The Wonder of Native American Art

In this sixth episode of our seven-part road trip through Arizona, we’re doing something a little different. This isn’t a journey to a place, but into a culture. Arizona is home to 22 Native American tribes, each with its own artistic traditions, and the Indigenous art made here is among the most beautiful you’ll find anywhere. Beneath Hole-in-the-Rock in Phoenix’s Papago Park, where the ancestral Hohokam once tracked the seasons by the sun, a world champion hoop dancer brings the drum and the hoops to life. Then we travel north to the Hopi Mesas to meet a basket weaver whose art carries a powerful message for her community, and for all of us.

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Episode highlights

The Heartbeat of the Drum

Sit in the shade of an ancient sandstone butte as Sampson Sixkiller Sinquah and his uncle Zachary Smith play a powwow drum. Hear why the drum is known as the heartbeat of Mother Earth, and why every drum has its own spirit.

The Hoop Dance

Hear the story of the hoop dance, a healing dance passed down through generations. To the beat of the powwow drum, the dancer sends as many as a dozen hoops flowing around their body, forming flowers and globes, eagles and butterflies, and finally the circle of life itself.

Baskets From the Earth

Travel to Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation to meet basket weaver Iva Honyestewa in her gallery, Iskaskopu, “the spring where the coyote burps.” Find out how every strand of her baskets is gathered by hand from the desert, and why she always leaves an offering of cornmeal in return.

Weaving a Message

Discover the Pootsaya, a new kind of Hopi basket Iva created to bring her community together. Hear why she believes the feeling a maker puts into a piece of art stays with it, and reaches whoever holds it.