The more than 250,000 people of the 21 officially recognized Native American tribes in Arizona, have helped to make Native American items some of the most popular hand-made crafts in the state.
With more than 100,000 people and an 11.6 million-acre reservation, the Navajo Nation is by far the largest Native American group in Arizona. Other major groups in the state include the Apache, Hopi, and the Tohono O'odham Nation. The culture of Arizona's large Native American population draws about 5 million tourists each year, many who are in search of the region's both aesthetically pleasing and functional craft works.
In addition to its Native American groups, Arizona is also home to many top tourist destinations such as Sedona, Flagstaff, Phoenix, and the Grand Canyon. These cities offer a variety of handmade crafts representing locally made jewelry, glassware, ceramics, and more. Imported and locally made Mexican-style crafts are also popular here, including Talavera tiles.
The Heard Museum owns one of the state's largest collections of Native American arts and crafts. With three Phoenix-area locations in Surprise, Scottsdale, and downtown Phoenix, the Heard Museum hosts both traveling and permanent exhibitions. The downtown wing hosts the Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, which takes place during the first weekend of March. This event hosts over 600 Native American artists from around the country, and features a variety of food and entertainment. Visitors can browse booths exhibiting authentic Native American arts and crafts, including textiles, pottery, jewelry, beadwork, baskets, and much more.
The annual Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture celebrates the heritage of the Hopi Indians, and takes place in late June. Approaching its 80th year, it is the oldest Hopi arts and crafts show in the world, and features more than 55 booths for potters, quilters, jewelers, basket weavers, and others. The event also holds many Hopi cultural presentations, and offers food and other activities as well. This festival takes place at the Museum of Northern Arizona, in Flagstaff.
The Navajo Festival of Arts and Culture is also held at the Museum of Northern Arizona, with festivities taking place in early August. The festival focuses on the Navajo view of the world, presenting to visitors the tribe's beautiful and harmonious way of life. Large rug-weaving displays, along with jewelry, beading, and pottery demonstrations are all a part of this cultural celebration. Also, the event offers Navajo language lessons, hikes, and traditional group discussions.
The annual Prescott Indian Art Market features authentic Native American jewelry, ceramics, baskets, and blankets, as well as crafts booths and annual featured artist. Visitors can also observe how these and other crafts are made. The event takes place in mid-June at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, which is a great place to visit for, not only Native American arts and crafts, but southwestern cultural exhibits of all kinds.
Visitors to the Prescott area can also go to the Smoki Museum. Housed in a wood and stone building made to resemble a Native American pueblo, the museum exhibits historical Native American crafts alongside modern pieces. Many of the museum's pottery, jewelry, and stone artifacts date back to prehistoric times. Each May, the Smoki Museum hosts the two-day Southwest Indian Arts Festival, an annual event with dozens of booths, plus food and entertainment. At the end of July, the museum also hosts the annual Navajo Rug & Indian Art Auction.
In February, the Arizona State Museum in Tucson hosts the Southwest Indian Art Fair. With more than 200 renowned Native American artists and craftspeople, the festival also has food, music, demonstrations, and performances. Here, visitors can purchase Hopi kachina dolls, jewelry, blankets, baskets, rugs, paintings, and more.
For an event with a broader scope, including Native American artists as well as other artists from all over the country, visitors can attend the Sedona Arts Festival. Taking place every October, the Sedona event features over 110 craftspeople and artists from all over. The festival also has food, live entertainment, and activities. The proceeds of the festival go to positive causes in the Sedona area.
While in Sedona, visitors will also want to see the Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tla-keh-pah-keh) Arts & Crafts Village. The beautifully designed, Mexican-style village is designed to transport visitors to another world, with its authentic architecture, public art displays, fountains, gardens, restaurants, and shops. For collectibles and gifts, the village has over a dozen shops, along with many other specialized shops for jewelry and clothing. In addition, there are galleries all over the village, featuring everything from paintings to hand-made jewelry.
The Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills is home to one of the largest annual crafts fairs in Arizona, attracting more than 100,000 visitors. The Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts takes place in November, and focuses on all types of arts and crafts from around the region and beyond. About 20 miles outside of Phoenix, the small town provides a picturesque location for more than 500 craftspeople and artists to exhibit their creations. Music and food are also abundant, and on Sunday at daybreak, a hot-air balloon armada takes off into the Arizona sky.
In addition to these events, nearly every town, suburb, and major city in Arizona holds some kind of family-friendly crafts-related event. One of the best ways to find out about these events is to do a Web search of the town you will be visiting, and looking on the town's official Web site for upcoming events. For craft lovers, Arizona is a wealth of discovery.
