Native Art outdoor market
I wanted to start this out with how I found out about this market, but it may have been through an Instagram ad. So we can skip that! Last weekend, I went to the Native Outdoor Art Market that is currently located in Scottsdale, at the Pavilions in Talking Stick. It’s a seasonal market that runs typically on weekends from November through March. They’ll be at that location every weekend until the end of December (this weekend is the last one there!) and are currently looking for a new space to continue in 2025, so if you happen to know a place, definitely send them a message on their Instagram, @nativeartmarket.
While I did not visit the year round indoor market, located around 10 minutes away from the outdoor market, it provides a similar experience with performances, events and vendors. Also, I would be so remiss to not acknowledge that everything in Arizona is basically built on Native land.
When I was about to go, my friend hit me up to study and instead, I used my powers of persuasion to get her to go to the native market with me.
WARNING- If you’re directionally challenged, you will struggle to find this market. You might even accidentally go to the Rock and Roll Car show that is on the other side of the road. There’s only so much parking lot to survey though, so rest assured you will find it eventually.
After we located the market, we took a gander around, ran into some old high school acquaintances, chatted with some of the vendors, and suffered heavily from MIS (major indecisiveness syndrome). I spent a lot of time at the Navajo Expressions Arts and Crafts Booth, and asked the woman running the booth about when she started silversmithing. She told me that she was born into it and that her husband and children also make the jewelry seen on the table. You can tell, too, that it’s years of master craftsmanship at these booths. If you want new jewelry and love silver (like me) I would so highly recommend going to one of these markets.
Besides the silver, there’s beadwork, unique ornaments, pottery, and performances! We saw three different dances, I can’t fully remember what each one was for and I would really prefer to not mix them up, but I do remember the hoop dancer was a world champion. And for good reason! The way he manipulated one, two, three, four, FIVE hoops at a time was mesmerizing. I had to pick up my jaw off the floor on the way out.
Afterwards, we decided that we still wanted fry bread and headed over to Fry Bread House in Phoenix, which is endorsed by Guy Fieri. Y’all like Diners, Drive Ins and Dives? I did when I was in middle school, so I was very excited to see a giant photo of Guy Fieri on the wall. The founder and owner of Fry Bread House, Cecilia Miller, is a Tohono O’odham woman and Arizona native. From their website, the Tohono O’odham people are known for their red chili beef, large hand stretched flour tortillas, and frybread alongside other skills and trade. We are here to confirm that they are definitely known for good reason.
WARNING - the taco is huge. Consider splitting it with a friend, as we made the mistake of buying two.
What a wonderful day. I highly encourage everyone to check out the indoor and outdoor Native markets when you have a chance this upcoming winter and spring!
