Delbert Charging Crow - Oglala Lakota Fetish Carver - Continued

This is part two of a special report on Delbert Charging Crow, Lakota Sioux Native American fetish carver and how he carves. Scroll down to read Part One.

Delbert carves primarily from Pillar (black) slate, Zia alabaster, also called “white buffalo turquoise,” and catlinite (or “pipestone”). Pipestone, used for ceremonial smoking pipes, and representing the blood of the ancestors, is particularly sacred to the plains tribes,

Delbert use a specific carving ritual to invest his fetishes with the spirit and power of the stone. He starts by washing with sweet grass and offering prayers to the Creator, the ancestors and the stone people. He gives an offering of tobacco or other substance to Mother
Earth, thanking her for the precious minerals.

People ask how Delbert decides what animal to carve. His answer is typical of that given by most sculptors. The stone tells them what animal spirit is inside. But, for Delbert, the process is much deeper. Animal spirit is not just the evidence of the animal's presence. It is the animal itself, with all the power and support the animal can bring to the fetish owner.

He starts each carving by “blocking” the stone, removing its outer layer. Once that is done, the carving is placed in water, with a request to the water that it bless the stone. The surface of the stone fetish is smoothed and polished while it is underwater. This encourages the positive energy of the water to enter and be absorbed by the stone. When the smoothing is completed, the carving is held up to the Sun, with the request that the Sunboy drink water from the stone and bless the emerging fetish.

To be continued

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Sal Romero, Cochiti fetish carver, on video

One of our favorite Native American artists is Salvador Romero of Cochiti Pueblo. Sal carves differently from most Zuni fetish carvers. Whereas Zuni fetish carvers tend to carve in special gemstone and other commercial materials, Salvador carves stones and rocks that he harvests from the grounds of his pueblo. In this video, he talks about the process of finding carving material and how it leads him to what to carve.

ZuniLink, a name we chose because the preponderance of fetish carvers are Zuni, carries several pages of Salvador's carvings. Newly acquired one will be posted to the Web site shortly In the meantime, take a look at what's available now from this talented carver.
Thank you.

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Six directions carvings by Brian Yatsattie, Zuni Pueblo, tribal art carver

Images of six directions sets by Brian Yatsattie are posted below.

While in Santa Fe earlier this summer, we encountered the work of Zuni Pueblo Carver, Brian Yatsattie. We had not carried his work before. We were struck by the appeal of his six directions sets carved from antler.

Then, as we walked through the Santo Domingo Pueblo Market, we turned the corner to find him sitting in his booth with his young child on lap.

We were able to convince him to wholesale some of his work to us. After returning to Florida, we received a phone call that he was ready to send us some of his six directions Zuni fetish sets. Three of them later arrived in the mail. We purchased two of them, the third being very similar.

One of the the sets portrayed the six protectors with robes and feathers carved into the bases. The other set had the creatures wrapped in blanket-style robe carving.As background, six directions sets are carved by a few Zuni Pueblo carvers.

They include the eagle, protector of the sky; the bear, protector of the West; the mole, protector of the underworld; the badger, protector of the South; the mountain lion, protector of the North; and the wolf, protector of the East.

In Zuni belief, these animals represent the spiritual strength and power of the ancients. To have them on your side, is to protect yourself from harmful influences.

The eagle brings spirit, vision, truth, and connection withthe Great Spirit.

The mountain lion stands for leadership, traveler protection and success at the hunt.

The bear represents strength of soul, inner power, introspection and healing.

The badger is known for aggressiveness and perseverance.

The wolf is considered the teacher, the pathfinder, the source of clarity and survival.

The mole protects the crops.

Recently, at our request for a taller set, Brian Yatsattie sent us another set of six directional animals. Whereas the first two sets stood about 3 1/2" tall, the new set's creatures are 7" tall.Now, if you are interested in these sets, and in looking more closely at the individual pieces in each set, make a visit to our ZuniLink web site and click on the link to six directions carvings

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New Salvador Romero Cochiti fetish carvings are online

We love Salvador Romero and his work. It's always a pleasure to see him, as we did again this year in Santa Fe. After a nice - too much nice- breakfast, Salvador opened his trunk and brought out the carvings he had created for us.

Here are a few examples, which have been added to Salvador's pages on our ZuniLink web site:

A Raven in Pueblo Stone

Here's a prairie dog, those denizens of the desert










Here's a family of bears, Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear








A horse, a horse. Salvador does a horse.







An eagle stands alertly, waiting for someone to claim it.













Here's a hawk in sandstone.









The badger is a fearsome protector among fetish animals. You can see why.






A wise owl materializes from Pueblo stone.










And there are more. Click on the images to go to the appropriate page at ZuniLink.

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New from Delbert ChargingCrow

One of our first objectives in New Mexico was to locate the work of Delbert Charging Crow. Delbert was visiting family in North Dakota, so we were directed to a third party that had saved some carvings that we could buy.

We will present them here without further description. If you see something you are interested in, call us at 800-305-0185 and we can give you more information and arrange a purchase.

Or check our website at ZuniLink for more Delbert ChargingCrow carvings.

RJ37

RJ36

Rj35

RJ34

RJ33

RJ32

RJ31

RJ30

RJ29

RJ28

RJ27

RJ26

RJ25

RJ24

RJ23

RJ22

RJ21

RJ20

Rj19

RJ18

RJ17

RJ16

RJ15

RJ14
RJ13

RJ12

RJ11

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Who is Emery Eriacho?

Emery Eriacho is one of the most productive fetish carvers at Zuni.

But he didn’t grow up there. His childhood home was in Southern California.

As a teenager, Emery came across some Zuni bear carvings in a nearby shop. He was so taken by them that he decided to move back to Zuni and become a carver.

His success in that endeavor is apparent in the beauty and abundance of his work.

Emery’s early mentors were Andres Quam and Daisy Natewa. Traces of that past can still be seen in his work.

But he certainly has established his own style and following.

We have many of Emery’s carvings in stock and many customers who collect his work, especially his bears.

A hallmark of his work is his ability to find the finest quality stones, be they turquoise, malachite, serpentine, Picasso marble, pipestone (Catlinite) or others.

This is accentuated by a deft handling of the stone to find the most moving presentation of the stone’s grain or matrix.

The bear is widely regarded as a creature of healing. With his special gift, Emery is able to transmit that spirit to any owner who seeks and believes in it.

Occasionally, Emery is assisted by his wife, Glenetta, who polishes and secures the offering bundles, and his brother Jeff., who helps with polishing. More and more, however, Jeff Eriacho is doing his own carvings. He is following the tradition of creativity trail-blazed by Emery.

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Offered as an informative service by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its related online galleries: ZuniLink, TribalWorks, Native-PotteryLink and Native-JewelryLink.

You are invited to visit all, but especially the three pages of Emery Eriacho carvings at ZuniLink.

Thank you.

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In Search of Sammy Smith, Navajo carver

It started before we traveled to Santa Fe this year.

A customer told us that she had seen a carving by Sammy Smith that she was interested in buying but it had already been sold by the store where she was shopping.

We were slightly acquainted with Sammy’s work but it was the result of the rare carving of his that we picked up through trusted third-party wholesalers.

Based on her request, we set out to find Sammy Smith, introduce ourselves personally and purchase a carving similar to the one the customer was looking for.
We finally found Sammy (pictured here) in Gallup, New Mexico, at small workshop on Route 66. (The legendary Route 66, where millions have gotten "their kicks", runs through the heart of Gallup.)

We walked into a veritable feast of carvings, each one more fascinating than the last. Once we started, we put aside dozens of carvings. We were particularly struck by his horses.

We have several collectors who are horse lovers. A few of them asked us to look for horse carvings that they could add to their collections. Sammy Smith gave us a big head start.

Here are a few examples of Sammy Smith’s wonderful carvings:

We start with Sammy Smith's statuesque Picasso marble horse.

Not a horse, but how clever is this pipestone donkey by Sammy Smith?

Rainbow calsilica forms a Sammy Smith owl with incredible "camouflage".

Sammy Smith is a stand-up guy when it comes to this Picasso marble turtle.

Sammy Smith had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as marble.

These and other carvings by Sammy Smith can be found in more variation and with complete details about size and price at

http://www.zunilink.com/Sammy-Smith-Navajo-Fetish-Carvings.htm

When you visit, be sure to click through to Sammy's second and third pages as well.

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