oglala Lakota Sioux. Yet his carvings are respected by their owners not only for their inventiveness and artistry, but also for their spiritual, protective and healing powers.

A while back, my wife Susanne and I sat with Delbert to discuss his carving, his history and his spirituality. Before we get into that discussion, let's go back to the first time we encountered Delbert's work. It was in an Albuquerque NM Old Town gallery. We were “knocked out” by the quality of the carving and the indefinable appeal the pieces had for us. Since we never acquire any art that doesn't move us personally, we immediately sensed that his carvings were calling out to us, asking us to add them to our collection and our world.

After selecting a few to take with us, we asked where we might find Delbert so that we could tell him how taken we were with his artistry. “He frequently eats at the Church Street Cafe. You might ask them?” It being lunchtime anyway, we walked over to the Cafe and, as if it was preordained, there he was sitting at a table in the front courtyard.

We introduced ourselves, told him of our recent purchases and expressed our interest in seeing him and his work again.

After that, Delbert left our radar screen. We were unable to contact him at telephone numbers he had given us. Attempts to reach him suggested that he might have returned to his homeland in South Dakota.

Two years later, we were searching for Delbert's work again. By now, the original resource was no longer carrying his carvings.. In his free-spirited way, Delbert was on the move. We received a tip that another Old Town gallery had some of his carvings available. As we visited that gallery, Delbert appeared again - out of the blue. No one had called to tell him where we were. He found us anyway, apparently guided by some unseen force.

(To be continued)

ZuniLink.com has one of the largest and most comprehensive selections of Delbert Charging Crow fetish carvings online

Australian Aboriginal Art redux

Last week, Susanne Waites, my co-proprietor of our Australian Aboriginal art gallery, and I made a presentation to about 30 people who showed up at the Captiva Memorial Library Cultural Fest to learn about the art of the Australian Aboriginal people.

I'm happy to say the crowd was rapt. There were lots of questions afterwords. And no one left early, which always is a good sign. (As a frequent public speaker, I can attest there are few things more debilitating than having an audience member get up and leave during your presentation - even if it just to visit the bathroom).

Anyway, preparing for the presentation and revisiting many pieces of Australian Aboriginal art in our collection, reminded me of how special this genre of art is to us. It was our first love in the field of Tribal Art. It happened to us when we were living in Australia and we first became aware of these talented people and their fascinating culture. We began to acquire pieces of Central Desert art, Tiwi art and Aboriginal art from the Top End.

At the time, exchange rates were much more favorable for the US dollar. Today, the Australian dollar hovers at about par with the US greenback. So Australians who want to repatriate native art to Australia have a much easier go at it.

The trigger for this blog has been the realization that, as we became so caught up in African tribal art, Arctic/Inuit carvings and Native American art, jewelry and pottery, we have put our Australian Aboriginal art in the back of our minds.

That is a shame. So here are examples of some outstanding pieces, and a link to an entire section of our web site devoted to the native art of the antipodes.

To the left is dot painting on an Australian Aboriginal coolamon, a wood bowl used for gathering and holding bush tucker. Bush tucker is a term for foodstuff that grows in the wild. The dot pattern represents a map of a sort, through which is told the stories of the tribal group's arrival in this world and where important sites are located for food gathering and ceremonial purposes.


Carrying on with the theme of dot paintings, on the right is large canvas painted in the same technique by Anmatyerre artist, Gabriella Possum. It is one of our favorite paintings. It is filled with vibrant color and is busy with symbols that the tell the story of Gabriella's country. It is the same country as her father's, the Master Australian Aboriginal artist, now deceased, whose work has sold for tens of thousands of dollars at auction. (Australian Aboriginal traditions require that the name of the dead not be stated.)

The fact that these images are even available for outsiders to see is credited to an English art advisor in Papunya, a central desert settlement, not far from Alice Springs. Geoffrey Bardon convinced the tribal elders to paint images, previously restricted to viewing by Aborigines only, to paint the images on the walls of the buildings that had been erected to shelter these nomadic people.

The results were so electric that a movement was launched. Australian Aboriginal desert art has since enlivened the aesthetics of a quasi-barren land and provided income and sustenance to the natives. The title of this painting is "Bush Tucker Dreaming".

In a different genre, the people of the north, who live in a land of "the wet" for a large part of the year, learned to harvest eucalyptus bark, scrape and cure it and paint on the clean side. It was a natural evolution since the bark panels frequently were used for structures to protect families from the rain. Materials used for these paintings were natural ochres, ground into powders and liquified, charcoal, and chalk. They were mixed into paints, using sap or ant honey as binder. The image to the left is of one such painting. Dots are generally not used in these paintings. Rather, cross-hatch designs are stroked onto the bark using twigs and small branches. These designs are called "rarrk". They have deep symbolic meanings for the groups that "own" them. Only the owners are allowed to paint a certain rarrk or to permit it to be painted.

These are some of the most secret/sacred designs in Aboriginal art. During one encounter with an artist, we asked her to explain the painting. She started out straight-forwardly but then lapsed into speech that was so faint we coul dnot make out what she was saying. At the conclusion of her explanation, she returned to normal speaking volume. We were told by the white art advisor that she was too polite not to respond to our question, but she could not reveal the information. This gentle stratagem served her purpose and ours.

This blog posting, which started out modestly, has taken on a life of its own. Out of respect for the reader, we will continue it in another posting later.

Thank you for your attention.

Heart of hearts. Navajo jewelry pendants.

It's been a while since we shared our adventures in Native American jewelry so we doing so in this blog. Of course, you can always visit our web site to see the whole enchilada of beautiful bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pins and pendants by our cherished Native American jewelry artists.

One of our proudest moments in the search for quality Native American art and jewelry, was our discovery many years ago of Calvin Begay, a superb Navajo jewelry artist. When we found him, his atelier was at Touch of Santa Fe, a workshop in Gallup, NM.

After a falling out with the owners of that studio, Calvin moved on and we have followed him. That is easier to say than do, since Calvin seems to keep moving.

Fortunately he also keeps creating beautiful pieces of Navajo inlay. We decided to feature his heart pendants as a natural subject for this Valentines Day season of love.

An album of them has been posted to Facebook for the world to see (and, we hope, purchase.)

Just follow this link. http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace/view/-/2401427868/

And happy Valentine's Day yourself.

PS: We will ship any item of Native American jewelry free for Valentines Day. Be sure to order while there still is time. We are figuring priority mail will get it to any domestic address on time if we ship by February 9. Express mail will get there faster. If you choose that option, we will only charge for the difference between priority and overnight.

More on Dreamtime Awakenng

We have created a slide show called Dreamtime awakening

to support our presentation to the the audience at Captiva Civic Association this afternoon. I'll try to add it to this blog so you may see it.

View more presentations from William Waites.

Or visit the Australian Room at TribalWorks