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Showing posts with label Zuni fetishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zuni fetishes. Show all posts

Todd Westika talks about his special chess set



One of the highlights at Indian Market in 2011 was a conversation with Todd Westika in which he told us about a special request he received from a deployed US serviceman for a custom designed chess set. It's an interesting story, as recorded on videotape (below)







Here's a still photo of the chess set, taken at Zuni.



We also acquired a number of Todd Westika's new Zuni fetish carvings, which will be posted to our ZuniLink.com in a couple of weeks.

The World of Oglala Lakota Sioux Fetish Carvings and Delbert Charging Crow

The Zuni people of New Mexico rightfully hold the claim to being the original and most prolific carvers of stone fetishes. Their cosmology and carving traditions go back eons, based on religious beliefs associated with their origins as a people.


Delbert Charging Crow, however, is not Zuni. He is Oglala Lakota Sioux. Yet his carvings are respected by their owners not only for their inventiveness and artistry, but also for their spiritual, protective and healing powers.


A while back, my wife Susanne and I sat with Delbert to discuss his carving, his history and his spirituality. Before we get into that discussion, let's go back to the first time we encountered Delbert's work. It was in an Albuquerque NM Old Town gallery. We were “knocked out” by the quality of the carving and the indefinable appeal the pieces had for us. Since we never acquire any art that doesn't move us personally, we immediately sensed that his carvings were calling out to us, asking us to add them to our collection and our world.


After selecting a few to take with us, we asked where we might find Delbert so that we could tell him how taken we were with his artistry. “He frequently eats at the Church Street Cafe. You might ask them?” It being lunchtime anyway, we walked over to the Cafe and, as if it was preordained, there he was sitting at a table in the front courtyard.


We introduced ourselves, told him of our recent purchases and expressed our interest in seeing him and his work again.


After that, Delbert left our radar screen. We were unable to contact him at telephone numbers he had given us. Attempts to reach him suggested that he might have returned to his homeland in South Dakota.


Two years later, we were searching for Delbert's work again. By now, the original resource was no longer carrying his carvings.. In his free-spirited way, Delbert was on the move. We received a tip that another Old Town gallery had some of his carvings available. As we visited that gallery, Delbert appeared again - out of the blue. No one had called to tell him where we were. He found us anyway, apparently guided by some unseen force.


(To be continued)


ZuniLink.com has one of the largest and most comprehensive selections of Delbert Charging Crow fetish carvings online

New Dee Edaakie Carvings

We are working fast and furiously, well, not "furiously", more like joyously, to post up new fetish carvings that we acquired this summer for our ZuniLink web site.

The latest batch is from Dee Edaakie.

Here are three examples:

Buffalo in boulder opal

Standing bear in Chiapas amber

Bear in picture rock

Since we are running late, we are marking down all of Dee's work, even his older pieces, by 25% just through Friday, November 26.

If you see one (or more) that you want to buy at this special discounted price, use the order code "DeeLights" when you order. The discount will be applied to your purchase.

To see more of Dee's work, go to ZuniLink and look through Dee's pages.

Lena Boone, Zuni fetish carver, talks about her family and carving.

Lena Boone has long been one of our favorite Zuni carvers. We meet her early in our pursuit of wonderful Zuni fetishes, possibly 20 years ago.

Lena is very productive, very gracious, and very giving of her love, care and attention to others.

She also is very unassuming.

An unfortunate aspect of In this video, during which she talks about her family, both ancestral and current, is my difficulty in arranging a proper video interview venue. Once she agreed, I had to settle for the venue at hand. It was a noisy booth at this year's Indian Market (2010).

The background sound is terrible, and I have not figured out how to filter it out, if that is even possible. If I do, I will re-post the video at a later time.

But for now, please listen carefully and learn about Lena's connection to the legendary Teddy Weahkie, one of the original Zuni fetish carvers, and how she fosters the talent of youngsters who have been in her care.

She is a truly remarkable woman.

You may see many pieces by Lena Boone on her pages at ZuniLink.com - click on one of her pages in the left hand navigation column. Then click on additional pages (there are five) as you go.

You may also use the search box on the Zuni Link home page and enter "Boone" too access carvings by her and Leland Boone, Emery Boone and Evalena Boone.

A fetish carving by Lena Boone not only brings traditional Zuni values of healing and protection but also carries the personal spirit and caring of Lena herself.


Thank you.

Zuni fetish carver, Burt Awelagte, tells about his carvings

While we were in Zuni and Gallup for the InterTribal, we visited Burt Awelagte in his home on the Zuni Pueblo. Here is what he had to say about his materials, his tools, his art and his vision. Fascinating!

More of Burt's Zuni fetish carvings will soon be posted on our ZuniLink website. Make a point to visit it in the future. Thank you

Meet Dee Edaakie, Zuni Pueblo fetish carver.

Today, we met with Dee Edaakie, one of our favorite Zuni carvers. We enjoy Dee both because of his superb and inventive carving and because he is a genuinely nice person. He came to our Santa Fe casita, accompanied by his young daughter. We purchased four carvings from him, and induced him to tell you about them in this video.



We hope that getting to know the carvers we work with and who we support will give you an even better sense of what Zuni fetish carvings are about. You will see more of Dee Edaakie's work and that of other carvers at ZuniLink, our web site featuring these outstanding works and the artists that create them.