Jeff King (Haska-zilth-e-yah, 1865-1964) lived in the Pinedale Chapter Area of the Navajo Reservation.

Everyone has heard the saying, "The good they die young." I never really believed that, but it was true in the care of Iowa Indian artist Jean Bales.

Carl von Hassler (1887 - 1969) was the  German who adopted America, fell in love with the Southwest, and became the "Dean of the Albuquerque Art Colony." For 47 years, Carl lived in Albuquerque and studied and painted the landscape and Indian people of the Southwest.

Philbert Hughte (B. 1954) is a Zuni artist and teacher specializing in pen and acrylic painting.

He started painting when he was seven years old. Initially, the everyday life in the village of Zuni inspired his work, but his sense of humor and history soon changed that perspective.

In the late '80s, I attended an Indian Arts and Crafts Association meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. For the first time, they sponsored a "quick draw" competition that allowed artists to paint or draw a work of art. I think it was 30 minutes, but it may have been longer.

It's the time of year when the streams are starting to run clear, and you could bet that Stanton Englehart would have been out with his fly rod, testing the will of those cagey Cutthroats and Rainbows hiding in the ripples!

Gilmore Scott  (B. 1974) was born in Montezuma Creek, Utah. It is a small community east of Bluff and south of Blanding, Utah, near the Bear's Ear National Monument.

One of my favorite subjects is the evolution of the Santa Fe Indian School and the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. It is always interesting to see how different Native artists were associated with the school.

Back in the late 1950s, Navajo artists began to make small sand paintings featuring figures and designs that were part of the traditional Navajo healing sand paintings.

Last year I had the opportunity to meet an extraordinary woman whose father had a unique manner of collecting Native American art. He lived in Albuquerque and never missed the Navajo Nation Fair, the New Mexico State Fair, the Arizona State Fair, or the Gallup Ceremonial.

The San Juan Mountains are holding their first big winter snow where we live. For people who love the winter landscape and relish the chill of the air as the season arrives, it is a special time of year.

No one loves playing in the snow more than children (and the young at heart!)

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.