Shoes | Powwow Love Drama

"Powwow Love Drama"
Experimental Ledger art custom shoes by Orlando Obie Begay

Speaking of Navajo... Men of the Navajo Launch Calendar

So, last week I was on a plane, and the girl in the seat in front of me had a magazine. I couldn't help but peep her zine since I haven't really engaged in non-academic reading in quite some time.

She was reading an article about Blake Lively. I don't know who this person is, but the magazine said she dates the hottest guys. Yeah, the hottest. So I'm like "ooh, the hottest?!?" and I adjust my seat to get a better view of the spread. Turns out that Blake dates only white guys, and white guys, dear Popular Culture Magazine, are not the hottest guys.

Case in point - the Men of the Navajo have just released their 2012 calendar. Women on the Facebook page for the Men of the Navajo are rawring at the photos. One commentor even said, "He's hot! Almost as hot as fry bret!" Now that is HOT.

The Men of the Navajo calendar features handsome Native American men from across the Navajo reservation. This attractive and entertaining calendar reveals the modern spirit of today's Navajo men. I hope other Native nations pick up on this calendar trend (hint hint Chippewa and Cree).

Click here to get your Men of the Navajo 2012 Calendar.

Navajo Calls Out Urban Outfitters For Its Products

Click the link below to read some more news about the Navajo / Urban Outfitters situation - I'm quoted!:

Navajo calls out Urban Outfitters for its products

If you happen to find yourself bored, just go and google the words Navajo Urban Outfitters - there have been many recent news posts about it!

I'm happy to see Native people standing up against big coorporations who seek to continue the legacy of misappropriation, misuse of Native designs, and misrepresentation of 'the Native' in mass media. Enough is enough. And for those of you who think that this stuff is NOT important, you should read up on how stereotypes, and racist language and misrepresentation in mass media HARMS Native rights.

The articles all basically say the same thing, but here's the list!

These articles reprint the above article:

Fox News (Fox News! I know right?! And OF COURSE they had to put the word 'disrespectful' in air quotes.): Navajo Nation Fights Urban Outfitters Over 'Disrespectful' Clothing Line

The Christian Science Monitor (The Christian Science Monitor! I know right!?): Urban Outfitters Navajo line draws criticism from Navajo Nation

ABC News (ABC!): Navajo Calls out Urban Outfitters for Its Products

The Seattle Times: Tribe blasts Urban Outfitters on 'Navajo' items

These articles take some other spins:

Jezebel (Jezebel always breaks it down. I wish I was half as badass as they are.): Urban Outfitter’s ‘Navajo’ Problem Becomes A Legal Issue

Jezebel: Urban Outfitters And The Navajo Nation: What Does The Law Say? (Oh man, this article.. this article looks at 'the law'. The legit legal aspects of this 'case.' And, I gotta say, if 'the law' sides with Urban Outfitters, I will throw a holy fit. Yes, a holy one.)

Jezebel: The Most WTF Navajo-Inspired Clothing And Accessories (ha.)

Time (Time! as in, Time Magazine! The magazine that my mom subscribes to.): Urban Outfitters Taken to Task for Faux 'Navajo' Products

Star Tribune: Urban Outfitters' hipster panty is a Navajo no-no (Excellent, excellent title.)

Fronteras Desk: Navajo Nation: Urban Outfitters Must Change Clothing Line (Great audio too, and they quote my good friend Kerry Thompson! A Navajo smarty-pants and someone I've always looked up to.)

Dallas Blog: Navajo Indians Call for Underwear Boycott (Now this title is a little wonky...)

Racked: Could Urban Outfitters' Navajo Hipster Panty Actually Be Illegal? (Yes, could a panty be illegal?!)

And perhaps the most important article: Indian Country Today: What’s Next for the Urban Outfitters Navajo Case? (Adrienne Keene)

UPDATE:

Indian Country Today: So-Called Navajo Products Vanish from Urban Outfitters Website

Phoenix New Times: Urban Outfitters Pulls Navajo Name from Collection; Heard Museum Weighs in on Native-Inspired Fashion That Should Be Produced

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Companies Switch from 'Navajo' to 'Southwestern'
Fashionista: Barneys’ Amanda Brooks Writes Tone Deaf ‘Navajo Nation’ Post: Can the Fashion Industry Stop Describing Trends as ‘Navajo’? (Yes, We’re Guilty Too)

Urban Outfitters' products have been the subject of multiple controversies, particularly concerning religious and ethnic issues. mmhmmm. Click here to read a list of Urban Outfitters' "Product Controversies."

Urban Outfitters, You Ain't Navajo

Oh man, what do you get when you combine Urban Outfitters with the critical minds of Jezebel, Racialicious, Native Appropriations, and Indian lawyers?! - this little ditty below.

Urban Outfitters- Don't claim Navajo, unless it's Navajo, and you ain't Navajo. So knock if off.

Urban Outfitter’s ‘Navajo’ Problem Becomes A Legal Issue
Sasha Houston Brown of Minneapolis published a strongly worded open letter to Urban Outfitters yesterday at Racialicious. Brown, who directly addresses C.E.O. Glen Senk, takes the clothing chain to task for its appropriation of Native American arts and crafts, and its frequent use of the word "Navajo" in product names and descriptions...
Click here to read the whole article.

Neo-Navajo fashion: Trend or tradition?

This article was just published yesterday, in The Arizona Republic. The article asks Navajos what they think about the 'Navajo' trend in fashion, and they interview awesome folks like Jaclyn Roessel and Melissa Cody.

Neo-Navajo fashion: Trend or tradition?by Jaimee Rose

And now, from the people who think they know everything about what we should be wearing, comes a new trend about which we Arizonans might know a bit more.

At Neiman Marcus, just racks away from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's latest leather offering, there's a kicky cashmere shift dress - all geometry in deep red, black and cream - that looks exactly like the Navajo blanket on display in the Heard Museum (hand-loomed in 1880, just so you know).

At Forever 21 in Scottsdale, mannequins wear $8 feather necklaces while posed in positions not unlike a ceremonial dance - and the sign in the window says "Into the Wild." (Made in China, and you don't want to know.)

Diane von Furstenberg is on a $365 "Native Hound" print parade. September style magazines trumpet the look with multipage shopping guides headlined "Hail to the Chief." Teenagers are buying woolly shawls. Shawls!

From the omnivorous minds of fashion designers, who want us in soldier chic one minute and Bollywood brilliance the next, a communal word emerged as the Gospel of Fall: "neo-Navajo!" they declared, flinging Navajo iconography all across the mall.

There are arrows on bracelets and medallions on miniskirts and woven patterns on skinny jeans that cost $660 at Barneys New York.

Even this: "Navajo Hipster Panties," at Urban Outfitters, printed with zigzags and stars, which an online reviewer loves because they make her "bum look delicious." Ahem.

It's such a fashion buzzword that a solid-blue robe at Target is christened "Navajo Navy" - a color we thought was named after a military branch of the USA.

So we have questions. We have questions for the fashion folks and questions for magazine editors.

We wonder what the people who write product descriptions for Intermix were thinking when they penned "The new Navajo: ethnic Aztec inspiration" (different country, different tribe).

We are not sure it was in the best taste for Urban Outfitters to offer a Navajo-inspired flask, because there's a history there. It's complicated.

And we are dying to hear from the Navajo people themselves - who would be well within their rights to have their Navajo hipster panties in a twist, considering the Telegraph newspaper in London told its readers to "channel your inner Pocahontas."

Pocahontas wasn't Navajo. She was from Virginia.

Lost in translation
"It's funny, being Navajo and seeing this. I was looking online, and there was, like, a Navajo tube top," says Jaclyn Roessel, 28, who grew up learning to weave on the reservation and now works in education programming at the Heard Museum.

She sees girls her age wearing the look everywhere: feather earrings for a dinner downtown, or Navajo prints on the light rail, where she spotted an Arizona State University student in a dress so gorgeous that Roessel wished it was hers.

"It was so pretty, but I don't know - I don't know if I could pull it off," Roessel says, and she's not sure she should try.

This modern moment is an odd twist for Navajoland, where parents and politicians alike worry endlessly about too much USA leaking onto their 17.2 million-acre homeland - a wide corner of Arizona where wandering sheep and red rocks reign supreme.

Navajos wage a constant cultural battle to defend their traditional beliefs and Native language against the influx of 2011, which wants the kids to believe in Beyoncé, and sing along to "Run the World."

They're used to selling their kids on their culture, not being the stars of the mall.

So Roessel has questions of her own. For example: Do those fashion folks in New York think that all her people are dead?

"I wonder whether they understand that Navajo is even . . . a living culture," Roessel says, "and that there are women today who wear outfits with these designs on them because they mean something."

In their lust to sell "Navajo" as the perfect blend of bohemian-exotic cool, the fashion elite may not have realized that those stacked triangles and jagged edges are symbols, and that they stand for something else.

The symmetrical pattern on a cashmere cardigan at Neiman Marcus comes from the careful symmetry of Navajo rugs, which Roessel says pay homage to the Navajo convention of leading a balanced life. (This may not recommend spending $517 on a sweater.)

The stacked triangles on blouses at H&M could be interpreted as clouds, which bring rain to the crops of Navajoland and, therefore, food to the tribe's tables. (Fashion and dinnertime have never understood one another.)

And consider the Navajo Hipster Panty: Those zigzags often stand for lightning, explains Roessel. Her people wear the symbol as an emblem of protection. The star design nods to the four sacred mountains on each corner of the sacred Navajo homeland.

Translation: Those undies are protecting something sacred indeed.

Behold, the trendiest chastity belt of all time.

A caveat: No one would be safe trying to precisely dictate the intended meaning of Navajo symbols or rugs, says Ann Hedlund, a University of Arizona anthropology professor, tapestry expert and curator of ethnology at the Arizona State Museum.

Navajo is an unwritten oral culture passed down through generations of storytellers, and things tend to shift during flight. Also, there are times that Navajo weavers put triangles and zigzags on things for other reasons, Roessel says, possibly because they just look pretty on the rug. Or, the meanings could change based on the context of the entire composition. .

Everything is complicated.

Designer labels
"Neo-Navajo": whither, and why?

"I wouldn't say a bunch of fashion editors got together and said, 'Let's name this. What should we call it?' " says Tracey Lomrantz, an editor at Glamour magazine in New York, which dedicated eight pages of its August/September issue to the Navajo look. "But this way, we sort of encapsulate it and make it easier to understand.

"Everyone naturally gravitated toward the word neo-Navajo because (the look) is a new interpretation," Lomrantz says. "It's not a costume. The cuts are very modern, and the tailoring - it still looks like 2011.

"In fashion, nothing is new, but this is the most literal interpretation that we've seen of Navajo . . . and this Navajo theme kept resonating with a lot of different designers."

On the list: Proenza Schouler, Isabel Marant, even rocker-turned-fashionista Gwen Stefani and her L.A.M.B. line. And none of the above would give us an interview to discuss naming and inspiration. Perhaps it's complicated.

We did, however, receive an offer to publicize trendy labels with the following pitch from a fashion house in New York:

"Pay homage to our past while looking marvelously modern with Navajo-inspired styles from Chelsea Flower, Love Sam, DL1961 Premium Denim & Cult of Individuality . . . On-trend and simply chic - minus the Headdress. Pack the teepee (or the closet) with (items) that will be sure to become closet staples."

Teepee? Headdress?

Hail to the grief.

Lomrantz says designers are getting their Navajo notions from all kinds of places, like the work of Ralph Lauren, that Great Spirit of Native-inspired work, who has been extolling the virtues of the Southwest for years. (Did you see him chatting up Oprah Winfrey at his Colorado ranch? Did you see the Navajo rug in the background? He didn't want to talk to us either.)

Also, Lomrantz says, significant designer inspiration comes from the Parisian fabric markets held each year, where designers wander and select their wares. Navajo is huge in France.

Finally, she says, "the most important thing in fashion right now is the idea of a global marketplace, and the desire to travel to understand other cultures."

What not to wear
In the spirit of promoting understanding of the fashion culture, we wish to offer you Lomrantz's advice: Should you wish to go neo-Navajo, do so with discretion.

"Rather than going head-to-toe and being mistaken for an actual Navajo, I think accessories are a great place to start," she says. "Maybe a belt or a piece of jewelry. And I am really loving the fringed suede booties.

"This is not meant to be a costume."

To wit: A few weeks ago, Roessel was in Phoenix, walking to dinner with a friend, and spotted a girl gone wild: "She had feather earrings, and a headband, and sandals with fringe, and it was quite over-the-top, like Native American Fashion Night," Roessel says.

"Now, I love fashion and I love to dress up, but if she was in Glamour, you'd have had the black bar over her (eyes)."

The Navajo now
And in the spirit of promoting understanding of the actual Navajo culture, we introduce you to Melissa Cody, an actual neo-Navajo, if there were such a thing. She is 28, originally from Leupp, on the reservation, and creates weavings that hang in the Navajo museum and the tribal president's office, too. Her work sells for $2,000 per square foot.

Recently, she wove caution tape into a rug so cool that, if Urban Outfitters could see it, we fear for the hipster panties that could come forth. It was a tribute to her father, and what she found in his toolbox.

"I'm a fourth-generation weaver," Cody says. "It started off with my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mom and her sisters, and then myself. We all grew up weaving.

"It is one of the few links that I do have to my culture. I wasn't raised in the traditional religious background. I don't identify with the different ceremonies or songs. I'm not fluent in my language, and I can't converse with my grandma, but we speak the same language in terms of weaving and textile. It's something I hold very dear to my heart."

It's not exactly "the traditional way" to make a rug out of caution tape, Cody says, or to put Pac-Man into your pattern, like 30-year-old weaving celeb Sierra Teller Ornelas did, or to make street-style T-shirts with chiefs on the back and "Noble Savage" on the front, like Cody's friend Jeremy Arviso, 32, did.

But being Navajo now means continuing the culture war by making the traditional arts interesting and relevant to younger generations, and in that way, preserving the Navajo story.

"Neo-Navajo is embracing everything around us, and that's not new," the Heard Museum's Roessel says. "But now it means using social media and film and video games - that give-and-take of adapting things from American culture to make them uniquely ours.

"Neo-Navajo is that push, and understanding that you're part of both worlds."

The last time Cody showed her grandmother something wild she'd dreamed up, her mother translated her grandmother's reaction:

"I'm going to copy that," the elder Navajo said.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8923 or jaimee.rose@arizonarepublic.com.

Native Appropriations Takes Down Urban Outfitters

(Urban Outfitters' "Navajo Socks" ain't Navajo, just fyi)

Aw snap! Adrienne Keene over at Native Appropriations is on an Urban Outfitters Take-Down mission! (and I LOVE IT.)

Keene has called out Urban Outfitters many times in the past two years for their shameless attempts at appropriating (and misrepresenting - oh, and profitting off of) Native cultures.

Her latest post looks at UO's use of the word 'Navajo.' She says it best: "Urban Outfitters is Obsessed with Navajos." Unfortunately, they're not the first to be obsessed with Indians. But that's a different story.

Keene says: "A search for "Cherokee" on the Urban Outfitters website reveals 1 result. A search for "Tribal": 15. A search for "Native": 10. "Indian": 2. But Navajo? 24 products have Navajo in the name alone."

She goes through the women's section, chucking all of the Native-inspired items into her online cart, and ends up with a whopping 58-item cart! Good lawrd, 58! (I'm semi-curious what the grand total of this cart was, considering that we ALL KNOW that economics factor into this whole deal in a crazy effed-up way).

Keene then focuses on a particular (bad) trend - the over-use (and mis-use, tsk tsk) of the word Navajo.

Then, she tells us that the Navajo Nation has actually trademarked 12 derivatives of the word "Navajo". That's right kids. This word is trademarked. And the Navajo Nation Attorney General sent a cease and desist letter to Urban Outfitters. Daaaaang. Cut.it.out!

Here's part of the letter:
"Your corporation’s use of Navajo will cause confusion in the market and society concerning the source or origin of your corporation’s products. Consumers will incorrectly believe that the Nation has licensed, approved, or authorized your corporation’s use of the Navajo name and trademarks for its products - when the Nation has not - or that your corporation’s use of Navajo is an extension of the Nation’s family of trademarks - which it is not. This is bound to cause confusion, mistake, or deception with respect to the source or origin of your goods. This undermines the character and uniqueness of the Nation’s long-standing distinctive Navajo name and trademarks, which—because of its false connection with the Nation—dilutes and tarnishes the name and trademarks. Accordingly, please immediately cease and desist using the Navajo name and trademark with your products.

As a Nation with a distinguished legacy and unmistakable contemporary presence, the Nation is committed to retaining this distinction and preventing inaccuracy and confusion in society and the market The Nation must maintain distinctiveness and clarity of valid association with its government, its institutions, its entities, its people, and their products in commerce. When an entity attempts to falsely associate its products with the Nation and its products, the Nation does not regard this as benign or trivial. TheNation remains firmly committed to the cancellation of all marks that attempt to falsely associate with the institution, its entities, its people or its products. Accordingly, immediately cease and desist using Navajo with your products."

Read the whole wonderful Native Appropriations post by clicking here. And remember, truly awesome Navajo fashion designers exist, just go on and click here to see some super cool stuff that isn't wack.

Some History | Miss Navajo Nation

It's Navajo Nation Fair time! And the folks over at Indian Country Today posted a cool article on the annual event.

The Navajo Nation Fair draws about 15,000 visitors a day to Window Rock, Arizona, the Capitol of the Navajo Nation. The week-long fair kicks off on the Monday after Labor day, September 5. It is the largest American Indian Fair and Rodeo in the Southwestern United States, and consists of over two dozen events that extend over the seven day period.

With a rodeo, arts market, Miss Navajo competition, powwow, parade, and a fashion show, I'm sad that I'm going to be missing the Fair again this year.

I decided to do a post on the Miss Navajo Nation competition because, in addition to demonstrating their skills as supremo Navajo chicks, these young ladies get to rock some awesome tradish fashion. To learn more about the Miss Navajo competition, I highly recommend that you check out the documentary film, Miss Navajo (see the trailer below). It offers an insider's glimpse into this important event, which consists of criteria that you don't get to see in your typical beauty competition, and the contestants are judged on their cultural knowledge and Navajo language skills.

For more than 50 years, the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant has given its contestants opportunities to showcase not only their beauty but also their skills in dance, music and sheep slaughtering. Following contestants in their quest for the crown, and featuring personal stories of recent winners, Miss Navajo is a celebration of womanhood.

The first ever Miss Navajo was Dr. Beulah Melvin Allen, who was 23 when she was crowned. She went on to become a doctor. Very badass, Dr. Allen!

The second Miss Navajo was Ida Gail Organick, who reigned from 1953 to 1954. Lookin good among those canyons Miss Ida Gail!

Miss Navajo, 1963-64, Anna Mae Begay Fowler was the first to rock the Miss Navajo crown. When Fowler competed, there were two categories - modern and traditional - and Fowler competed in both. In the traditional category, she had to demonstrate her skills in weaving and singing. For the modern competition, her skills included typing, sewing and public speaking.

This jazzy lady is Rose Ann Bekis Kenneth, who reigned as Miss Navajo from 1969 to 1970.

About her time as Miss Navajo 1979-80, Freda Nells said, "I have benefited enormously from the reigning as the ambassador of one of the largest Native American Indian people. The experience has showed me confidence, independence, ambition, respect, and set a goal for my future. With that in mind I continued my education."

Sunny Dooley, Miss Navajo 1982-83, is a storyteller, poet, playwright, workshop facilitator, lecturer and Navajo folksinger. Multi-talented!

About the importance of basketry, Karen Leuppe, Miss Navajo Nation 1994-95 (aka Miss Awesome Hair), said, “The center of the basket represents the existence of a child and the spiral extending outward from the center represents the learning environment provided at home and in the community. The coils and stitches binding them together remind us that everything in the environment is connected and ensures the child is living in harmony and peace with family and nature.”

The 46th Miss Navajo was Radmilla Cody. She says, "My grandmother raised me herding sheep, weaving rugs, and speaking the Navajo language being that was our source of communication. I dealt with a lot growing up half black and half Navajo."

Her goals during her reign included working closely with youth, parents and elders. "The youth because they are the perserverance of who we are as Dine' people. The parents because they are the role models and communicators within the home. The elders because they are valuable resources and the roots of our people." She also advocated for community programs that dealt with issues such as Child Abuse/Neglect, Elderly Abuse/Neglect, Domestic Violence, Gang Activity, Natural Resources and Alcoholism/Substance Abuse.

Another doctor, Karletta 'Daane' Chief was Miss Navajo 2000-2001. Chief said, "As my grandmother and my family have encouraged me and have been my role models, I hope that I can give back to my people in the same way, to be a role model to young Navajo children, and to preserve our language, our culture, and our land."

Last year's winner was Winifred Bessie Jumbo from Two Grey Hills, NM. Jumbo will pass on the crown this week to a new Miss Navajo Nation, and continue the legacy of encouraging and celebrating the strength and importance of women as cultural bearers and cultural bridges.

Click here to read more about the Miss Navajo competition and history.

Review | Fifth Annual Highland Native Leadership Council Fashion Show

Review on the “Fifth Annual Native American Fashion Show”
by Cheyenne Beardsley
for NATV 450 (University of New Mexico)

I attended the “Fifth Annual Native American Fashion Show” held at the UNM Continuing Education Building on March 24th, 2011. The event was sponsored by the Highland Native American Leadership Council. This was only the second Native fashion event I have ever attended. When I first arrived right at 6pm when the show was supposed to start there were not many people there. However when the show started one of the MC’s mentioned that usually people trickle in as the show progresses and sure enough by the end there were a lot more seats filled. One thing I noticed right off the bat was that most of the MC’s were young people—high school age mostly. I thought that really reflected an investment in youth and leadership from the people who were running the show.

The show included four main designers who were Shayne Watson, Shirley Pino, the Glacsy Company, and lastly Penny Singer. There were over thirty models, including men, women, and children who were showing off the designer’s work. The show began with pieces by various designers and the first category was “Traditional”. It was a man’s traditional outfit but unfortunately I didn’t catch which tribe the outfit was from. The MC said the outfit was meant to reflect a “proud heritage in the US marine corps”. Following that was a woman’s traditional outfit from the Potawatomie tribe. It was inspired from the 1930s era and I noticed it included a lot of floral designs.

The first designer, Shayne Watson (an award-winning designer), had really beautiful pieces. I think his designs were my favorite. His models wore contemporary pieces inspired by traditional designs from the Navajo and Potawatomie tribes and Santo Domingo Pueblo. His outfits included broom skirts, velvet and silk tops, silver beads, evening wear, and my favorites Pendleton jackets with hoods. I want to buy one of those!

The second designer up was Shirley Pino. The first models to come out modeling her designs were two little Cowboys wearing western style clothing that was according to the MC “inspired by George Strait”. I liked that she had designs for men, women and children. Some of her most interesting pieces were her men’s pieces, such as the shoulder collar with feathers. I had never seen anything like that, but it seemed very Native couture. I also really liked one of her male feast shirts that had “rasta” colors (red, yellow, and green). The description given for that shirt was that it was for an “unafraid” Pueblo man to wear—unafraid to express a unique style I’m guessing.

Next was the Glacsy Company which seemed to be a conglomerate of various designers rather than just one. Most of the Glacsy designs were really modern. Many of there weren’t obviously tied to traditional designs, but they were all by Native designers I believe. Lastly there was Penny Singer. Her designs incorporated a lot of animal motifs and she seemed to draw inspiration from a lot of sources. She had things such as a ribbon shirt inspired by turquoise jewelry, a vest that was inspired by “goats that love corn”, a butterfly vest, a ribbon shirt with the Steelers logo, and a jacket inspired by a Navajo rug.

Fashion shows are not necessarily something I would normally go to just for fun, but I’m glad we had to for this class because I really enjoyed it and I think I might go again next year if I get the chance. I think my favorite part was seeing the multitude of ways in which Native designers are expressing their creativity and reflecting their culture and traditions through their clothing designs.

Navajo Fashion Designers in WOTN Online Mag

WOTN - The Online Magazine recently launched their latest issue. In it, they interview four Navajo fashion designers: Shane Watson, Felix Earle, Darylene Martin, and Dwayne Clauschee, who share their inside perspectives on the industry.

Click here to access the 2011 Spring Edition of WOTN.

Heard Indian Market 2011 - Craig Kelly

Artist Craig Kelly (Navajo) is a jeweler who creates 3-D work out of mixed media. He's won awards for his work and participates in the Santa Fe and Heard Indian Markets. Kelly incorporates unusual materials, such as carbon fibers or computer wiring, and beads a variety of subject matter (from skulls in film strips, to nudes, to tropical sunsets!), to create his jewelry designs. He grew up in Church Rock, NM and now lives in Albuquerque.

My favorite piece of his work was a large beaded gorget. It's a self-portrait and it's beautifully done. The colors are gorgeous. But another awesome piece was a beaded medallion of DJ Dead Mouse. Super cool! Kelly will also be at Native Treasures this year, held annually in Santa Fe. So I will definitely have to check out the Native Treasures show to see what new stuff he brings.

Scroll down to see images of Kelly's work. Doug Miles and I chatted with Kelly at his booth at the Heard:

Melissa Cody: Weaving Street Art

I'm in Arizona now, gearing up for the 53rd Annual Heard Indian Market and I came across this article about awesome Navajo weaver Melissa Cody:

("The Edge of No Water" by Melissa Cody. Image courtesy of Melissa Cody)

Weaver Melissa Cody on Native Rugs, New Style, and the Heard's 53rd Annual Indian Market
By Jessica VanZalen

​This Saturday and Sunday, the Heard Museum will host it's 53rd Annual Guild Indian Fair and Market, which showcases modern and traditional forms of American Indian art and culture.

The event features work from more than 700 of the nation's upcoming and established artists who create one-of-a-kind jewelry, pottery, textiles, and more.

Flagstaff artist Melissa Cody, previous winner of the event's Conrad House Award, will be in attendance this year with her bright woven rugs.

Cody says participating at the Heard's events with her woven rugs is a family tradition and allows her to celebrate a passion she's had since grade school.

Now 27, Cody is more comfortable experimenting with new color and designs that she says pushes the definition of what "traditional" native art means.

With her youth and eye for design, Cody hopes to change stereotypes attached to the art of weaving. "There has always been a cliché about who Navajo weavers are," Cody says. "A lot of people think it's just elders who produce it."


("Dopamine Regression" by Melissa Cody. Image courtesy of Melissa Cody)

Cody bends traditional weaving aesthetics by using street art as an inspiration, which is demonstrated in both the bold palette and subject."I put more contemporary art into my work and because I'm so much younger, I can get away with it more," she says.

Cody has participated in the Heard's annual event since she was 18 and praises it as a unique venue to showcase all that is happening in the native art world by "bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary."


The market and fair is on March 5 and 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m at The Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix. For more information, visit the Heard Museum website.

Orlando Dugi Purse on the Oscar Red Carpet

Native actress Kateri Walker walked onto the Red Carpet at the 83rd Annual Oscars holding Navajo bead artist and fashion designer Orlando Dugi's "Regal Dignity" peacock purse.

Kateri Walker is a tribal member of the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation in Ontario and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan. She recently starred in Shelley Niro’s directorial debut of the Mohawk feature film, Kissed by Lightning (2009). You can see the trailer of Kissed by Lightning on YouTube when you search the title.


"Regal Dignity" - Evening peacock purse. Fully beaded front with vintage beads sizes 22, 18 and 15. Also size 13 Czech cut beads, size 15 copper metal beads, size 13 24 kt gold electroplated glass beads, 18 kt gold wire, Israli cut aqua marine beads. Back completely hand sewn ostrich and peacock feathers and Swarovski crystals and white velvet. Inside is lined with an iridescent purple dupioni silk. Front images completely beaded one single bead at a time. (Photo by SWAIA.)

Click here to read more about Orlando Dugi.

Siki Im Fashion Collab with Navajo Weaver Tahnibaa Naataanii

New York Fashion Week is in full swing, and already several Native-inspired collections have popped up. However, one designer, Siki Im, is stepping it up with his latest line in which he collaborated with an award-winning Native artist.

Much of the clothing featured in Siki Im's fourth collection, Silent Thunderbird Prayer, were inspired by Native American cultures, and the designer collaborated with acclaimed Navajo weaver Tahnibaa Naataanii to create the hand woven blankets worn in the show. Furthermore, the architectural details and creative silhouettes were inspired by the work of Pueblo pottery artist Maria Martinez.

Siki Im told Dazed Digital, "The beautiful thing about [Maria Martinez's] work was that is very much about the silhouette of the ceramics. She didn't use much colour so shape and texture was central to her work. She created these almost perfect round shapes and charcoal engravings. This season, I didn't want it to be conceptual and instead focused on creating beautiful silhouettes."

Fur-covered braids, heavy-lidded eye makeup, live hand-drumming, and a dirt runway added to the Indigenous vibe.

I haven't had a chance to look deeper into this collaboration - but I like the fact that Siki Im partnered with a notable Native artist and gives her credit. In addition, he clearly states that his inspiration for the silhouettes derives from the revolutionary pottery designs of Maria Martinez. Whereas many non-Native designers use a generic sense of 'Indianness,' Siki Im is specific about his inspiration points, and he names them.

To read more reviews of the collection, click these links:

Siki Im's Silent Thunderbird Prayer

Back to the Land

Siki Im Fall 2011 Preview | Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Siki Im

Siki Im Menswear A/W11: The New Yorker's fourth collection entitled Silent Thunderbird Prayer offers a return to Mother Earth

Harajuku Kayenta

TokyoFashion.com posted a photo essay focusing on Harajuku Christmas pictures - and right in the center of the fashion mecca was a boutique named Kayenta selling Native-inspired jewelry and trinkets:


"If you suddenly have an urge to buy Native America jewelry and crafts in the center of Harajuku, Kayenta is there for you."

For the original post, click here!

(Note: Kayenta is a town located in Arizona and is part of the Navajo Nation - and it's highly unlikely that the products sold in the store are actually from Kayenta)

Martini Couture at Scottsdale Fashion Week

Martini Couture in Scottsdale
Last month, Martini Couture (by Dii Martin of the Navajo Nation) was featured during the annual Scottsdale Fashion Week in Arizona.

Scottsdale Fashion Week is one of the premiere fashion events in the Southwest, and Martini Couture opened the Friday night set. She’s a rising star on the fashion set, pumping out high-end rez streetwear packed with a ton of attitude and cute little cocktail dresses well-suited for a night out on the town. Martini Couture was also featured (along with several other Native designers) at a fundraising event held later in November at the Heard Museum (more to come).


“I loved every minute of SFW. I’m so proud of myself to have jumped at the opportunity. I would love to do it again, even try for other fashion weeks in different cities.”




“I heard a Native designer was going to be at the Scottsdale Fashion Week back in 2007. It was Virgil Ortiz. I went to the show and loved it. I said to myself - someday I will be here...”





“When the finale dress came about, I felt at the highest moment in my life – I’M HERE! at SCOTTSDALE FASHION WEEK!”


To read more about Martini Couture, click here.

Designer Profile | Dustin Martin

Dustin Martin (Navajo) has been making headlines recently as the Columbia senior majoring in Anthropology who creates Native streetwear.

Martin reworks clothing from thrifts stores – adding silkscreened designs infused with messages that correlate with the name of his clothing line S.O.L.O. (Sovereign Original Land Owners).

He sees fashion, an unconventional medium for Native art, as a means to overturn preconceived notions about Indigenous culture.

The college senior envisions his clothing as a potential forum to connect Native heritage, mass media, and the Ivory Tower. He said, “So much of the brand is intellectual. I want it to be a dialogue about articulating culture and design in a way that people have to look at a second time. I’m not trying to preach, but I want there to be some learning involved.”

Martin believes that art and fashion are more useful than academics when it comes to his goal of discrediting misconceptions about Native Americans. He explained, “I could write anthropological articles my whole life, but I would still be heard and read by a small community of academics,” he says. “The same ideas can be articulated in a way that is not necessarily scholarly. I see Native art and clothes as a perfect medium for the message I want to convey.”


Read more about Dustin Martin by clicking the links below:
Columbia College Student Spotlight, September/October 2010

Hoot Magazine, Spring/Summer 2010 (pages 17-19)

Indigo Design Network

Victorialyn McCarthy: A Knack for Fashion

Young Navajo designer Victorialyn McCarthy is in the news again!:


Victorialyn McCarthy: A knack for fashion
By Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, Today correspondent
Story Published: Aug 30, 2010


Victorialyn McCarthy grew up wanting to be a police officer like her grandfather but is now making her mark as a fashion designer.

“My grandfather always told me stories about catching the bad guys and all the places he got to travel to. I really wanted to have all the same kinds of adventures.”

McCarthy, 21, is Navajo and her family is from Tse Yah Toh, located north of Gallup, N.M. on the Navajo reservation. Her clan is Ta Chi Nii, which means “red running into the water.”

She grew up in Mesa, Ariz., and is the oldest of six children. She has three brothers and two sisters.

McCarthy said her grandfather, Turner Giger worked as a FBI agent for years before meeting her grandmother and becoming a sheriff for McKinley County, located on the border between New Mexico and Arizona. However, when she was a sophomore at Mesa High School her grandfather passed away.

“He had lung cancer and got pneumonia,” McCarthy said. “After he died I had to concentrate on staying home and helping my grandmother rather than going to college out of state at New Orleans Louisiana Catholic University.”

McCarthy attended Mesa Community College and studied police science. While attending school she started sewing in order to pay for her tuition and got her start at an after school job.



“I was working at a dry cleaner and there was a sewing area where a lady did alterations and I thought why not try it since she was making good money.”

McCarthy’s grandmother Nellie taught her how to sew. She said her grandmother studied fashion in college and was a home economics teacher. Growing up McCarthy would sew pow wow outfits, doll clothes, little things for herself and crazy outfits for her 13-year-old sister Miranda Giger.

After working at the dry cleaners for six months McCarthy started doing alterations on her own clothes and other peoples.

“People started asking about my outfits and my weird shoe laces on my shoes at school,” she said. “Then in public more people started asking me so I started networking and hanging up fliers.”

In 2009, McCarthy participated in Scottsdale Fashion in Scottsdale, Ariz., and was a semi-finalist in the Designer of the Year competition. This year she will be participating in Phoenix Fashion Week taking place Oct. 7 – 9 in Phoenix, Ariz.

“Phoenix Fashion Week is a big competition for emerging designer of the year,” McCarthy said. “I am competing against nine other people and the winner gets a $10,000 prize package.”

For competition McCarthy decided to make a whole new collection. She concentrated on using a lot of printed fabrics such as zebra, polka dots and plaid. But the designs are still very much her “aesthetic” but a little bit crazier, she said.

“One of my favorite types of fabric to work with is tulle and I made a wedding dress to end my show in lime green tulle,” McCarthy said. “My Ursula inspired dress is my favorite piece; it’s a floor length dress in zebra print with pleather spikes all over the top and bottom.”

Not only does McCarthy have the Phoenix Fashion Week competition to worry about but she is juggling her Web site, opening her own store, planning her wedding and being a role model.

She said that trying to open a business right now is difficult because companies are closing and other companies want simple designs which hers are not.


“It’s really hard, I have to keep believing in what I do and telling myself that I’m different, my clothing could bring so much happiness and individuality to people all around the world. Everyone I know, my family and friends also keep me going and help support my business, which means everything to me.”

McCarthy said her ultimate goal is to become nationwide and eventually worldwide with her own stores and products in other stores.

For her wedding she is planning on making her own wedding dress, her bridesmaid’s dresses and the flower girl’s dresses.

Her fiancé Alejandro Castaneca, 21, said he has supported McCarthy in every way possible. He has supported her financially, motivating her to create new designs, traveling with her and helping her network with people.

“I’ve been there from her wanting to be a police officer to a model to now a fashion designer,” he said. “I think she has done great so far and has accomplished so much, more than I ever imagined.”

McCarthy said being a role model is a challenge. She has little brothers and her chihuahuas running around the house while she is trying to sew. And her sisters always want to help her with everything.

Miranda is proud of her sister and looks up to her as a role model. She said when she spends time with McCarthy, she teaches her how to sew.

“She (McCarthy) goes out there and teaches you to have your own independence and not care what other people think. Her clothes represent individualism and I think that is cool.”