Pair of Eagle Dancers

One of the deans of American Indian painting, Fred Kabotie was known as a gentle, kind man who depicted his people with accuracy and sensitivity, in life and ceremony.

Every library covering American Indian painting includes the volume Fred Kabotie:  Hopi Indian Artist  An Autobiography told with Bill Belknap.

(1900-1986, Hopi) Fred Kabotie was born Naqavoy'ma (translated Day after Day) in 1900 at Shungopovi, Second Mesa, in northern Arizona. In 1915, Naqavoy'ma was sent to Santa Fe Indian Boarding School where he was given the name Fred Kabotie.

Like many of his classmates, he painted images of home to ease his loneliness. Kabotie graduated in 1925 from Santa Fe High School. He was employed by the School of American Research in Santa Fe to depict his people’s customs and traditions, along with Awa Tsireh and Velino Shije Herrera.

Kabotie returned home to Shungopovi on Second Mesa in 1930. He taught at Hopi High School in Old Oraibi from 1937-1959. He helped establish the Hopi Silvercraft Guild in 1949 and later, the Hopi Cultural Center. A teacher, lecturer, craftsman and painter, Kabotie was referred to as the 'dean of Native-American painting'.

The Kabotie family was contacted about Fred Kabotie's tendency for signing his work.  Until he was encouraged to sign his paintings by Elizabeth De Huff, Fred did not sign his work.  Sometime between 1915 and 1920 marks the beginning of his signing his paintings. Then he began by signing just his initials "F.K." in graphite. Later he chose to sign "F. Kabotie", finally choosing to sign his full name "Fred Kabotie".