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What could you make with a lump of clay?
How about from a buffalo hide? What about a handful of porcupine quills? For centuries, Native Americans have turned such ordinary materials into beautiful and useful artworks. Native American art is about the spiritual connection between human beings and the natural world. Artists often say a prayer of thanks to the animal, plant, or rock that gave them the raw material for their art.
Native American art goes back thousands of years. It’s also as fresh as tomorrow. Native artists have always included new ideas and materials in their work. Long before the Europeans came, different groups of Native Americans influenced each other’s art. They traded shells, feathers, copper, and paint to make new objects. When Europeans introduced them to beads, silversmithing, and ribbons, Native Americans used these new materials in their own unique way.
