Cherokee Mother

~Happy Mother's Day!~

Uncirculated
Published by Harry N. Martin, Asheville, N.C.

Postcard Caption:

FRONT: 534 - A Native Cherokee Indian Mother with Her Papoose, Cherokee Indian Reservation

Taos Pueblo

Postcard Caption

213-A CORNER IN TAOS PUEBLO, TAOS, N.M. The white blanket worn by this Taos Indian contrast sharply with the brown adobe walls of ancient Taos Pueblo, located in northern New Mexico. Taos Indians wear white blankets in summer and red and blue blankets in winter. Silhouetted against the sky on the tops of the houses at sundown, they make unforgettable pictures.

Postcard Message:

These are the last cards I have right now. But will get some more when they get some late ones in. P.S. Mom I forgot to tell  you I heard a few more -- of --- --- again. J.T.

The Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark. Currently, 150 people live there full-time. I love the adobe walls, which are consistently maintained with layers of mud.

Sunday Stamps: Indian Art

These fifteen cent Indian Art stamps were issued by the United States Postal Service in 1980. The envelope I received in the mail used two of the four designs in the series.

The first mask comes from the Heiltsuk people who originally lived on the coast of British Columbia. The middle mask is from the Chilkat Tlingit who came from Alaska. The masks were typically used for ceremonial purposes.

Old Laguna Pueblo

Postmarked 2 May 1949
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Postcard Caption:

No. 17- OLD LAGUNA INDIAN PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO / A very picturesque old Indian pueblo on the Old Santa Fe Trail highway, 65 mi. west of Albuquerque, N.M. and 100 mi. east of Gallup. They are a branch from the Acoma tribe, who live on their Mesa near The Enchanted Mesa.

Postcard Message:

Sun 1, 1949 / Albuquerque, N.M. / Dear friends. here for the summer. It is a beautiful country. I will go back to Florida this winter rented my homes in Florida. I though have been in the hospital they send for my son I had a blood pressure of 250 so my son thought I had better spend my summer with him and my winters at Florida. I worry about the estate it is not settled yet. Bye Bye. / Love Charlotte

In college, my then-boyfriend and I took a road trip from Oklahoma, through New Mexico and Colorado, and then back home. One of our first stops was Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico. Here's one of my pictures from that trip:

The landscape of the Southwest is where I feel most at home. I love the desert. To me, it isn't sparse or depressing. It's where I most want to be.

The Family

Uncirculated
(c) 1949

I love the colors and symmetry of this postcard. It's a reminder how much things have changed to think the publisher could get away by saying "taken from an original oil painting by a noted Indian artist" without even acknowledging his or her name or tribe.