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The power of protest suffused the smoky air in Window Rock, Arizona. It was January 2007. Diné men wearing respirators held signs that read “Defend your right to clean air.” Diné women held American flags and faced off against police with hands on their pistols.
My mother was adopted through the Indian Adoption Project, a federal program that ran from 1958 to 1967 and was designed to assimilate Native children by placing them with white families.
By Dr. Michelle J. Lanteri A horizon connects multiple planes of existence by way of light, and experiencing horizons—whether literal or metaphorical—is a commonality shared between beings. Horizons: Weaving Between
By Kim Suina MelwaniPhotographs by Tira Howard When I was young, my family had a subscription to National Geographic. It was not unusual to see them lying around the house, but one particular issue grabbed my attention.
As visitors enter the Arts section of the Here, Now and Always at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, they are greeted by a large platform exhibiting several dresses, evoking the vision of a high fashion runway show.
By Almah LaVon Rice Their heads are tilted back, casting praise skyward. Eyes closed to everything but rapture, their mouths are OOO’d in song or supplication. Six clay figures—Mary, Joseph, the shepherd, and three wise men—arc around five smaller figures: a donkey, cow, two sheep, and in the center, Baby Jesus in a manger.
![A woman in a long coat walks under a covered walkway with brightly painted pillars and adobe-style architecture. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1-6-400x225.jpg)
By Laureli IvanoffPhotographs by Kevin Lange Joy Harjo helps one to understand the concept that God, the Creator, should be feared. Having the chance to talk with the three-term United States poet laureate was like a wannabe boxer meeting Muhammad Ali.
![Two Indigenous women stand side by side against a cracked wall, one holding a bowl and the other with a woven basket balanced on her head. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/06-e1654790925949-494x500-1.jpg)
A century of harking back and looking forward at Santa Fe’s beloved summer institution Each August, an estimated 100,000 people attend the largest juried Native American art show in the world: the Southwestern Association of American Indian Arts’ annual Indian Market.
![A silver necklace with large round beads and squash blossom motifs, featuring a central circular pendant with two turquoise stones, displayed on a black stand. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Case6_MIAC_24-Edit-400x225.jpg)
I am grateful for the land, for my hands. Grateful for the browned earth hardened by the sun, scented with chamisa and sage after the rain. Palms thick as groves of chokecherry, gnarled fingers like piñon, they are an extension of my Creator and my creation.
![A silver decorative piece with engraved patterns, set with seven turquoise stones and small turquoise dangles, displayed on a stand against a white background. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image001-3-400x225.jpg)
By Ross Altshuler In 1932, Dr. Harry Percival Mera (1875-1951), curator at the Laboratory of Anthropology, embarked on a trip to the Navajo Nation with the purpose of assembling an assortment of Navajo silverwork to form the beginnings of the Lab’s jewelry collection.
