The Cherokee tribe is the largest in number of registered tribal members in the United States.

The Navajo Nation is the largest geographic land area of any North American tribal land.

The Hopi Nation is completely surrounded on all sides by the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo refer to themselves as Dine (the people) and the word Navajo was a pejorative used by other tribes to describe them.

The current 19 pueblos of New Mexico are all that remains of many pueblos consolidated and removed by the Conquistador incursions of the 1750’s. Each pueblo today has its own designated Federal land.

Because of Federal status, Native American tribes and pueblos are permitted to own and operate gambling casinos on their properties, which is a major revenue contributor for them.

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque is owned and operated by the 19 New Mexico pueblos, and includes surrounding land with a gas station, hotel, restaurants, and other areas.

The kachina was used for education and religious purposes by Native Americans of the American Southwest. The Navajo began selling them to tourists in the early 20^th century, and were not representative of the true kachina.

Katsima is the accurate word to describe true kachinas used for education and religious purposes – the word kachina is more accurately used to describe Navajo mass-produced tourist-trade kachina dolls.

The kachina was used for education and religious purposes by Native Americans of the American Southwest. The Navajo began selling them to tourists in the early 20^th century, and were not representative of the true kachina.

Early fine art of the Southwestern Native Americans was heavily influenced by the petroglyphs found in First American dwellings and caves. The Dorothy Dunn fine art style resulted in the flat two dimensional style of people like Harrison Begay.

Turquoise is a soft gemstone typically found within 100-200 feet of the surface, as it is a precipitated mineral that seeps from the surface and bonds with a stronger matrix like copper under the ground.

Pottery signatures were not common until the early 20^th century as tourists began acquiring the pots on vacation trips.

Jewelry hallmarks didn’t become common until the mid-20^th century.

Silversmithing was brought to the Southwest by the Spanish Conquistadors in the mid-16^th century, and was rapidly adopted by Native American artists.

Two major centers of Native American art of the Southwest are in Scottsdale, AZ and Santa Fe, NM because of the proximity to tribal lands of the artists.

Animals and people figurals were originally forbidden to be included in Navajo pottery.

The first treaty between the United States Government and a Native American tribe was in 1830 with the Choctaw at Dancing Rabbit Creek in Oklahoma.

Horses were introduced to North America by Europeans and were rapidly adopted by plains Indians.

Navajo Hogans always face east so the Navajo can greet the morning with blessings.

Hopi artists represent all Hopi peoples in their art with blank faces.

Pottery as an art form goes back over 5000 years.

Sgraffito is a method of scratching the surface of pottery to create designs.