On Friday, April 21, Mom was the first one at the Gallery. She usually has been for the past 40 years. She would unlock the building, get the lights on, fire up the computer, and get the Gallery ready for business.

Yes, there is a day to recognize and celebrate Native American Heritage. It is the day after Thanksgiving. The month of November is Native American Heritage Month.

Several years ago I was surprised to learn that baskets are one of the only art forms that can’t be made by a machine. Even the baskets you buy in a flower shop are made by someone, somewhere.

The Western Apache excelled at making baskets of very fine weave and design. Their baskets are the finest of the Southwestern tribes.

In the early 1900s, Hopi women began making baskets for the growing tourist market. The Fred Harvey Company was building hotels along the railroad lines and running “Harvey Car” tours into “Indian Country.”

I used to tell people that we really didn’t sell many Native baskets, basically the few Navajo Ceremonial of Wedding baskets that someone would bring in or some older baskets that we got from collections.

Years ago, my sister published a print from a painting by Western artist Jim Rey that depicted early explorers, with their horses, staring down at Cliff Palace. Richard Wetherill, an area cowboy, is widely credited with having “discovered” the ruins, but likely, early explorers beat him to it. He was the first to realize the archaeological importance of the find.

We have, without any question, the best customers on the planet! To all of you who follow our newsletter and make it possible for us to share the great works of Native and Southwestern artists, we say "Thank You!"