When we give a tour in the Trading Post, Perry shows the guests the store and gives them a little speech about our area. He always talks about how lucky he is to come to the Trading Post each day and see all of the beautiful things the artists from this area make. I never really think about it because most of the days I am at work I am thinking about how lucky I would be if I was somewhere else. However, when you take a moment and look at all those pieces of handmade art that fill our showcases you can't help but be awed.
Native American baskets, rugs and carvingsMany times we don't see the hours and the technical skills needed to make certain pieces of art. That is not the point of art. The Native American artists of this area want you to see the beauty of the work, not the process. Art in the Four Corners is a lot like a handshake. It is the way that a people that who have lived here for centuries present themselves and their their culture. No one really knows how long the Zuni people have been here, but it was long before any European showed up. That is why Zuni inlay can be so fascinating, because it reveals a culture much older than our American one.
