Kempsey Kushana, Zuni Fetish Carver

Carved fetish necklace, attributable to Zuni carver Kempsey Kushana (1918-1965)

Pic 3

"Kempsey Kushana was carving bears for necklaces by the mid-1930s. He also carved leaves, as did his father, Kushana, and his daughters. Many, if not most, of their beautifully carved turquoise leaves were represented as the work of the heavily promoted Leekya, making them more salable (and valuable) for traders." Bahti, p. 30)

Pics 3 and 4 (above) from SPRIT IN THE STONE, p. 31, by Mark Bahti.

U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree for 2019 from NEW MEXICO, Land of Enchantment

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree for 2019 came from New Mexico and was selected from the Questa Ranger District of the Carson National Forest.

The forest was once inhabited by the Ancestral Pueblo people, who left ruins of adobe dwellings and other artifacts at an archaeological site now called Pot Creek Cultural Site. Carson is located primarily in Rio Arriba and Taos Counties, extending into Mora and Colfax Counties, and encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres). A part of the United States Forest Service system, Carson is home to big game animals, including mule deer, elk, pronghorn, black bears, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, cougars, and bighorn sheep. And not to forget our little friends, a sanctuary to many species of smaller mammals and songbirds. Carson has four hundred miles of sparkling clean mountain streams and numerous lakes, many of them stocked with native trout.

Santo Domingo Pueblo Dough Bowl

7-1/2" in height and 14" across the opening

A potter from the Santo Domingo Pueblo went all out on this large dough bowl, made around 1940. Measuring 7-1/2" in height and 14" across the opening, it is decorated in traditional natural white and black pigments which, like the clay, is gathered locally. Bread is baked in an outdoor oven called an horno (pronounced orno). Most likely the bread would be made from Blue Bird Flour, popular in Native kitchens. Please pass the butter.

Decorated in traditional natural white and black pigments. 

Horno (pronounced ORNO) at Isleta Pueblo