LEEKYA
MASTER CARVER OF ZUNI PUEBLO D
he bought his fetishes by the bucket for a dollar apiece. Another said he paid fifty cents. Take your pick. Recently a four-strand necklace of his sold for more than twenty thousand dollars, more money than he made in his whole lifetime. Questions about names, dates, influences, and the veracity of informants plague the biographies of all the early Zuni artists. Slaney takes on each of these questions and gives an excellent overview, mostly letting her sources speak for themselves, and then
eborah C. Slaney created a magnificent tribute to the Leekya family with a show last summer and fall plus a beautiful book that is a treasure in itself. Sadly, the book only had a small print run (around 750 copies), and it will become an instant collector’s item. The gift shop at the Museum of Albuquerque has some for sale, and I urge anyone interested in the Leekya family, Zuni jewelry, and Indian art in general to purchase one today. Deb Slaney, Curator of History at the Albuquerque Museum, has considerable museum experience and has worked with the Wallace collection at the Heard Museum and written about it. She was
THIS BOOK CELEBRATES THE WORK AND CONTIBUTIONS TO ZUNI ART.
FREDDY LEEKYA HAS CREATED SOME GREAT FIGURES INCLUDING THIS FLUTE PLAYER. HE HAS ALSO DONE A CHIEF HOLDING A PEACEPIPE.
the curator of the Leekya show, as well as the writer and producer of the book. Wallace becomes rather significant in the Leekya story LEEKYA STONES AND DE DIOS because of the famous Sotheby Parke SILVERWORK. THIS BRACELET IS STILL Bernet catalog (1975), documenting OWNED BY THE PERSON WHO BOUGHT IT about half the Wallace collection. She DIRECTLY FROM LEEKYA IN THE FORTIES. points out that Leekya has ninetynine pieces there, nearly ten percent of the total. The Museum of Albuquerque exhibition gathered a marvelous collection of 350 pieces borrowed from 42 lenders; museums and private collections. Slaney interviewed all the surviving members of the original Leekya family. Sadly, Sarah, who carved in her father’s style, passed away late last year. Probably no other carver was ever THESE LEEKYA BEADS WERE MADE FROM as prolific as Leekya—not much J. B. TANNER TURQUOISE. doubt about that. One trader told me
