This year's herd returns to the Gallery October 8 with the Burro Serenade Festivities scheduled for November 22. Preview begins at 5:00pm with a Burrito dinner at 6:00 and the Auction starting at 7:00. Please continue to visit the website for new arrivals and Burro Updates.

"Heartline"
by Joseph and Carolyn Arcure

Several Southwestern Indian tribes call the small stone animals they carve “fetishes.” The term itself is derived from the Portuguese feitço, suggesting “a charm or sorcery,” and the word survives in North American dialects as a relic of the Spanish conquest.

For the Zuñi people, especially, fetishes provide good luck and protection. In return, an owner’s reverence for the fetish imbues it with power. When embellished with a bundle~considered an offering~ the fetish is further empowered as a talisman.

Please meet Heartline, the Bundled Burro.

Her color yellow signifies the direction north, and is borrowed from Mountain Lion who reigns at the top of the fetish hierarchy. Her arrow-shaped turquoise heartline and bundled arrowhead both express the Zuñi belief in an underlying energy behind everything which interconnects all life.

Her Bears represent healing, strength, and introspection. Her old abalone Birds and oversized feathers symbolize vision, illumination, and clarity. Her Frogs request rain, fertility, and abundance. Her Turtles are meant as spirit beings of the ancestors.

Turquoise, shell, and coral all show gratitude and appreciation, while antler is highly valued because it was once part of a living animal. The abalone shell is a traditional vessel in which to burn sage and cedar for purification, hearkening back to the salt waters of the sea, and to the great mystery of the life force.