Native American Women Artists Getting Recognition

Above, Navajo rugs on display for bidders at the Crownpoint,
New Mexico Navajo rug auction. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Around 45 years ago, my family took a vacation trip into the Southwest/Four Corners area of the U.S.

At one point, we found ourselves in Page, Arizona. We were there for dinner and we had just finished when we spotted a Navajo family unloading Navajo rugs from their pick-up truck to sell to a gift shop. My dad got the idea to see if they would be willing to sell one to him directly. So he went over to their truck and he bought one for under $200. I still have that rug (or blanket) today. It is still in great shape.

Above, Navajo artists with their pottery in Crownpoint. I found the artists to be friendly,
accessible and willing to answer questions about their work. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today, the same Navajo rug would sell almost ten times that amount. Probably the best place to get a great deal on one is at the monthly Navajo rug auction in Crownpoint, New Mexico. I went there a year ago and I saw some good deals and I ended up buying some Native American pottery goods for Christmas presents.

Travel + Leisure has an interesting article on the recognition of female Native American artists in New Mexico today.

Here's some snippets:

Prior to the first half of the 20th century, if a Native American woman created a rug, basket, jewelry, pottery, or other artistic piece, it was usually only attributed to the tribe itself: “a Navajo rug,” perhaps, or “a Zuni bowl,” or sometimes the warrior who wore the piece, but never a woman’s name, and never a story of how the piece was created.

Since this time, female Native American makers have been becoming more and more recognized for not only their artistic endeavors, but for preserving their histories and earning the respect they deserve from their trades. Today, 75 percent of Native American art comes from the Gallup, New Mexico area, where Tanner’s Indian Arts is located, and where Emerald Tanner works with Native American women to promote their work and traditions. “We like to continue their stories, and we work with generations of artists that learned from their mothers and grandmothers,” says Tanner. “It’s not uncommon for us to work with artists where my grandfather worked with their grandfather.”

Today, Native American women’s pieces have been featured in world-renowned museums, with their creators being recognized and celebrated on a national scale. 

Travel + Leisure talked with five Native American women makers who are carrying on their cultures and traditions, and earning the respect they deserve along the way.

To read more, go here.