Local artist Al Woody sang a Navajo love song for his family as he delicately wielded his paint brush, detailing an elk-hide cedar drum that will be donated to the Native American Wanli Ota club at Fort Lewis College.
“It’s a song for everybody,” he said. “For my grandmother. For my family.”
Woody is one of 40 regional artists who gathered at Durango High School for the fifth annual Native American Winter Market. His calm voice and steady hand captured the attention of onlookers.
The market, orchestrated by Lucinda Long-Webb and Terri Nuhn, both educators with Title VII, a federal educational support program for Native American students nationwide, attracted a heavy stream of visitors on Saturday, as did two other local arts and crafts fairs.
About a half dozen tribes were represented from as far away as Phoenix and North Dakota.
“Part of our job in the Title VII program is to bring cultural identity to our kids and then cultural awareness to the community,” Long-Webb said.
Long-Webb, a Needham Elementary School teacher of 18 years, said the proceeds benefit the students by bringing them guest speakers and funding conferences, tutoring services and other student programs.
The market has more than doubled in size since last year.
“It’s grown, and we’re happy about that,” she said. “We needed something like this in Durango.”
Her colleague, Terri Nuhn, said the market not only establishes a sense of pride in her students, but gives them a sense of belonging and helps them to identify with and take pride in their culture.
“You can see families, they have little kids next to them and they are being taught – taught to make that jewelry, those same pieces,” she said. “It’s just really neat, to cherish what your ancestors have gone through in order to get to be where you are right now.”
Bead and textile artist Linda Baker said a comment from a customer at a market in Santa Fe gave her an important perspective on her work. “He said, ‘You’re like a historian for your tribe, because you carry information.’ I never thought about it like that. Now when I do make things, I can see the relevance of it.”
She also said it’s good to see that Native people are supporting Native students.
Not far from the high school, the Durango/La Plata Senior Center was hosting its own bazaar. Twenty vendors offered homemade snacks and various crafts and needlework, entertaining up to 400 people throughout the day, senior center recreation coordinator Mandi Dicamillo said.
“They always come up with something new,” she said.
Susanna Zerber, who was shopping for homemade skin-care products, said she likes to see her money stay in the community.
“I’m very thoughtful about how I spend my dollar,” she said. “So why wouldn’t I spend locally?”
Next door, at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, Holiday Art Show event promoter Margie Myers shrugged her shoulders, saying she had no idea how many people had passed through the doors.
“I don’t know, but it’s a lot,” she said.
In its 39th year, the three-day show brought 60 vendors from all over the region. Larry and Tammy Yoshimura of High-T Snacks of Alamosa brought Hawaiian crispy wafers made from Tammy’s grandfather’s recipe.
John Hughes, owner of J.H. Photography, sold historic photographs of the Durango area – images filled with horse-drawn teams and familiar buildings along Main Avenue.
DHS sophomore Sierra Trout sold handsewn wool accessories to pay for her upcoming trip to study sea turtles in Costa Rica.
Back at the Native American Market, Nuhn was happy with the strong turnout. Her 91-year-old grandmother was selling Navajo Tea nearby.
“This is a powerful sight to see,” Nuhn said. “I’m looking at this, and I see so many people and so many smiles everywhere. I’m so thankful for that.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
