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

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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.

Mound builders

Two artist/scholars set off on a road trip of exploration of Indian mounds in the southeastern United States. The exciting blog Ahalenia posted this introduction of their tour in early September. Since then the two have visited and reported on nine different mound sites in six different states, and you can read about these visits on the Ahalenia blog by following the link above.

Not only is the history of these sites interesting, but the variance in the way people today treat the once sacred land gives one a lot to think about.  Some are public parks. Some have been reclaimed by today’s tribes. Some are still on private land and unexplored. The authors accompany their travelogue of the past of southeastern woodland Indians with photographs that make you feel you are there. You’ll have to go to Ahalenia to see their beautiful photographs. They are not including Ohio, but we have borrowed a few photos of Ohio Mound Builder sites.

Serpent Mound , Ohio

When I was a little girl in Ohio, I was fascinated with the 1000-foot-long sinuous Serpent Mound (an effigy mound). We would drive there sometimes on a weekend, and climb up on the viewing tower so we could see the snake with his mouth open, swallowing an egg. My father would tell me about the Mound Builder Indians that once lived on that land.

I was in awe of Fort Ancient, whose high walls measure a total of five miles long . The Newark Earthworks, encompass the Octagon and the Great Circle earthworks, “The Great Circle is one part of the Newark Earthworks State Memorial, the largest system of connected geometric earthworks built anywhere in the world” according to the Ohio History web site.

Octagon Mound, Newark Earthworks

When I was young and the family drove through the midwestern farmland, my father taught us to look carefully at farmers’ fields and see if there was a small hill that looked like it did not belong to nature. That was probably the work of ancient American Indians, he explained. When I was a child, very little was known about the mounds and their builders. They were a curiosity. Some stone tools were found in the area, people collected arrowheads.

Although the Mound Builder cultures remain a mystery, archaeologists have  learned much more. Study such as that being done by the author of Ahalenia and her colleague will shed more light on Mound Builder culture, and hopefully encourage people to have respect for these ancient people. And thanks to my visit to the M’ikmaq ‘s Glooscap Cultural Center in Nova Scotia, I know that there is a connection between those Mound Builders and the Quincy Tahoma’s people, the Diné (Navajo) of the Southwest.

Tahoma painted a semi-mythical past of warriors chasing buffalo, but there was an even more ancient and not mythical past of people who built effigies on the ground and aligned long earthen walls with the sun and the moon.

Having read several of Ahalenia’s posts, I now am itching to travel to the Southeast and see more of the remains of the Mound Builder culture.  Please take a look at her travel/study story and see if you are not amazed.

These photographs all come from Flickr, using a Creative Commons license. You can click on each photo to learn more about the photographer and see more photos.

If you have not yet subscribed to our newsletter, stay informed about our upcoming events by subscribing today. For your convenience there’s a subscription box on the right side of the page. And it is free. (Remember if you are reading this in your e-mail or on Facebook, you’ll need to click through to the Tahoma blog site to leave a comment, or sign up for the newsletter.)

Have you visited Mound Builder sites? Where do you recommend we go to see interesting ones?

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Guidon Books will have copies of Quincy Tahoma: The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist available for sale, and the authors will sign copies for all purchasers.

NOTE: If you have not visited Guidon Books for a while, be aware that it has moved from its old location on Main Street. You will find the new, improved Guidon at the corner of 2nd Street and Marshall Avenue.

©2012 Quincy Tahoma Blog. All Rights Reserved.