There is a group of Hopi Clowns named Tsutskutu, some of which have yellow body paint and are known as Sikya Tsuku and others with white body paint and known as O-oto Tsuku.  The Na'somta Tsutsukutu clown illustrated here is one of the O-oto Tsuku clowns.  The name derives from the manner in which they have their hair tied in a knot, thus the Hairknot Clown.  

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The Eagle Dance is performed in early spring and repeated from time to time during the summer. The eagle is believed to have direct intercourse with sky powers and is much venerated by the Pueblo Indians. The Pueblo Eagle Dance is a dramatization of the relationship between the eagle and man and supernatural powers. Generally, two young men, costumed as eagles, imitate, during the dance, almost every movement possible of the eagles. They replicate eagles soaring over the fields, perching on high places, and resting on the ground. 

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It was traditional for every Indian man to carry a decorated pipe bag made from deer or buffalo skin and highly decorated with beads.  The bag would contain a pipe, tobacco, tamping stick and a strike-a-light.  The Indians did not smoke purely for pleasure but did smoke tobacco for important rituals.  Pipe smoking was part of any ceremonial or social event.

Warriors would smoke when seeking spiritual power; sacred acts were celebrated by smoking; oaths and friendships were sealed by smoking; visits to another person were celebrated by smoking before any conversation ensued; and smoking was undertaken for any major rituals.

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In this carving, the maker has added a basket on the back of the ogre and placed a miniature Koyemshi Katsina doll in the basket as if the ogre has captured one of the Koyemshi who accompanies him on his rounds.  The doll is typically Zuni in style, that is, it has been dressed in clothing.  The arms have been secured to the body and do not articulate.  The doll does stand unaccompanied but could be hung if desired. 

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This bowl is a major accomplishment by Joy Navasie.  It is exceptionally large and beautifully presented.  The walls have a mathematically-precise curve with a significant overhang at the rim.  A 1-3/4-inch wide band of painted design fills the exterior wall and a Sikyatki-inspired design fills the interior bottom.  There is a beautiful golden blush on the exterior from the firing process. Joy Navasie was an accomplished potter who earned the praise bestowed on her and her work. 

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Terrance Guardipee is an internationally acclaimed Blackfeet painter and ledger artist, consistently recognized for the traditional depiction of his Blackfeet heritage and contemporary innovation demonstrated in his work. Terrance was one of the first Native artists to revive the historical ledger art tradition, and was the first ledger artist to transform the style from the single page custom into his signature map collage concept. The map collage concept is based in the ledger art style, but incorporates various antique documents such as maps, war rations, checks, in addition to single page ledgers. Terrance utilizes antique documents in his artwork, dating from the mid-19th century, and typically originating from the historical and present Blackfeet homeland of Montana.

Terrance is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana, and illustrates his personal experience of Blackfeet culture in combination with his educational experience in his artwork. Terrance was raised in the Blackfeet homeland in northern Montana, and, as a result, the cultural life and history of the Blackfeet people became a foundational part of his identity. Moreover, he regularly participates in the traditional Blackfeet ceremonies often depicted in his artwork. Terrance's understanding and personal knowledge of authentic Blackfeet history and traditional culture is expressed in his work. Terrance lived in Montana until he attended the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he studied two-dimensional arts. His educational experience at IAIA enabled him to incorporate the contemporary color palate he is known for in a manner that is consistent with Blackfeet tradition.

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This bowl was beautifully constructed with a graceful curve from its base to the rim.  The exterior is bathed in wonderful fire clouds.  The interior features an uncluttered precisely executed design that starts with a square in the bottom of the bowl and with appendages from the four corners of the square.  The patina is that of a well-used and lovingly-handled bowl.  The color is warm and rich.  Overall, it is a beautiful bowl. 

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Animal dances at New Mexico pueblos are performed in the fall and winter as a celebration of thanksgiving for bountiful game. Deer, antelope, rams and buffalo are often seen in the same dance. The hunter takes on the spirit of the animal he has hunted during the year. He thanks the spirit of that animal, and he asks for good luck for next year's hunt.  Animal Dances are popular subjects for artists to paint.

Tomás Vigil presents Buffalo, Deer and Antelope Dancers accompanied by a single female dancer.  He has painted the subject in the traditional pueblo style of no ground plane or landscape features.  His works are generally primitive in a folk-art style but with vivid colors.  His attention to detail was quite well known.

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Robert Kaniatobe (1936-1998), of the Choctaw Tribe, was well known for making marvelous necklaces comprised of a multitude of materials. This one focuses on a horse, carved from buffalo bone, and combined with beautiful glass beads. There are 24 round blue glass beads with designs, separated by smaller beads.  Suspended from the necklace is a large hand-carved white horse, which is finished on both sides, so either side may be exposed. A pair of earrings accompanies the necklace.

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Louis (1932-1997) and Virginia Naranjo (b.1932) worked together for many years forming figurative pottery.  They made storyteller figurines, large human figures, animals, and other forms of pottery.  Louis created the bear storyteller figurine sometime in the 1970s after having seen a bear family, and the cubs were playing around. 

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Zia Pueblo artist Medina illustrated early in his life that he was a talented painter, following in the footsteps of Zia's most famous painter of the time, Ma Pe Wi.  This painting by Medina is softer in tone than his later works.  His later works are brighter as if painted with acrylic paints.  In traditional Santa Fe Indian School style, he painted the main subject without ground plane and background.  One cannot be not impressed with the amazing detail of the costuming of the dancer.  It is such detail that gave Medina his reputation.

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This painting is titled Basket Dance on verso and it features a single male dancer.  The Basket Dance is performed by the Winter People at San Ildefonso around Easter time.  This appears to be a later painting by Tonita Vigil Peña (1893-1949) Quah Ah as determined by her signature with the cartouche of a pottery design. By indicating this to be a later painting, we mean 1930s to mid-1940s, as she passed away in 1949. 

Tonita was an exceptional painter.  She was the only female painter amongst a group of men painters.  She well illustrated that she was as competent a painter as any of the men.  She has been praised for her fine detail and the expertly rendered faces she painted.  Her attention to detail is easily demonstrated when looking at the evergreen neck ruff and the branch held in his hand.

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A very large, rare Santo Domingo Pueblo black-on-red pottery dough bowl. The interior is decorated with a "lazy V" design at the rim, under which is a continuous band of clouds. In the bottom of the inside is a dual floral design.

Black-on-red pottery at Kewa Pueblo appears to have had its beginning around 1880 or a little later.  Whether it was a single family or not has not been determined.  It is known that the Aguilar sisters made Black-on-red in the late 19th century (probably from 1890 to 1915) but whether they were the first is not known. 

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Louis (1932-1997) and Virginia Naranjo (b.1932) were standard bearers for the proud figurative pottery tradition of Cochiti Pueblo. They crafted their figurines at the kitchen table in their comfortable adobe home at the pueblo. They worked almost every day crafting their art with great care, joking and exchanging the gossip of the day as they went along, accompanied by television, children and grandchildren. Their art provided a good life for them and it provided a legacy that will be with us for another century or more.

Louis once explained why he began making bear storytellers. He was hunting one day and came across a female bear with two cubs. He watched the cubs playing and their antics inspired him to create the bear figurines.

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According to Barton Wright in his book Clowns of the Hopi: Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers "The Sikya Tsutskutu pull their hair up into clumps, one at either side of the head and sometimes one on the front.  They daub a thick yellow paint over their entire bodies and heads.  Below their mouth and each eye, they paint thin arcs of black with ends upturned.  A black dot is placed under the nose and over each eye at eyebrow level.  This decoration diverts the eye from the normal visage and renders the individual portraying the clown almost unidentifiable. They wear a piece of white cloth or blanket around their hips."

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This is a realistic rendition of an American Bison by Romando Vigil (1902-1978) Tse Ye Mu - Falling Cloud. He has shown him standing on a snowy hilltop as if eyeing that evergreen bush for lunch. It is an excellent presentation with the hair of the bison's head in minute detail.  The plant materials are presented in good scale and detail.

Romando Vigil was one of the San Ildefonso self-taught artists in the early part of the 20th century. He was a leader within the San Ildefonso Watercolor Movement, a movement that caught fire during 1915 to 1917. It fostered an art form unmatched in the cultural history of the world.

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Before the mid-1700s, potters at many New Mexico pueblos painted the rims of jars with a red slip, but then changed to black after that period.  The reason for this change is not clear as there was still ample red clay used on the interior of the rim as well as in the design of jars.  This jar appears to have had a red rim that overflowed from the interior neck but then was over-painted with black.

Potters at Zia Pueblo used, and still do, a cream-colored slip on the surface of the jar down to just a few inches from the bottom.  This slip is then stone polished to a smooth finish in preparation for applying the chosen design.  At the base of the cream slip, a red band is wiped on as a means of forming a clean line between the cream slip and the un-slipped lower body of the jar.

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This charcoal and ink wash was executed on paper which was then mounted on canvas. It is one of four such paintings by Tony Abeyta based on dreams he had in the late 1980s. Unfortunately, three of the paintings were destroyed in a fire and this is the only survivor. It was executed in 1987-1989.

The scene depicts a healing ceremony.  The female in center is having her hair ceremonially washed.  The fire to her right is a purification symbol.  The young boy in the far left carries a medicine bag in one hand and has an Owl, a very powerful symbol to the Diné, on his outstretched arm.  He seems to be wearing a crown.  He is either standing behind or in another fire.  The Lion in the far right is a healing figure. The young girl above the head of the lion is blowing a shell trumpet.  There is a small boat in the background about center of the painting.  In the front, right corner,  is a chamissa plant.  The male and female in the foreground represent participants in the ceremony. The overall painting is very mysterious and was based on a dream Abeyta had at the time.  He recently stated that he has difficulty now describing what he felt at the time that he painted this scene.

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An interesting division occurred at San Ildefonso around 1920 resulting in a split which was primarily of a religious nature, but family dissensions also were involved. The result was one faction remaining in the North side and the other on the South side near the round kiva. As a result, San Ildefonso is described as the North and South Sides, instead of the traditional Winter and Summer moieties.  Edelman and Gile 1975

The Corn Dance is often the principal dance of the pueblo ceremonies. The people from the North Side and those from the South Side form two different dance teams which then alternate dancing, then returning to their own kivas between dances.

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Zuni Pueblo is the only pueblo that made pottery drum jars.  Generally, they are large and slipped overall in white clay and have the most minimal decoration.  A wet skin is placed over the opening and tied around the lip of the jar.  When the skin dries, it shrinks and becomes taut and the jar can then serve as a drum.

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