"Santa Fe Indian Market -- A History of Native Arts and the Marketplace."

Santa Fe Indian Market debuted in 1922. Back then it bore the official name of Southwest Indian Fair and Arts and Crafts Exhibition and it was presented as part of the Santa Fe Fiestas. The fair was held inside the National Guard Armory on Washington Avenue behind the Palace of the Governors. That background is from the first chapter of Bruce Bernstein's new book, "Santa Fe Indian Market -- A History of Native Arts and the Marketplace." Bernstein will discuss and sign copies of the book at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, at Collected Works, 202 Galisteo, Santa Fe. Edgar L. Hewett, the director of the Museum of New Mexico, opened that first Indian Fair on Sept. 4, 1922. The book's introduction says that years before, at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Hewett had "conceived of a 'Santa Fe style' of architecture and envisioned using Santa Fe Fiesta ... to promote Santa Fe's appeal as a tourist center." Chapter Two goes back further in time. It states that by the late 1880s, several forces had brought the state's Native peoples to the awareness of the general public. The most important force, Bernstein writes, was the railroad. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had arrived in New Mexico in 1878; it reached to within 18 miles of Santa Fe two years later. A spur line was constructed from Lamy to Santa Fe. Bernstein is executive director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, which sponsors Santa Fe Indian Market. The Museum of New Mexico Press is the publisher...more