1930s?

American Indian Dance

American Indian (San Ildefonso Pueblo), 1893 - 1949

This work by Tonita Peña depicts ceremonial dance traditions that are integral to Pueblo spiritual and social practices. Repeated forms in this watercolor conveys the sonic rhythms of drum and voice that accompanied the dancers’ movements. Primarily sold to artists, policy reformers, anthropologists, and tourists interested in Pueblo art and culture, this watercolor also represents a type of visual expression that arose, in part, from the increased artistic encounters between American Indians and Anglo-Americans in the Southwest during the early twentieth century.