Did you realize that Mesa Verde National Park, between Cortez and Durango, Colorado is the only National Park in the United Stated dedicated to the works of man rather than the works of Nature?

The American Bison or as we call it, the Buffalo, roamed the plains of the American West virtually unchallenged by natural predators. They were an essential part of life for the Indians of the plains. The Buffalo provided food, hides for teepees, clothing and robes for winter. The leather was used for bridles, shields, bows and many other things.

Dolls have been a standard toy since the beginning of the human race. It doesn’t matter where you look in the world, from the courts of Europe kings to the Plains of Asia and America or to the vastness of Africa, anywhere there has been civilization, people have made dolls for their children.

Many of you know that two years ago in September we had a burglary at the gallery in Durango. It was a big one. The thieves broke in through a skylight window from the roof, dropped into the offices, ran down the stairs, smashed three showcases that had our expensive jewelry in them and were out the emergency fire door in less than a minute.

Harry Morgan spent his life in and around Gallup, New Mexico. He won awards at every major Indian art show. The year before he died there was an exhibit at the Heard Museum featuring several of his silver boxes.

Three thousand years ago on a rock panel in the American Southwest, the figure of a flute player with either a humped back or a bag on his back, was carved for the first time in a remote canyon. Over the years, the figure has shown up over a wide area of the Southwest in many different canyons, on the walls of caves and cliff dwellings.

Bingo Smith is a 63-year-old Navajo sand painting artist who lives with his wife in the Farmington, NM area.Unlike most sand painters, he does not work on fiberboard. He uses glass Christmas ornaments as the base for his work.

David John was born in 1963 and raised just east of the Hopi Mesas at Keams Canyon, Arizona. As a young boy, he was a favorite of his grandfather, who was a Navajo Medicine Man and revered by the Navajo people.

It’s a long way from San Francisco to the Navajo Nation, both in miles and culture.

I first started to research Sally Wagner Lippincott several years ago. She was the legendary owner of the Wide Ruins Trading Post. Her sense of what made a beautiful weaving was striking. She was not impressed with many of the intricate and detailed designs that were winning ribbons at various fairs.

One of the best friends I have made in the art business is George Walbye, a sculptor from Loveland, Colorado.

In Santa Fe this Weekend, The Museum of Indian Art & Culture is reopening its permanent exhibit with a celebration!