INDIAN Market 2018 WINNERS
Best of Show piece honors powerful women
Kevin Pourier’s inspiration was all around him. The Best of Show winner at the 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market for a concho belt entitled Winyan Wánakiksin (Women Defenders of Others), Pourier said he found purpose and persistence “after seeing firsthand the true power of the women in my life.”
The award-winning piece in the Diverse Arts Classification VII is carved from buffalo horn and inlaid with turquoise, gold mother-of-pearl, plus sandstone from the Badlands in South Dakota. It also contains malachite, coral and lapis lazuli, all crushed and mixed with resin. After carving the design in the bone, Poirier (Oglala Lakota) textured most of the pieces with 1,400 dots, using tiny carving burrs.
Each segment of the concho depicts a Native woman who is standing up for her community throughout the country. The idea for the piece came when Pourier participated in the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock.
“There was a big tent set up, and the women just cooked 24/7. They’d feed thousands of people breakfast, lunch and dinner. They just worked and worked and worked. And then they’d go clean the tent,” Pourier said. “And then they’d get up on the road and march in front of the National Guard and the oil companies, and they were getting attacked by dogs and Maced. … And I wanted to portray that strength in this piece.”
Pourier asked each women how she would like to be portrayed. One asked to have a whale tail on her concho, one who comes from a family of master basket weavers wanted her grandmother’s basket design on the piece. Another wanted three teepees to represent her children.
For Pourier, the buffalo horn has special significance.
“The buffalo horn is really the center of everything for Lakotas. It provided us with life. It’s the center of our alter,” he said. “And that power from the buffalo horn combined with the message of those women — it’s like the stars lined up in
the universe.”
Although Pourier insisted the award was not about himself but the piece and the women it represents, the Best of Show award holds special significance for him. Several years ago, the inlay art form he practices was classified as “chip inlay” and not allowed at Indian Market. Pourier — who knew this type of inlay was traditional for his people — went to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to research, where he found a piece by Crazy Horse inlayed with dark blue crushed lapis.
He was allowed back into market with this traditional Northern Plains art form the following year. Other winners included:
Farrell Pacheco (Kewa Pueblo), who won Best of Classification I — Jewelry, for Fan Tail, a heishi necklace. Carved stone pieces represent the way the eagle’s tail fans out when it flies, suspended on heishi carved from Sleeping Beauty Turquoise and spiny oyster. The hardness of this particular turquoise and the fragility of the spiny oyster presented special challenges. This is Pacheco’s first year at market.
Nancy Youngblood (Santa Clara Pueblo), received her third Best of Classification II — Pottery. Youngblood also won Best of Show in 1989.
“Technically, as a potter, I try to challenge myself occasionally, and that was one of the most challenging pieces that I’ve ever done,” Youngblood said.
Polishing the delicate, curving ribs of the elegant black pottery piece was the challenge. Youngblood had to polish one side of each rib and then flip the piece over, with her left hand steadying the pot from the inside to polish the other half of the rib. Without this balancing act, the initial polish would have rubbed off as she polished the other side.
“I worked on the piece for about a week and a half polishing, and then I had to put it aside, because it got to me. I just couldn’t confidently polish it,” Youngblood said. “I had to relax about it. And once I gave it a little bit of time, I went back confidently and finished it.” The polishing alone took 2½ weeks.
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe), who won Classification III — Paintings, Drawings, Graphics & Photography for the second straight year. The award-winning photograph is set in front of Saints & Sinners, an Española landmark, with a lowrider car, two women and the mythic “Coyote.”
“I wanted to create a celebration of subculture,” Romero said. “And not everybody celebrates those subcultures, so I thought I would put coyote in there, because coyote tells a good story of questionable decisions. He makes questionable decisions, but we love him anyway.”
Romero was surprised to receive the award for this particular piece.
“I thought it was too edgy,” she said, adding she sees the recognition of this piece as a lesson for other artists.
“Make really authentic artwork, to your identity and your story. And that’s what that piece is about,” Romero said.
The Best of Classification IV — Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carvings and Sculpture award also celebrates women. The piece is a carved wooden depiction of women fighting off invaders climbing their pueblo’s walls.
Mavasta Honyouti (Hopi), who has won Best of Class in this category several times, said, “One of our legends, our stories, talks about one of the women who rose up and defended the village from invaders, along with the help of the women and children.
“And I think about in present times, we do have women warriors who stand up and fight against the invaders, whether it’s for the environment or natural resources — they’re fighting off and they stand up and they rise up and inspire the people to fight.”
Terresa White (McGrath Yup’ik), won Classification V — Sculpture for a bronze entitled Sedna, honoring a human woman who became the mother of marine life: whale, walrus and seal. This is the third piece in her “Transformations and Other Visions” series.
Dallin Maybee’s beaded buffalo mask won Classification VIII — Bead Work & Quill Work. The piece incorporates not only traditional beadwork and materials, but design elements related to Japanese culture and other influences on Maybee’s life. According to Maybee (Northern Arapaho/Seneca), a former Best of Show winner, traditional dance regalia — which the artist first applied his beadwork to — is meant to express who the dancer is.
Jeremy Frey’s (Passamaquoddy) third Best of Classification XI — Basketry (Frey also has won Best of Show) is for a contemporary ash basket. The most unusual element of the piece is a collar around the top of the basket that appears to be part of the lid. The collar is double woven and does not follow the typical horizontal/vertical weave.
“It has more flow to it, which is a technique I’ve been developing in a lot of my pieces,” Frey said.
The weave is accented with an orange dye that Frey developed himself.
“I love the fact that SWAIA’s here, that the collectors are here and the other artists are here, and this community allows me to do what I want to do at the level I want to do it at,” Frey said. “Because if I can’t sell pieces that take as long as this does, I can’t make them. This one took about a month.”
Best of Classification VI — Textiles was awarded to Nellie Begay (Diné) for a chief ’s blanket and Isaak Kohlmeyer (Jemez Pueblo) earned the Classification IX — Youth (17 years and under) award for a stamped silver and turquoise pendant. There was no Classification X — Moving Images category this year. SWAIA is working to improve the category and bring it back in 2019.