Karen Begay, Traditional Navajo Hogan Builder. Smoke Signal, AZ | 2022 Karen Begay learned to build traditional Navajo hogans from her grandfather,Tsinijinnie Nez Begay, who also taught her songs, prayers, ceremonies, and how to live off the land. While she has been building for many years, during the pandemic, she started building hogans for unsheltered … Read more
Alex Beeshligaii, Silversmith. Tucson, AZ | 2022 Alex Beeshligaii (Naabeehó Dineh/Apache) has worked as a traditional Naabeeho Dineh silversmith for more than 30 years, making jewelry using tufa and sand molds. He learned the artform from family and community members as well as from artists Sam Tabaha (Klagetoh/Naabeehó Dineh), Rick Manuel (Tohono O’odham), Alan Wallace … Read more
Denise Bey, African Dance. Tucson, AZ | 2022 Denise Bey began studying traditional West African dance at age 14 with Ladji Camara who arrived from Guinea with Les Ballets Africans. She also studied under M’Bemba Bandoura, Youssouf Koumbassa, and Ligia Barretto. Hailing from a family of artists, Denise is also well-versed in the doctrines of … Read more
Francisco “Paros” Baltazar, Pascua Yaqui Regalia. Tucson, AZ | 2022 Paros Baltazar makes traditional regalia worn in the Yaqui Deer Dance ceremony of the Pascua Yaqui people. He prepares Yaqui youth for the ceremony and teaches them to make regalia. He has been dancing in ceremony since he was five years old and learned the … Read more
Alicia Jewelryman-Billie, Navajo Leatherwork and Adornment. Tucson, AZ | 2022 Alicia Jewelryman-Billie makes Navajo leatherwork, in the form of cedar and tobacco bags and buckskin medicine and ceremonial pouches. Growing up, Alicia attended many different ceremonial gatherings with her grandmothers, observing how they used pouches in ceremony. She learned leatherwork from her maternal grandmother, a … Read more
Quinton Antone, Silversmith. Tucson, AZ | MA 2020 Quinton Antone (Tohono O’odham Nation/Kiowa) is a silversmith who grew up watching his uncle Duke Sine (Apache) create intricate paintings. He later learned techniques such as overlay, sawing, and polishing from Tohono O’odham silversmiths James Fedenheim and Rick Manuel. These teachers encouraged him to continue, giving him … Read more
Ronald Geronimo, Tohono O’odham Singer. Ge’e Oidag (Big Field) in the Sells district of the Tohono O’odham Nation | 2022 Ronald Geronimo began learning traditional songs from the late Danny Lopez, along with other male elders in his community, most of whom have passed. Ronald views singing less of an artform and more of a … Read more
Stanley Cruz, Tohono O’odham Language Bearer & Singer, Pisinemo District, Tohono O’odham Nation | 2022 Stanley Cruz is a language keeper and culture bearer for the communities of the Pisinemo District on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Stanley learned the O’odham language from his parents and now speaks with his seven siblings in O’odham. Language, he … Read more
John C. Contreras, Mariachi Musician, Educator & Director. Tucson, AZ | 2022 John Conteras is a mariachi musician and has served as the director of the award-winning Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School for the past 20 years. Mariachi music comes from a mestizaje (mixture) of Indigenous roots, Spanish instruments, and West African rhythms. The … Read more
Fadi Iskandar, Violin, Middle Eastern Musical Traditions, Tucson, AZ | 2018 Fadi Iskandar is a master violinist from Syria with a deep musical understanding and knowledge of Middle Eastern music, theory, and culture. Trained as a young boy in classical violin, he then learned Middle Eastern music from elders in his community through improvisation and … Read more