FAAM Style Guide - First American Art Magazine

First American Art Magazine is a magazine for a general readership, not an academic journal. Articles should be a pleasure to read. Writing should be concise, specific, and active. Any quotes or controversial information should be cited.

American English is the default language (so color not colour, theater not theatre, etc.). Use Merriam-Webster when in doubt about any words that aren’t listed here. A trend in art writing is to add unnecessary hyphens; consult Merriam-Webster. For instance, nonprofit has no hyphen.

Warning: Do not pair the terms traditional and contemporary; they are trite and create a false dichotomy. Find more precise pairings, e.g., historical and contemporary, or use new terms that aren’t clichés. Minimize the use of tradition and traditional due to these words’ vagueness and overuse. Note: The term can be used when discussing Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) since this is an international legal concept. More on this subject.

FAAM commits to never knowingly printing an untrue statement. Speculative statements should be qualified. Artists frequently say that there are no words for art in Indigenous languages; this is empirically false. Do not repeat this sentiment; it will be removed.

Myth and mythic imply fiction, as does the word legend. Be extremely careful with the usage of these and related terms. Do not describe immortals or tribes’ oral histories as myths or mythology.

Almost every artist we cover is “award-winning.” Please find more specific ways to describe an artist’s accomplishments.

North America includes 23 independent countries and 23 territories. If you are discussing only Canada and the United States, do not use the term “North America,” because doing so leaves out the majority of the nations and the majority of its Indigenous peoples.

Abbreviations

2D and 3D instead of 2-D or 3-D
aka without periods or spaces between letters
Can$[amount](e.g. Can$1,200) for Canadian dollars
Circa: ca. not c. (to avoid confusion with copyright)
Acronyms for college degrees have no periods: AA, BFA, MFA, PhD, etc., as per CMS 7.15.
DMA is the preferred abbreviation for a doctor of musical arts degree
Etc. for et cetera
f-stop is lowercase with a hyphen, instead of a slash, but numeric f-stop measurements are with a slash, e.g. f/8 and f/11.
Fig. is capitalized and abbreviated in parenthetical clauses; spelled out Figure in sentences. The use of Figures in captions is discouraged.
Mike not mic for microphone (due to challenges of terms like miked, miking, etc.)
States and provinces are spelled out in headlines and subheadings.
Versus in court case titles: v. not vs.
U.S. instead of US or USA or U.S.A. U.S. as an adjective, United States as a noun
Two-letter postal codes for states/provinces do not have periods, eg. NM, OK, QC, BC, AM, and MG. Spell out states and provinces in prose. Using two-letter codes in calendar listings is fine. In Chicago style, acronyms with two or three or more capitals don’t have periods, e.g. BFA, MA, MFA, PhD, NCAI, NMAI, etc. (See CMS 10.4)

Article Titles

When a title and subtitle appear on the same line or are listed in the table of contents, insert a colon between them. When the title and subtitle appear on different lines and are formatted differently, a colon is not needed.
Artist Interviews/Profiles.: Titles include tribal affiliation, media, and name of the artist, e.g. “Inuk Silis Høegh: Kalaaleq Filmmaker and Interdisciplinary Artist.” Byline is listed below the title with any appropriate tribal affiliations. Websites are listed at the end.

Memorials. The most recognizable name is listed, then the birth and death dates. The full name, if different then the name in the title, is listed in the first paragraph, along with the person’s tribal affiliation. Bylines are at the end with a space, em-dash, and italicized author’s name.

Reviews, Book. The review begins with the title of the book, “By” author’s or editor’s name, publisher’s name, year of publication. Bylines are at the end with a space, em-dash, and italicized author’s name.

Reviews, Exhibition. The review begins with the city of the exhibition. State, province, and/or country are listed only if the city is not immediately recognizable. Then the title of the exhibition is listed, followed by the venue. Bylines are at the end with a space, em-dash, and italicized author’s name.

Bylines

Bylines appear below the title in profiles, interviews, and feature articles. By is capitalized. Since author bios are no longer listed, tribal affiliations are listed in bylines.

In reviews, reports, and memorials, bylines go at the end and have a space, an em-dash, and the author’s name in italics, e.g., —Jane Q. Public (Sycamore Tribe).

Capitalization

Art movements and styles such as Social Realism, Flatstyle, Woodland School, Ledger Art, Bacone School, Iroquois Realism, etc., are capitalized. Eras, such as modernism and post-modernism, are left lowercase, as is new media.

Indigenous and Native are capitalized when referring to people but not when referring to a non-human being from a particular region, e.g. blue flax is native to Montana.

Authors may choose to capitalize Ancestors, Elders, or the Earth or not. The capitalization just has to stay consistent throughout the article.

Clan names in Indigenous languages are capitalized, the clan name in English is capitalized, and the word clan is left lowercase, i.e. Naaneesht’ézhi Tábaahí (Zuni Water’s Edge clan) or Anigategewi (Wild Potato clan).

In archaeological place names, the term site is not capitalized, e.g. Three Rivers Petroglyph site.

In interviews, when someone laughs, capitalization of the word [laughs] is contingent on the positioning of the sentence, i.e. if it precedes the sentence, it is capitalized. If it stands alone, it is written: [Laughs.]

Directions in recognized geographic locations are capitalized (Northern California, the Southwest) while uncommonly discussed geographic locations are not (northern Kentucky, south-central Alberta), as per CMS 8.47. Cultural regions are capitalized (Northern Plains, Southeastern Woodlands).

COVID-19 is all caps, more

Google is capitalized as a noun but lowercase when used as a verb. (Despite being a brand name, it has entered the English language.)

Pueblo is capitalized when discussing a tribe, ethnic group, or culture. It is lowercased when discussing a physical settlement. When coupled with a name, Pueblo becomes part of a proper noun and is capitalized. Example: After leaving San Ildefonso Pueblo, she drove to a neighboring pueblo to attend a Pueblo feast day and sample Pueblo bread.

Do Capitalize

Argentium, art movements, Black when referring to people (AP standard), Chac Mool, Chief Blanket, Chilkat, Eyedazzler, graffiti/street artists’ tags (e.g. SABA), Indian Country, Indigenous when referring to people, Manitou, Mountie, Mylar, Paleo-Indians, Plexiglas, Ravenstail, T-shirt, known geographical regions (e.g. the Southwest or Northern California), Navajo chants (e.g. Blessingway), Pagan, Ravenstail, Sun Dance, section titles of art exhibitions, The CIRI Foundation, and Western (as in Occidental, e.g. Western civilization).

Don’t Capitalize

Book appendices and chapters (e.g. chapter four); basket craze; eyedazzler; formline; heather ahtone; indigeneity; indigenize; indigenous when referring to plants or fungi; internet; jingle dance or jingle dress; new genres/new media; rez; sci-fi; settler; site in the names of archaeological sites; or white when referring to people (AP standard).

Don’t capitalize the mid-sentence unless the entity that is using the term insists upon it, e.g. The New York Times and The CIRI Foundation.

Cree languages when written in the Latin alphabet exclusively use lowercase (more), e.g. tânisi, kiya mâka? Cree proper nouns are also lowercase. Miami language terms are also lowercased.

Captions

Our captions loosely follow the style guide of the AAE but are simplified.

For unattributed artworks, use [Tribe] artist(s) once known.

Generally “figures” should be avoided in captions. These are articles, not books, so readers can most likely find the image in question.

DIRECTION (in all small caps, bold: ABOVE, BELOW, BOTTOM, LEFT, RIGHT, COVER, OPPOSITE, TOP) Artist Name (Tribal Affiliation, dates if deceased), Title of Work, from Name of Series series, year completed, media on support, dimensions height × width × depth in., edition #/#, location (if public artwork, land art, etc.), collection of [museum collection], city, state/province, country if outside the United States or Canada, accession number. Image courtesy of XXX. Photo: Photographer’s Name (© Company or CC license).

Examples:

COVER: Nani Chacon (Navajo/Chicana), Reclamation: Manifestations of Changing Woman, 2012, oil on panel, 24 × 24 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
ABOVE: Ancestral Yuman artists once known, Blythe Intaglios, ca. 668–1158 CE, monumental male human-like figure, quadruped, and spiral geoglyphs, Blythe, California. Aerial photo: Jim Wark (© Airphoto).

If a work is untitled, italicize the word Untitled in the caption.

Measurements: We use inches and fractions with no space between the integer and fraction, e.g. 8⅔.
Spell out the word century if it appears in the dates.
All captions end with a period.
Inches are the default measurement. If feet is used, there’s no need to abbreviate the word.

Movies:

Title, year released, format (film, video, etc.), genre (drama, comedy, etc.), time length, directed by name(s) (tribal affiliation), distributor, country (if not from the United States).

Film or video still:

Title, year released, film/video/etc., genre (drama, comedy, etc.), time length, directed by name (tribal affiliation), distributor, country (if not from the United States).
The Shirt, 2003, film still, short, 5:55 minutes, directed by Shelley Niro (Mohawk), featuring Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Navajo/Seminole/Muscogee).

Movie posters:

Title, year released, film poster, genre (drama, comedy, etc.), time length, directed by name (tribal affiliation), distributor, country (if not from the United States).
Kissed by Lightning, 2009, film poster, drama, 89 minutes, directed by Shelley Niro (Mohawk), Turtle Night Productions, Canada.
The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw, 2019, film poster, comedy, 94 minutes, directed by Shelley Niro (Mohawk).

Citations

We use Chicago-style footnotes (Purdue OWL is a great resource). In submitted Word documents, writers should use brackets [1] in the prose instead of actual superscript numbers (¹) in manuscripts, and footnotes should be manually placed at the end of the document, with numerals and periods in front, e.g. 1. T. P. Creepingbear, email message to author, April 1, 2020. Don’t use Microsoft Word’s footnotes tool. This helps with the transfer from Word to InDesign.

Chicago style is moving away from passim and ibid. Use truncated notes instead of ibid.

With web citations, we deviate from Chicago by using the term “web” instead of printing the entire URL (but please list URL in your submitted manuscript to help the fact-checking process).

Do not use bibliographic style in footnotes. Leave out date accessed.

Examples

Footnotes:

Eliza Gregory, “Joi Arcand—Plains Cree,” Contemporary North American Indigenous Artists, March 11, 2012, web.
Joe Schmoe in discussion with the author, October 13, 2023.
Joe Schmoe, email message to author, October 13, 2023.

Bibliography:

Gregory, Eliza. “Joi Arcand—Plains Cree.” Contemporary North American Indigenous Artists. March 11, 2012. Web.

Online multimedia

Refer to CMOS 14.261–68, especially CMS 14.267: Videos, Postcasts, and Other Online Multimedia. Leave out date accessed.

Podcasts:
- First Name Surname, “Title,” Publisher, date posted, in Podcast Title, produced by Producer Name, podcast, MP3 audio [or other format], length in H:MM:SS format, web.
Videos:
- First Name Surname, “Title,” Publisher, date completed or posted, video [or YouTube video], length, web.
- Examples:
  - Sasha Sarago, “Pretty Hurts: It’s time to decolonise beauty,” TEDxSydney, December 16, 2020, YouTube video, 11:12, web.
  - Bob Haozous, “Artificial Cloud,” This Land, June 27, 2012, YouTube video, produced by Sterlin Harjo, 5:54, web.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers: US phone numbers will be in the format (###) ###-####. Do not use the ###.###.#### format. Any phone number outside the United States should be preceded by its country code, e.g. Canada would be +1 (###) ###-###. If a phone number has an extension use the format (###) ###-#### x###, e.g. (918) 456-6007 x6159
Our mailing address: 3334 W. Main St. #442, Norman, OK 73072.

Dates and Time

Use the format Month Day, Year, e.g. July 6, 2012, instead of 6 June 2012 or 6.June.2012. For month and year only, use no punctuation. For a date that occurs in the middle of a sentence, use a comma after the day and year.

Examples:

In June 2012 I won the award.
June 6, 2012, was a horrible day in history.

Birth and death dates can be listed (1904–1984). For living artists, use (b. 1904) instead of (1904– ), since the latter looks like someone is waiting for the artist to die.

CE and BCE instead of AD and BC. Both CE and BCE follow the years (3,000 BCE).
Arabic numerals for ordinals over twelfth: Use 20th century instead of twentieth century.
1900s refers only to the first decade of the 20th century. Write 20th century if referring to the entire century.
A decade doesn’t have an apostrophe before the s: 1860s, not 1860’s.
If only the last two numbers of a decade is used, insert an apostrophe to indicate the missing numbers: ’70s.
In birth and death dates list complete years, e.g. 1907–1983. However, in a series of dates for other purposes (e.g. runs of exhibitions), if both dates are in the same century, the century of the second date can be omitted, e.g. 1988–89. If the two dates are preceded by different numbers, they should be listed fully, e.g. 1999–2001.

With time, follow Chicago style with hours and minutes separated by a colon, followed by a space, and then am or pm (no periods), e.g.: 10:00 am, 2:30 pm, etc.

Degrees/Academic Titles

Academic degrees: Per the Chicago Manual of Style, degrees are lowercase when written out.

Examples:

James Luna earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at the University of California, Irvine.
He introduced James Luna, bachelor of fine arts.

Academic Degree Abbreviations: Capitalized, no periods (MFA, BFA, PhD)

If a person has a doctoral degree, list it after her or his name in a contributing writer’s biography or in the first mention of her or his name in an article. Alfred Young Man, PhD (Cree), taught at the University of Lethbridge.

DMA is the preferred abbreviation for a doctor of musical arts degree

Academic Programs: if general terms, lowercase; if referring to a specific school’s program or class capitalized, e.g., art history, Indigenous Liberal Studies, etc.

Bachelor’s and master’s degrees both require apostrophes. Bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of fine arts, and doctor of philosophy in art history have no apostrophe.

Interviews

Profiles, Art+Lit, and other interviews with question-and-answer format should begin with a prose introduction between going into the question-and-answer section.

Initials should be used before both the interviewer’s and respondant’s sentences. The interviewer’s questions/statements are bolded and in color.

Names

No comma before “Jr.” or “Sr.”, e.g., Roy Boney Jr. and Daniel McCoy Jr.

If someone is a Native PhD, the PhD should be listed before the tribal affiliation, e.g. Joe Schmoe, PhD (Paskenta Nomlaki).

Some individuals prefer lowercase, such as dg smalling and heather ahtone (also grunt gallery).

Try to remove hyphens in Indian names.

When an artist is deceased, list their cultural/tribal affiliation, then birth and death dates, e.g. Diego Quispe Tito (Quechua, 1611–1681).

Unless there is a specific reason to use Kiowa Five, the term Kiowa Six is preferred.

Numbers

Spell out numbers zero through twelve. Use a numeral for numbers 13 and higher, unless they begin a sentence. Hundred, thousand, and million can be spelled out.

Insert a comma in numerals with four or more digits, e.g., 1,396 (except in years).
Ordinals: no superscript.
Determining whether even numbers should be Arabic or spelled out: twenties, thirties, etc., instead of 20s, 30s, etc. An exception might be if decades are being described.

Units of measurement (Chicago Manual of Style 9.16, 16th edition) in running text should be spelled out. When more than two units of measurement appear together in the text, use numerals with abbreviations (e.g., 9 g, 10 mph).

Plurals

apparatus is both singular and plural, not apparatuses
buffalo not buffaloes or buffalos
geoducks not geoduck
helixes not helices
hösig di is both singular and plural
huipiles is the plural of huipil, not huipils
Inuit is the plural of Inuk
inuksuit is the plural of inuksuk
Inupiat is the plural of Inupiaq
manga is both singular and plural
matrices not matrixes
media is the plural of medium, not mediums
Kalaallit is the plural of Kalaaleq
Netsilingmiut is the plural of Netsilik
Passamaquoddies is the plural of Passamaquoddy, not Passamaquoddys
pottery can be singular and plural; do not use potteries, except when referring to multiple companies or towns that manufacture ceramics (typically in England)
quail is the plural of quail, not quails
roofs not rooves
spectra not spectrums
squash is singular and plural, not squashes
steles is the plural of stele (The term is Greek, not Latin.)
still lifes is the plural of still life, not still lives
tithu is the plural of tihu
travois is both singular and plural
Unangan (Eastern) and Unangas (Western) is the plural of Unangax̂ or Aleut
Yupiit is the plural of Yup’ik, but is not used by Siberian Yupik.

Besides singular and plural, Circumpolar languages often have terms for two of something (dual). When referring to a singular artist’s tribal affiliation, use the singular term.

Profanity, aka the “Jason Asenap” rule

Since FAAM is read in schools and reaches a diverse audience, we are not enthusiastic about gratuitous profanity. Typically curse words can be deleted or abbreviated to their first letter followed by an em-dash, e.g. f—er, s—hole. If the word is part of the title of an exhibition, artwork, or series, it can be spelled out completely. Random punctuation can be substituted (%$&#) if the intent is humorous.

Punctuation

Only one space after periods, since the fonts are all designed to create extra space (don’t worry, we can make the changes in Microsoft Word, if you are a two-space typist).

Punctuation falls within quotation marks: “There is where the comma goes,” and that’s how we roll.

When listing a specific campus location after a college/university’s name, use an en-dash not a comma, e.g. University of Alaska—Sitka or Diné College–Chinlé.

Avoid ampersands in prose unless it can’t be avoided, for instance, the title of an artwork.

Commas

Use serial/Oxford commas. In a list of three or more items, use a comma after each, such as here, here, and here.

Place commas before the conjunctions of compound sentences. Do not place single commas between a subject and the second verb in a sentence with a single subject and a compound verb.

If a comma is used preceding a year or state/territory/province, it should be followed by one as well, e.g. On January 15, 1940, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith was born in St. Ignatius, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Do not use commas for introductory adverbs or prepositional phrases with fewer than five words. Use Owl Purdue as a reference for commas after introductory elements.

Commas after clauses: In a compound sentence, use a comma before the coordinating conjunction (but, and, so, etc.); use a semicolon and comma with adverbial conjunctions (therefore, however, finally, etc.).

Examples:

I missed the bus, so I was late.
I missed the bus; therefore, I was late.

Slashes

Slashes surrounded by spaces can be used after a non-English title and between its English translation. When a title and subtitle are translated, keep each language version together, i.e. XXX: XXXX / YYY: YYYY, not XXX / YYY: XXXX / YYYY.

Slashes separate tribal affiliations in parenthetic phrases following a person’s name, with the enrolled tribe(s) listed first.

Quotations

In prose, spoken and written dialogue is placed inside quotation marks. Single quotations marks are reserved for quotations within quotations. Thoughts and internal dialogues are italicized.

In an artist profile, when the author has had a personal communication (in person, phone, email, or video chat) with the profiled artist, quotes do not necessarily have to be cited with footnotes. Quotations from published texts should be cited, unless they are quotes from a book in a book review. In features= articles with numerous sources, quotations spoken or emailed directly from the source to the author can be footnoted or cited in-line.

Block text: Any quotation—from a book, discussion, or another source—that is more than 100 words should be placed in a block text, which is italicized. The block text will have spaces before and after and will be indented on both sides. No quotations marks are necessary.

In question-and-answer formats, the interviewer’s dialogue is bolded. The interviewee’s dialogue is left plain.

Specific Terms and Phrases

Non-English words: Personal nouns, especially given names, do not need to be italicized. Italicize non-English words if they are not commonly used (Use Merriam-Webster for reference; if the word is in that dictionary, it does not require italicization). If the same word is used repeatedly in the same article, only italicize the first time it appears.

Use diacritical marks when needed in Indigenous words: hózhó, not hozho.

Glottal stops: Use IPA glottal stop symbol not question marks, e.g. Núh Kaʔáwshan not Núh Ka?áwshan.

Non-English place names: If an artist or author wants to use an Indigenous name (e.g. Dinetah instead of Navajo Nation, Aotearoa instead of New Zealand), that is fine. Just make the meaning clear to a general audience. Please do not use French or Spanish spellings/diacritics when an English spelling is readily available (e.g. don’t use Québec, Montréal, or México).

Specific terms and phrases

3D printing not 3-D printing or three-dimensional printing
acknowledgment not acknowledgement (the latter is British spelling)
Adena—try to avoid using since this archaeological designation is falling out of favor
aeon not eon
aha not a-ha
among not amongst
anticolonial not anti-colonial
archaeologist, archaeological, and archaeology rather than archeologist, archeological, and archeology
artifact not artefact
award-winning not awardwinning or award winning as an adjective (but try to avoid this term)
axe not ax
B.Yellowtail, period, no spaces, also B.Yellowtail Collective
backward and forward not backwards and forwards
bandana not bandanna
basket weaver not basketweaver (although basket maker is preferred since weaving is only a small part of the basketmaking process)
braintan and braintanned not brain tan or brain-tan
beadwork not bead work
bead worker not beadworker
beargrass not bear grass or bear-grass
beeweed not bee weed
birchbark is one word, as per Merriam-Webster
Blessingway, single word, capitalized
blond not blonde; no gender distinctions with this term
bougie not boujee or bourgie
breechcloth not breechclout or breech-cloth
catalogue not catalog; cataloguing not cataloging
ceramicist not ceramist; ceramic artist is also used
Chac Mool (capitalized) instead of chacmool or chac-mool
Chief Blanket not chief blanket, chief’s blanket, or Chief’s Blanket
chine-collé not chine collé or chine-colle
The CIRI Foundation capitalizes the The.
co-chair not cochair (just because it looks weird)
co-curator not cocurator (also because it looks weird)
cofound not co-found (typically the suffix co- doesn’t require a hyphen unless preceding an O, unless the suffix produces confusion in pronunciation)
collectible not collectable
commentor not commenter
concha not concho when referring to hammered, metal discs
cottongrass not cotton grass or cotton-grass
co-create not cocreate
co-write and co-written not cowrite or cowritten (again, looks odd—like cows are engaging the occult)
crawfish not crayfish
cradleboard not cradle board
Cuzco not Cusco
dialogue not dialog
digital C-print not digital C print, Digital C-print, or digital c-print (use hyphen, only C is capitalized)
dipnet not dip net or dip-net
dipnetting not dip netting or dip-netting
dollmaker not doll maker or doll-maker
draftsperson not draftsman, drafter, or draughtsman
druzy not druse or drusy
eBay not Ebay or E-bay
eBook use camelcase, no hyphen
email not Email or e-mail
Emily Carr School of Art + Design not Emily Carr School of Art and Design
Enemyway, single word, capitalized; same forBeautyway, Evilway, Holyway, Lifeway, Mountainway, Nightway, and Shootingway
Eyedazzler not eye dazzler, eyedazzler, or eye-dazzler
fingerweaving instead of finger weaving or finger-weaving
First Americans Museum prefers to not use the in front of their name.
fish skin not fishskin or fish-skin (as a noun. An adjective, e.g. fish-skin parka, would require a hyphen.)
flautist not flutist
flyer not flier (for a paper announcement)
formline (lowercase midsentence) not Formline or form-line
forward not forwards (as a direction, not as in multiple introductions to books)
frybread is one word
giclée not Giclée or giclee
giveaway is a noun. If you are describing an action, use two words: give away.
grave house appears in literature as two separate words.
grey not gray, greyscale not grayscale
gutskin not gut skin or gut-skin
hand game is two words as a noun, only hyphenated as an adjective, e.g. hand-game tournament.
hairpipe not hair pipe or hair-pipe
Hastiin in Navajo has no diacritical marks.
hawk bell not hawkbell or hawk-bell
heartline not heart-line or heart line
heishi not heishe
hide when discussing deer or buffalo hide not leather (use this to describe commercially processed cowhide or goat hide)
hip hop (space, no hyphen) is a noun, hip-hop (hyphenated) is an adjective. Lowercase.
a historian or a historical not an historian or an historical
horsehair, one word as an adjective
hösig di not Hösig Di or Hosig Di. This Embera-language term is both singular and plural.
huipiles is the plural of huipil not huipils
hyperpictorial not hyper-pictorial
ice-cream bean tree not ice cream bean tree or ice-cream-bean tree
imageNative Film & Media Arts Festival
Inca not Incan as an adjective
inkjet not ink jet or ink-jet
interdisciplinary instead of inter-disciplinary or multidisciplinary
inuksuk not inukshuk (also: inuksuit is plural)
J.Okuma has no space between the period and the O
jingle dance and jingle dress are lowercase
Job’s-tears instead of job’s tears or jobs tears (i.e. capitalize and use a hyphen)
Juncus is a common name for rushes used in Southern California basketry also well as a genus, so, unless it is used specifically as the genus, it is acceptable to leave it romanized and lowercase.
karat not K. Spell out the word in prose and use a hyphen in adjectival form, e.g. 24-karat gold, not 24K gold or 24 karat gold.
katsin tihu does not require a hyphen in the noun form
katsina (katsinam plural) is preferred over kachina (kachinas plural), unless a carver uses kachina (in their quotes, art titles, or other conversations), then his preference is followed. Use katsina figure instead of kachina dolls.
Kha’po Owingeh not Kha Po Owingeh for the Tewa name of Santa Clara Pueblo, unless a tribal member being discussed adamantly prefers another spelling
khipu not quipu
livestream not live-stream or live stream
Mayan language not Maya language
Maya peoples instead of Mayan people (Mayan primarily refers to the language not the people or cultures)
Manitou should be capitalized.
mat board not matboard
matchcoat not match coat
matrices not matrixes
media is the plural of medium, as opposed to mediums
minuscule not miniscule. The root word is minus as opposed to miniature.
mike for microphone not mic (because miced, mics, and micing look odd)
mokume gane not mokume-gane or Mokume Gane (not italicized)
mollusk not mollusc
moosehair, one word as an adjective (moosehair tufting)
moundbuilder, uncapitalized, not mound builder or mound-builder
Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne with hyphens for town
multistone not multi-stone
Mylar should be capitalized.
Nasca not Nazca. The z comes from a typo in a 1941 Peruvian law and reflects Castillian spelling.
National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center with no comma between Indian and George. If the National Museum of the American Indian has already been introduced in an article, it can be shortened to NMAI George Gustav Heye Center. On subsequent mentions, it can be shortened to the Heye Center, not NMAIGGHC.
okay not ok or O.K.
Paleo-Indians (hyphenated with both P and I capitalized) not paleo-Indians, paleoindians, or Paleoindians.
papier-mâché not papier mache (both noun and adjective forms have hyphens)
Passamaquoddies is the plural of Passamaquoddy, not Passamaquoddys.
photo shoot instead of photoshoot or photo-shoot
plainware not plain ware or plain-ware
pleaded not pled
Plexiglas (capitalized) instead of plexiglass, PlexiGlas, or plexiGlass
pinecone not pine cone
pinenut not pine nut or pine-nut
plebeian not plebian
plow not plough
PM Waterlily, no periods
policymaker not policy-maker or policy maker
polliwog not pollywog
Po’pay not Popé, unless the author has a compelling reason for the alternative spelling
Postclassic period (in Mesoamerican chronology) not Post-classic or Post-classic
post-contact not postcontact
postdoctoral not post-doctoral
precontact not pre-contact
readymade, as in found art objects, one word, no hyphen
rock ’n’ roll, with spaces, instead of rock-n-roll, rock and roll, etc.
roofs not rooves
ribbonwork not ribbon work or ribbon-work
rivercane not river cane
sandhill crane not sand hill crane or sand-hill crane
sandpainting is a single word whether a noun or a verb
Sea lyme-grass not sea lyme grass or sea-lyme grass. The name refers to both Leymus arenarius and Leymus mollis and is the preferred term (as opposed to dune grass, American wild-rye grass, etc.)
sci-fi not sci fi or Sci-Fi
screen printing instead of screen-printing or screenprinting. Also serigraphy or silk-screen printing.
shepherding not sheepherding
sherd not shard when discussing a pottery fragment
skeptic not sceptic
Ski-Doo (brand name) not skidoo
skill set not skillset
sight lines not sightlines
smartphone not smart phone
Songòopavi or Shungopavi (both alternatives are fine) not Shongopovi, Shungopovi, or Songoopavi
SpongeBob SquarePants is camelcase.
Starship Enterprise instead of USS Enterprise, since there is a US Navy aircraft carrier named Enterprise
stele and steles not stela and stelae or stelæ (The term is Greek not Latin.)
still lifes is the plural of still life, not still lives
stomp dance (lowercase) not stompdance
stompground not stomp ground
stonecut and stonecut print, no space, no hyphen
storyknives can be written as a single word or as two words, story knives. The author just has to be consistent throughout the article.
Studio School and Studio Style are both acceptable, with both terms capitalized
sweetgrass not sweet grass or sweet-grass
terracotta not terra cotta
tempera is a vague term; if possible, clarify whether distemper (paint with glue as its binder) or egg tempera is being discussed
toward not towards
Tsiiyéeł not tsiiyééł, tsiiyéel, or tsiiyéél
type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes use numerals. These terms are preferable to childhood diabetes or adult-onset diabetes.
type site not type-site or typesite
Walmart not Wal-Mart or Wal-mart
waterbird (written lowercase mid-sentence) is one word when discussing the symbol used in the Native American Church, but not when discussing actual birds
wheatpaste not wheat paste or wheat-paste, as a noun, adjective, and verb
whimsy not whimsey, in regards to beaded, soft sculpture
Woodblock is a single word when describing a print. Wood block is two words when describing the physical, carved block of wood to make the print.
Woodlands School not Woodland School or Woodland style for the painting movement created by Norval Morrisseau
work basket not workbasket or work-basket
World War I (and World War II) not World War 1 or World War One
X-Acto knife not any of the many variations possible on this brand name
Yé’ii Bichei not any of the myriad variations, unless the author is Navajo and prefers another spelling

Titles of Artwork, Exhibitions, Etc.

Art show titles are italicized, e.g. Changing Hands 3.
Art fairs/markets/biennials are not italicized, e.g. Santa Fe Indian Market
Book titles, artwork titles, art exhibitions, series of works, and film titles are all italicized.
Sections within art exhibitions are capitalized but not italicized.
Titles of chapters, articles, or essays within books or other publications are placed in quotation marks.

Tribal and Cultural Affiliations

In prose, we list tribal or cultural affiliations for Indigenous artists of the Americas. A person with multiple Indigenous ancestries will have the sovereign Indigenous nation of which they are an enrolled member first, followed by the groups of which they have ancestry. If a person is enrolled in more than one tribe, FAAM follows that person’s preference in which tribe to list first.

Indigenous identities other than those of the Americas can also be listed depending on the author’s choice. An author may include a relationship to a Latin American country or region, e.g. Andean-American. Identities that are not Indigenous or not from the Americas are not listed in parenthetic phrases unless an artist consistently uses them and feels strongly about their inclusion, e.g. Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez/Korean) and Storme Webber (Sugpiaq/Black). We don’t list European ancestry in parenthetical phrases. If this is significant, it can be listed in prose.

FAAM strikes a balance between accuracy, brevity, consistency, and personal choice. We want to use the shortest possible term to accurately convey the precise tribe while honoring the individual’s preference. Shorten specific tribes enough that the specific tribe is still clear, e.g. Turtle Mountain Chippewa or Mississippi Choctaw.

List an artist’s tribal affiliation after the first mention of her or his name in parentheses. The tribal affiliation only has to be listed once in an article; it doesn’t have to be repeated. Example: Mabel McKay (Long Valley Pomo/Patwin, 1907–1993) was a basket maker. McKay was also a healer.

When someone uses an autonym that is not immediately recognizable, the common name can be placed in brackets. Authors can opt to use either Diné or Navajo, Crow or Apsáalooke, and Mvskoke or Muscogee in an article. Just be consistent throughout.

Authors should not follow museums’ or other institutions’ in-house styles, especially on tribal affiliations. If we did, each article would have a different style. We do not follow the trending style of listing all tribal affiliations separated by spaces, commas, and ands.

Sources

Legal names of US tribes taken from the Federal Registrar can be found at Alaska Native tribal entities and US federally recognized tribes.
Alaska Native peoples and languages: Alaska Native Language Center
Indigenous peoples of Brazil: Povos Indígenous no Brasil, Instituto Socioambiental
Inuit communities in Canada: FAAM

Cherokee

Never list a living person as simply Cherokee. List the specific tribe in which the person is enrolled, Eastern Band Cherokee, Cherokee Nation, or Keetoowah Cherokee (for enrolled members of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians). If a person is not enrolled in a Cherokee tribe but has documented Cherokee ancestry, she or he is listed as Cherokee descent. If the person widely claims Cherokee ancestry, but it remains undocumented but plausible, the person is listed as self-identified Cherokee descent. If the person has claimed Cherokee ancestry, but it is not documented or plausible, no tribal affiliation will be listed.

Terms for Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Use accurate names of tribes. Don’t just tack Nation after the name of an ethnic group (e.g. there is no Kiowa Nation). Use the federal register for the current official names of US tribes.

Indigenous Peoples of Canada refers to First Nations, Métis, and Canadian Inuit peoples. The use of Aboriginal is growing less common.

Alaska Natives refers to Indigenous peoples of Alaska, which include Inupiat (Inuit), Yupiit/Yupik peoples, Unangan, and American Indian peoples, such as Athabascan and Tlingit peoples.

American Indian refers to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are not Inuit, Yupiit, and Unangan. It is not a preferred term in Canada and does not refer to all Indigenous peoples of the Americas; however, many tribes in the United States use Indian in their official names for themselves, as is their right, so it is not up to outsiders to dictate what we call ourselves.

First Nations are the Indigenous peoples of Canada who are not Métis or Inuit. They include people whose languages are Algonquian, Athabascan, Haida, Iroquois, Kutenai, Salish, Siouan, Tsimshian, and Wakashan. First Nations is also increasingly used to describe Indigenous peoples of Australia; however, the default assumption is that this term refers to Canadian people.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas refers to the Native peoples of South and North America and includes Greenlandic Inuit but does not include Native Hawaiians, or CHamorus, or Norse Greenlanders (Thule people arrived in Greenland after the Norse but already lived in North America, i.e. Canada).

Mestiza/mestizo typically refers to people of mixed Indigenous and Iberian descent (although can also refer to detribalized people of Indigenous descent in Latin America) and does not need to be capitalized mid-sentence. Mestiza/mestizo or mestiza/o is used, not mestizx, unless in a proper name (e.g. exhibition title) or the author is a Spanish speaker and strongly prefers the latter. Mestizx has not yet gained strong usage in Latin America, and FAAM is watching the development of gender-neutral terms, such as the adoption of the –e suffix in Argentina (discussion).

Métis are a specific ethnic group descended from European-Canadian and First Nation peoples, often French-Canadians and Cree, Ojibwe, and Salteaux peoples. The Métis Nation was formed in the Red River region of Manitoba.

Native American often, but not always, refers to Indigenous peoples of what is now the United States and includes American Indians and Alaskan Natives, but also can include Native Hawaiians, CHamorus, and Samoas from lands that are now politically part of the United States.

Native and Indigenous are capitalized. Black is capitalized, while white is lowercase (This is an AP standard). Hyphenate non-Native and non-Indigenous. We do not capitalize Peoples in Indigenous peoples.

Try to avoid the term Eskimo unless there is a compelling reason to use the term (name of a historical entity, name of artwork).

Only use “Pit River Tribe” when specifically discussing that federally recognized tribe; otherwise distinguish the exact group (Atsugewi, Hammawi, etc.). Please distinguish between Northern, Southern, and Owens Valley Paiute peoples.

Métis has an accent over the e.
Don’t use Sioux if possible. Disambiguate between Lakota, Dakota, and Nakoda.
Don’t use Iroquois if possible. List actual tribe or use Haudenosaunee, preferred over League of the Iroquois.
Native American typically refers to the people indigenous to what is now the United States. American Indian does not include Inuit, Unangan/Unangas, Yupiit, Yupik people, Métis, or Native Hawaiian peoples.
Use Inuit singular and plural forms: Cup’iq/Cup’it, Inuk/Inuit, Inupiaq/Inupiat, Kalaaleq/Kalaallit, Tupilaq/Tupliit. Don’t have use the dual forms.
Inupiaq and Inupiat usually do not have a tilde over the n. Some communities do use the tilde for singular but not plural versions of the work. The language is Iñupiaq (see Alaska Native Language Center).
Use Inca and Maya, not Incan or Mayan, unless discussing Mayan languages.

As a rule of thumb, use the term preferred by the community while being as specific as possible.

Mississippian Ideological Interactive Sphere or Mississippian cultures is preferred over Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Do not use Mississippian culture since it is not a single culture.

With Brazilian tribes, the English or Spanish spelling is preferred over Portuguese, i.e., use k rather than c. Don’t use the terms Macu or Maku. Find another term for the tribe.

Preferred Spelling of Ethnic Group	To Avoid (Only use for a compelling reason, such as a Native speaker prefers another spelling)
Athabascan	Athabaskan, Athapascan
Ancestral Pueblo peoples	Anasazi, Ancient Puebloan people
Anishinaabe	Anishnabe, Anishinabe
Caddo, Ancestral Caddo, Caddoan language speakers	Caddoan, unless discussing a language, not a people
Cherokee [always specify tribe or descent of any living person]. See Cherokee Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band Cherokee, or Keetoowah Cherokee for living people	Tsalagi or Aniyvniwa (which should be Aniyvniwaʔi anyway) Cherokee (on tribal affiliations for living artists)
CHamoro, with a capital “h” as delineated in Guam public law 33-236	Chamorro, Chamoru
Choctaw Nation, Jena Choctaw, or Mississippi Choctaw for living people	Choctaw (on tribal affiliations for living artists)
Delaware Nation or Delaware Tribe for living people	Lenape, Lenni-Lenape
Greenlandic people	Greenlander
Heiltsuk	Bella Bella
Karuk	Karok
Santo Domingo Pueblo or Kewa, depending on individual’s preference	Just be consistent
K’iche’ Maya	Quiché Maya
Koasati	Coushatta or Quassarte; when discussing a specific federally recognized tribe, use the tribe’s spelling
Kwakwaka’wakw	Kwakiutl, Kwakwaka’wakw (without diacritics)
Guna	Cuna, Kuna
Lakota	Sioux, Teton
Mi’kmaq	Micmac
Mniconjou (unless a Minconjou person prefers an alternate spelling)	Miniconjou, Minniconjou, Minicoujou, MinnicoujouMnicoujou
Muscogee or Mvskoke, when listing a tribal affiliation. Muscogee Nation when describing that specific federally recognized tribe.	Creek
Nahua	Aztec, which is reserved for the Aztec Empire
Nuxalk	Bella Coola
Ohkay Owingeh	San Juan Pueblo
Pueblo or Ancestral Pueblo	Puebloan, Anasazi
Saami Sápmi	Sami or Lapp Lappland
Shoshone	Shoshoni
Tohono O’odham	Papago
Wyandot, if just a general term	Wyandotte only when the Wyandotte Nation is being discussed
Yokuts	Yokut
Yup’ik (with a straight apostrophe)	refers to Central Alaska Yup’ik
Yupik (without a straight apostrophe)	refers to St. Lawrence Yupik or Siberian Yupik

Pueblos

Kewa, Hopi, and Ohkay Owingeh don’t need to be followed by the word Pueblo.
Pueblo does not need to be added to Acoma, Cochiti, Jemez, Kewa, Nambé, Picuris, Pojoaque, Taos, Tesuque, Zia, and Zuni. Just be consistent throughout the article with that specific Pueblo.
Since Isleta, Laguna, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, and Ysleta del Sur are general Spanish terms that should be followed by Pueblo.
If an individual belongs to several Pueblos, the word Pueblo does not necessarily need to be included in their tribal affiliation, unless they are all or mostly Spanish words. Then one can write Pueblos at the end, e.g. Joe Smith (Santa Ana/San Felipe/Laguna Pueblos).

Non-Native Cultural Affiliations

Use hyphens in terms like African-American, Asian-Canadian, and European-American.