American Indian Arts Marketplace

it's amazing from handmade arrows to baskets jewelry blankets and so much more [Music] there's a fascinating story behind every artist at the 25th annual american indian arts marketplace at the autry national center in los angeles it's on brain tan smoke deer hide inside and out and i even sign my name and thread i do all my own hunting and tanning as well a member of the engelic athabascan tribe glendon mckay lives in an alaskan village so remote they still have no running water and we would normally just keep our prized possessions in them the women would use these sometimes the men would chew they might even use it as a tobacco box her traditional english basket of seal fur deer hide and tiny beads won the top prize at the show the jackie autry purchase award and will become part of the autry museum's permanent collection it's very exciting glenda is a multi-talented artist at her booth you can see her intricately crafted alaskan doll and unique jewelry check out these earrings made by splitting a fossilized walrus tooth i tried to do everything traditional the way that it was done from what i was taught and like many of the native artists here glinda is happy to share her story a lot of people don't understand alaska culture and being down here it's been very helpful in explaining things most artists we all are especially native art we're all trying to say something james fendenheim transforms the skeletons of old saguaro cactus into wood sculptures that tell the story of his people that's on top of a mountain a picture ground yeah in the res near my village san pedro i started waving when i was 17 years old it takes rena begay about eight months to weave the colorful navajo rugs her tribe is so well known for rina more comfortable speaking navajo than english weaves the blankets at her home on the reservation with a little help from her son leroy sometimes i'm colored blind he has to help me which color goes with which color and stuff collaborative effort yes leroy's a talent to silversmith creating bracelets rings and a striking bolo tie of turquoise royce and turquoise and then the same thing here and then this one is marenci nearby we meet another family of artists blackfeet comanche jewelry designer jane myers and her daughter joaquia who's here displaying her ledger art we would traditionally do this art on heights but when we were put onto these reservations we didn't have access to these heights so we turned to what the general stores discarded and that would be these ledger books the 20 year old finds antique ledger books to use as her canvas like this one dating back to 1896 telling her personal stories like her love of horses and her dreams of having a family each piece is done with my culture behind it what we would traditionally wear our outfits our designs on the cradle boards here i create art because it's just it's something that i like to do and i've been beating ever since i was a child i've been jane's dazzling talent puts a glittering spin on her cultural heritage like this beautiful miniature horse mask i made the original miniature horse mask for the comanche national museum or this pendant shaped like a comanche woman's dress from the southern plains that's the original form and then this is the inlaid form so it's dual sided which is great but jane's heart has a deeper purpose as well one of my missions is to strengthen my community and by being a part of first people's fun that's one thing that we do we take artwork we do seminars you know we help other artists show them about marketing and you know how they can get out and into the art world 40 tribes are represented among these talented artists their work is so prized by buyers and collectors some come from out of state jan hoffman is here from santa fe for the third year in a row because it's such a good show it's a show that blends ancient skills with modern technique tradition with creative new ideas it's always evolving it's made by traditional people perhaps but it's it's evolving to the contemporary world this annual gathering of artists and their fans it's also something of a family reunion seeing friends yeah seeing friends meeting new friends and i enjoy the people here i like coming out to la it's it's in the 40s and it snowed in santa fe so it's nice to this is like my last dose of summer to come out here and be in the sunshine it's great to have people say i like your stuff i want to buy it you know that's always good it happens every november in los angeles that's it for now we're back next time with more cool stuff from today's wild west i'm mark bedor we'll see you down the trail for more information on the people and places featured in today's wild west or to order show dvds and books visit todayswildwest.com [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Today's Wild West

Views: 3,529

Keywords: #NativeAmerican, #WesternArt, #IndianArt, #Autry, #Indians, #Cowboys

Id: bJqnklmnIkQ

Length: 5min 45sec (345 seconds)

Published: Fri May 06 2022