Gem show

Indian motifs' misuse is a sad facet of life at gem shows, elsewhere

Aaron J. Latham/Staff
Hopi artist Kendrick Coochyumptewa carves a kachina doll as his wife, Dolores, talks with a browser at the American Indian Exposition. Demand for Indian art outstrips supply, so there's a wide-open market for counterfeiters.
By Phil Villarreal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Imagine Kellogg's coming out with "Savior Flakes" breakfast cereal, complete with a full-color image of a crucified Jesus slapped across the box.

Imagine toilet paper with the Star of David printed on every square.

Disgusted yet? Maybe now you can begin to identify with Navajo silversmith Allan McCabe, who constantly sees symbols from his culture misused and mass-marketed.

"It offends me," said McCabe, who has set up shop at the American Indian Exposition, 1300 N. Stone Ave.

"Some symbols should not be sold in public."

McCabe - a resident of Leupp, a town on the Navajo Reservation - and his wife, Eleanora, both Navajos, travel the country selling beads, jewelry and rugs that their family produces. They see Navajo symbols misused all over the country, and things are no different in Tucson.

"Sand paintings are for healing," McCabe said. "Sometimes I see people who have glued them or baked them onto canvasses. That's not the way it's done."

Disturbances regarding misused tribal symbols aren't restricted to the Navajo. In 1999, Tohono O'odham Tribe members spoke out against commercial use of the sacred "Man in the Maze" symbol.

"Items with a cultural purpose don't belong in the market and are not for sale, but they tend to end up in the market," said Rafael Tapia, the senior executive assistant to the chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

"There are some rights artists have. They need to be respected in their creativity. But some items are private and are not for sale, and those rights are also important. A balance needs to be worked out there."

Tapia said each tribe has different norms on what can and can't be sold.

"Some folks don't know that certain things shouldn't be for sale, that they're sacred to the tribe," Tapia said.

Fred Synder, coordinator of the American Indian Exposition, is also disturbed by the trend. He sees Indian symbol abuse as a problem that will only grow.

"Each year, there are 20 percent more people wanting to invest, enjoy, collect and improve collections of American Indian art," said Synder, an Indian writer and scholar.

"But we've got virtually the same amount of artisans creating the artwork. The total Indian population is 1.2 million people, and it hasn't increased that much."

Demand outweighs supply, Synder says, so there's a wide-open opportunity for counterfeiters to step in and fill the void.

When the McCabes get a break from their own show, they cruise the other shows in town. For them, it's easy to pick out a fraud.

"They mass-produce rugs with machines in Mexico using synthetic material and put Navajo symbols in them, then call them Navajo rugs," McCabe said, noting that authentic Navajo rugs are hand-woven and made with natural fibers.

"In the Philippines, they mass-produce jewelry and sell it here."

McCabe suggests that prospective Indian-art buyers question the source of the item.

"Educate yourself," McCabe said. "Get more detail about where they got it. A lot of people don't know what they're selling."

Tapia agreed.

"When they can't say how an item has ended up in their possession, it's kind of a concern," he said.

Synder offered a few other pieces of advice for buyers:

* Beware of street vendors. "Sometimes the one-way-street manufacturers have a whole box of the item you bought under the table," Synder said.

* Try to buy directly from the artisan.

* Stay away from overbearing salesmen. A pushy vendor could be a sign that something is amiss.

"When you put your spirit into a craft item, song, dance and food, you have a harmonic balance," Synder said.

"Even if vendors have inferior material, they feel that a creative spirit is in the item. When that spirit talks to you, that constitutes sale, not a pushy salesman - those kind of tactics don't need to be utilized."

* Contact Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or prv@azstarnet.com

Gem Show brief

Dealers in distress find a fixture fix

Don't ask Eduardo Fontana for his business card. The H.K. International dealer left them in Uruguay.

Fontana's collection of meteorites and minerals made it safely to the InnSuites Hotel, but, as is the case with many dealers, there were a few things he forgot to pack.

"We are making a card right now," Fontana said Tuesday morning. "We forgot it in our country."

Tucson businesses regularly profit from dealers' mistakes and missteps. Karen Gatchell, co-owner of Tucson Store Fixtures, has placed brightly colored fliers at the gem shows advertising her store's inventory of merchandise bags, brochure holders and display cases.

"The dealers come in here saying, 'Please help me,' " Gatchell said. "We try to accommodate everyone."

Gatchell said she always braces for a deluge of unhappy dealers at the start of the shows.

It's not uncommon, she said, for sellers to arrive in Tucson only to discover shipping companies have bungled their orders. Glass cases show up in pieces, or sometimes not at all.

After the shows are under way, Gatchell's customers are more likely to be dealers hoping to improve their sales by installing fancier displays.

- Hanna Miller

For visitors

San Xavier mission a lovely look at our past

Mission San Xavier del Bac

1950 W. San Xavier Road

The church that launched a thousand Tucson postcards is Mission San Xavier del Bac, a scrubbed white monument of Spanish colonial architecture that sits 12 miles south of Downtown.

The mission was founded on a site first visited by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit who brought Christianity to the northern reaches of New Spain.

Kino never got around to building a church there, but Franciscans in 1783 undertook the ambitious construction project. Fourteen years later, the priests had a place to minister to native Piman Indians. Two hundred years later, they still do: Of all the missions that once stood in the Sonoran Desert, only San Xavier is still run by Franciscans and still serving tribal members.

The interior of the church, known as the White Dove of the Desert, is as lively as its exterior is simple. The walls are heavy with murals and carvings depicting biblical tales and the history of Christianity. While the church's grandeur is startling, the rewards are in the details, like the front faades flanked by a cat and a mouse. Legend has it the world will end when the two creatures meet.

San Xavier has been largely restored, making the interior colors brighter and the soaring arches seem taller. The church is open 7 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. To reach the mission, follow I-19 south to the San Xavier exit. For more information, call 294-2624.

BK's Carne Asada

5188 S. 12th Ave.

Finding a restaurant on Tucson's South Side is like scouting out a geode at the gem shows: There's no shortage of choices, but there's a tremendous difference between choosing right and choosing wrong.

Your best bet for true northern Mexican cuisine is to put aside all pretensions and pull into one of the area's dressed-up roadside taquerias. BK's Carne Asada and Hot Dogs, 5118 S. 12th Ave., is legendary for its title offerings. Its classic Sonoran hot dogs are grilled, wrapped in bacon, smothered with pinto beans, slathered with mayonnaise and topped with a jalapeño pepper. It's a combination that works every time, any time. BK's is open for business 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

Hanna Miller

Impish purveyor of Asian art, beads delights in lampooning the industry

Kamol, an Asian art and bead dealer at The Whole Bead Show, has the answer to the ubiquitous strands of brightly colored Buddha Beads that seem to jangle on every young girl's wrist.

Kamol is selling thumb-sized clay Buddha figurines encased in sterling silver frames that can easily be slipped on a string.

"People wear them for good luck and protection," he said. "Sometimes, people have to have more than one."

The amulets are made by monks in Thailand, which may or may not be Kamol's native country. "Thai, Chinese, I'm not sure anymore," he said.

Kamol has made a habit of knocking around: After moving to Seattle, he worked as a photojournalist and a waiter in a French restaurant before taking up bead dealing in 1990.

His impish irreverence and unique collection have since made his name - what there is of it - well-known in bead circles.

Kamol has transformed his room at the Windmill Inn into a top-flight Southeast Asian market, stocked with heavy silver necklaces and thick conch shell bracelets.

"This is top quality," Bead and Button magazine editor Alice Korach said, pawing through his basket of Tibetan turquoise. "This is outstanding."

Kamol's most popular item is a $2 amulet that's a study in cross-pollination. Asian workers engrave the bone discs with Nordic symbols supplied by Kamol. The runes each bear a phrase explaining their power, such as "You will come to no harm in water." The words are sometimes misspelled by the non-English speaking artists, potentially provoking unintended consequences for wearers.

That's the sort of mischief Kamol would likely appreciate. In an arena where pressing one's card into the right hand can make or break a dealership, Kamol is comfortable poking fun at the ritual.

"This is my card," Kamol said, offering up a blank rectangle of handmade rice paper. "So give me a call."

Where to park

Here's a listing of the public shows, coupled with parking tips for each.

Congress Street Expo at
Tucson Electric Park

Tucson Electric Park,
2500 E. Ajo Way

Ample parking is available in the Tucson Electric Park parking lot.

Globe-X Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry show

Days Inn, 222 S. Freeway Ave.

The best spots to park are the Days Inn parking lot, or the Tucson Convention Center for $4.

International Gem & Jewelry Show/Intergem Tucson 2001

700 block of West Congress Street, west of Freeway Avenue

Parking along Congress Street in front of the tent is the best way to go.

Rapa River

292 S. Freeway Ave.

Parking is available, but it costs $5 in the show lot.

Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show

Four sites:
* Ramada Inn University,
1601 N. Oracle Road
* Best Western Executive Inn, 333 W. Drachman St.
* InnSuites Hotel,
475 N. Granada Ave.
* Mineral & Fossil Marketplace, 1333 N. Oracle Road

Look for spots on the sides of streets if you can't find them in the hotel lots.

American Indian Exposition

Flamingo Travelodge,
1300 N. Stone Ave.

The Travelodge parking lot provides some parking. During the weekends, you can park at Pima Community College's Downtown Campus on Stone north of Speedway.

La Quinta Group

La Quinta Inn,
665 N. Freeway Ave.

If the La Quinta parking lot is full, you'll have to scavenge.

Atrium Productions

Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, 350 S. Freeway Ave.

Chances are the Sheraton lot will be full, so it's best to park at the TCC.

Trade Shows International Tucson Gem & Jewelry Show

Gem Pavillion,
450 S. Freeway Ave.

Officials say there will be ample parking in the lot behind the show scene.

Dell Productions

Tucson Scottish Rite,
160 S. Scott Ave.

If you can't find a spot on the side of the street, there's a lot south of the building that charges $2.50.

Beaucoup Congé

335 E. Fort Lowell Road

There are a few spots in front of the store, but your best bet is to park along North Geronimo Ave.

Crystal Myths Inc.-Best Bead Show

Kino Veterans Memorial Community Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way

Parking is ample at the site of the show.

The Whole Bead Show

The Windmill Inn of Tucson, 4250 N. Campbell Ave.

There is plenty of parking in St. Philip's Plaza.

Rio Grande Catalog in Motion Jewelry Equipment Showcase

Hilton Tucson East,
7600 E. Broadway

The hotel parking lot is the best place to park for this show.

47th Annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

Tucson Convention Center,
260 S. Church Ave., 322-5773

Phil Villarreal