Hollis Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw/Laguna/ Isleta Pueblos), with his Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market Best of Show piece, “Napakanli Um Okla (Flowers for My Family).”
Hollis Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw/ Laguna/Isleta Pueblo) won the Best of Show at the 66th annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market for his exquisite beaded bandolier bag Napakanli Um Okla (Flowers for My Family).
“It’s my way of bringing flowers to my family, the Choctaw side of my family who didn’t get to teach me beadwork,” Chitto shared. “I lost an uncle recently last year, and that was the impetus to get this piece finished, so I can honor him.”
Bandolier bags have a multi-century history as cross-body pouches emblazoned with images of clans, medicinal plants, and sacred symbols for the protection of their wearer.
Few historical Choctaw bandolier bags survive, so Chitto adapted designs from Choctaw baldric sashes for his strap and sewed diamondback rattlesnake imagery on the interior of the strap. But on the pouch, “The flowers are my own creation,” says the artist, to create a unique masterpiece of Southeastern beadwork.
The second largest and second oldest art market in the United States, the Heard Fair is organized by the all-volunteer Heard Museum Guild organizes this market as a benefit to the Heard Museum. The Youth Art Show and Sale provides $10,000 in prize money for Indigenous artists from grades 7 through 12.
Classification winners are as follows. Click on the image to enlarge.
Classification Winners
I. Jewelry and Lapidary
Best of Classification: Maria Samora (Taos), Bisbee Turquoise Ripple Link Bracelet
II. Pottery
Best of Classification: Russell Sanchez (San Ildefonso Pueblo), Bear Lidded Storage Jar
III. Paintings, Drawings, Graphics, & Photography
Best of Classification: Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Alika No. 1
IV. Pueblo Carvings
Best of Classification: Mark Taho (Hopi/Diné), Pahlik Mana
V. Sculpture
Best of Classification: Cliff Fragua (Jemez), Ceramica
VI. Weavings & Textiles
Best of Classification: Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné), Ashkii Tsoh
VII. Diverse Art Forms
Best of Classification: Hollis Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw/Laguna/Isleta Pueblo), Napakanli Um Okla (Flowers for My Family)
VIII. Baskets
Best of Classification: Carol Emarthle Douglas (Northern Arapaho/Seminole), Opynkv Haco “Stomp Dance”
Conrad House Award (Best of Innovation)
Tyrrell Tapaha (Diné), Ashkii Tsoh
Indian Arts & Crafts Association Commemorative Award
Leon Misak Kinneeveauk (Inupiaq), Survival in the Arctic
Idyllwild Arts Imagination Award
Patricia Belgarde-Cornelius (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), Mona Lisa/Stolen Sisters
