South West Native Art

The South West is where traditional arts are still a vibrant force, as almost every native art once known to have been common is still continued.

The people of this area generally practised agriculture and lived in settled villages.

These groups cultivated cotton to be spun into yarn and used a back strap loom with heddles. After sheep were introduced the Navajo adopted wool for weaving intricately patterned rugs and blankets.

Many designs for blankets were adapted from the ritual sand paintings of the Navajo.

The Navajo people have made perhaps the greatest achievements in this art; their textiles range in color, design, and variety of weave from the thick, heavy rug to tightly spun and woven blankets of astonishing fineness.

The Hopi, Pueblo and Zuni developed brilliantly carved and ornamented Kachina dolls to represent living spirits that come out of the mountains to visit the tribes.

Another example of Navajo adaptation is the Silver working developed to a level of fine art mostly as jewelry.

This art, which they mastered in the mid-nineteenth century by watching Mexican iron workers, has become today a basic craft and economic standby for which they are world famous.

Realistic stone carving of animals was done to evoke the spirits. Pipes of significant spiritual and cultural importance were made from stone as well as bone.

Basketry is an active craft primarily among the Hopi, Apache, and Papago people today, although formerly many other tribes, particularly the Pima, produced excellent weaves.

Yet this was never a more outstanding an art in the Southwest as it became in California, than that of pottery, where a truly notable tradition can be traced far back into prehistoric times.

In this region pottery making developed with graphic, geometric designs.

All of the South western arts show a wealth of vibrancy, life, and color expressed in a wholly individual manner, and most of them have a long tradition behind them, usually extending into prehistory.

Painting is known to have been practised in ancient times; these works were usually done on rocks and in caves.

South western artists covered the walls of their sacred chambers called Kivas with images of spirits and everyday life.

Arts - Crafts - Gifts - Posters

• Native Art Gallery. Learn about native american indian culture & traditions, American Indian languages, arts & crafts, and native american history from the tribal perspective. Current events, news, stories & issues of concern to native americans. Education for non-indians on cultures, beliefs & perspectives of the indigenous native americans of North America.
• Gallery Canada works directly with the Inuit artists of the Central Arctic and we offer a diverse range of stone carvings and sculptures, prints, paintings, jewelry and tapestries to satisfy the needs of all Inuit Art collectors as well as discriminating gift and corporate buyers.
• Posters and Prints on North American native art and culture can be viewed here, just type in your interest in the search box on this page.