Gifts of 'Mother Earth' celebrated

Native, Western artists exhibit works at Crazy Horse Memorial

By Sarah Reinecke, Journal staff | Saturday, June 14, 2008

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Margie Yazzie has a summer job that is different from a typical 9-to-5 desk job.

She spends her summer doing what she loves -- talking with and meeting people from all over the world.

Yazzie makes and sells jewelry during the summer season at Crazy Horse Memorial.

This weekend, she is one of the 37 vendors at the 18th annual "A Gift from Mother Earth Celebration," where Western and Native American artists exhibit their work. The show is from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sunday, in the memorial's Indian Museum of North America.

Yazzie said she has participated in the Gift from Mother Earth Celebration for about nine years and has been selling her art in the cultural center at Crazy Horse for 11 years.

What sets working at the arts show apart from other jobs Yazzie has had is the people.

"The one thing I like about this job is I love to talk to people. That's what I really enjoy doing," Yazzie said. "This is the job for me; that's what I like, is to share my culture and to learn a little bit about other cultures as well."

Yazzie, a member of Navajo Nation, is from northern Arizona.

By spending time in the memorial's cultural center during the summer and at the Gift from Mother Earth Celebration this weekend, Yazzie said she meets people from throughout the United States and the world. When customers are looking at her jewelry, Yazzie said, she enjoys talking with them, and most customers share a little bit about themselves in the brief time they are at her booth.

Yazzie makes necklaces, bracelets, earrings, hair clips, and she sells pendants that some of her family members make. She uses stones, shells and other beads that she said she gets mostly in the Southwest at gem and mineral shows.

For some, the stones that Yazzie uses have a special meaning. She said every customer is different, but some believe in stones that have healing properties and other stones that have special meanings. For those customers, she has created a card that explains the stone used and the meaning behind that stone.

Yazzie said she uses a lot of turquoise in her jewelry.

"To the Navajo, turquoise symbolizes success, and it's for good health and well-being," Yazzie said.

Before banks were created as a place to store money, Yazzie said, her ancestors would reinvest whatever money they had in turquoise jewelry. They would thread it through sinew and through their ears or wear it around their neck.

"When you saw a person with all that turquoise jewelry, you knew they were well-off," she said.

Sherry and Louis LaParl took the meaning behind the stones into account when buying jewelry from Yazzie. The LaParls were visiting the Black Hills from Michigan for a reunion. They were buying gifts at the art show for their grandchildren and other family members back home.

When Yazzie told Sherry what the stones meant, it helped her to decide what to buy for each person. She also found the designs appealing.

"They are unique. You can't get it some other place. It's different and colorful, and it's all hand-made," Sherry LaParl said.

Even with late nights staying up to get her jewelry finished for shows, Yazzie said she loves working at Crazy Horse during the summer.

"It's a beautiful area. Being here at Crazy Horse, it's just like there is a certain feeling that you get from being here. It's so welcoming," Yazzie said. "The people here are nice, and meeting people is what I like."

If you go

What: 18th annual "A Gift from Mother Earth" Native American and Western Art Show

Where: Indian Museum of North America at Crazy Horse Memorial

When: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15

A Gift from Mother Earth Celebration Art Show Results Winners have been announced for the A Gift from Mother Earth Celebration. They include:

Beadwork: 1. Reggie Boyd, Rapid City, "beaded flute" 2. Margie Yazzie, Dine', Page, AZ, "beaded earrings" 3. Molina Schweigman, Oglala Lakota, Rapid City, "beaded leather barrette"

Crafts: 1. Todd Ashley, Kimball, "deer antler shed knife" 2. Deb Burckhard, Rapid City, "mixed media horse hair vase" 3. Dana and Jan DeVille, Chamberlain, "Two Winds metal sculpture"

Jewelry: 1. Carol Hatathlie, Dine', Tuba City, AZ, "silver buffalo bracelet" 2. Helen Walker, Dine', Tuba City, AZ, "silver bracelet"; 3. Ed MaGaa, Oglala Lakota, Custer, "gold lip mother of pearl/turquoise necklace"

Leather: 1. Lori Ann Two Bulls, Oglala Lakota, Rapid City, "hair barrette"

Paintings: 1. Randolph Runs After, Cheyenne River, "Provider" 2. Paula Tonemah, Cherokee-Creek, Hot Springs, "Serenity" 3. Paula Tonemah, "Carrying Prayers"

Sculpture: 1. Roger Wermers, Estelline, "Iroquois Warrior" 2. Jean Gumas "Sky Feather," Longmont, Colo., "Wedding Blanket" 3. Sunny Apke, Boulder, Colo., "Otter and baby"

Textiles: 1. Clara Standing Elk, Sicangu Lakota, Rapid City, "hand made shawl"