A basket rich with detail and symbolism brought the Best of
Show award at Santa Fe Indian Market to Carol Emarthle-Douglas (Northern
Arapaho/Seminole), who said it is a tribute to all the mothers and
the cultural burdens they carry.
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Carol
Emarthle-Douglas, second from left, is congratulated by her
cousin Diane Emarthle, from Santa Fe, after she won Best of
Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market Friday. Her winning entry
was the basket in the foreground.
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"This is a thrill," said the winner, adding that she wasn't
thinking at all that her name would be called.
The announcement was made Friday afternoon at the Santa Fe Community
Convention Center, where a table was filled with sophisticated creations
that won the 11 Best of Classification prizes, along with rows of
tables holding work reflecting some of the best art created by Native
American artists. More than 1,000 are participating in the Saturday
and Sunday market that will fill Santa Fe's Plaza and surrounding
streets.
Emarthle-Douglas, who lives in a Seattle suburb, said she started
taking arts classes almost 20 years ago when her children were small.
Drawing didn't work out for her, so she started taking basket-making
classes and the coiled technique "just clicked" for her, she said.
Her Best of Show winner, though, incorporated a range of additional
techniques, including plaiting and twining
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This
is a detail of the Best of Show winner at this year's Santa
Fe Indian Market, a basket by Carol Emarthle-Douglas (Northern
Arapaho/Seminole).
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whatever was traditional for the tribes represented by
the 11 figures of women circling the sides of her basket. Each figure
carries a small basket of her tribe hanging both inside the outside
the main basket, with many of those made from traditional materials
from seaweed to bark. The tiny baskets attached to the figures range
from a berry basket to a cradleboard.
Dark, repeating patterns across the main basket's bottom represent
the women's footprints, she added. That main basket is constructed
from contemporary materials, she said: hemp with waxed linen thread
wound around it.
Emarthle-Douglas said she started working on it in May. Basket-weavers'
work is so time-consuming it requires a lot of patience both from
them and from their families, she said, thanking her own for their
support. She said she has taken part in Indian Market since 2000
and once before won Best of Classification, but never Best of Show.
Other Best of Classification winners are:
Jewelry: Ernest Benally (Navajo) for a bolo tie with three different
figures in the ornament, the largest of which has jagged arrows
for arms.
Pottery: Nancy Youngblood (Santa Clara Pueblo) for a black pot
adorned with horses and wavy lines. "This is my 41st Indian Market.
The last time I won I was pregnant with my oldest son Chris
who won it (the pottery classification) last year!" she said.
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Nancy
Youngblood (Santa Clara Pueblo) won the best of classification
for pottery at the 2015 Santa Fe Indian Market.
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Paintings, drawings, graphics and photography: David Dalasohya
Jr. (Hopi/Laguna Pueblo) said he was born and raised in southern
California, so he incorporated both urban and Hopi objects in his
painting, including low-riders and katsinas.
Wooden Pueblo figurative carving: Bryant M. Honyouti (Hopi)
adorned with multi-colored figures of katsinas and dancers and more,
along with scenes from Hopi life. He said everything he learned
and that inspired him was taught to him by his father.
Sculpture: Troy Sice (Zuni) for small, carved fetishes of an
owl and mouse engaged in a dance. He said he is the third generation
of traditional fetish carvers, including his grandfather who started
in the 1930s. "He's the foundation for what I do," Sice said.
Textiles: D.Y. Begay (Diné) for a striped blanket in
shades of green, brown and beige. She said she comes from a small
community in Arizona, but most of the time now lives in Santa Fe.
Diverse forms: Jamie and Sandra Okuma (Luiseno/Shoshone Bannock)
combined high fashion with traditional beading, shells and quillwork
in two dresses.
Beadwork and quillwork: Jackie Bread (Blackfeet) from Montana
for a purse with beaded portraits of Native men. "Beadwork takes
a very long time to do," she said. "My family is very supportive
of me."
Youth: Twelve-year-old Camrya Growing Thunder for a colorful
beaded creation featuring Spotted Elk.
Moving image: Kyle Bell (Thlopthlocca) of Oklahoma for "Native
Evolution," a documentary on the street art done by Steven Grounds.
"His work is really unique. I didn't see anyone else doing it,"
Bell said, adding that he started work on the film in January and
just recently finished it. He also advised, "Whether you're a artist,
filmmaker or musician, keep being creative."
Basketry: Best of Show winner Carol Emarthle-Douglas.
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Jamie
and Sandra Okuma (Luiseno/Shoshone Bannock) won the best of
classification for diverse art form with these dresses at
the 2015 Santa Fe Indian Market.
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