Sandra Hale Schulman
ICT
The latest: Culture take-over, far-out fashion, boots made for walking
MARKET: La Fonda Hotel hosts gatherings and art shows
During Indian Market this weekend, Aug. 14-15, the storied and stylish La Fonda Hotel is hosting two great arts groups.
Indigenous House will have a gathering with fashion, food and a honky-tonk, while Sovereign Santa Fe will present art and fashion shows with a decidedly cutting edge.
This painting by activist Leonard Peltier, “Untitled” (Indian Man on white horse), 2020, will be among about 20 of his works on display in Santa Fe on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Farahnheight Gallery on San Francisco Street. The works were painted during his 50 years in prison before his release in 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Sovereign Santa Fe
A big coup for Sovereign is hosting the first art show for Leonard Peltier since he was released from prison last year. About 20 paintings — all made during his 50-year incarceration before his release in 2025 — will be on display at a popup on Friday, Aug. 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. hosted by Peltier’s son and grandson at their upstairs gallery, Farahnheight Gallery, on San Francisco Street. It’s unclear if Peltier himself will be able to attend.
“We’re happy to host,” Gallery director Gregorio Farah told ICT. “You know all of his history. He is self-taught and I am a pillar for novice art. He himself is more the art than the art itself. One of the pieces went up for auction at the IAIA benefit this week and we may exhibit more of them at the Sovereign display at La Fonda through the weekend after the popup ends.”
The documentary film, “Free Leonard Pelter,” will also be screened at Pathways Indigenous Film Festival at the Buffalo Thunder Hilton at 2 p.m. Friday.
Sovereign is also presenting a vibrant, four-day marketplace that started Thursday, Aug. 13, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 16, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., featuring original artwork, handcrafted jewelry, apparel, fashion accessories, and artisan goods. The artists will be there in person, and admission is free. The vendors will be set up on the mezzanine and art exhibits will be in the Lumpkins Ballroom.
Sovereign is hosting a two-day fashion show, Sovereignly Fit. Designer Xalish will be featured on Friday, Aug. 14, starting at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Aug. 15, Spirit Multiplied By Two will showcase their designs with a cocktail hour, shopping and a runway show at 7 p.m. in the Lumpkins Ballroom. Produced by Towering Stone Couture, the showcase features both emerging and established Native designers.
Indigenous House, meanwhile, will have two full days of immersive activations and programming on Friday and Saturday at La Fonda on the Plaza in the La Terazza penthouse, including a Creator Summit, panels and conversations with industry leaders, including movie star Lou Diamond Phillips, Cherokee/Filipino, discussing his powerful new film, “Gangland,” at 4 p.m. Friday.
The events will also feature artists, networking, live performances, and interactive food displays curated by James Beard Award-winner Chef Sean Sherman and Chef Claudia Serrato.
Chef Claudia Serrato will be featured at Indigenous House events at Indian Market on Aug. 15-16, 2026, in Santa Fe along with Chef Sean Serman. Serrato hosts a new show, “Taste Memory,” produced by Indigenous House, that can be seen on social media and YouTube.
Credit: Courtesy of Indigenous House
“We’re really focused on being a premier destination for entertainment, culture, commerce,” Director Crystal Echo Hawk told ICT. “And I think that we have our finger on the pulse of what’s happening within entertainment and media right now, which we’re seeing such massive consolidation. We are about creating economic opportunities for Indigenous creators and artists and entrepreneurs and brands and tribes. We don’t need to wait for the gatekeepers.”
One new show, “Taste Memory,” produced by Indigenous House, is a short series from Serrato distributed on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts that explores how food connects us to memory, culture, and identity. Serrato shares stories, ingredients, and traditions passed down through generations.
Live music and a honky-tonk rodeo theme will kick up the dust on Saturday from 4-7 p.m. to close out the House.
FASHION: Design personified
From feathers to beads and ribbons, one of the most innovative young Indigenous designers on the scene, Jontay Kahm, Plains Cree, will be having his first museum exhibition that merges Indigenous knowledge systems, fashion and sculpture.
Organized for the Jule Museum at Auburn, Alabama, by Lumbee scholar Nancy Strickland Chavis, “Jontay Kahm: Personified Existence” examines life, death and the fashionable hereafter through his take on contemporary Indigenous style. It runs from Aug. 18 through Dec. 6.
Designer Jontay Kahm, Plains Cree, combines Indigenous knowledge, fashion and sculpture in his works. He will be featured in an exhibition that runs Aug. 18-Dec. 6, 2026, at the Jule Museum at Auburn in Alabama. Credit: Photo by Sandra Hale Schulman/Special to ICT
Kahm, from Saskatchewan, Canada, has a master’s in fine arts from the Parsons School of Design, and his clothes have been worn by top models and Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, according to Vogue Magazine.
There will be 20 sculptural garments alongside mixed media objects and video to blend color, texture and movement.
At the recent Southwestern Association of Indian Arts, or SWAIA, Fashion Week in May, Kahm brought out pleated silk gowns with showgirl takes on powwow feather bustles, and cheeky metal piercings.
Kahm will visit Auburn Sept. 28-29 to engage with students, faculty and the community.
“As museums increasingly recognize fashion as an artistic medium, ‘Jontay Kahm: Personified Existence’ offers a timely examination of Indigenous contemporary practice through couture, sculpture and storytelling,” the museum said in a statement.
“The exhibition elevates Indigenous voices within museums, contributes to scholarly discussions about fashion as art and demonstrates how university museums translate research into public knowledge.”
FASHION: Sole-ful collaboration
Just in time for fall, Madewell and Minnetonka are teaming up together with Native designers on a limited-edition footwear collection.
The Baashkinjibigwan Boot, which debuted Aug. 10, 2026, was designed in collaboration with Anishinaabe artist Adrienne Benjamin of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and the Madewell and Minnetonka companies. The companies will make donations to the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network to support Anishinaabe language preservation and education. Credit: Courtesy of Minnetonka
The Baashkinjibigwan Boot, which debuted Aug. 10, was designed in collaboration with Anishinaabe artist Adrienne Benjamin of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Named after the Minnesota trillium flower, the boot is rooted in storytelling, memory, and place. The embroidered design reflects Benjamin’s childhood memories of springtime on the reservation while honoring the strength of Anishinaabe culture.
The collaboration is part of Minnetonka’s Reclamation Collaborative, an ongoing initiative to partner with Native artists to celebrate Indigenous artistry and storytelling. Madewell and Minnetonka will make donations to the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network, or MIIN, to support Anishinaabe language preservation and education.
“We took an important and long overdue step in 2020, in acknowledging and apologizing for our historic appropriation of Native American culture and design,” Minnetonka CEO David Miller said in a statement from 2021.
“While Minnetonka has evolved far beyond our original product set, moccasins are still a core part of our brand and how many people know us. With that comes a great responsibility to acknowledge the Native influence on our products, expand our support of the Native community, and evolve the way we run our business.”
FASHION: More fall shoes from Canada
Manitobah, a Canadian company started by Sean McCormick, Métis, in 1990, works with Indigenous artists to make the company’s footwear, like this pony hair shoe. Credit: Courtesy of Manitobah
Canada has its own fancy footwear to offer. Manitobah, an Indigenous-rooted brand started by Sean McCormick, Métis, in 1990 , is focused on making a positive impact in Indigenous communities. Strictly designed in collaboration with Indigenous artists, the company’s moccasins, flats and furry boots combine artistry with comfort, making them stylish, versatile and easy to wear.
A current favorite (on sale!) that steps away from the fringe is the Meadow Mary Jane Pony Hair, an Appaloosa-inspired white and spotted pony-hair shoe featuring artist Tracie Jackson’s Four Directions beadwork across the strap.
Other designs also on sale feature furry beaded Tipi slippers in a rainbow of colors, a pony hair moccasin with beading, and midi boots in fur or suede.
The post INDIGENOUS A&E: Santa Fe scene, Leonard Peltier art, debut museum exhibit, fancy footwear appeared first on ICT.
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