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.

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Brian Yatsattie tells about his Zuni fetish art.

During our travels in the Southwest, we found Brian Yatsattie at his home. We have carried Brian's Zuni fetish carvings for a while, having first met him at the Santo Domingo Arts & Crafts Festival in 2009. His six directions carvings, created in antler are still available on our web site.

This year, we acquired more Zuni fetishes from him and also had an opportunity to videotape him outside of his home, which now is on San Felipe Pueblo. Here is the Brian Yatsattie in his own words.



Brian's new Zuni carvings will soon be posted at http://www.ZuniLink.com. Come back and look in a few days.

Thank you.

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Tribal art loses a great and talented Zuni artist

We were saddened, as were all of our friends and associates in Zuni and the field of Zuni art, to learn that Jeff Tsalabutie was killed in an truck accident early this week. All details are not available and, out of respect for Zuni traditions, we held back on this announcement for a period of grieving.

And grieve we do.

Jeff was more than a fine carver with a whimsical and creative style.

He was a friend.

Whenever we would see him in Zuni, Albuquerque or Santa Fe, we always were greeted with a huge smile and a hearty "Hello, how are you?"

We enjoyed being with him, even on those occasions when he had sold out his work by the time got to him. He was instrumental in our ability to meet other young, talented Zuni carvers, who we are sure will miss him as much or more than we will.

We send our condolences to Jeff's wife and son and other members of his extended family.

Rest well, Jeff. You have left behind an inspiration for all who create.

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Zuni fetish carvers the Waites bought from this week

Greetings:
We have been poor bloggers over the last few days because of a high level of other activity and the difficulty in getting good internet connections. (Our guest house still doesn't have it reinstalled - a real bummer.)


But here is an update on our activities at Zuni Pueblo last Thursday and Friday.


We were able to meet with all of the carvers pictured below. We thought you might enjoy seeing photos of the carvers whose work you are buying.

Andres Quandelacy

Calvin Weeka


Carl Etsate

Collin Weeka

Daphne Quam



Efran Chavez



Ernie Mackel



Eugine Quandelacy



Fernando Laiwakete


In the interest of keeping each blog post to a reasonable length, I will close this album now and post a follow-up album with more pictures of the carvers we engaged this week.

Shortly, carvings from these artists and others will be posted to ZuniLink, your link to the latest and best in Zuyni and other fetish carvings. Check back.

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