The process of colonization had devastating effects on Native American populations by the turn of the 20th century. The census of 1900 counted less than 250,000 Indians, the policy of assimilation had dealt a crippling blow to Native American culture and everywhere on the reservations Native American people languished in poverty. In the 1920's the landmark Merriam Report marked a turning point in federal Indian policy with a new approach aimed at fostering greater tribal independence, in part to facilitate economic growth in Native communities.
This attitude reflected a renewed appreciation for Native American culture and New Mexico would emerge as ground zero for the Indian art industry with Santa Fe Indian Market as the crowning jewel of all Native American art events.
Crossroads of Native American Culture
The completion of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1885, connecting the East and West coasts, opened new doors to settlers in the Southwest, which had long been a center of commerce among the region's Indians and other traders. The influx of new materials brought by European immigrants influenced innovative new directions in Native American art and craft, and the accessibility to rural native communities created by the automobile would aid in the creation of new tourist markets. The Fred Harvey Company would famously stake its claim in this new industry with its "Indian Detours," transporting curious Eastern visitors into the heart of New Mexico's Indian country where they could interact directly with Native people and communities.
Early Beginnings
Ironically, Indian Market has its roots in the old Spanish festival, Fiesta de Santa Fe which was established originally in 1712 by then Spanish governor of the province, Jose Chacon Medina Salazar y Villaseñor, the marquis of Penuela. After lying dormant for a time, the Spanish Fiesta was revived in 1919 by Museum of New Mexico director Edgar Hewitt and in 1922 the Indian Fair was added as an ethnological display along the lines of the World's Fair anthropological exhibits of the era, and a way to promote tourism. In another ironic twist, 1922 also happened to be the year the New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs (NMAIA) was founded to fight a bill that would have illegally transferred massive amounts of Pueblo lands to Spanish squatters.
On September 4, 1922 the first Indian Fair was held indoors at the National Guard Armory behind the Palace of the Governors in the Santa Fe Plaza. In the patio of the Palace Indian artists demonstrated weaving, pottery and jewelry making, cooked traditional food and performed ancient dances. Art competitions were held with each Pueblo comprising its own category, with a first prize award of five dollars and a second-place award of three dollars. Displays were sent from other parts of the country and displayed inside the Armory, but the fair's focus was on the arts of the Southwest, and pottery in particular. The museum's assistant director Kenneth Chapman, who had been working with many of the important potters of the day including Maria Martinez and her family At San Ildefonso Pueblo, saw the fair as a way to educate the public about Pueblo pottery. Its other objectives were to revive and maintain the old arts, establish new markets for artisans, authenticate artists' work and help them fetch fair prices.
The Indian Fair remained part of the Spanish Fiesta until 1926 when it would begin to undergo changes. In 1927 an independent committee took over the fair's planning from the museum and it was moved to the outdoor patio of the Palace. The fair was not held from 1932 to 1935.
The Fair Becomes the Market
The NMAIA formally absorbed the Indian fair committee into its arts and crafts committee in 1934 and an Indian market was proposed which would be returned to the Palace of the Governors. The market took form as a succession of eight Saturday markets under the Palace's portal in the summer and lasted from 1936 to 1939. By then the Fiesta Indian Market had become part of Fiesta de Santa Fe, evolving once again into an annual event and lasting until 1962, after the NMAIA changed its name and reformed into the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs (SWAIA) in 1959. After 1962 the event was moved to the weekend before Fiesta de Santa Fe (now known widely as Spanish Market) and with Indian Market having long since become the sole function of the organization it would once again undergo a name change in 1993 to the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts, thus maintaining the acronym SWAIA.
Today, after 90 years, SWAIA's Indian Market has grown far beyond the portals of the Palace of the Governors, extending out for many blocks from the hub of the Santa Fe plaza, and is Mecca for the world's most devoted Indian art fans and collectors. With an annual income of more than $1 million, SWAIA has created one of the top two highest revenue-generating events in the state of New Mexico and provides for many of the artists a significant portion of their personal incomes.