Eugene’s Native American Arts and Crafts Market (NAACM) had their first market of the 2024 season in the Farmers Market Pavilion on July 7. The market brings out many vendors from different indigenous backgrounds to sell their products.
“I do a lot of diverse stuff. I sculpt my masks that are out of clay. I hand paint them and then adorn them with rabbit fur and a little jute cord,” Heather Johnston, a NAACM vendor, said. “They’re little spirit masks. Kind of like a guardian or an Alaska dream catcher if you will.”
Johnston also makes bigger masks than the small ones on display, but those sold fast at the start of the day.
Johnston is from Southeast Alaska with Unangan and Alutiiq ancestry. She is a full time artist currently residing in Dallas, Oregon, since 2010 and selling her artwork at various markets including Phoenix and Santa Fe.
“In kindergarten I took my crayons to recess and I colored on the school. I made a mural. My punishment was I needed to clean that off,” Johnston said. “My parents knew right then and there that I was going to be an artist.”
A lot of her inspiration came from her father, Don Johnston, a master basket weaver and carver. At this market, Johnston’s daughter joined her.
“I have seven kids, and so many of them are inspired to be artists, too. It’s really spectacular,” she said.
Johnston sells a large variety of art from ledger style maps, sheet music and hymnals to paintings with acrylics and oils. Some of Johnston’s most impressive works are done with only ink.
“I draw with pens, so anything, any of my masks, that’s all freehand with ink,” Johnston says.
Another one of the artists, Erika Lincango, is a Bilingual Bicultural Teacher at 4J School District as well as an indigenous Ecuadorian artist with Quitu Panzaleo heritage.
Her brand “Sisa Achik” — Kichwa for “flower light” — features environmentally inspired artwork. Lincango has been a Eugene resident for 20 years.
“As soon as I was able to speak English, I started sharing my crafts with the community,” Lincango said. “I was part of Saturday Market before, and also I was part of the Latino Market many, many months ago. And now I’m part of the Native American Market.”
Licango draws influences from the eucalyptus forests in the mountainous capital of the nation Quito, as well as from her visits to her relatives in the Tsa’chila rainforests.
“During the time that I have been here, I have been interested in sharing a little bit of my culture through my crafting,” Lincango said. “The crafts that I’m sharing here feature a lot of tropical seeds and organic fibers.”
She uses a lot of tawa seeds — also known as tagua — from Ecuador. The seeds are known for their ivory like appearance and ability to be carved at certain stages. But bringing seeds across international borders is a challenge. Lincango works her way around this by buying beads made of Tawa seeds and bringing them home to use in her artwork.
“So in that way I support Native artisans that are working with the seeds in the local forest,” Licango said, pointing to a piece of jewelry made from coconut. “Everything that you see is a part of the forest.”
Licango has many types of jewelry with a wide range of natural influence, including some jewelry made from butterfly wings and others from eucalyptus that still carries the scent.
NAACM has several talented vendors selling their goods and runs every first Sunday of the month from July through December.
Don’t miss out on the work of these talented artists at the upcoming NAACM dates. Make sure to check out their work and the work from other artists at the next market.
