Veloy Vigil was considered more of a Southwest artist than a Native American one, despite his mother descending from Pueblo Indians. His father was Hispanic.

We don’t carry a lot of Native art from Alaska, but occasionally, we are asked to sell examples by collectors. I have always been attracted to the work. Traditional pieces are among the oldest forms of Native American art in the Americas.

Hopi coiled baskets are made only in the villages of Second Mesa. The most common type of coiled basket is the plaque. These flat baskets, typically featuring Kachina or animal images woven into them, are used to express gratitude. If someone does you a favor, you thank them with a basket. If they help put together a wedding ensemble, they might be thanked with multiple baskets. If a young person is seen doing an act of kindness, they will likely be gifted a basket.

If you haven’t been to Garland’s Navajo Rugs in Sedona, it is something to put on your list. At Toh-Atin, we specialize in quality Navajo weaving, as does Dan. Dan’s father, Bill, and my father shared a love for the art form of weaving and the culture of the Native people of the Southwest, and they passed that love down to us.

In the late 1960s, my father purchased American Flag weavings from Bertha Harvey. She would come to the old Pepsi Cola Bottling Plant, where the Toh-Atin Gallery began, and her daughter, Bertha, was usually her driver.

One of our favorite weavers over the years was Ella Rose Perry from St. Michael’s, Arizona. She only lived there part of the time. She was a teaching assistant at the Crystal Boarding School up on Narbona Pass near the old J.B. Moore Crystal Trading Post. In the summer, she often lived with her sheep in a summer hogan in the Lukachukai mountains.

It’s common in the Indian art business for people to stop in and ask for help valuing jewelry they have inherited or received as a gift. Sometimes, they want to sell it; sometimes, they just want to know more about it.

This week marks the return of the Katsina (Kachina) to the Hopi villages. These spirits are believed to return to the Hopi people from their home in the San Francisco peaks. One of our favorite Hopi Carvers, Poleyestewa, has created a collection of dolls in honor of this time.

I was in Zuni on Saturday to meet with a collector who has lived in the village for several years. After our meeting, we got into his car, and he gave me a tour. It had been a long time, and it was a trip down memory lane.

If I had to name the top three traditional Navajo silversmiths working today, Jeanette Dale would be one of them. I don’t know who the others are, but I don’t think she’d be in second place.

The "Flat" style of painting, used by many Southwest Native American artists, was typical of early ledger art —paintings drawn by American Indians on ledger paper. It was also found on the teepees of Plains Indian tribes and, with a slight stretch of the imagination, can even be traced to the early rock art of the first inhabitants of the Southwest.

Navajo inlay artist Jimmy Poyer has been working with us for approximately 40 years, since we relocated to our large gallery building in Durango. He is a unique man as well as an incredible jeweler.