I heard about the Santa Fe Indian Market through some random email I received. On the website, the Santa Fe Indian Market is touted as “celebrating Native arts and culture in the largest and most prestigious intertribal fine art market in the world”. Sounded interesting, so I decided to go check it out. I had to drive around a little bit to find a parking spot, but eventually I was able to find some street parking. This free event was held in the Santa Fe Plaza and was crowded right from the start, and as the day went on, it got very warm. One day I will remember to wear my sun hat to these events, but at least I remembered my water and sunblock. 
There were over 1,000 of the “best of the best” Native artists, craftspersons, and designers. There were beautiful rugs, handmade jewelry, gorgeous pieces of pottery, amazing paintings and other works of art, but honestly after a few hours it all became pretty overwhelming. The maze of white vendor tents seemed to go on and on, and eventually everything started to look the same. I popped into some of the air conditioned galleries and shops in the Plaza along the way to cool down. And I even got a chance to check out the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts which I enjoyed very much.
One of the most memorable parts of the day for me was the performance by the family group of hoop dancers from the San Carlos Apache Tribe. This fast paced dance provides a story of all the elements of life while each dancer catches and jumps through hoops. Truly amazing! See more at Yellow Bird Productions.
MORE INFO: www.swaia.org
Enchanted New Mexico 