The First Nations

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (Santa Fe, NM)

Here, Now, and Always:
Voices of the First Peoples of the Southwest

"We are the people."

"I am here.
I am here, now.
I have been here, always."
Edmund J. Ladd (Zuñi).

In 1989, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM, began to put together a project designed to present Native American culture, traditions, and contemporary life from an Indian point of view: not looking in from the outside but looking out from the inside, not analyzing in the way of anthropologists but giving its Indian contributors themselves a place to raise their manifold voices. The process thus begun resulted in a fascinating permanent exhibition presenting all aspects of Native American life from its historic origins to modernity, from arts and crafts to farming and hunting, and from the sacred to the secular (if that distinction applies at all, for there is a profoundly spiritual element to every single act performed over the course of the day). Endowed with a multitude of exhibits – many of them of priceless value – and using traditional displays as well as a multimedia approach combining various audiovisual tools, from its inception the exhibition rested on one inimitable centerpiece: the multi-timbred choir of the First People's very own voices.

Bearing the same title as the exhibition and illustrated by numerous photos, "Here, Now, and Always" provides an additional forum for these voices and sends them out into the world at large. "Listen carefully. Let the stories carry you to the center created by each Native community. Here, at the intersection of sky and earth, you will find the Southwest's people," the museum's former archeology curator, Sarah Schlanger, is quoted at the end of the introductory text to the book's first part, "Ancestors." And thus, the book's Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Zuñi, Apache, Tohono O'odham (Pima) and manifold Pueblo contributors become messengers of their respective peoples; talking about Earth Mother, Sun Father, Changing Woman, Spider Woman and Spider Man, Salt Woman, the Great Spirit, the formation of the first clans and their wanderings, the sacred places marking their world and the meaning of home and community, the interrelation of the elements and man's interaction with them, the significance of clay, salt, corn, and tobacco, of minerals and precious stones, and of farming and hunting, the cycles of life, time, and the seasons, the importance of language, oral tradition, and sacred ceremonies in cultural preservation, and obstacles overcome and new challenges arising.

"Each mountain carries precious knowledge. Each is symbolized by certain birds, insects, trees, plants, songs, and prayers. Try to remember this when you think you might want to bulldoze these mountains. Let the sacred remain," warns Gloria Emerson (Diné) in the chapter entitled "Elements." Anthony Dorame (Tesuque Pueblo) explains about cycles that they are "circles that travel in straight lines." In the chapter on agriculture he recounts how his people revived their already-forgotten life as farmers, and wonders, "Today, we again hear the musical thump of a watermelon being split open in the field. Will we forget again what we now remember?" and later on, he adds that "[w]hen the branch is broken, the twig cannot survive. Without our language and without our ways, you cannot survive as a people." Similarly, recalling the young Zuñis shipped off to Pennsylvania in the 1800s, all of whom died from loneliness after having been cut off from their cultural roots, Edmund J. Ladd (Zuñi) – whose words also provided the project's title – reflects that these days, it is his people's language that is dying from loneliness. In the chapter entitled "Arts," Michael Lacapa (Apache/Hopi/Tewa) adds that the word "art" does not exist in his language at all, and muses, "We make pieces of life to see, touch, and feel. Shall we call it 'art'? I hope not. It may lose its soul. It is life. It is people." And in talking about a mid-20th century professor's prediction that traditional Indian life would vanish within a matter of years due to the spread of a cash economy, federal relocation policies, and WWII veterans' reluctance to return to their prewar lifestyle, Dave Warren (Santa Clara Pueblo) points out that like the footprints and handholds left behind by their ancestors in the southwestern canyons, cliffs, and plateaus, "tradition is deeply etched into our very being. ... [W]e are of these spaces, places, and times. We leave our footprints for another generation; we leave our handholds to steady their journey."

Bringing together all these and many other voices, "Here, Now, and Always" pays tribute to the rich heritage of the Southwest's Native people, and builds a unique bridge to a way of life, traditions, and beliefs sidelined and on the brink of extinction practically from the moment the first white man set down his conqueror's foot in the region, although these very traditions had survived in (largely) peaceful coexistence for centuries before. A slim volume of less than 100 pages, the book is nevertheless powerful testimony to the First People's resilience and ability to adapt to altered circumstances while maintaining the core of their cultural values. As such, it is highly recommended reading – and hopefully, also an incentive to one day go and see the exhibition from which it originates.

"Together we traveled,
in search of the center place.
In numbers we grew.
The center place had not been found.
The gods divided the people.
Some traveled north,
to the land of winter.
Some traveled south,
to the land of summer.
We are the people."
Edmund J. Ladd (Zuñi).

For further information consult:

The website of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Themis-Athena's select annotated bibliography of nonfiction books and memoirs

The Southwestern Indian Foundation
southwestindian.com

An excellent resource for authentic Indian arts and crafts.

The Southwest Indian Foundation was founded in 1968 by Franciscan Dunstan Schmidlin to assist Native Americans in need. Today it provides help in the form of school grants and tuitions, homes for battered women and children, a home repair and wood stove program, Christmas food baskets, alcohol counseling, temporary shelter, as well as food, clothing and heating fuel emergency aid.

Moreover, the foundation's catalogue and website provide a forum for Native American artists' arts and crafts, featuring a large variety of products ranging from jewelry, apparel and accessories to food items, pottery, kachinas, fetishes, videos, books and music. The website also groups certain products into special categories such as Christmas and children's gifts and household items; and it provides background information on the work of the foundation, special projects, and more.

I've ordered from SWIF several times in the past and have invariably found their responses quick and pleasant – even at peak times like Christmas, their customer service has to be by far among the friendliest I have encountered – always doing their utmost to fulfill their customers' wishes in a complete and timely manner. This is a great resource for unique, authentic Native American products; and in addition, each order makes an important contribution to the foundation's work. Highly recommended.

Tom Bahti, Mark Bahti,
and Bruce Hucko

Buy it from Amazon.com

Southwestern Indian Arts and Crafts

The wealth of Indian arts and crafts, marvelously presented.

Did you know that the squash blossom necklace, probably the most recognizable of all Navajo jewelry designs, was an innovation only introduced during the 1870s? That most of the pottery produced in Isleta Pueblo is made by only two families? That the famous Zuñi cluster jewelry didn't begin to emerge until the 1920s, when turquoise became more readily available for jewelry making? That symbols included in Native American art were often commissioned by traders, who would then concoct a "meaning" for those symbols to please their non-Western buyers? That jewelry was pawned on the Navajo Reservation as late as 1976? That permanent sandpainting art – in contrast to those paintings actually created during a Navajo healing ceremony – didn't emerge until the 1950s and often includes alterations from the paintings' religious meanings to protect the maker from illness? That basket weavers sometimes travel as far as 50 or 100 miles to gather specific plants, but that an hour's work generally earns them no more than a dollar or two in wages? That American coins were barred from being used in silversmithing in the 1890s, but Mexican silver pesos continued to be used for another 40 years, to only then be replaced by sterling silver; that however the Indians never mined the silver used in their jewelry themselves? That the Hopi have well over 200 different katsinas (kachinas), all of which have distinctive meanings? That Native American artists now use materials from as far away as the Kalahari and Siberia in jewelry making? That even today, a tribe's revenue from its crafts averages no more than 1 – 20% of its total income?

Authored by anthropologists Tom and Mark Bahti, with color photographs by Bruce Hucko, on its just over 60 pages "Southwestern Indian Arts and Crafts" provides a comprehensive introduction to every aspect of Native American arts and crafts, from basket weaving and bead making to fetishes, Hopi katsinas, Navajo rugs and sandpaintings, paintings, pottery, silverwork and turquoise jewelry. Along the way, the authors provide not only background information on the origin of each discipline and the materials used, as well as the major methods of manufacture and important recent developments, but they also destroy a few myths, such as the one according to which every symbol used in Indian arts and crafts invariably has a set meaning, or that the squash blossom necklace has been a part of Navajo jewelry since time immemorial. The Bahtis consider the relationship between aesthetics and economics, the importance of the individual in Indian art (such as innovations introduced by certain trendsetting artists) and newly evolving trends, but they also present traditional methods and designs familiar to any visitor to the Southwest, such as Hopi overlay silversmithing, stamped and sandcast Navajo silverwork, concha belts, Zuñi jewelry made from a variety of techniques (including mosaic, inlay, cluster, needlepoint and petitpoint), double-stranded Navajo jocla and other beaded necklaces, the major traditional Navajo rug patterns and the meaning of the symmetry-breaking "spirit line," eagle, owl and clown Hopi katsinas, clay storyteller figurines, as well as baskets and pottery in all manner of shapes and styles. A map in the centerfold identifies the major Indian tribes represented and some of the better-known designs associated with them; and the text closes with a few recommendations on buying Indian crafts and their care.

The book's paperback edition looks deceptively like the cheap, flashy pseudo-"guides" on Southwestern culture all too often found near the cashiers of the region's supermarkets and souvenir stores – but don't be put off by that. While this is a comparatively slim volume and, according to its introduction, primarily addressed to the "casual" visitor, it's an excellent starting point for any exploration of the world of Native American arts and crafts, a great inexpensive supplement to any purchase, and simply a marvelous souvenir, not only for the occasional visitor to the Southwest.