First American Art Magazine No. 7, Summer 2015 | Page 9

Letters to FAAM Dear FAAM Editor, On a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, my husband and I visited a great little folk art shop (Peyote People) on Calle Juarez and bought two beaded Huichol pieces by Santo Bautista, one of their best artists. We also had a good visit with the shop owner, Kevin Simpson, who was featured in your magazine [“Wixáritari Yarn Paintings,” First American Art Magazine, No. 3, Summer 2014: 48–55]. Thanks to FAAM for hooking us up! Well, actually, I saved the article and tracked the shop down when we got to Puerto Vallarta. We are so glad we did. Kevin is working hard with the Huichol people to bust incorrect “knowledge” of their art being peddled on el Malecón in Puerto Vallarta. It’s hard to get through to sunburned, beer-marinated tourists, but he is giving it his all. I know something about the upstream swim of busting myths regarding Native art. Kudos to Kevin Simpson for his efforts on behalf of the Huichol and to FAAM for spreading the word. Martha Berry Cherokee beadwork artist www.berrybeadwork.com Martha: So glad you visited Peyote People and met Kevin Simpson in person. Our mutual friends and enthusiastic art collectors, Beth and Peter Shumway, introduced Simpson to our magazine, and we’re grateful they did. We hope to feature more of his insightful writing in future issues. The Indigenous art world creates wonderful connections between individuals and communities. Let’s keep growing them! —FAAM 3 rd ANNUAL N AT I V E A RT S G AT H E R I N G ANGELA BABBY J U LY 1 7 & 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 Cur Camping 2014 Best of Show BLACK HILLS, SOUTH DAKOTA WWW.NATIVEARTSGATHERING.ORG I read various Native arts magazines and have been delighted with them. To me, First American Art Magazine takes it a step deeper, especially as it pertains to our art! I’ve always said, “We had enough time to learn a new language and to read and write it, and it is time to write our own history,” which you’re doing. Deeper yet, to me personally, is the fact that it contains material on several people, places, and things I’ve enjoyed as an artist. Ron Anderson Choctaw-Chickasaw artist Parker, AZ We welcome your letters to the editor! If we print your letter, we will send you a free copy of that issue of the magazine. Please email your letters to us at: [email protected] or­mail letters to: First American Art Magazine Attention: Editor 1000 Cordova Place, #843 Santa Fe, NM 87505. Errata Topaz Jones is an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, not the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, as erroneously printed on page 93 of Issue No. 6, Spring 2015. SUM M E R 2 0 1 5 | 7