INDEX Berkeley was a Blast! Pablita Velarde Award J.J. Brody Honour Award Board Elections NAASA Online into 1999 Letter from the President '99 Topic Proposals 1997-99 Board Member

Newsletter Volume XII, No.1 February 1998 Pablita Velarde Honour Award Recipient presentation by Jonathan Batkin for Sally Hyer Tonight we initiate a new tradition at NAASA conferences: the honouring of a great Native American artist. It is my own great, personal honour to speak for all of us in our recognition of Pablita Velarde. Before I start I would like to acknowledge Sally Hyer who served as guest curator of Pablitaâs 60 year retrospective, which we presented at the Wheelwright Museum in 1993, an exhibition so popular that its original five month installation was extended for an additional five months. We had hoped that Sally could be here to make this presentation herself, but she was unable to attend. Slide 1 - Pablita titled this view of Santa Clara Pueblo, painted in 1946 and now at Philbrook Museum of Art, The Pottery Market. Pablita Velarde was born in 1916 at Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, to Marianita Chavarria and Herman Velarde, a farmer who was active in tribal government. As Pablita herself has said, "My early life was no different from that of hundreds of other Indian children in the village." Pablita spoke only Tewa and was taught traditional Pueblo values and attitudes through stories told by elders. In her words, "the cultural life is always around you there. You just automatically learn it. You hear it, you see it, you feel it, you do it." Pablitaâs young life was marked by tragedies that were common in the Pueblo world. Her three brothers died of influenza and her mother succumbed to tuberculosis. Pablita and her sister Jane were struck blind by eye infections, but they were cured by their grandmother, a healer. When Pablita was six, she was sent to Catholic boarding school in Santa Fe, and she later transferred to the Santa Fe Indian School. Slide 2 - no comment The Indian School was one of many federal schools in which a girlâs education comprised economics classes, military drills, and work details of cleaning, laundry and sewing. The Santa Fe Indian School went through dramatic transformation between 1929, when Pablita was in sixth grade, and 1936, when she graduated. The school shifted from a repressive military institute to a national centre for Indian art. Two women in particular inspired Pablita. Tonita Pena, a Tewa woman of San Ildefonso ancestry, and who was raised at Cochiti Pueblo, taught at the Indian School. Tonita Pena was the only Pueblo Indian woman easel painter of her generation, and she befriended the young Pablita when they painted murals at the school as part of a federal art project. Slide 3 - This is Pablita painting one of the murals in 1934 Tonita Pena also spoke Tewa, which provided an additional bond. Pena enjoyed painting, even though Pueblo men considered it an inappropriate activity for women. As Pablita said, "Painting-wise, there was only Tonita Pena. She was the rebellion way back then in the early 1920âs. She gave me the inner strength that I needed to dare the men to put me in my own place or let me go." In 1932, Dorothy Dunn, a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago and a former reservation teacher, began a painting program at the Santa Fe Indian School, which she called The Studio. Pablita and her sister Rosita were Dunnâs first female students. Even after other Pueblo girls had joined The Studio, they were still outnumbered by boys four to one. Dunn constantly encouraged Pablita, and their friendship lasted until Dunnâs death in 1992. Slide 4 - This is Pablitaâs Santa Clara Corn Dance, 1940, now at the Museum of New Mexico By the time Pablita graduated in 1936, her work had been displayed at the Museum of New Mexico, at Chicagoâs Century of Progress Exposition, and at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, but her career was just beginning. She soon exhibited at the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial and at the New Mexico State Fair, and she found that few buyers were interested in Indian subject matter. Slide 5 - Here is Pablita at Santa Fe Fiesta, 1938 Pablitaâs thoughts reveal some early frustrations: "Any young artist that was trying to paint was just a nothing. Who wants some kind of painting that was done by a young Indian? Who wants it? Theyâre not known and it wasnât any good, according to their opinion. In their taste, theyâd like to see an apple on a plate better than an Indian dance figure. Iâm not about to paint an apple on a plate. Iâll get along somehow, maybe as typist or a clerk." In 1939 Pablita received two major commissions. Maiselâs Indian Trading Post on Route 66 in Albuquerque hired her and other Indian School graduates to paint murals, and she was asked by the superintendent of Bandelier National Monument to paint the ways of life, customs, and ceremonies of the Pueblo people as part of a WPA project. Slide 6 - This image of an animal dance at Santa Clara Pueblo is one of the paintings made under commission for Bandelier National Monument. In order to ensure the accuracy of her work, Pablita interviewed Pueblo elders and conducted library research, an approach recommended by Dorothy Dunn. The 84 resulting paintings at Bandelier, in casein on masonite and glass, were completed between 1939 and 1945, and include some of her most beautiful and delicate paintings. By the 1940âs, Pablita felt discouraged with painting, but "I stuck to it regardless of the starving days." She had married Herbert Hardin, and was now raising two young children, Herbert and Helen. It took determination to continue painting while raising a family. Pablita worked odd jobs and painted in her spare time. As she has said, "My artwork stuck with me. It was just fate that turned me that way. I couldnât fit into any job. I did hospital work. I jumped around to switchboard operating and sending telegrams, which I learned on my own. Did a little typing and filing for the Indian Service. Just touch and go with everything. My art is the only thing that really stayed with me." Slide 7- Pablita Velarde painting a mural of the Green Corn Dance, 1956, a commission for Western Skies Motel in Houston, Texas, and which was the centrepiece of the Wheelwright exhibition in 1993. The 1950âs were challenging in other ways. Pablita was experiencing success as a painter, but her marriage ended, and she encountered growing criticism from Pueblo people about her role as an artist. In the 1960âs she moved back to Santa Clara Pueblo after being away for two decades, and encountered unexpected barriers: "I ran into so many taboos. It wasnât for profit that I was trying to do any research on our history and traditional life there. I told them I would give back whatever they wanted, and I did, except what was in my mind." Slide 8 - Here Pablita paints Old Father The Storyteller, 1957 Over time, Pablita became recognized as a public spokesperson. Her brilliance and quick wit were valuable assets, and she sharpened her speaking and writing skills by joining Toastmasters International and the National League of American Pen Women. She accepted and enjoyed her role as an expert interpreter of native culture to a non-Indian audience. By 1970 she had appeared on television, in three feature films, and in over fifty newspaper and magazine articles. In 1960, with the release of her book, Old Father the Storyteller, Pablita became the first Pueblo Indian woman to be published. Her early learning experiences were reflected in this beautiful volume, which was republished in 1990. Slide 9 - Here is the painting itself, which was reproduced on the cover of the 1990 reprint. Pablitaâs description was as follows: "Ancient village in the right hand corner. Old father sits in the plaza as he points to each constellation to tell his story. Above, the constellations Orion (Long Sash) leads the way, right to left, across the Milky Way (Endless Trail). They slide off to the centre of the earth, left to right, follow the trail of the mole to Mother Spider, Eagle, Bear, Coyote, Lion, and Turtle. The step design symbolizes the four sacred mountains. The colours signify the directions: white-north, yellow-west, blue-east, and red-south. Small spruce trees stand on each peak." Slide 10- This masterpiece, which remains one of Pablitaâs personal favourites, was also reproduced in the book. Titled, Turkey Girl on Top of Turkey Track Mountain, and completed in 1958, it illustrates the Pueblo story of Turkey Girl. Like Pablita herself, Turkey Girl was an orphan. Her cruel foster mother made her herd turkeys all day and kept her from the social life of the village. But when the kindly turkeys dressed her for a ceremonial dance, the villagers saw that she was very beautiful. Fearing witchcraft, the men of the village tried to kill Turkey Girl, but she was saved by a beautiful turkey wing that rose from the rocks, giving her and her flock time to enter a sacred cave and disappear forever. Pablita is a great storyteller in her own right. She has donated her storytelling skills and her paintings to numerous Native American institutions, including the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre in Albuquerque, the Santa Fe Indian School, and the Senior Citizens Centre at Santa Clara Pueblo. She has also donated to charities in larger society, such as Boys Town, Albuquerque Public Schools, and organizations helping the blind. Over a career that now spans 65 years, Pablita has always interpreted Pueblo life form a womanâs perspective and has chosen themes that express the interests and concerns of women. She has been an independent person and outspoken advocate of womenâs rights throughout her life. As she once said, "Painting was not considered womanâs work in my time. A woman was supposed to just be a woman, like a housewife and mother and chief cook. Those were the things I wasnât interested in." Pablita Velardeâs unconventional life, following in the footsteps of Tonita Pena before her, has given other women the courage to become painters, film makers, writers, sculptors, and historians. Pablita Velardeâs paintings represent the strength of Pueblo cultural identity to Indians and non-Indians alike.