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

See us on Captiva, 1/26, 4:30 pm

We are scheduled to make a presentation on "Dreamtime Awakening: Understanding Australian Aboriginal Art" as part of the Captiva Memorial Library Cultural Fest on January 26, 2011 at 4:30 pm.

The event will take place in the Captiva Civic Association meeting room at 15500 Chapin Lane, Captiva.

The event is free and will include examples of Aboriginal that we have collected since 1978. Many of these pieces are displayed on line in the Australian Room of our web site, http:www.TribalWorks.com. For more information, contact Ann at the Captiva Memorial Library.

Special sale on African mask

We are offering this authentic African tribal art mask from the Kuba people for 50% off the regular price. It has been listed in our gallery, http://www.TribalWorks.com, at $1,000.

We now will sell it at $500. The wrought iron stand is included.

It is a stunning work of African tribal mask art, authentic in every way. We acquired it for our personal collection in 1996. While the precise age can not be determeind, we know it is at least 15 years old, today.

Contact us at 800-305-0185 to arrange purchase. Thank you.

Stolen Item Alert

As members of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA), we periodically receive alerts concerning items of tribal art that have been reported stolen. Experience suggests that wide dissemination of the alert to those who buy, collect or deal in tribal art can lead either to the arrest of the thief or suppression of the item's value as it is a crime to possess stolen property.

The latest alert concerns a three-stone turquoise Navajo bracelet.


More information about the stolen item and other stolen items reported to ATADA can be found at this link. http://www.atada.org/theft.html#szephyr2010

Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its subsidiary web site, Native-JewelryLink.com are happy to support ATADA's efforts to discourage the theft of tribal art by reposting these alerts.

Melvin Sandoval fills our inventory of fetish carvings

Melvin Sandoval is a remarkably talented carver, with a sense of contemporary style that is unusual, even among his cohort of excellently talented artists.
His pieces are fluid, soft, supple and sophisticated in style. He has carved bears, lizards, badgers, double animals, wolves, foxes, ravens and eagles, in dolomite and other stones.
We fell in love with his carving the first time we encountered it. We have since become good friends with him, his family and his wife, Erma, who is Zuni. This summer, he graciously invited us to join a baptism celebration in his sister's home. It was an extremely memorable experience. We met his entire, I mean "entire", family, and the food just kept coming from the kitchen.
Thank you, Melvin, We were honored to be your guests and honored to be your friend.

To see Melvin's work, go to ZuniLink.com

New Dee Edaakie Carvings

We are working fast and furiously, well, not "furiously", more like joyously, to post up new fetish carvings that we acquired this summer for our ZuniLink web site.

The latest batch is from Dee Edaakie.

Here are three examples:

Buffalo in boulder opal

Standing bear in Chiapas amber

Bear in picture rock

Since we are running late, we are marking down all of Dee's work, even his older pieces, by 25% just through Friday, November 26.

If you see one (or more) that you want to buy at this special discounted price, use the order code "DeeLights" when you order. The discount will be applied to your purchase.

To see more of Dee's work, go to ZuniLink and look through Dee's pages.

Salvador Romero Carvings Are Up

We have just completed posting of new Salvador Romero Cochiti carvings to our Web site. These are the same carvings he refers to in this video interview. Scroll down for savings news.



See them and more outstanding work on the Web site.

Bear

Owl

Raven

Wolf and cub

Buy now to have for holiday giving. Use the special customer's buyer's code "11/15" and save 20% through November 25, 2010.

Save 25% off Native American jewelry earrings

Breaking silence here to announce that we are deducting 25% off every earrings pair purchased from our Native American Jewelry Link site. Pages and pages at 25% discount, to celebrate the many new pairs we have added. Prices start as low as $20 before discount. Take a look, but move quickly. Christmas and the holidays are coming. And almost every pair we have is one-of-a- kind. When it's sold, it is "out the door".

Click on the link above to reach the first of 20 pages and more than a hundred pairs to choose from. Then visit the remaining pages to see the entire selection.

Calculate your cost and savings by subtracting 25% from the list price on the web site. Thank you.

Thank you.

Native American jewelry, Gold and Silver

In December last year, I blogged about gold hovering around $1,200 an ounce, comparing that to to an earlier message when I reported it was about $800 per ounce.

Today, it probably will close above $1,300 per ounce. Silver is tagging right along behind it, having moved from about $12 an ounce to above $21 per ounce when I checked last.

Silver plays an essential part in the making of of the Native American jewelry. Gold is less important these days because the price of gold has moved above the investment level of many American Indian jewelry artists.

Will silver be the next precious metal that becomes "too precious" for use in native American Indian jewelry?

No one knows. And no one should encourage you or anyone else to buy either gold or silver as an investment. If you have the resources, the ability to take the risk and a lot more knowledge than we can impart here, it might be worth making it a part of your investment portfolio.

On the other hand, we know that the increase in the value of gold, and more important recently, silver, means that jewelry we acquired at much lower gold prices and silver prices are much more valuable today. If history repeats, it will become more valuable still.

Here's the really good news. None of the precious metal jewelry items we have for sale has been increased in price. We are charging exactly what we were back then. Clearly, the replacement cost will be higher. But that is for us to worry about.

As the Holidays approach and gift giving begins to rise on our interest levels, this is an excellent time to visit our Native-JewelryLink web site and shop.

For the month of October, we will even ship jewelry orders domestically at our expense, free to you (exclusive of insurance, if requested), just to get you in the Christmas shopping mode.

Of course, as always, if you are unhappy with your purchase from us after you receive it, you have seven days to let us know and a reasonable time thereafter to send it back for a refund. If you purchase it as a gift, we will honor the return privilege until 10 days after Christmas.

Stop by and see some of the most gorgeous Native America Indian jewelry you will ever see, artists such as Begay, Plummer, Jackson, Dewa, Ration, Coonsis and others. Thank you.

Tribal Art Native AmericanNavajo rug reported stolen

Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, of which Aboriginals is a member, has posted anothter stolen object report.

In this case it is a Navajo Ganado Style rug that was stolen on Sept 22, 2010 from the Phioenix Tribal Arts Show.

For more information, visit the ATADA Stolen Objects page this address.

http://www.atada.org/theft.html#ganado2010

Please be alert for anyone trying to sell this rug. It is stolen property and it is against the law to possess it.

Thank you.

Native American Nativity Sets Arrive in time for Christmas

Around 400 years ago, as the Spanish conquistadors moved north from Central America into the pueblo lands in what was to become the United States of America, they brought with them Catholic missionaries, to spread the story of Christianity.

As the story of Christ’s birth began to permeate some of the beliefs of the native people, it began to find a place in pueblo Indian culture.

Eventually, the Nativity became a staple as a subject for several Pueblo potters. Now, some of the beautiful pottery being created portrays the Nativity scene.

We recently returned from the Southwest, where we had the opportunity to acquire some new Nativity sets.

Three of them are pictured below.
For more details including price, a quick click on the pictures here will take you the object’s page on our pottery web site.

With Christmas rapidly approaching, this is a excellent time to comnsider acquiring on of these or our other Nativity sets to celebrate Christmas in your home. And to own a magnificent work of Native American art that your family hand down from generation to generation,

Feliz Navidad!

PS: As I wrote this blog, I was reminded of a more comprehensive article I wrote for broader publication a few years ago. I have posted it here.

Jeff Shetima's Zuni Six Directions Fetish Carving

The definition of "smitten" - how I fell in love with this beautiful six directions fetish carving by Jeff Shetima. The Gallup InterTribal Indian Ceremonial judges agreed apparently since it received the Best of Category Blue Ribbon at that competition. Anyway, here's a video look at it.



Hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoy owning it. Someday it may even show up on our ZuniLink fetish web site. And thanks to Jeff Shetima for his inspired artistry.

Vintage Australian Aboriginal Art comes out of hiding.

Well, not exactly out of "hiding". But, until now these vintage Australian Aboriginal artefacts have been in our private collection and not shared publicly on the Web. As of this weekend, they have been added to the web site and may be seen in all their glory and detail at TribalWorks.com (navigate to the Australian Room).

Here are some sneak previews.






This smallish woomera (spearthrower) was acquired from well-respected Aboriginal art dealer, Tony Bond, in Adelaide, Australia, in 2000. The age was estimated as ca. 1950s.
















This somewhat larger woomera was acquired from a private collection in Sydney after the death of the collector. It's age is estimated at ca. 1950 as well. If you look closely you can see incisions that have been inscribed on the thrusting face of the object.











The next item is a "message board" - a carved oblong of would with Australian Aboriginal iconography etched on it's face. Message boards were used to communicate between Aborigibal groups in the desert. We have high confidence that this item is more than 100 years old. We acquired it from a dealer i 1996 who attested that it was originally acquired by a government officer in the 119th century.







Finally, here is a "fighting" shield, although it probably was used more for dancing. since Aborigines very seldom fought. It has been reported that settling of inter-tribal grievances would be done by the aggrieved groups confronting one another, dancing in threatening ways, and returning to their camps with both sides claiming victory. True? At least, it's a nice story in these days of mayhem and violence.

All of these pieces and more may be inspected more closely by visiting the TribalWorks web site, clicking on the "Australian Room" and then clicking on "carvings".

Tribal Art from our private collection

Poking around in our personal collection, we have turned up a couple of items never before presented to our public.

One Australian Aboriginal item is a beautiful, round, hand-woven basket done in pandanus fiber, with a firmly fitting lid, a four-coil handle and rosettes on each side. We acquired it in Cairns, at the Capricorn Gallery.

At the time, it was highly regarded by the gallery owner, as an outstanding example of the basket-weaving tradition and skills of the Australian Aboriginal artisans from the Oenpelli/Kakadu region of the Northern Territory.

The size is 10" high by 13" in diameter.

Unfortunately, the name of the basket weaver has been lost to the ages.

Pandanus is a common plant fiber from the Australian outback and top end, that is used for basket making. Colors are achieved by dying the fibers with natural ochres, ground into a fine powder and boiled in water.

This basket is a true expression of Australian Aboriginal culture and art in a functional piece. It is possible to be moved by the spirit when looking at it and feeling the quality of the weaving.

A second item from Aboriginal Australia is this carving of a parrot. We believe it was created by an Aborigine artist from Groote Eylandt, a sizable island to the north of the Australian mainland in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Blitners are a well-known family of artists from Groote Eylandt and we feel one of them could have been the creator of this remarkable piece.

Groote Eylandt is occupied by the Warnindhilyagwa people. It received its unusual name when named by Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman. Groote Eylandt is archaic Dutch for Large Island.

Regional cultures within Australia can vary widely in their traditions and art styles. The somewhat rough quality of this carving suggests it is rather old piece, although we can not attest to its age. We find it very powerful, reflecting portrayal from a time when parrots were important totems in Northern Australia. It is one of our favorite vintage pieces, standing 26" high with a 4.5" diameter at the base. Colors were achieved using natural ochres, kaolin and charcoal.

Eventually, both of these items will find their way to our web site. If you are interested n acquiring either of them, please visit us at TribalWorks.com and navigate to the Australian Room.

You are always welcome.

Sal Romero, Cochiti fetish carver, on video

One of our favorite Native American artists is Salvador Romero of Cochiti Pueblo. Sal carves differently from most Zuni fetish carvers. Whereas Zuni fetish carvers tend to carve in special gemstone and other commercial materials, Salvador carves stones and rocks that he harvests from the grounds of his pueblo. In this video, he talks about the process of finding carving material and how it leads him to what to carve.

ZuniLink, a name we chose because the preponderance of fetish carvers are Zuni, carries several pages of Salvador's carvings. Newly acquired one will be posted to the Web site shortly In the meantime, take a look at what's available now from this talented carver.
Thank you.

Samuel Manymules, Navajo, describes his "Perfect World" pot

We have several pots created by Samuel Manymules, who won to awards at this year's Indian Market. We were particualar struck by this pot when we encountered Samuel in his Indian Market booth.

We asked him to describe it on video tape for our viewers.




When you visit our website, click on the Navajo buttons on the navigation panel.

Lena Boone, Zuni fetish carver, talks about her family and carving.

Lena Boone has long been one of our favorite Zuni carvers. We meet her early in our pursuit of wonderful Zuni fetishes, possibly 20 years ago.

Lena is very productive, very gracious, and very giving of her love, care and attention to others.

She also is very unassuming.

An unfortunate aspect of In this video, during which she talks about her family, both ancestral and current, is my difficulty in arranging a proper video interview venue. Once she agreed, I had to settle for the venue at hand. It was a noisy booth at this year's Indian Market (2010).

The background sound is terrible, and I have not figured out how to filter it out, if that is even possible. If I do, I will re-post the video at a later time.

But for now, please listen carefully and learn about Lena's connection to the legendary Teddy Weahkie, one of the original Zuni fetish carvers, and how she fosters the talent of youngsters who have been in her care.

She is a truly remarkable woman.

You may see many pieces by Lena Boone on her pages at ZuniLink.com - click on one of her pages in the left hand navigation column. Then click on additional pages (there are five) as you go.

You may also use the search box on the Zuni Link home page and enter "Boone" too access carvings by her and Leland Boone, Emery Boone and Evalena Boone.

A fetish carving by Lena Boone not only brings traditional Zuni values of healing and protection but also carries the personal spirit and caring of Lena herself.


Thank you.

A highlight of our visit to New Mexico has been the 2010 Gallup InterTribal Indian Ceremonial, including the night parade that kicks it off.

We videotaped portions of it, which are shown in the following embedded youtube videos. Because of the length of the parade, we had to divide it into two parts. Watch both to get the full impact of the event.




We love the richness of Indian culture, its fidelity to family values, its enthusiasm and its arts, including Zuni carvings, Native American jewelry and Pueblo pottery, all of which are presented for purchase on our web sites. Thank you.

Zuni fetish carver, Burt Awelagte, tells about his carvings

While we were in Zuni and Gallup for the InterTribal, we visited Burt Awelagte in his home on the Zuni Pueblo. Here is what he had to say about his materials, his tools, his art and his vision. Fascinating!

More of Burt's Zuni fetish carvings will soon be posted on our ZuniLink website. Make a point to visit it in the future. Thank you

Sheryl Mahooty discusses her Zuni turtle fetish carvings

One of our favorite places to stay is on the Zuni Pueblo. It's the Inn at Halona, about which we will write more later.

During this stay, in 2010, we met Sheryl Mahooty. Sheryl carves Zuni fetishes, preferring to carve turtles, although she carves other creatures too, as the humorous bit in this video interview shows.

As with many Native American artists, Sheryl augments her carving income by working at a second job. In her case, it is as a cook in the kitchen at the Inn at Halona. She helps to prepare the delicious breakfasts that the Inn serves to overnight guests. At the end of this video, she refers to the "B&B". Halona is the place she is talking about.




We were particularly fascinated by Sheryl's story because of her interpretation of turtle nesting and nurturing. As sometime residents of Sanibel iIsland, we are very aware of turtle nesting on the island beaches. So, we offer Sheryl's story (and her carvings) to all nature lovers and turtle fans. Enjoy.

ATADA addresses Federal raids on Native American artifact dealers and collectors.

We attended a meeting of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association on August 16, 2010 in Santa Fe.

The subject was the incidences of raids conducted by Federal investigators in the homes and premises of dealers in Native American pre-historic artifacts.

While ATADA opposes and condemns the behavior of the some bad actors in the pre-historic artifacts trade. But the ATADA maintains that the raids and allegations against a wide number of dealers, three of whom committed suicide, were without legal basis.

Jim Owen, a retired attorney, collector and member of ATADA, provided these comments at the meeting.




We do not endorse or rebut these observations. We are not attorneys. We feel, however, that the more you know about this controversy, the better you will be prepared to draw your own conclusions.

Brian Yatsattie tells about his Zuni fetish art.

During our travels in the Southwest, we found Brian Yatsattie at his home. We have carried Brian's Zuni fetish carvings for a while, having first met him at the Santo Domingo Arts & Crafts Festival in 2009. His six directions carvings, created in antler are still available on our web site.

This year, we acquired more Zuni fetishes from him and also had an opportunity to videotape him outside of his home, which now is on San Felipe Pueblo. Here is the Brian Yatsattie in his own words.



Brian's new Zuni carvings will soon be posted at http://www.ZuniLink.com. Come back and look in a few days.

Thank you.

Colin Coonsis, Zuni jewelry artist speaks at the Wheelwright Museum

We have been very privileged to have several Native American artists appear on our video camera to talk about their work and their motivations. If you scroll down, you will find videos by Dee Edaakie and Melvin Sandoval.

Now, we were able to videotape Colin Coonsis as he was speaking to a group at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, NM. His exposition is compelling in its honesty and fascinating in its detail.



We are pleased to consider Colin a friend. We have done business with his mother, Rolanda Haloo, and are showing on our web site a photo of an extraordinary inlaid concho belt created by his father, Harlan Coonsis. Beautiful work by Harlan and Rolanda can be seen at our web site, Native-JewelryLink.com. New items acquired from Colin will be posted there shortly.

Meet Dee Edaakie, Zuni Pueblo fetish carver.

Today, we met with Dee Edaakie, one of our favorite Zuni carvers. We enjoy Dee both because of his superb and inventive carving and because he is a genuinely nice person. He came to our Santa Fe casita, accompanied by his young daughter. We purchased four carvings from him, and induced him to tell you about them in this video.



We hope that getting to know the carvers we work with and who we support will give you an even better sense of what Zuni fetish carvings are about. You will see more of Dee Edaakie's work and that of other carvers at ZuniLink, our web site featuring these outstanding works and the artists that create them.

A video interview with Melvin Sandoval

This blog contains a video. Scroll down to view it.

Introduction

Yesterday, we had the great pleasure of spending some time with Melvin Sandoval in his San Felipe Pueblo home.

We were driving through the Pueblo on our way to another meeting when we passed Melvin's home. One of his sons was in the front yard tending to the corn crop that was in various stages of ripening. Melvin later told us some of it already had been harvested, while other rows are still to reach maturity.

We pulled into Melvin's driveway and called to his son, "Is Melvin here?" In less than thirty seconds, Melvin emerged from behind his tidy, manufactured home. His hands were filled with small pieces of stone and covered with dust. We had caught him in the act of carving.

After a few seconds of "who are you?" looks from Melvin, we identified ourselves, "Susanne and Bill Waites". We had not seen Melvin for a couple of years. His appearance had changed and so had ours. Of course, we had the advantage of knowing where we were. For Melvin, we were just two people who appeared unannounced in a (rental) car he didn't recognize.

As the light of recognition came on, there were hearty, "How are you"s, followed by embraces of reunion.

Melvin invited us into his home and we sat at his dining table, catching up. He has a new granddaughter, by name of Madison, and he had started carving in earnest again, after a break for family and pueblo duties.

He showed us some of his newest carvings - a couple of otters, a couple of wolves and an eagle. The first four are in dolomite, a stone he likes to carve but has not had much supply of lately. The eagle is in travertine.

As he shared his vision, artistry and motivation with us, we asked if we could record him talking about it.

The Video:



Acknowledgements:

We enjoy our time with Melvin, as we do with all of our artist friends from Native America.

It is one of the fringe benefits of operating web sites that feature their work - ZuniLink.com, Native-JewelryLink.com, Native PotteryLink.com and TribalWorks.com.

We hope you also will enjoy this encounter with Melvin Sandoval, a San Felipe carver with ties to Zuni and a deft touch in the Zuni style. His new carvings will be available on ZuniLink in September.

Mark Bahti comments on Native American jewelry

We don't normally feature articles from other sources. But this interview in Collectors Weekly is so rich and informative that we are making an exception.

We encourage you to click through to it. Learn all you can from this fascinating author and collector about this fascinating subject.

Then, come to our Native American jewelry web site and check out the prices on our Native American bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pins and pendants. All are guaranteed authentically hand-made by Native American artists.

Thank you.

Coming up in August - Gallup Intertribal

In early August, Gallup, NM will host the 2010 Gallup Indian Inter-tribal Festival. This is a great event. It features a major exposition at NM's Red Rocks state Park and a night time parade down Route 66 in Gallup to open the event. We were there two years ago and posted a photo report on this blog (August, 2008). We plan to attend again this year.

A highlight of the parade is the company of Zuni Olla Maidens. These are Zuni women who march and dance with Zuni pottery ollas on their heads, while marching down Gallup's Route 66 (main street). One wonders how they can do it and not have the pots fallto the ground. But they do.

The Indian Trader, a Gallup newspaper, covers the story of the Olla Maidens in interesting detail along with some fascinating photographs. Since The Indian Trader is not online, you won't see this article, unless you enjoy a subscription. Phone 505-870-2135. But watch this blog in August. We plan to cover it.

Stay tuned.

And visit our web site at ZuniLink.com for more information and insight into Zuni traditions.