Bruce Bernstein allows readers to learn the history of Southwestern native artists and the marketplace that constructs the Santa Fe Indian Market. Many thought the market would preserve Native American cultures; some thought it would be the demise of Native cultures . The Santa Fe Market has not always been a widely known established place, but over decades it came to its present-day prestige. Bernstein writes from the early beginnings of the market in the nineteenth century up until the present day. The author also informs reader of how pottery has changed overtime from simple large pieces to small, elaborate, and more ‘traditional’ pieces. Bernstein also writes about how the Market finally announced that it would move to its own weekend away from the overshadowing of the Santa Fe Fiesta, which the rest is now part of a successful history.
This has been one of my favorite reads this semester due to the fact I am a visual person and the photographs that were provided within the book allowed me to have a much deeper experience than compared to just reading. Analyzing the photographs permitted me to interpret my own meanings and story’s from them, which helped further my understanding of the pieces and the …show more content…
It is easy for almost anyone to pick up this book and gain a substantial amount of knowledge and history about Indian Arts in relation to the Santa Fe Marketplace. Bernstein did an excellent job at also explaining the significance of Indian arts and how they are “… the embodiment of ancestral origins and often-theological markers of action, phenomenon, and explicit record… Native art is a form of communication” (Bernstein 12). The description the author provides is powerful and can be understood by both natives and non-natives, which I really