A Diné Horizon
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
Indigenous arts and cultures
Full Circle
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.
Evoking Empowerment
By Lillia McEnaney 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.
Clay Community
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)
Possibility and Ferocity
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)
To Market, To Market
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)
The Element of Beings
By Chela Lujan 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)
Collecting Culture
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.
In Conversation with the Sea
In Cara Romero’s black and white photograph Sand & Stone, Chemehuevi and Diné woman Sheridan Silversmith is embedded in earth. Her head and clasped hands are above the surface of the hard, dry dirt, but the rest of her body is not visible.
Glass is the Memory of Light
By Almah LaVon Rice Where does glass come from? From the Phoenicians, ancestors of the alphabet in modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. Or perhaps the Sumerians, inventors of the cuneiform, were the first fashioners of glass in what is now southern Iraq.