Hopi Silversmith Lineages: Who Taught Whom
Hopi silversmithing passed hand to hand for most of the twentieth century, and the books name many of the hands. Sikyatala (Yellow Light) of First Mesa taught the first Second Mesa smiths; silver was being made at Shongopovi by 1904, at Oraibi about 1904 and at Hotevilla about 1907. [2][3] From February 1947 the craft was taught in G.I. Bill classes, and after those ended new smiths learned at the Hopi Guild, at shops such as Hopicrafts and Honani Crafts, and at art schools. [1][2]
KEY POINTS
- Two Second Mesa men, Tawanimptewa and Tawahongniwa, are said to have learned jewelry making from Yellow Light; Tawahongniwa's sons learned next. [1][2]
- Sakwiam of Third Mesa learned by watching Sikyatala make a necklace of hollow beads that he had ordered. [1][2]
- The Hopi veterans' silversmithing classes began in February 1947, with Paul Saufkie as technical instructor and Fred Kabotie teaching design. [1][2]
- After the veterans' classes ended, new Hopi smiths learned their trade by working at the Hopi Guild. [1]
- Later Hopi silversmiths also trained at Hopicrafts, Honani Crafts, the Institute of American Indian Arts and with outside teachers such as Pierre Touraine. [1]
Who taught whom
This page follows the Hopi line after its first link. How silver reached Sikyatala, and the dispute over where and when, is told on The Teaching Tree. What follows is what came after him: teacher to student, by the books' own account.
LINEAGES · WHO TAUGHT WHOM
- Sikyatala (Yellow Light) → Tawahongniwa → his sons, among them Joshua (Homiyesva) [1][2]
- Sikyatala → Sakwiam (Sió), by watching [1][2]
- Andrew Humiquaptewa → Paul Saufkie → the 1947 veterans' classes [1]
- Earl Numkina → Willie Coin → Frieda Santiago [1]
- Ralph Tawangyaouma → Gene Nuvahoioma → Allen Pooyama → Eddie Scott, Sr. [1]
- Harry Sakyesva → Wayne and Emory Sekaquaptewa → Loren Kootswatewa [1]
- Victor Coochwytewa → Quinton Laban, 1992 [1]
Yellow Light's first students
The first link runs west, to Second Mesa. Two Shungopavi men, Tawanimptewa and Tawahongniwa, “are said to have learned how to make jewelry from Yellow Light.” [1] Bedinger calls Tawahonganiwa a chief at Shongopovi and Sikyatala's friend, and she has silver being made there by 1904. [2] His sons learned next. The eldest, Joshua, began his silverwork at Carlisle Indian School, and in 1915 he spent a week demonstrating Hopi silversmithing in San Diego. [1] The line held. Tawahongniwa's only daughter's grandson, Valjean Lomaheftewa, studied silversmithing under the G.I. Bill after World War II. [1]
First Mesa had a second early hand. Duwakuku of Sichomovi, of Yellow Light's own Mustard Clan, may well have been making silver before 1900, perhaps working with Sikyatala; his cast bow guard is undated. [1] Sikyatala went on teaching close to home, too: around 1916 he taught his nephew, Roscoe Narvasi, who was still working in 1938. [2]
One early smith had no teacher at all. Andrew Humiquaptewa of Shungopavi was a blacksmith who taught himself silverwork and then taught his son, Paul Saufkie. [1] The son would go on to teach the 1947 veterans' classes.
On Third Mesa the craft was learned by watching. Sakwiam, also named Sakewyumptewa, told John Adair that he ordered a necklace of hollow beads from Sikyatala: “I watched him make those beads and paid him fifteen dollars for them. I saw just how he used his tools and melted the silver.” [1] Bedinger places this in 1907 and has him later setting up a shop at Hotevilla. [2] Hopis remember him as Sió, “the Zuni,” because he spent so much time there, and Wright thinks it likely he watched smiths at Zuni as well. [1] Before 1906 the Oraibi cousins Ralph Tawangyaouma and Pierce Kewanwytewa were practising with solder melted off tin cans, possibly with some help from Sió. [1] Adair dates silver at Oraibi to about 1904 and at Hotevilla to about 1907. [3]
Learning away from the mesas
Moenkopi raised its own teachers. Earl Numkina began in the 1920s and taught several younger men. [1] Grant Jenkins, before his death in 1934 or 1935, helped at least two men, Morris Robinson and Randall Honwisioma, become full-time silversmiths. [1]
Some lessons happened a long way from home. In 1930 several Hopis were working as actors at San Gabriel, California; Numkina's nephew Willie Coin watched him work silver in his off hours and asked to be taught. In the late 1930s Coin's relative Frieda Santiago learned by watching Coin in turn. [1] Lewis Lomay of Oraibi learned from a Navajo teacher, Ambrose Roanhorse, at the Indian School in Santa Fe about 1930. [1]
At Hotevilla the line ran through one family. Gene Nuvahoioma learned from Ralph Tawangyaouma, probably in the 1920s. His son Allen Pooyama learned from him, and Eddie Scott, Sr. learned from Allen. [1] And in 1939 a shop class at Keams Canyon, taught by Corbert Grant, introduced Wilmer Kavena of Sichomovi to silver and lapidary. [1]
The 1947 veterans' classes
The classes began in February 1947 under the G.I. Bill. Paul Saufkie was hired as technical instructor. Fred Kabotie, who also taught art at Hopi High School in Kykotsmovi, was design instructor. [1] Bedinger gives Kabotie different titles: Art Director and Business Manager. [2]
A California craft teacher, Glen Lukens, gave Saufkie suggestions on the new silver solder developed for aircraft and on formulas for oxidizing background silver in different shades. [1] Vernon Talas, who had done blacksmithing before, joined the 1948 classes and made tools for himself and for others in the class. [1] The class work sold at the Indian Arts and Crafts Board exhibit in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Northern Arizona's Hopi Craftsman Shows and the Arizona State Fair, so even a man who made silver only in class may have work in public hands. [1] Fewer than half of the trainees kept at it. Wright thought that compared favorably with other veterans' training programs. [1]
The Guild and the shops as schools
“After the veterans' classes ended, new smiths learned their trade by working at the Hopi Guild.” [1] Wright's own lists bear her out: every one of the nine smiths she records as beginning in 1991 learned at the Guild. [1] See the Hopi Silvercraft Guild and Hopi overlay.
Hopicrafts trained its own. Wayne and Emory Sekaquaptewa learned silverwork in Phoenix from Harry Sakyesva, then hired Bernard Dawahoya and Eldon James. [1] Dawahoya, who had learned from his uncles and at the Guild shop, helped instruct the smiths at Kykotsmovi. [1] Loren Kootswatewa of Hotevilla learned there from the Sekaquaptewa brothers. [1] Gary Yoyokie picked up the rudiments sweeping and doing chores at Hopicrafts in his high-school summers; his wife, Elsie, then learned from him. [1] In 1989 Honani Crafts was training smiths as well, Tony Burton and Harlan Joseph among them. [1]
Family taught too. Roy Talahaftewa learned Guild-style overlay from his brother, Willie Archie, and his brother-in-law, Ted Wadsworth. [1] Don Supplee learned from his brother Charles. [1] Reginald Dewakuku began in 1990 under Phillip Sekaquaptewa. [1] And in 1992 Quinton Laban, of the Bear clan at Shungopavi, began under his grandfather, Victor Coochwytewa. [1]
Art schools and outside teachers
From mid-century some Hopi smiths trained outside the villages entirely. Henry Shelton learned from a Navajo smith, Jack Smith, at the Santa Fe Indian School in 1949. [1] Myron Sekakuku, who began in 1975, learned at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Preston Duwyenie, who began in 1980, studied there and at Colorado State University under Nelda Getty. [1] Phil Navasya studied with Ed Lund at Fresno State; Bobby Tewa apprenticed in the San Juan jewelry program. [1]
Phoenix and Flagstaff offered other teachers. In Phoenix, the French jeweler Pierre Touraine taught gold work and the setting of precious stones; Charles Supplee studied under him and later tutored his brother Don. [1] In Flagstaff, a Museum of Northern Arizona program put Duayne Maktima and Bob Lomadapki at work beside the Navajo smith Victor Beck, with Jake Brookins as mentor. [1]
Field Notes by Mateo James
The books disagree on how many sons Tawahongniwa taught. Bedinger (1973) says four and names them: Homiyesva (Joshua), Lomawunu, Washington and Silas. Wright (2003) says he had five sons who soon learned jewelry making. I show both.
Wright (2003) treats Sakwiam and Sakewyumptewa as one man, the Third Mesa smith Hopis remember as Sió. Bedinger (1973, p. 158) gives Sakwiam of Old Oraibi one entry and then, a paragraph later, a separate one for “Sakewyumptewa, brass and copper smith of Lower Oraibi,” who worked “with silver dollars” in 1912. The two books may be counting one man or two. This page follows Wright's identification and shows Bedinger's entries here.
Two of the early dates here are one witness, not two. Bedinger's line that “by 1904 silver was being made at Shongopovi” is quoted from Adair (1944, p. 176), and so is her account of Sikyatala at Oraibi in 1907. Where Adair and Bedinger agree on the first Hopi dates, they agree because one is quoting the other.
On the 1947 classes the two books agree on the month and on Paul Saufkie. They describe Fred Kabotie's role differently: Wright calls him the design instructor, Bedinger the Art Director and Business Manager. I show both titles.
From the Library
What 3 reference books say about who taught whom among Hopi silversmiths, grouped by topic. Every passage names its book and page; full references are under Sources.
These are statements recorded by outside writers between 1944 and 2003, many of them Hopi smiths' and their families' own recollections as the writers set them down; the Hopi are the authority on their own history.
Sikyatala's first students, First, Second and Third Mesa11 passages · 3 books
The first links after Yellow Light: Sichomovi, Shungopavi, Oraibi and Hotevilla.
According to Wright (2003, p. 10), Duwakuku, also of Sichomovi and of the same Mustard Clan as Yellow Light, may well have made silver before 1900 and perhaps worked with Sikyatala; his surviving cast bow guard shows skill in casting. [1]
Wright (2003) names the next link in the Hopi chain:
“Two Second Mesa men, Tawanimptewa and Tawahongniwa, are said to have learned how to make jewelry from Yellow Light.”
Wright (2003), p. 10 AS OF 2003 [1]
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 158), Sikyatala taught his friend Tawahonganiwa, a chief at Shongopovi on Second Mesa. Tawahonganiwa taught four of his sons: Homiyesva (Joshua), Lomawunu, Washington and Silas. Silver was being made at Shongopovi by 1904. The craft then reached Third Mesa, where two Oraibi brothers, Dan Koitshongva and his brother, learned from Tawahonganiwa and his sons. [2]
According to Wright (2003, p. 10), Tawahongniwa's five sons soon learned jewelry making, and his daughter's grandson, Valjean Lomaheftewa, later studied silversmithing under the G.I. Bill after World War II. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 11), the daughter of Tawahongniwa's oldest son, Joshua, said her father began his silverwork at Carlisle Indian School, and Joshua demonstrated Hopi silversmithing for a week in San Diego in 1915. [1]
Bedinger (1973, p. 158) recorded that in 1907 an Old Oraibi man named Sakwiam ordered a necklace from Sikyatala and learned the basic techniques, including soldering, by watching him make it. Sakwiam later set up a shop at Hotevilla. Around 1916 Sikyatala taught his nephew Roscoe Narvasi at First Mesa, and Narvasi was still working in 1938. [2]
Wright (2003) quotes the Third Mesa smith Sakewyumptewa (Sakwiam), as John Adair recorded him, on learning by watching Yellow Light:
“I watched him make those beads and paid him fifteen dollars for them. I saw just how he used his tools and melted the silver.”
Wright (2003), p. 13 AS OF 2003 [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 13), Hopis remembered Sakewyumptewa by the nickname Sió, meaning the Zuni, because he spent a lot of time there, and Wright thought he likely also learned from smiths at Zuni. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 15), before 1906 the Oraibi cousins Ralph Tawangyaouma and Pierce Kewanwytewa practised silverwork with solder melted off tin cans, possibly with some help from Sió. [1]
According to Adair (1944, p. 193), the craft was taken up at Oraibi about 1904 and at Hotevilla about 1907. [3]
According to Wright (2003, p. 12), Andrew Humiquaptewa of Shungopavi was a blacksmith who taught himself silverwork and instructed his son, Paul Saufkie. [1]
Learning away from the mesas, 1920s–1940s7 passages · 1 book
Moenkopi, California, the Santa Fe Indian School and a Keams Canyon shop class.
According to Wright (2003, p. 17), Earl Numkina of Moenkopi started silvermaking in the 1920s and taught several younger men the craft. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 18), before his death in 1934 or 1935 the Moenkopi smith Grant Jenkins had helped at least two Hopi men, Morris Robinson and Randall Honwisioma, become full-time silversmiths, and his cousin Harold Jenkins first learned from his wife's brother, Frank Nutaima. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 21), in 1930, while several Hopis were working as actors at San Gabriel, California, Earl Numkina's nephew Willie Coin of Oraibi watched him work silver in his off hours and asked to be taught; in the late 1930s Coin's relative Frieda Santiago of Oraibi learned by watching him in turn. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 21), the Oraibi smith Lewis Lomay (Lomayesva) learned silver jewelry from the Navajo teacher Ambrose Roanhorse at the Indian School in Santa Fe about 1930. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 75), Gene Nuvahoioma of Hotevilla learned from Ralph Tawangyaouma, probably during the 1920s, and his son Allen Pooyama became a silversmith. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 77), Allen Pooyama learned from his father, Gene; Eddie Scott, Sr. learned from Allen; and Harry Sakyesva may have learned from Ralph Tawangyaoma and Allen Pooyama in Tucson. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 88), Wilmer Kavena of Sichomovi, listed as beginning in 1974, had been introduced to silverwork and lapidary in 1939 at the Keams Canyon shop class, taught by Corbert Grant. [1]
The 1947 veterans' classes7 passages · 2 books
The G.I. Bill classes, their teachers, and what became of the trainees.
According to Bedinger (1973, p. 202), in the Hopi veterans' class that began in February 1947, Paul Saufkie taught technique while Fred Kabotie served as Art Director and Business Manager. [2]
According to Wright (2003, p. 38), the veterans' classes started in February 1947 with Paul Saufkie hired as the technical instructor and Fred Kabotie, alongside his job as art teacher at Hopi High School in Kykotsmovi, as the design instructor. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 36), a California craft teacher, Glen Lukens, gave Paul Saufkie suggestions about the new silver solder developed for aircraft and formulas for oxidizing background silver in different shades. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 80), Vernon Talas, who joined the 1948 G.I. Bill classes, had done blacksmithing before, so he made his own tools and some for others in the class. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 71), work from the veterans' classes was sold at the Indian Arts and Crafts Board exhibit in Washington, D.C., the Hopi Craftsman Shows of the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix and, once it was established, the Hopi Silvercraft Guild, so even a smith who made silver only in class may have work in public hands. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 73), fewer than half of the men who took silversmithing under the G.I. Bill continued to work at it, which she thought compared favorably with other veterans' training programs. [1]
Wright (2003) recorded how Hopi training continued after the G.I. Bill program:
“After the veterans' classes ended, new smiths learned their trade by working at the Hopi Guild.”
Wright (2003), p. 71 AS OF 2003 [1]
Workshops as schools: the Guild, Hopicrafts and Honani, to 199210 passages · 1 book
After the classes, the shops did the teaching.
According to Wright (2003, p. 46), Wayne and Emory Sekaquaptewa learned silverwork in Phoenix from the smith Harry Sakyesva, then hired Bernard Dawahoya and Eldon James for the business that became Hopicrafts. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 81), Wayne and Emory Sekaquaptewa learned from Harry Sakyesva, and Bernard Dawahoya, after learning from his uncles and at the Guild Shop, helped instruct the smiths at Hopicrafts' Kykotsmovi shop. [1]
Wright (2003, p. 94) records that Loren Kootswatewa of Hotevilla learned at Hopicrafts from the Sekaquaptewa brothers. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 60), Gary Yoyokie of Kykotsmovi picked up the rudiments of silversmithing while sweeping and doing chores at Hopicrafts during high-school summers, and his wife, Elsie, then learned the craft from him. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 59), Roy Talahaftewa first made overlay in the Hopi guild style, learning from his brother Willie Archie and his brother-in-law Ted Wadsworth, one of the early guild smiths. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 106), every one of the nine smiths listed on that page, all of whom began silverwork in 1991, was recorded as having learned at the Guild. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 101), the shop Honani Crafts also trained smiths: Tony (Anthony) Burton was listed as a Honani Crafts trainee and Harlan Joseph as having learned there, both beginning in 1989. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 102), Reginald Dewakuku, who began in 1990 at Shipaulovi, learned from Phillip Sekaquaptewa. [1]
Wright (2003, p. 102) recorded that Don Supplee, who began in 1989 at Kykotsmovi, learned from his brother Charles Supplee and from Roy Talaheftewa. [1]
Wright (2003, p. 108) recorded Quinton Laban, of the Bear clan at Shungopavi, as beginning in 1992 after learning from his grandfather, Victor Coochwytewa. [1]
Art schools and outside teachers6 passages · 1 book
Santa Fe, Colorado, Fresno, Phoenix and Flagstaff: teachers from outside the Hopi villages.
Wright (2003, p. 91) records that Henry Shelton learned at the Santa Fe Indian School from a Navajo smith, Jack Smith, in 1949, and did some silverwork in 1975. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 90), Myron Sekakuku of Shungopavi and Shipaulovi, who began in 1975, learned at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, and his mark was probably first used in 1977. [1]
Wright (2003, p. 94) records that Preston Duwyenie of Hotevilla, who began in 1980, attended IAIA and also Colorado State University under the instructor Nelda Getty. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 89), Phil Navasya of Oraibi, who began in 1974, studied at California State University, Fresno, with Ed Lund, and Bobby Tewa, whose mother was from San Juan Pueblo and father from Bacavi, learned as an apprentice in the San Juan jewelry program. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 65), the French jeweler Pierre Touraine in Phoenix gave his students a knowledge of gold work and the ability to set precious stones; Charles Supplee studied under him and later tutored his brother Don. [1]
According to Wright (2003, p. 67), Duayne Maktima and Bob Lomadapki, together with the Navajo smith Victor Beck, worked in Flagstaff under a program sponsored by the Museum of Northern Arizona to spark artistic ideas through contact with one another, with Jake Brookins as mentor. [1]
Frequently asked questions
Who taught the first Hopi silversmiths?
Sikyatala (Yellow Light) of First Mesa. Two Second Mesa men, Tawanimptewa and Tawahongniwa, are said to have learned jewelry making from him, and Tawahongniwa's sons learned next. On Third Mesa, Sakwiam learned by watching Sikyatala make a necklace he had ordered. How Sikyatala himself learned is told on The Teaching Tree.
What were the 1947 Hopi veterans' classes?
Silversmithing classes for Hopi veterans under the G.I. Bill, begun in February 1947. Paul Saufkie was technical instructor and Fred Kabotie taught design. Fewer than half of the trainees kept working at silver, which Wright thought compared favorably with other veterans' programs.
How did Hopi smiths learn after the veterans' classes ended?
By working at the Hopi Guild, according to Wright; every smith she lists as beginning in 1991 learned there. Hopicrafts and Honani Crafts also trained smiths, and many still learned from relatives.
Where did later Hopi silversmiths train?
Some at schools: the Santa Fe Indian School, the Institute of American Indian Arts, Colorado State University and Fresno State. Others learned from outside teachers such as the French jeweler Pierre Touraine in Phoenix, or in a Museum of Northern Arizona program in Flagstaff.
A note on accuracy. We strive for accuracy, and this page is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. Corrections welcome.
Sources
- Wright, Margaret Nickelson. Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing. Revised edition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. Originally published by Northland Publishing. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2003.
- Bedinger, Margery. Indian Silver: Navajo and Pueblo Jewelers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1973.
- Adair, John. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. The Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1944. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1944.
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