Including a star-studded fashion show and a rich regalia showcase, here are the top five highlights from the annual Indigenous design extravaganza.
Taking place every summer for more than a century, the Southwestern Association For Indian Arts (SWAIA) Indian Market has made a name for itself as the largest and most prestigious Indigenous art market in the world. This year’s artful affair was no exception, featuring nearly 1,000 Native creatives from more than 200 federally recognized tribal nations. In addition to the incredibly diverse artwork on offer, the weekend was rounded out with a star-studded fashion show, screenings of award-winning films, and events galore.
A who’s who of Indian Country gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the annual Indigenous design extravaganza, including Black Eyed Peas rapper Taboo (Shoshone/Hopi), C&I cover star and actor Zahn McClarnon (Hunkpapa Lakota), Reservation Dogs showrunner Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee), actress Amber Midthunder (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux), Prey producer Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet), weaver Naiomi Glasses (Diné), model Phillip Bread (Comanche/Kiowa/Blackfeet), poet Kinsale Drake (Diné), and more. Here’s a look back at the top five highlights from the 2024 Santa Fe Indian Market.
1. Naiomi Glasses debuted the final frop of her Polo Ralph Lauren collaboration.
Aptly dubbed Denim Daydream, the third drop of the Polo Ralph Lauren x Naiomi Glasses Collection is the seventh-generation Diné weaver’s ode to rodeo life. The iconic American brand’s first artist-in-residence grew up competing in barrel racing and attending rodeos, which she says are a huge part of Native culture. Glasses debuted—and practically sold out of—the final installment of this incredible collaboration with a festive Thursday night fete at Malouf on the Plaza, where she fondly remembers filming a PBS special with her late grandmother, Nellie, back in 2017.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kelly Bedoni/Courtesy SWAIA
2. Filmmakers and cinephiles gathered for exclusive showings.
The second annual Get Indigenous Film Festival offered exclusive screenings and Q&A sessions with Native talents behind works like the award-winning 2024 documentary film Sugarcane by Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen) and Emily Kassie that debuted at Sundance, recently hit theaters, and will be available for streaming later this year. The heartfelt and heart-wrenching movie provides a personal perspective of the pervasive intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. An insightful panel, meanwhile, featured Brave NoiseCat and his father alongside Dark Winds stars McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon (Hualapai), and Deanna Allison (Diné).
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ellison Onsi/Courtesy SWAIA
3. The Native American regalia showcase highlighted Indigenous traditions.
On Sunday morning, market artists and special guests showed off their respective communities’ regalia and traditional clothing in an educational showcase reminding attendees that Native cultures are not a monolith. Among those who took to the plaza stage were jewelry maker Keri Ataumbi (Kiowa)—whose creations have been worn by the likes of Blackfeet/Nimíipuu actress Lily Gladstone—as well as Bree Black Horse (Seminole), who recently joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington to work on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kitty Leaken/Courtesy SWAIA
4. Taboo opened the star-studded fashion show.
In perhaps the most hyped happening of the weekend, the Black Eyed Peas rapper kicked off the fan-favorite fashion show with the help of musician PJ Vegas (Yoeme) and hoop dancer Eric Michael Hernandez (Lumbee). Wearing a custom Lauren Good Day jacket, Taboo previewed what he dubbed a celebration of Indigenous excellence, featuring captivating new collections from Good Day (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara), Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock), Caroline Monnet (Anishinaabe/French), Jontay Kahm (Plains Cree), and ASEP Designs by Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose (Diné/Southern Ute).
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tira Howard/Courtesy SWAIA
5. Balmain came to town and made a strong statement.
In an Indian Market first, the famed French fashion house signed on as the first internationally renowned brand to show in Santa Fe, cementing the Southwest city as the epicenter of Indigenous design. That’s exactly what SWAIA fashion curator and historian Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Siksika) has been aiming to do with her work, including producing the United States’ first-ever Native Fashion Week this May. Indigenous models donned select looks from Balmain’s autumn 2024 collection at both the Sunday afternoon fashion show and the sold-out Saturday evening gala (which also featured Patricia Michaels, C.Ruby Designs, and Tierra Alysia’s VIVIDUS). It set a new bar for the Indigenous design extravaganza, and we can’t wait to see how the SWAIA team tops it next year.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tira Howard/Courtesy SWAIA
PHOTOGRAPHY: (Cover Image) Tira Howard/Courtesy SWAIA
