We are in the heart of Native America, nearly complete with our travels to meet with and celebrate spring ceremonies with our friends in the Southwest. Thank you for being patient with the temporary quiet time and closing of the brick and mortar gallery in Sisters as we continue to explore our favorite areas of Utah and New Mexico, and engage with some amazing new artists and jewelers.

We know you'll appreciate the fine work, both contemporary and traditional, that we will acquire. As always, it's our goal to connect you to a piece of art or jewelry that speaks of cultural and natural connections, interpreted through the eyes, sensibilities and hands of Indigenous Artists.

In a changing world where we can more quickly access and acquire nearly any object that our heart desires, shouldn’t we more carefully consider where that object originates and individuals behind it? Yet, more and more, this becomes a mystery--can I trust that the item was made with integrity? How much of the creation was automated? Where did the materials come from? How long and far did my item travel, and at what cost?

For me, as a gallery curator of Native North American indigenous art and jewelry, an integral and critical component is that I do know from whom our collections come before offering them in our gallery. The finest American Indian jewelry resonates with an authenticity and esteemed pedigree that enhances its value. Aficionados of Native jewelry know their turquoise, coral and silver; they often have and care take exceptional or classic examples of this wearable art. Many a collector buys from jewelers, frequents the markets, seeks out old pawn traders all the while looking forward to acquiring the next special piece. Provenance includes the deep and rich history of the remarkable past and present artisans of American Indian jewelry and savvy collectors have known this decades.  

Be it a contemporary example of Navajo silver and gold work reflecting ancestral beliefs within modern designs, a Zuni artist's exquisitely detailed lapidary skills, or intricate Puebloan mosaic inlays, fine examples Southwestern Native American jewelry are heirlooms in the making. We are honored to offer a sample of this ongoing tradition of handmade beauty in Native American Jewelry. Be sure to check out the Dec/Jan Jewelry Issue of Native American Art Magazine, devoted to the stories behind these beautiful works.

From the Zuni Pueblo—Mystery, Artwork, and Love

Jumping in and discussing an unfamiliar subject, Zuni artwork for instance, is like telling a newcomer from the Amazon about powder conditions on Mt. Bachelor and snowboard racing. While art or an exotic sporting event can be a portal for visualizing the beyond, context about what’s viewed reduces confusion. However, there are times when contextual facts are sparse, as is the case with both the history and culture of the Zuni Pueblo of New Mexico. This type of paradigm then offers something rare—a true enigma.

Some cultures hold a much different perspective from ours regarding sharing, privacy, and what we call ‘transparency,’ both at the individual and societal level. The Zuni People of New Mexico have obscure origins, and prefer to remain mute on sharing their understandings of various topics. So-called facts about their spiritual matters are recorded but are far from complete, to the dismay of researchers.   An example of this is their language, A:Shiwi.  It has no known lineage or family member, thus making it a language isolate. They have been “their own People” for at least 7000 years, similar to the Basques of Western Europe.

Facts that we do know about the Zuni can be fairly peculiar to us—They are a matriarchal society; women own all property and material wealth along with lineage rights.  When a marriage occurs, the husband moves to, lives with, and becomes part of the wife’s family.  Estimates are that 80% of all households have at least one family member who is a stone/wood carver, jeweler, potter, or painter; most have more than one. This makes the Zuni Pueblo, per capita, perhaps the richest artist enclave in the United States.

The people that the Zuni sometimes identify with culturally and spiritually are the Hopi, yet, their languages are altogether different.  Finally, the Zuni have long had the reputation as being exceptional, proud warriors and guardians of the ancient trade routes and merchant ‘roads;’  they fended off incursions for millenniums and most recently turned back the Navajo, Apache, and Spanish.  So nothing intrudes with any depth upon them, their lands or the culture with the exception, maybe, of-- love.

Forty years ago, a young Navajo woman attending the University of New Mexico went to the Zuni Pueblo for a weekend stay with her newly found Zuni girlfriend.   She never left.   Considering that the Navajo are also a matriarchal society, it does not happen that a wife goes to live where the husband is.  But it did happen.  And she’s still there.

Jayne Quam not only stayed and made a life with her husband Lynn, she learned from him how to make the centuries old tradition of small stone carvings depicting the animal spirits, known as Zuni Fetishes.   Jayne added a unique feature of inlaying stone into her designs, a style more commonly seen in Kewa (Santo Domingo Pueblo) jewelry.  Lynn mostly carves buffalos. Which is like saying Bob Dylan writes songs. A lot of Zuni artists have carved buffalos, but Lynn’s are unique and highly collected. A quiet man, his health can be up and down at this point in life, so he has to be careful about traveling.

Jayne and Lynn’s daughter, Kandis, earned a degree in anthropology from the University of New Mexico.  She became a painter and has taken the Zuni image making—first done in with colored pencils and within a Realism context 70 years ago—into contemporary perspectives. Elroy Natachu Jr is the nephew of Jayne and Lynn. Through his deep understanding of the Zuni world, he has dedicated himself to the preservation of the culture and in particular the Zuni Kachinas through his art. Together, Kandis and Elroy have formed the art partnership, Natachu Ink. 

Jayne, Kandis and Elroy will be in Sisters, Oregon for a three day in person show at Raven Makes Gallery, October 27-29, coinciding with the Friday Art Stroll.  

Hopi Polychrome Bowl, by Garret Maho

The recent weeks in Central Oregon have reminded us how connected we really are to the natural order, be it celestial, or weather-related.  Fire and flood and their impacts are certainly front and center in our minds and hearts. When we consider our deep connections many of us have to the outdoors and animals, the rhythms of day and night, the shifting seasons, we are reminded of our of impacts on our surroundings, and vice versa. Natural sights and sounds improve our well being and relieve high levels of stress.  When we step into our inside world, the decor and art we choose can have a most positive effect on our psychological states. 

Native American art, in particular, often reflects a complex and creative connection with natural elements.  Certainly, Nature inspired the earliest artists, from Paleolithic cave painters and stone carvers embellishing their tools.  Before photography, art often reflected an attempt to recreate something profound in the natural world.

Today, a Navajo basket of desert willow starts with the respectful harvesting of an honored plant.  Delicate Pueblo pottery begins with the gathering of particular clay from local banks and riverbeds.  Earth pigments are gently extracted for paintings, and the natural geometry from Earth and Sky inspire an image. The wool from a beloved sheep is sheared, cleaned and carded for spinning and weaving a valuable textile. Precious stones are cut, fitted and arranged to reflect harmony and balance in a stunning piece of American Indian jewelry.

These tasks are done with quiet and respectful anticipation of what lies ahead for the American Indian artist; a creation that challenges the curious collector or buyer to appreciate the process and connection to the natural, even ceremonial order that is often inherent in indigenous art.  

Raven Makes Gallery is honored to represent First Nations and Native American artists who reflect deep traditional connections to their families, art, craft and homelands.  New art work and jewelry from the studios and jewelers' benches is on display, and we look forward to a new season to celebrate the harvest, hunt, and creative connection to natural order.

Note: During the month of August, our excellent and vivacious employee Hannah, went back to college for her sophomore year. Chris stayed at the Gallery and ran things here for the entire month. LaRita headed Southwest, first to attend the Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest annual Native American Art Show of the year, held annually the third week of August.  Old friends were seen; new ones were made.  After Market, LaRita spent time on the Zuni, Navajo, and Hopi homelands reconnecting with our artists, jewelers, and weavers. She’s back, we’re inventorying, and the ‘new treasures’ are making their way to the gallery floor.  Stop by to see all the lovely new works, particularly the pottery and exquisite new jewelry selections.