Online Sales Are Transforming the Market for Native Artists
When Marlo Kiyite was 19 and pregnant with her second son, she and her husband, Fitz, moved in with her cousin in Gallup, New Mexico, trying to make ends meet.
Her cousin was an artist, a well-known carver of pocket-sized animals that the Zuni Pueblo call fetishes, and one day, she suggested Kiyite give it a try.
“I said, ‘Hey, anything at this point,’” Kiyite remembered. “So I started carving.”
She learned how to cut, clean, and decorate the figures, which the Zuni believe carry the spirit of the animals they represent and offer protection and strength.
Kiyite found the work difficult at first, but over the next 40 years, she and Fitz would develop their own unique style of stone fetishes, long and flat with small jet eyes, sometimes with a subtle smile.
It was after their son was born that they decided to start selling their work in town.
Author's summary: Native artists face challenges with online sales.