I’m a member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma and grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. My mother, who owned a trading post, moved to Santa Fe in the late ’80s after her divorce. She needed a place where she could make a living, and Santa Fe, historically a huge trading hub in north-central New Mexico, felt right. I followed her in 1990, age 19. At the time, Native American objects were often seen as craft rather than art, though that’s starting to shift now.
The entrance to Mortenson Ranch © Brad Trone
I studied at Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts, which draws people from all over the world. We’re lucky to have such a strong community; it’s one of the reasons I chose to be a jeweller here. When I’m working on a piece and don’t know how to do something technically, I have an arsenal of other Native jewellers around me, such as Kenneth Johnson or Adrian Standing-Elk Pinnecoose. We don’t hold information, that’s not how Natives roll.
Vintage Navajo turquoise and silver cuffs at Shiprock Santa Fe © Brad Trone
Ataumbi leaving Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte © Brad Trone
