Eiteljorg Museum

Indianapolis, IN

(317) 636-9378

 

Eiteljorg Museum 1998 Indian Market

The signature image of the Eiteljorg Museum's 1998 Indian Market is Ribbon Dress Dancer, gouache on rag illustration board, by Laurie Houseman-Whitehawk. The painting features a woman dancing the contemporary young woman's dance that evolved from the Butterfly Dance. The artist, who will be at the market, is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and is proud to claim her half-Santee Sioux heritage.

 

 

 


People interested in displaying Native American artwork in their homes may not always be certain that what they're buying was created by a Native American - or just made to look that way. Not so at the annual Indian Market hosted by the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, where only authentic Native American artwork is allowed.

Entertainment by Native American dancers, singers and storytellers is part of the action at the Indian Market, held every June at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. This year, the White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers from Arizona and the Western Tennessee Choctaw Dance Group from Tennessee will perform songs, dances and games in which guests can participate.

 

This year's market, the sixth annual, is June 27 and 28. The Eiteljorg's Indian Market is the largest juried show and sale of its kind in the Midwest. Last year, 128 artists representing nearly 40 tribes and 20 types of artistic media were accepted into the market.

 

More than 130 Native American artists, such as this painter, sell their wares at the Indian Market held every Tune at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. The two-day event is the largest show and sale of Native American art in the Midwest. This year's Indian Market is June 27-28, 1998.

 

Besides having the chance to buy authentic artwork, visitors to this unique festival also can learn traditional Native American songs, dances and games - and take part in them along with Native Americans dressed in regalia - as well as eat authentic Native American food. For the first time, a Native American guest chef, Lucille Calabaza-King (San Idelfonso Pueblo), will prepare recipes that will be cooked and sold by one of the museum's preferred caterers. The White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers of Arizona will perform the ancient Crown Dance, hoop dances and an Apache war dance. And the Western Tennessee Choctaw Dance Group of Memphis, Tenn., will perform social dances and lead festival-goers in a traditional game of racket ball, a forerunner to lacrosse. They'll also demonstrate how to use a cane blow gun with darts.

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Search for more articles and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artists for biographical information on historic artists.

This page was originally published in 1998 in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information.

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