Woodard's Indian Shop & the IHM S/S Hallmark — A Gallup Trading History

By Mateo James

The short answer: Woodard’s Indian Shop was a Gallup, New Mexico trading business best known two ways — it was the home office of the United Indian Traders Association (UITA), the 1931 organization founded to authenticate genuine Indian-made craft, and it is associated with the “IHM S/S” hallmark (Indian Hand Made · Sterling Silver). The Woodard family, especially M.L. Woodard, sat at the center of Gallup’s mid-century Native craft trade. Here is the documented history.

The United Indian Traders Association (UITA)

The United Indian Traders Association was founded in 1931 by a group of reservation trading-post operators. Its purpose was ahead of its time: to authenticate genuine Native American–made craft and push back against imitation and government interference in the Indian craft trade — the same authenticity concern that the Indian Arts and Crafts Act would later codify in federal law. (Source: NAU Cline Library Special Collections, United Indian Traders Association exhibit.)

Woodard’s Indian Shop in Gallup served as the UITA’s home office, and M.L. Woodard served as the association’s Secretary for many years — putting Woodard’s at the administrative heart of the organized effort to protect authentic Native craft. (Source: NAU Cline Library, Tom Woodard oral history.)

M.L. Woodard

M.L. Woodard arrived in Gallup in the mid-to-late 1920s. He ran the Southwest Tourist News, and from the early 1930s worked across the institutions that shaped Gallup’s Native-craft economy — the Gallup Chamber of Commerce, the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial Association, the UITA, and the Highway 66 Association — before resigning as a UITA director in 1950. (Source: NAU Cline Library oral history.)

One detail captures his role: during World War II, M.L. Woodard managed the government release of precious metals to Navajo silversmiths — silver being a rationed, controlled material in wartime. (Source: NAU Cline Library.)

His son Tom Woodard (born 1936 in Gallup) later ran his own arts-and-crafts store in Tucson and appraised the estate of Mrs. Goulding of Monument Valley. The full UITA records (1931–2002) are archived at NAU Cline Library Special Collections. (Source: NAU Cline Library; Arizona Archives Online finding aid.)

The “IHM S/S” hallmark

Woodard’s is associated with the hallmark “IHM S/S” — Indian Hand Made · Sterling Silver. By collector accounts it was a shop mark used to certify hand-made, sterling pieces, and it is reported to be distinctive to Woodard’s among Gallup traders. (This hallmark attribution comes from collector/hallmark references rather than a primary archive; treat it as the documented collector record, and confirm a specific piece against a hallmark reference such as Hougart before relying on it.)

Shop marks like “IHM S/S” belong to a specific era: before the mid-1940s, individual silversmiths often didn’t sign their work, so a trader’s or shop’s mark was frequently the only mark on a piece — which is exactly why identifying them matters for dating and provenance.

Frequently asked

What does the “IHM S/S” hallmark mean?

It stands for Indian Hand Made · Sterling Silver, a shop mark associated with Woodard’s Indian Shop in Gallup — a certification that a piece was hand-made in sterling. This attribution is documented in collector hallmark references rather than a primary archive; confirm any specific piece against a hallmark guide such as Hougart before relying on it.

What was Woodard’s Indian Shop?

A Gallup, New Mexico trading business that served as the home office of the United Indian Traders Association (UITA); M.L. Woodard was the UITA’s longtime Secretary.

What was the United Indian Traders Association?

A 1931 organization of reservation traders founded to authenticate genuine Native American–made craft and fight imitation — a precursor concern to the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

Why do shop marks like this exist?

Before the mid-1940s many Native silversmiths didn’t sign their own work, so a shop or trader’s mark was often the only mark on a piece — making it key evidence for dating and provenance today.

Identifying a trader or shop mark is one step; a named artist is the surest proof of a genuine Native-made piece. Learn to read maker’s marks in our hallmark guide, meet artists by name and nation in our silversmith directory, or go deeper in the Reference Shelf.

Sources

• NAU Cline Library Special Collections — United Indian Traders Association exhibit + Tom Woodard oral history (library.nau.edu/speccoll). Authoritative.
• Arizona Archives Online — UITA records finding aid (1931–2002). Authoritative.
• Collector hallmark references (e.g., Bille Hougart, Native American & Southwestern Silver Hallmarks) for the “IHM S/S” shop-mark attribution. Collector record — hedged.