Mea B'Fly July Farewell to Four Designs

In keeping with our mission to bring you the newest and greatest items for the best price, we are making room for new inventory by MaRia Bird (Mea B'Fly) by retiring some of her designs.

Mea B'Fly earrings are a great fusion of the powerful past with the energy of today. Each graphic print is made by Bird, starting with a focal background image that she elaborates with other design elements. She hand-produces each earring by adhering the small art prints to a wood base and topping them off with surgical steel earring hooks and jump rings.

The earrings are bright with vivid color patterns, lightweight for a comfortable wear, and glossy with a slick overcoat to protect the design.

Throughout the month of July, we will be retiring a different design each week on a Sunday night at midnight.

July 7: Sacred - Remixed. The first of four to be retired, these popular earrings feature a remixed design with the image of Comanche leader Quanah Parker as the focal point. The backside is decorated with an organic paisley pattern in warm hues outlined in blue. They are available in medium and large teardrops or oval-shaped earrings. Click here to purchase.

July 14: Ride Hard or Die Tryin'. These earrings feature warriors on horseback on a pink and yellow background with a subtle white four directions star design. Emblazoned with the slogan "Ride Hard or Die Trying," we are reminded to always work hard and fight for the betterment of our communities. The earrings are available in medium or large round earrings. Click here to purchase.

July 21: Traditional Nites. These earrings feature the image of Lakota chief Red Cloud, and they are the perfect accessory for your modern-day traditional nights. Bird explains, "I've always seen this famous image and thought, 'How powerful.' There is a confidence that comes with wearing these earrings - a confidence you see in many women when they are out on the town dressed to impress and/or dancing in the powwow arena. Traditional Nites displays color expression through fashion, whether Traditional or Contemporary. It is a fine line us women love to walk." This design is available in small dangles, medium or large round earrings. Click here to purchase.

July 28: NDN Beatz. Inspired by social round dance songs, powwow mixtapes and carefree summers, these earrings have a fun contemporary feel and feature a stylized boombox rendered in jewel tones and labeled "Powwow Jamz." They are available in small dangles, medium or large round earrings. Click here to purchase.

Click here to shop the full Mea B'Fly collection.

Building (and Funding) a Native-Run Native Arts Publication

Last fall, I was approached by Cherokee artist America Meredith to be a part of an exciting new project to produce an arts magazine. This publication would be unlike any other in that it would be dedicated to covering the Indigenous arts of the Americas from an Indigenous perspective. It would be called First American Art Magazine.

But running a magazine is no easy task. The costs of printing are high, and publishing relevant and quality content requires constant work. But a publication with this mission is necessary.

The core idea - to discuss Native art from a Native perspective - is one that is long overdue for attention and backing. Back in 2004-2008 I was an editor for Red Ink Magazine, an underground art and literature publication based out of Tucson, AZ. Completely student-run, the magazine took on the identity of its editorial board, constantly morphing to reflect the current interests and direction of its volunteer leaders. Our board was one that was packed with individuals interested in art and Native pop culture. Under constant threat of dissolution from our department because of funding, we played with the idea of launching our own grassroots Native arts publication - one that would be fueled by content not by money. But that was back when I was optimistic.

The fact remains that to publish a magazine, funding is necessary. One way that the FAAM editor, America Meredith, has sought to help defray costs without sacrificing content is by launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise a minimum of $4,900 to help defray the estimated $11,000 that it will cost to print the next issue.



Issue 0, the introductory pilot issue, was launched in April 2013 and included the following feature articles: "More Than Just a Trend: Rethinking the 'Native' in Native Fashion" by myself, "Northern Lights: Greenlandic Art in the 21st Century" by America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), and "Something Imperialistic Happened on the Way to the Louvre: Delegation Amérindienne 2012, An Artist's Perspective" by Roy Boney, Jr. (Cherokee Nation).

The issue is available for purchase on Beyond Buckskin as well as the FAAM website, and it also features Exhibit Reviews, Book Reviews, and Artist Profiles on Orlando Dugi (Navajo), Anita Fields (Osage-Muscogee Creek), Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk), and Erin Shaw (Chickasaw–Choctaw).

Issue #1 will launch August 1, 2013. It will include articles about the revival of Southeastern Woodland beadwork; Alaskan and First Nations artists' experiences showing in the southwest; How Not to Write about Native Arts; cultural sensitivity and sacred items; and the Blythe Intaglios. There will be original comics and Native Graphic Design along with artist profiles of Nanibah Chacon, Diné-Xicana painter and muralist; Shan Goshorn, Eastern Band Cherokee photographer and mixed-media artist; Dylan Miner, Métis printmaker and conceptual artist; and Kenneth Williams, Northern Arapaho-Seneca beadwork artist.

The project has more than $4300 pledged, but there is less than 7 days to contribute before the campaign ends on July 3rd. If you think it is important for this type of publication to exist, please consider contributing to the campaign by clicking here.

Beyond Buckskin Baby Contest Winners!

The results are in! We have the winners for the first-ever Beyond Buckskin Baby Contest. Dubbed the "Oh Fer Cyuute" contest - all of the submissions were absolutely adorable and have brought countless smiles to faces throughout the world.

We had 189 submissions, and thousands of votes! Hundreds of comments and hundreds of shares - thank you to everyone who helped make this first contest a great success.

Finding a winner from all the amazing image submissions was no easy task and several of you voted for many contestants (I voted for them all!). Click here to see all the beautiful photos of our little ones (aka, The future leaders!).

The Grand Prize went to Nezbah Sky McReynolds, a tiny tot hailing from the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache tribes and a Navajo descendant. In her picture she work a itty bitty camp dress - traditional Apache attire (click on her photo above to magnify). With chubby cheeks, calm composure, that soft baby hair, cute lil hands, and precious toes, she clocked in 1,687 total votes (that means 1,687 people voted for her - wow!).

Our runner-up was the precious Rosalie Mianskum, a 4-month-old Ojibwe and Cree baby girl. She was pictured sleeping and bundled up in her moss bag and wearing the cutest matching bonnet (I'm a huge sucker for babies in bonnets!). Dozens of people cooed over this sweet picture, and over a thousand people voted for her.

Our third place honorable mention award went to Breeze Osawamick, a 14-month-old Ojibway girl. An undeniably beautiful and special little girl, she was pictured in a traditional buckskin fringed dress and over 800 people voted for this little princess.

I would like to send a special thank you to all the parents and family members who shared their pictures with us and reminded us of the precious beauty in the world. Click here to see all the photos.