Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2004 The Educational Function of Native American Art Shops in Flagstaff, Arizona Tamara McPeak Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF NATIVE AMERICAN ART SHOPS IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA By TAMARA McPEAK A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2004 The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Tamara McPeak defended on March 18, 2004. ________________________ Kathryn Josserand Professor Directing Thesis ________________________ Bruce Grindal Committee Member ________________________ Elizabeth Peters Committee Member Approved: Dean Falk, Chair, Department of Anthropology The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v Abstract vi INTRODUCTION 1 1. EARLY INFLUENCES ON THE SOUTHWESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN ART MARKET The Santa Fe Railroad and the Fred Harvey Company 9 The Santa Fe Indian Market 14 The Indian Arts and Crafts Board 16 The Museum of Northern Arizona 20 2. MODERN INFLUENCES ON THE SOUTHWESTERN NATIVE AMERICAN ART MARKET The Santa Fe Indian Market 25 The Museum of Northern Arizona 27 Popular and Scholarly Literature 30 3. OBSERVATIONS IN NATIVE AMERICAN ART SHOPS IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA 33 Puchteca Indian Art 34 Winter Sun Trading Company 46 Painted Desert Trading Company 52 Thunder Mountain 58 The Jonathan Day Collection 60 The Museum Shop in the Museum of Northern Arizona 66 iii 4. NATIVE AMERICAN ART SHOPS IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA, SERVE AN EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION A Comparison and Contrast of the Observations 73 Conclusions 76 APPENDICES A. Human Subjects Research Approval Letter 79 B. Human Subjects Research Re-Approval Letter 80 C. Example of Informed Consent Form 81 BIBLIOGRAPHY 82 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 93 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. Old-Style Hopi Katsina Dolls. 6 2. Action-Style Hopi Katsina Doll. 6 3. Sculptural-Style Hopi Katsina Dolls. 7 4. “Flute Player” Hopi Overlay Pendant. 7 5. Navajo Yei Bichai Carvings. 8 6. Yei Bichai and Storm Pattern Navajo Rug. 39 7. Jonah Hill at Winter Sun Trading Company. 51 v ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the educational function of Native American art shops in Flagstaff, Arizona. Research was conducted in six Native American art shops: Puchteca Indian Art, Winter Sun Trading Company, Painted Desert Trading Company, Thunder Mountain, the Jonathan Day Collection, and the Museum Shop in the Museum of Northern Arizona. The researcher discusses early and modern influences on the Southwestern Native American art market, and efforts to educate the public about Southwestern Native American art and culture. These influences included the Fred Harvey Company, the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and popular and scholarly books and periodicals. This information served as a background for comparing the interactions between customers and staff that the researcher observed in Native American art shops in Flagstaff, Arizona. An analysis of the literature and the observations reveals that much of the general public was not aware of the cultural differences among Native American tribes or that these differences were reflected in the art forms of each Native American tribe. The staff and owners in Native American art shops in Flagstaff, Arizona, attempted to clarify this misunderstanding to customers. This indicated that Native American art shops in Flagstaff, Arizona, serve an educational function. vi INTRODUCTION Information on Native American art and culture can be obtained by reading scholarly and popular books and magazines, and by visiting museums, marketplaces, and Native American art shops. Native American art shops have received little attention as sources for learning about Native American art and culture, but tourists frequently visit Native American art shops for souvenirs of their visit to the Southwest. This research was an investigation of the educational function of Native American art shops in Flagstaff, Arizona. The researcher chose to observe the Native American art shops located in Flagstaff, Arizona, for several reasons. First, Flagstaff was only a two- hour drive from the Hopi reservation, and the southern and western regions of the Navajo reservation. The Native American art that was for sale in shops in Flagstaff, Arizona, was a representation of what Native American artists were creating in this region of the Southwest. Second, Flagstaff, Arizona, was the only city within ninety miles of the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The south rim has been the most frequently visited portion of Grand Canyon National Park, and a prime destination on many vacation itineraries. As a result, Flagstaff, Arizona, has received tourists from all around the world. Third, Flagstaff, the home of the Museum of Northern Arizona, has hosted summer Native American marketplaces and brought tourists with an interest in Southwestern Native American art and culture to Flagstaff. All of these factors made Flagstaff, Arizona, a good location to conduct research on this topic. The researcher worked at Puchteca Indian Art, one of the Native American art shops in historic downtown Flagstaff, from January 2001 to September 2002. This work experience was the inspiration for this investigation of the educational function of Native American art shops in Flagstaff. The researcher learned about Native American art and culture from working with Puchteca Indian Art owner Steve Beiser, and observed that 1 customers also learned from visits to Puchteca Indian Art. This observation prompted the researcher to investigate whether other Native American art shops in Flagstaff also provided an education to their customers. The researcher observed the interactions among shop owners, staff, and customers at five Native American art shops in historic downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, and documented any attempts to educate the public. These shops included Puchteca Indian Art, Winter Sun Trading Company, Painted Desert Trading Company, Thunder Mountain, and the Jonathan Day Collection. Interactions also were observed at the Museum Shop at the Museum of Northern Arizona, which was located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff. The Museum Shop was included to determine if there were differences in the education that was offered at commercial Native American art shops versus the education offered at a shop in a non-profit, education-based institution. The researcher spent approximately three hundred hours observing interactions among owners, staff, and customers in Native American art shops in Flagstaff. The researcher made three weekday and four weekend visits to each shop, resulting in seven observation sessions in each of the six shops. Each observation session lasted between five and eight hours. These observations in Native American art shops in Flagstaff took place during the peak tourist season between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend of 2002. It would have been impossible to remain unnoticed by the shop owners and staff for as long and as frequently as the researcher needed to be in each shop without the owners and staff becoming suspicious of the researcher’s intentions, and unethical to do research on people without permission. Therefore, the researcher presented shop owners and staff with an informed consent letter and obtained permission prior to taking notes on interactions that the staff had with customers. The customers, however, were not informed of the purpose of the observation and sometimes were not even aware of the researcher’s presence. Therefore, customer behavior remained natural. Since consent was not obtained from customers, they were not depicted in any photographs or identified by the use of any names, but in some instances the geographical area that customers were from was mentioned. 2 The researcher recorded the overall appearance, layout, and general atmosphere of each Native American art shop and the type of art that was for sale in each shop. The researcher noted when customers visited each shop, how long they stayed, and how interested they were in having conversations with shop owners and staff. The researcher assessed customer interest in learning about Native American art by observing whether the customers asked questions and if they responded to information provided by the Native American art shop owners and staff. The researcher noted questions that customers asked most frequently and answers that shop owners and staff provided. The researcher recorded which Native American art forms attracted most customers, and which art they purchased most often. If dialogue transpired among owners, staff, and customers, then the researcher classified the information as related to Native American art and culture, or not related. Information related to Native American art and culture was divided into different categories, such as information about a specific artist, information on different Native American tribes, the justification of the prices of Native American art, production methods and materials, and design meanings or symbolism. In addition, the researcher documented the methods that shop owners and staff used to convey information about Native American art and