Eagle Dancers Lithograph by Patrick Swazo Hinds

This original stone lithograph of a pair of Tewa Eagle Dancers is from a portfolio of five original lithographs by Patrick Swazo Hinds (1929-1974) of Tesuque Pueblo completed two years before he passed away. It is one of five images in the complete portfolio.

The image of a pair of Eagle Dancers is presented in the active movement style carried out by the young men who are selected for this energetic portrayal of eagles swooping up and down as they ride the wind. It is performed by two young men, who, costumed to represent eagles, faithfully imitate the birds' movements.

For an Eagle Dance the bodies of the young men are painted from face to feet in blue with yellow highlights. Their hair is left hanging and adorned with eagle down feathers or raw cotton. Large eagle wing feathers attached to a leather strip are worn on both arms. The lower arms, legs, and bare feet are yellow in reference to the legs and talons of an eagle, and the face is yellow. The dancers wear kilts with sea shells attached to the bottom which provide a pleasant sound as they flap around during the dance. The waist is cinched with a handwoven belt.

Eagles are important to the Pueblo Indians, as they are to many Native tribes. It is believed that they are intercessors between this world and the supernatural and that they can fly high enough to deliver the prayers of needs and thanksgiving for what has been received from the katsinas.

Pueblo Dancers is a suite of five original lithographs by Patrick Swazo Hinds, drawn and hand printed at Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico during the months of September and October 1972. The other 4 lithographs in the portfolio can be seen below.

The edition consists of 70 numbered impressions on buff Arches paper, plus two Tamarind Impressions, and seven artist's proofs. In addition, a few trial proofs exist and are recorded at Tamarind. Each in this set is numbered 20 of 70.

Tamarind Master Printer Harry Westlund printed the lithographs. All stones and plates have been effaced. Letterpress by the Plantin Press, Los Angeles.

Published by Art Consultants, Ltd. Phoenix, Arizona.

The suite Eagle Dancers from "Pueblo Dancers" Portfolio (1 of 5 Lithographs) by Patrick Swazo Hinds was encased in a hard folder embossed with the artist's name on the cover. The individual lithographs have been removed and are offered individually.  This one, Eagle Dancers Lithograph by Patrick Swazo Hinds, has been newly framed.

Condition: Each of the pages has one small hole in the same location on each sheet that appears to have been penetrated at the same time. The hole in each page is about the diameter of a toothpick and is not located in the image, but near the top of the page in a position that could be covered with proper matting. Otherwise, each of the lithographs is in excellent original condition.

Recommended Reading: Dances of the Tewa Pueblo Indians: Expressions of a New Life by Jill E. Sweet, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, 1985

TAGS: NATIVE AMERICAN PAINTINGS, TESUQUE PUEBLO, PRINTS, Patrick Swazo Hinds