Leroy Kewanyama — Hopi Silversmith

Leroy Kewanyama was a Hopi overlay silversmith who learned at the Hopi Silvercrafts Cooperative Guild, and also a painter. Bille Hougart's Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks lists him as Hopi, 1922 to 1997, active from the 1950s to the 1980s in overlay and stone sets (Hougart 2022, p. 171). Margaret Nickelson Wright's Hopi Silver records him at Shungopavi, beginning in 1955 and working until 1987, and notes that he "Learned at the Guild" (Wright 2003, p. 80).

Gregory Schaaf's American Indian Jewelry I records his service in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and that he "did not attend Fred Kabotie's veterans' classes" (Schaaf 2003, p. 204). Schaaf also lists museum holdings of his work at the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of New Mexico and the Museum of Northern Arizona, and a 1985 exhibition, "Hunt and the Harvest," at the Museum of the American Indian in New York (Schaaf 2003, p. 204).

Both Schaaf and Hougart name him the uncle of Harold Lomayaktewa, who went on to use his stamp (Schaaf 2003, p. 204; Hougart 2022, pp. 171, 193). Schaaf also gives the spelling Kewanyouma (Schaaf 2003, p. 204).

His hallmark

Hougart gives his marks as L K (conjoined), a Star priest, and the Hopi Guild mark with L K or with the Star priest (Hougart 2022, p. 171). Wright records the Star Priest hallmark in her register (Wright 2003, p. 80).