Indian fair artists stick to tradition

David Sanders / Staff Young weaver: Navajo Channell Rose Alcott, 7, inspects the weaving she worked on during the Southwest Indian Art Fair.

Many of the participants at last weekend's American Indian art fair said the work they produce helps preserve ancient family and cultural traditions of the Southwest.

About 130 artists gathered Saturday and Sunday at the Arizona State Museum, 1013 E. University Blvd., for the Southwest Indian Art Fair, which has been held in Tucson for the past eight years.

Many of the artists selling their work at the fair cling to the traditional means their ancestors used to create both household and artistic wares.

Edna Romero, 65, is one of those artists.

She harvests the clay she uses to make her pottery from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northwestern New Mexico and follows the laborious process of hand-shaping each pot.

She fires her pots in the way the Santa Clara Pueblo people always have - in a cedar-wood fire built outdoors - and sells them at shops and galleries near her home in Taos.

Her husband, Bernie Romero, 65, gathers the wood for the firing, and when she needs help polishing her pots to the necessary smoothness, her daughters and grandchildren lend a hand.

"Making pottery has always been a cooperative effort; it develops strong family ties," Romero said Sunday between answering the questions of potential buyers.

"The Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico have made their cookware and ceremonial items this way for centuries, the same way I do it today."

Many artists said events such as last weekend's have helped expose the public to art that was once available only on reservations or from artists who sold from their homes.

They also said the popularity and demand for Indian wares has steadily increased for years, making it possible for traditional artists to make a decent living while preserving the ancient ways of their people.

In 1997, the U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board reported that the industry was generating more than $1 billion annually and was growing steadily.

A handmade Navajo rug at Sunday's event sold for $3,000, and many of the handmade pots went for between $75 and $1,100, depending on size and style.

But as important as being able to make a living from their art is, many artists said, just as important is ensuring the traditions they learned from their elders are passed on.

"I learned when I was 7 or 8, and I sold my first rug when I was 10 years old," Ramona Yazzie said while weaving a Navajo rug from yarn spun by her mother, Margaret Yazzie, 72, and aunt, Ruth Teller, 73.

"My family passed it down, and I'm trying to teach my children, too."

* Contact Adam Borowitz at 629-9412 or borowitz@azstarnet.com.