First Voices - Gerald Lomaventema

"It's so big and vast and especially in that area by Desert View. That's where we have shrines, and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. It's still connected to us. Every part of that Canyon is a very important part of our religious activities.” Gerald Lomaventema is an award-winning silversmith, a mentor to young Hopi artists, and a runner. He's also the great grandson of Olympic medalist Louis Tewanima.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Gerald: It's breathtaking. Yeah, it's so big, you know, vast and especially in that area by the desert view. That's where we have shrines, and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. It's still, you know, connected to us. Every part of that Canyon is a very important part of our religious activities. Jesse: Hey, this is Jesse today on the podcast, we're featuring an interview that Phantom Ranger Ceili Brennan recorded with Gerald Lomaventema. Gerald is an award-winning silversmith, a mentor to young Hopi artists, and a runner. He's also the great grandson of Olympic medalist Louis Tewanima. Louis won silver in the 10,000 meters in the 1912 Olympics and set an American record that stood for decades. He was also a spiritual leader in his community. In this interview, Gerald talks about his art, his cultural connections to Grand Canyon, and running and Louis's legacy in the Hopi community. Enjoy. Gerald: My name is Gerald Lomaventema. I'm from Shongopovi, and of the Bear Clan. Our history, the Bear Clan, what the archaeologist say is that if was first inhabited here by the Bear Clan in 700. And I’m from that family, the lineage, and I've lived here all my life. Although I went to boarding school as well, in Riverside. My mom was deceased when I was very young so my grandmother raised me. But you know, throughout the time, boarding school and afterwards I went to trade school and then a few two years of community college, and then I had a family. So, I returned home and there was a silver smithing class that was offered by the Hopi Co-op Guild here in the early 90s and so I took that class and so now I've been doing it for a long time. And now we have our own shop. And I've traveled internationally talking about, you know, fake and imitation of hope art. Ceili: When is the last time that you were? At Grand Canyon. Gerald: I think in 2019, I think when they used to do the artist demonstration at the Desert View Tower. Ceili: OK, right. Yeah. So a couple of years ago. Gerald: Yeah, you know, I also mentor younger Hopi. They invited us, so there were a few of us that I took. And the good thing about that was they provided the housing, so we stayed the whole weekend, and it was like a free vacation for us. Ceili: Yeah, that's so awesome. And what was that like bringing the people that you mentor to Desert View? How would how'd that go? Gerald: I think they had their first experience, you know, how to talk to visitors about your artwork and a little bit of history that's involved. We tell them about how the Hopi Started doing their jewelry work in ancient times. They had adornment. They had turquoise, they've always had turquoise and shell and colored stones and hematite. So adornment was always part of our culture and even copper bells. Yeah. And the Grand Canyon is a spiritual place to us. We can't just go into the Canyon for some of us and we have to make preparations if we're going to do that. Ceili: Yeah, what was it like the first time you saw Grand Canyon? Do you remember? Gerald: No, but every time I see it, it's breathtaking. Yeah, it's so big, you know, vast and especially in that area by Desert View because that's where our spiritual... we have shrines down in there and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. So, it's still, you know, connected to us. Ceili: Actually, that's a good segue. You're an award-winning artist and you teach your art, you mentor. I'm wondering how your art is influenced by your home and you know the landscape around you. Gerald: You know, as an apprentice, when I was in my late teens the elders used to tell us that, you know, we can't just make jewelry with lines and circles and whatever. It has to have a meaning, so we get the inspiration from our culture Ceili: Right. Gerald: And our landscape. So, we're taking part of our culture and putting it into, you know, what's acceptable, into the jewelry. Ceili: Right. Gerald: And there's a line there that we don't cross. Some stuff that we don't talk about publicly or international, whatever. So, we all know that line that's not, you know, we can't cross because some of our culture isn't open knowledge, even to other members. You know it's not that tricky to know you know, I mean if you’re Hopi you know what that line is. Everything comes from our culture and the area we live in, even the Grand Canyon, so when we do our religious c...