The Santa Fe Indian Market with VR 360 Tour
The value of cultural preservation is a foundation of Native American Art. Preserving the ancient techniques, beliefs and concepts of beauty that are central to the heritage of Native American tribes is the lasting contribution of tribal artists and their work. It is also the driving force behind many collectors’ fascination with original Native American jewelry, pottery, baskets and other crafts. Finding a viable market for such pieces along with educating the buying public about what constitutes true Native Art is the mission of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts.
Throughout its long history the Indian Market sought to not only preserve the techniques of true Native Art, but also to provide a way for artists to showcase their work and earn needed income from it. In 1922, the Museum of New Mexico sponsored an Indian Fair as part of the Santa Fe Fiesta. The museum believed the Fair would showcase Indian art “as it had been before its transformation by non-Native cultures into curios and souvenirs.”
Such events were also seen as a way to promote individual artists and encourage their economic gain from their art. Other objectives were to uncover outlets for traditional art and promote fair prices for the artist’s work. Rather than allowing for a generic form of “Indian” art, the objective was to maintain the distinct artistic interpretations of each tribe. In this way the organizers of the Fair felt they could not only preserve ancient traditions but revive them as well. Francis LaFleshe, an Omaha and an ethnologist, spoke at the first Fair, educating those attending about the “need for systematic production, steady markets and the maintenance of adequate prices” if the revival of traditional Indian crafts was to be a success.
Along with the desire to bring attention to the craftsmanship and skill of Native artists, there was also a political reason to want such attention. The same year as the first Fair saw the founding of the New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs (NMAIA). The newly formed group’s purpose was to fight the Bursum Bill, an attempt to seize Pueblo lands and give them to non-Native settlers. Reminding the nation of the long history of Native peoples and their traditions would only help their cause. An ethnological display such as the one at the Indian Fair was a good reminder of that history.
The video above is a 360 degree virtual reality tour of the Santa Fe Indian Market 2016. If you have a smart phone simply play the video and move the phone around to see all around you.
The Museum of New Mexico continued to sponsor the Indian Fair until 1926. For several years after that there was no Fair but the promotion of tribal artists continued through judging of their work and prizes awarded. In 1936, NMAIA revived the Indian Fair after having created a series of articles in New Mexico Magazine which sought to educate the public about Indian arts and crafts.
Despite some grumbling from Plaza merchants who resented the artists gathering in front of their establishments, the Indian Market survived under the NMAIA. By 1959, when NMAIA changed their name to the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs (SWAIA),[2][3] the Santa Fe Indian Market had become the main purpose of the organization. The present name, Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, dates to 1993.[3] With its mission of promoting the revival and sustainability of traditional crafts, SWAIA’s work educated the public on the cultural importance of Native traditions and the importance of respecting and preserving their heritage.
Today the Santa Fe Indian Market is one of the largest and most respected showings of Native American Arts. The weekend event brings an estimated 80,000 people to New Mexico along with over $100 million in revenue. SWAIA’s mission continues to be to promote cultural preservation and economic opportunites for American Indian artists. They also work to educate the public on Native Art and to promote cross-cultural understanding. The organization remains committed to supporting emerging artists and providing programs for them, including business training seminars, youth markets and a Council of Artists. Their newest program, the Traditional Arts Program, looks to the future by providing a platform which ensures the sustainability of traditional Native Arts in New Mexico. It is the latest in a long line of support for artists.
Resources:
newmexicohistory.org/people/all-indian-pueblo-council-and-the-bursum-bill
From the Library: Baxter, Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry (2000)
2000 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2000, not today.
According to Baxter (2000, p. 169), the New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs was renamed in 1954 as the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs, and only later took its current title as it dropped other social activism to concentrate on Indian arts. [1]
From the Library: Tryk, Santa Fe Indian Market (1993)
1993 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1993, not today.
In his introduction to Tryk's 1993 book, Allan Houser wrote:
“It doesn't matter how good an artist is if no one sees his or her work. Artists have to make themselves known, and the best place to start is at Indian Market.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 9 [2]
Houser added, in the same introduction to Tryk's 1993 book:
“It has helped improve the lot of Native American artists so that now many of them can make a living with their art, and send their children to college.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 9 [2]
As of 1993, Tryk (1993, p. 17) reported that the Market drew thousands of Native American artists and craftsmen and more than 70,000 visitors, called it the biggest such show in the world, and noted that it had been held since 1922. [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk reported of the Market's artists:
“At least 120 tribes from 20 states are represented among the artists.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 17 [2]
According to Tryk (1993, p. 20), artists then delivered their entries on the Thursday before Market to a judging site (in those years the Sweeney Convention Center), where about 30 judges, drawn from artists, collectors, scholars and museum curators, weighed workmanship, difficulty in execution and beauty. [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 21) recorded that prizes were then awarded in seven classifications, 32 divisions and more than 250 categories, that judges could withhold a prize when no entry measured up, and that the Best of Show award had been given since 1977. [2]
On the rule that governed judged work, Tryk wrote in 1993:
“No item entered for judging may be sold, ordered or spoken for ahead of time.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 22 [2]
According to Tryk (1993, p. 39), the Market's roots lay in the First Southwest Indian Fair and Industrial Arts and Crafts Exhibition, held in 1922 in the State Armory building in Santa Fe, where pottery, basketry, beadwork, textiles and drawings were judged, and old and prehistoric pottery was shown to educate both the public and the artists. [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 41) wrote that the exhibition had been the idea of Kenneth Chapman, curator at the Museum of New Mexico, and Rose Dougan, who had been working with San Ildefonso potters, and that Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett, director of the Museum and the School of American Research, promoted the Fiesta and Indian Fair and, with Chapman, opened it to all Southwestern tribes. [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 44) recorded that in the early Fiesta years artists were not allowed to sell their own work; only members of the Indian Fair were permitted to do the selling. [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk dated the Museum's withdrawal:
“In 1927, the Museum and the School of American Research dropped their participation in Fiesta and the Indian Fair.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 44 [2]
According to Tryk (1993, p. 45), the Indian Fair Committee joined the New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs in 1934; in 1936 Maria Chabot developed a series of Saturday Markets for the NMAIA, and the same year the Fiesta Council asked the NMAIA to sponsor Pueblo dances and an Indian Market at the Fiesta. [2]
Tryk wrote in 1993 of that pairing:
“From this combination of Saturday Markets and the Fiesta Markets in 1936 the modern Indian Market was born.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 45 [2]
On the association's new name, Tryk wrote in 1993:
“In 1959, the name was changed to the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs, SWAIA.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 46 [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 46) recorded that the last Saturday Markets were held in 1940, that the Fiesta Indian Market continued until 1962, when SWAIA separated it from the Santa Fe Fiesta, where it was losing its identity, and moved it to mid-August, and that the Market added its first row of booths on Palace Avenue in 1964. [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk noted a turning point for the association:
“In the process, more and more Indians have become SWAIA members: in 1992, Native Americans were in the majority on the SWAIA board for the first time.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 47 [2]
Tryk (1993) on SWAIA's role:
“Organizations like SWAIA continue to educate the public to look for good jewelry rather than "souvenirs."”
— Tryk (1993), p. 71 [2]
Writing in 1993 about how pottery was judged at the Market, Tryk reported:
“Kiln fired pots are allowed in Market, but are downgraded in competition by the judges when they compete against traditional pots in higher prize categories.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 99 [2]
As of 1993, Tryk (1993, p. 133) reported that paintings at the Market were judged in several classifications: Traditional (flat, decorative two-dimensional figures with little shading or perspective), Realistic (three-dimensional) and New Directions (modern mainstream), with drawings and graphics judged separately. [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk dated the arrival of kachina dolls at the Market:
“Kachina dolls did not appear at Market until 1949.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 137 [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk dated the first sculpture prizes at the Market:
“And it's true that the first Indian Market awards in sculpture weren't given until 1971.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 145 [2]
Tryk also recorded, as of 1993, how the sculpture category had shifted:
“As recently as 1992, kachina dolls and sculpture were in the same judging category at Indian Market. But as more and more sculpture came to be displayed, that changed.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 155 [2]
Writing in 1993, Tryk described how the Market's categories had changed:
“So, as Indian Market has evolved, classifications have changed. In the 1950s and 1960s, drums and beadwork had their own judging categories.”
— Tryk (1993), p. 186 [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 204) reported that fetishes were not shown and sold at Indian Market until the 1980s. [2]
According to Tryk (1993, p. 194), the 1992 Best of Show winner at Indian Market was a doll made by Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty. [2]
As of 1993, Tryk (1993, p. 215) gave SWAIA's mission as developing and promoting, through the arts, educational, social, cultural and economic opportunities for American Indians, with emphasis on the Indians of the Southwest, and listed the scholarships, fellowships, outreach programs, seminars and demonstrations it funded. [2]
Tryk (1993, p. 217) reported that SWAIA's Santa Fe Powwow, begun in 1990, was held each Memorial Day weekend on Pojoaque Pueblo land just north of Santa Fe, and that all Indian Market artists were invited to show and sell their work there. [2]
According to Tryk (1993, p. 219), each SWAIA fellowship winner then received a free booth at Indian Market that year, and in 1993 a mentor program began that trained established artists to serve as role models for teenagers in their communities. [2]
A note on terms: the stabilized turquoise Tryk described in 1993 had color added, which in our own labels makes it stabilized enhanced; stabilized alone, as we use the word, means clear resin that keeps the stone's own color.
Writing in 1993, Tryk defined the material the rules addressed:
“Stabilized turquoise is a low-grade, soft, pale turquoise that has been chemically hardened and impregnated with color under heat and pressure”
— Tryk (1993), p. 62 [2]
As of 1993, Tryk (1993, p. 62) reported that jewelry with stabilized turquoise could not compete for prizes but could be sold at Indian Market if the artist clearly labeled it. [2]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Tryk's 1993 history, published with SWAIA, and the Heard Museum library's subject file both date the first rename to 1959, to the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs.[2][3] The Heard file dates the present name, Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, to 1993.[3] Baxter's 2000 encyclopedia gives 1954 for the first rename and says the present title came later.[1] The year of the first rename differs by source, so I show both. An earlier version of this article gave the present name for 1959; I have corrected it.
This article says there was no Indian Fair for several years after the Museum of New Mexico stopped sponsoring it. Tryk's 1993 history says the Museum withdrew in 1927 and a local Indian Fair Committee, Kenneth Chapman among its members, kept the fairs going until 1933. She also writes that from 1931 to 1935 the fairs were held on nearby reservations rather than in Santa Fe, so even her own dates overlap. I show both accounts side by side.
Sources
- Baxter, Paula A., with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2000.
- Tryk, Sheila. Santa Fe Indian Market: Showcase of Native American Art. Photography by Mark Nohl; introduction by Allan Houser. Santa Fe, NM: Tierra Publications, in cooperation with SWAIA (Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs), 1993. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1993.
- Heard Museum Library & Archives. Native American Artists Resource Collection: General Files (subject list). August 30, 2024. Heading "Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs."
