My husband is on travel again but when he gets back, I can see if he knows the original name of the Zuni. You weren't that far away at St. Johns. Maybe an hours more driving to get to Window Rock...longer for Shiprock.

Prices can get very high in the stores and pawn shops, especially depending on what town you're in. Santa Fe would be one of the more expensive places because it is very tourist geared. Prices can grow exponentially. Every Navajo that I know do not purchase from these stores. They're geared more for tourists. (And no, the artisans don't often get the price you pay at the stores either.) Often the same artists will sell their wares in various flea markets or by soliciting at local businesses for significantly lower prices. I think it's done this way for two reasons. Helps the artists with some extra cash when they need it and it also assures that the Navajo can still procure it to wear traditionally. I can't imagine what it would be like to not see Navajo grandmothers dressed in their tunics and broomstick skirts without the gorgeous piles of jewelry.

My husband and I do not like the pawn shops. They're just like any pawn shop you'd find elsewhere. They're giving you a loan on something that you'll probably never see again. People will pawn their jewelry for some extra cash for groceries or for a weekend of drinking. In a sense, it is merely a way to profit off of the poverty and alcohol issues of the tribes. Some of the non-pawn shops are so badly done. We've seen some pretty curious things in these kind of stores, lol.

Acoma pottery is beautiful. It has a very modern feel to it, I think, with its bold polychrome motifs. I have seen alot of Acoma pottery being sold at the Window Rock and Gallup flea markets, especially in early September when there is alot of celebrations. There is a third flea market that I haven't stopped at yet though I've passed it many a time. It's right in between Gallup and Window Rock at Yah'tah'hey, NM and always looks fairly busy.

What's really delicate to transport are kachinas. I sent some cottonwood traditional kachinas to my mom and sad to say, there was some bent feathers and a popped off arm from the transport when they arrived, lol. I think the more contemporary version of kachinas were not just artistic license but probably better at being transported, too!

Stephanie





In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson