Happy Customer

Many people who buy Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist are enthusiastic about their purchases, but two people who bought the book when I was at the Heard Museum weekend before last were particularly happy.

Beveraly Blacksheep holding one of her children's books.

Artist Beverly Blacksheep, who says she was influenced by Tahoma, had seen the book at the Késhmish festival at Window Rock last December. That’s where we first met, and I bought one of her beautiful creations as a Christmas gift for Charnell. Then, at the Heard where she was once again showing her creations, she decided to buy a copy of our book.

Heard Museum Courtyard

Of course, Beverly was happy, but Phyllis, the other purchaser, was — well, I don’t think ecstatic is too strong a term. I was sitting in the beautiful Heard Museum courtyard just outside the Book Store when Phyllis made a beeline for my table, put a hand over her heart and said something to the effect that this was her lucky day.

It turns out that Phyllis, who grew up in Ohio as Charnell and I did, had read Arizona Highways as a youngster. (Her mother had a subscription.) And she never forgot the paintings of Quincy Tahoma, Harrison Begay and others of that era that were reproduced in Highways in the early 50s.

In fact, the paintings influenced her decision to study art and influenced her style. Although some teachers criticized her for having too simple an approach, she stuck to her guns, loving the color and simplicity of the Studio-trained artists.

She never thought she would have the opportunity to see so many Tahoma paintings. As you probably know by now, the book is crammed with images–260, many of which are full-color photographs of Tahoma paintings. She stood and told me her story, and lovingly caressed the book, finally saying, “Well, I have to buy it!”

Then she went off in search of Beverly Blacksheep, whose work she also loves. She returned to the bookstore after the books had been returned to their display inside the store, and we got this nice shot of her celebrating what felt for her like a “homecoming” with one of her favorite artists–one who changed her life.

Vera and Phyllis

If you are an artist inspired by Tahoma, or if you know of a contemporary artist inspired by Tahoma, please do get in touch. We love to share those stories as a testimony to the lasting influence of this outstanding Navajo artist.

(And Phyllis, if you happen to be reading this, I lost your card–so would you please e-mail me with your contact information? Thanks.)

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

With spring just around the corner, it will soon be time for backyard barbeques. What sounds good? Steak? Ribs? Chicken? How about a buffalo? A BUFFALO BARBEQUE?!! That’s exactly what Colonel Dale Bumstead served to Arizona’s finest at his luncheon a long, long time ago — January 4, 1951, to be precise.

Colonel Bumstead's Buffalo Barbeque menu

It seems that in the summer and fall of 1950, the good Colonel had his eye on two targets: hiring “that Indian artist” (Quincy Tahoma) to paint the wildlife on his sprawling ranch, Tal’-Wi-Wi, and bagging Arizona’s renegade king buffalo “Old Outlaw”, also known as “Big Grunt”.  And it was pretty well acknowledged that when Col. Bumstead set his sights on something, he didn’t miss.

So Tahoma moved out to Tal’-Wi-Wi and tooled around on a truck with the ranch foreman, Wilbur Bushong, on day trips to Alpine and St. John to watch the deer and the antelope play.  These frequent excursions allowed the artist to memorize the musculature and movements of various wild animals as they foraged for food, ran, played, fought and rested.  As Colonel Bumstead reported, “Tahoma has a remarkable photographic memory and the ability to accurately and rapidly record what he sees or dreams in his colorful paintings.”  In exchange for harnessing that talent, Bumstead provided the Navajo artist with a bit of adventure, his room and board, but no booze!

By now, you might be wondering whether Tahoma’s work and the buffalo barbeque ever came together.  They did indeed, but we’re only going to tell you part of the story in this post!

Quincy loved to paint buffalo and he took every opportunity to see them in action. So it was only natural that when Colonel Bumstead arranged a hunting party to go after the renegade buffalo, he invited Tahoma to tag along.  The octogenarian Bumstead had been an accomplished businessman and a military explosives expert before becoming a rancher, stockman and sportsman.  He knew how to plan, he knew about ammunition, he knew how to shoot, and he knew the temperament of buffalo.  While he had heard stories about this killer buffalo “Big Grunt”, he had yet to meet up with him.  The plan was to take a scouting party out for surveillance first, and after tracking down the renegade, they would regroup and come back the next day armed for the kill.

"Big Grunt" Photo by Jerry McLain

The party included Bumstead, his photographer friend Jerry McLain from Phoenix, Harold Pratt (superintendent of the House Rock Valley buffalo herd), ranch hand Ray Bell, and Tahoma.  According to a January 1951 article about the adventure, John Jay Broderick of the Arizona Wildlife-Sportsman told the harrowing story that unfolded after the five men’s strategy session.

“The next day, without guns, they piled into the pick-up and started across the plains in quest of a glimpse of the outlaw. Just before the sun was ready to hide for the night behind the vivid Vermillion Cliffs, Pratt spotted a lone bison several miles away.

As they approached, the animal’s tail shot straight over its back.  Prattt was certain they had located “Big Grunt”. The huge bison continued to graze while the light truck drew within 200 yeards of him, but he kept his head toward the approaching party.

McLain unslung his camera equipment for location shots, while Bumstead and Pratt left the vehicle to approach the reputed killer cautiously on foot.

Slowly “Big Grunt” lifted his head and gave the men full attention.  They froze in their tracks.  Minutes passed while the renegade pondered.  Then he made his decision.  He didn’t like the presence of his visitors.

In a sudden surge of wild power, the great bison pawed the earth like a fighting bull, emitting the gutteral grunts that had given him his name.  He buried completely one horn in the earth – a hardpan sufficient to turn the point of a pick.  He ripped it out with a savage twist and thrust the other horn in just as deep.

The men, without weapons, did not accept the challenge. They backed quickly toward the truck, in which the engine prudently had been left running. In less time than it takes to tell it, the big outlaw charged. The truck swung around to give McLain camera range.  When he realized he could not catch the truck, “Big Grunt” stopped, but each time it swung toward him, the chase was on again, the outlaw’s tail straight over his back as his signal of defiance.”

Quincy Tahoma at Tal'-Wi-Wi Photo by Jerry McLain

Jerry McLain got some photos, Quincy Tahoma got his mental images, and Colonel Dale Bumstead got a taste of the bulk of bone and muscle he would face the next day.  Nobody got much sleep that night!

Did Colonel Bumstead ever slay “Big Grunt”? Did Tahoma paint the buffalo? Was this huge renegade the same buffalo that was barbequed a few months later and what role did the Navajo artist play in the festivities?  Stay tuned for the next post…and possibly the next one after that!

We are deeply indebted to George Bell, the son of ranch hand Ken Bell, who sent us 1951 Tal’-Wi-Wi newsletters. a copy of the menu and copies of two articles about the renegade buffalo hunt. Thanks also to Shirley Bushong, Wilbur Bushong’s widow, for her recollections about Tahoma’s time spent at the ranch.

Special note to those who can get to Phoenix on Saturday, March 3:  

Vera Marie will be autographing our book, Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist, at the Heard Museum Indian Market from 2:00-4:00 PM on Saturday, March 3.  While it will not be on display this weekend, the Heard Museum has an extensive collection of Quincy Tahoma’s art, including several scenes that were painted at Tal’-Wi-Wi for Col. Bumstead.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Shelly Duncan's Guidon Books in Scottsdale was well prepared for the Quincy Tahoma presentation

Thanks for being a reader of the QuincyTahoma Blog.  If you like what you read here, please subscribe to the blog and/or the newsletter and please share our blog with your friends.  All of these actions are made easy with buttons at the blog site. (Meaning if you read this in your e-mail or on Facebook, you need to click over to the tahomablog.com site.) We have forms to subscribe to our newsletter or to subscribe  by e-mail to the blog.

In the top of the right-hand column, you can join us on Twitter or Facebook, or e-mail a post to a friend.We have sharing buttons at the bottom of each post. Just click on the appropriate button to share on Facebook or Twitter, or other social networks.

I hope you’re enjoying the new, cleaner look of Tahoma Blog.  We are also hoping that photographs will show up better in this new format.  If you find something that doesn’t work, or something you’d like to see changed, please let us know.

Quincy Tahoma portrait

Our audience continues to grow which is a GOOD thing, because it means more people will meet Quincy Tahoma and his art.

Here are the 9 blog posts you liked most last year:

• To Market, To Market explored how Tahoma sold his paintings.
• Tahoma’s Horses talks about his love of horses, one of his favorite subjects to paint.
• Navajo Comfort Food. Mutton stew and how to make it.
• Win a Book, in which we gave away a copy of Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist.
• Elmer Yazzie, Navajo Artist Inspired by Tahoma. Many artists were inspired by Tahoma, and we profiled a couple of them last year. More to come.
• Book Publisher Challenges Discounters. One of the reasons we like our publisher, Schiffer Books–they are challenging the practice of deep discounts on new books.
• Good Reads in Art. We’d like to think that Quincy Tahoma, a Top Pick in the Southwest Books of the Year is one of the best–but honesty compels us to admit that there is other good reading about Indian art out there.
• Tahoma Book Goes on the Road. We have been sharing our marketing trips with you. This was just the first foray.
• The Reviews Page. Here we share with you all the nice things that reviewers have had to say about our book. (And, honestly, if they say something negative, we include that, but it does not happen often.)

Did this roundup include your own favorite post or page at the Tahoma Blog? Which type of subject matter would you like more of? What else would like us to write about? Any specific questions for us? Please join the conversation.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Navajo Grandma, hand-crafted doll by Sylvia Begay

When I went to the Keshmish (Christmas) Festival at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, I could not resist bringing home this grandmother doll. This hand-made beauty resembles Pueblo story-teller dolls, but this doll has a distinctly Navajo grandmother. Sylvia Begay( who also made the Christmas ornaments I showed on Facebook) calls these “story dolls.”

Since both Charnell and I are grandmothers, I wanted to learn the Navajo word for grandmother. Some of the people stopping by the table where I was showing the Quincy Tahoma book tried to teach me. I am a visual learner, and trying to remember, or follow the pronunciation of a Navajo word evades me.

One woman explained that the Navajo have two names for grandmothers. Most of the references on the Internet will give you one or the other, but not mention the difference–critical to a Navajo who pays attention to relationships! Where they do show up on the web,  ”My father’s mother” shows up  as ama’ sani and “my mother’s mother” –shima sani. (Rendered as Shah-mah’ tsah’nih at Navajo.org–not quite as simple as English speakers might like.) And Sylvia Begay who crafted this grandma, called them ma sani in an interview. So take your pick.

Earlier in the day, a girl about five years old had stopped to look at the Tahoma paintings I had rotating on my small computer’s screen.  When one of his “Navajo Madonnas” came up, she happily pointed and said “Shima“.  I was proud of myself for knowing that she meant “mother”–one of the very few Navajo words that I have actually have conquered, because we talk about it in the book.  Tahoma used the word shima to refer to women in families that befriended him–perhaps always searching for a mother of his own.  But as far as we know, Quincy Tahoma never was able to experience the spoiling of a grandmother.

Since Charnell has only daughters, she will always be a shima’ sani. Since I have only sons, my grandchildren all will know me as ama’ sani.

Navajo Grandma

I welcome Navajo-speakers comment and corrections on the rendering of these words, as I have seen slightly different words used, also–so I continue to be confused. But then, I’m a grandma, and we tend to be confused a lot.

By the way, Tahoma did speak Navajo, and by the time he started to school at Santa Fe Indian School, students were no longer punished for speaking their native languages.

If you are not Navajo, do you know any Navajo words? If you ARE Navajo– do you speak your language? Who taught it to you?

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist

This is not only a beautiful art book and thoroughly- researched biography of Quincy Tahoma (c. 1920-1956), but is also the complete story, told for the first time, of a gifted artist whose life reflects not only his own personal challenges but the multiple difficulties of being an American Indian trying to thrive in an Anglo American-dominated culture.  The reproductions of Tahoma’s art are stunning, the text clearly organized and presented with easy to follow endnotes, helpful appendices on exhibits, collections, awards and a timeline of his life. This is a keeper.

This is the statement of Margaret Loghry, former teacher, librarian and library-administrator for Tucson Unified Schools and one of the judges for the Southwest Books of the Year. (As I post this, the Pima County library has not yet updated to add their 2011 books, but you can see past years and learn about what it means to be chosen.)

14 adult books (and 7 children’s books) were chosen from 212 entries in this year’s judging.

If you do not already own Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist, or want to buy it as a gift, check with these bookstores and museums:

• Phoenix: Heard Museum
• Scottsdale: Guidon Books
• Tucson: Arizona State Museum
• Dragoon, AZ: Amerind Foundation
• Albuquerque: Bookworks
• Santa Fe: Collected Works Bookstore

If your favorite independent book seller or gift shop does not have the book in stock, ask them to order it.

Or take advantage of our Special December offers here at the Tahoma Blog, and get limited time free shipping and a free gift with purchase.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Christmas tree at Navajo Nation Quality Inn- Window Rock

What a GIFT!

Whee! Our book is a winner! Please excuse me if I’m a little giddy.

Each year a limited number of books are chosen as Southwest Books of the Year and this year, Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist is a TOP PICK.

We are in very good company and we are thrilled that the prestigious judging panel chose our book. (We will share with you the entire list, once it is available later this week.)

With more than 200 books about Southwest subjects or set in  the Southwest  to choose from, multiple judges picked Quincy Tahoma as one of 21 TOP PICKS.

This is the 35th year of this competition, which is a cooperative effort among the Arizona Historical Society, the Arizona Library and Archives, and the Pima County (Tucson) Public Library.

We’re particularly happy about this award, because it means that more people will learn about Quincy Tahoma and his wonderful art.

Arizona Historical Society Museum, Tucson

EVENT!

Celebrate Arizona and New Mexico’s 100th Birthday (2012) by buying Southwest Books.

If you happen to be in Tucson Arizona this weekend, come see me at the Arizona History Museum’s Holiday Extravagansa, 949 E. 2nd Street. I’ll be there with Copies of Quincy Tahoma to sell and sign and calendars, too. There will be dozens of authors, books and gift shop items at bargain prices, a children’s story teller, and a reenactor introducing a famous madame of Tucson! The event is free to the public. And you can get all your Christmas shopping done, while benefiting the Arizona Historical Society publications.

TIMES

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening, December 9th;

10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, December 10.

FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE

And if you are not fortunate enough to be in Tucson this weekend, remember you can always order your gift copies of Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist by credit card or Paypal at our Buy Now button, or e-mail Charnell (charnell@tahoma.info) if you prefer to pay by check.

To use the Buy Now button, go to Tahomablog.com and look on the right hand side of the page.

Through December only:

• Free Shipping,
• autographed copies,
• and a free poster-style calendar with a Tahoma print on it for each book you buy.

Don’t forget to tell us how you want the book inscribed.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Quincy Tahoma leaning against porch

With all the wonderful publicity Tahoma and the book have been getting, like our appearance on the Bill Buckmaster show in Tucson and the listing of the book in Native Peoples Magazine, it is no wonder that our calendars keep filling up with people who want to know more about Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist.

We hope that you’re noting the events that are near you, and if we are not scheduled to visit your neighborhood–why not invite us?

November 30, 6:00 p.m., Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, NM. Vera will be showing slides of Tahoma paintings and talking about his life in Santa Fe. She’ll also sign books for those who are looking for good holiday gifts.

December 2, all afternoon; December 3, all morning at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, AZ.  Vera will be signing books at the gift show of the museum during the annual Christmas Festival. Come see artists at work, Navajo-produced films, and great gifts for sale in the beautiful Navajo Nation Museum Gift Shop.

December 9-10: The Arizona Historical Society Book Fair starts with a reception on Friday evening (6-8 p.m.) at the Museum in Tucson and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon, Arizona authors, including Vera, will be signing books.

NEXT YEAR:

January 30, 1:00 p.m.: Vera will talk to the Heard Museum Guild in a meeting open to the public at the Heard Museum on North Central in Phoenix.

March 5, the 2nd day of the Heard Museum Indian Fair in Phoenix, we are scheduled to sign books between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the Heard Museum Book Store.

March 10 and 11 is the gigantic Tucson Festival of Books.  We are invited to sign books at the Arizona State Museum booth and Vera will be on a panel one of those two days. (Stay tuned for exact time)

April 21, 10am to 1 pm: Vera will be back in Phoenix at the Heard Museum book store to sign books as part of Native Expressions Saturday. AT least one Navajo artist will also be present.

Surely there is a museum, gift shop, or book store in your community that we should be visiting with the Quincy Tahoma book!  Please let us know.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to The Amerind Foundation

On the road again — this time from the Heard Museum in Phoenix to The Amerind Foundation in Dragoon AZ for a presentation and book signing.

First peek at The Amerind as we drove up the dirt road

Founded in 1937 by William Shirley Fulton, the Amerind Foundation is a private nonprofit anthropological and archaeological museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories. The Amerind is located in spectacular Texas Canyon in the Little Dragoon Mountains of southeastern Arizona, and it houses one of the finest private collections of Native American art and artifacts in the country.

Amerind volunteers who came to learn more about Quincy Tahoma

The curator, Dr. Eric Kaldahl, served as our wonderful host for the event, and  several of the Foundation’s dedicated volunteers came to hear the presentation of Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist.

Vera and Charnell with The Amerind's 1949 painting, Navajo Sing, by Quincy Tahoma

The Amerind has two Tahoma paintings and one of them, Navajo Sing, has more than 100 people in the scene.  It is one of the artist’s most famous works and Carol Charnley, Museum Coordinator, tells us that The Amerind is very pleased to have it in its collection.

Chuck wagon a la 2011

After the presentation and book signing, Vera and I got some grub from the modern-day version of a chuck wagon and retired to our sumptuous quarters in The Amerind’s guest quarters.  Okay, so we were pampered and we enjoyed every moment of it!  What are some of the special experiences you have enjoyed?

Vera relaxes in her guest quarters room after a busy day

Photos in this post are all the property of Charnell Havens. Do not reuse without the permission of the photographer.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.