Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives Collection Spotlight for December 2019

January 6, 2020

Congratulations to the 2019 recipient of the Spirit of the Heard Award, Baje Whitethorne, Sr. The Navajo painter, author, illustrator, storyteller and teacher was honored by the Heard Museum Board of Trustees with the award during the Arizona American Indian Excellence in Leadership Awards. According to the November 13th award ceremony program, this national award, with an emphasis on members of a Southwest tribe or community, is presented to a living person who has demonstrated personal excellence in his/her life either individually or as a community leader working on behalf of American Indian people in an area consistent with the mission of the Heard Museum.

Whitethorne has been an author, illustrator or collaborator of other means for more than a dozen published works. He is also the founder of Art of the People, an artist collective. For many attending the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, numerous appearances through the years by Whitethorne have provided a welcome opportunity to meet the artist and see his captivating landscapes in person. Whether taking a second look or viewing for the first time, here are four selections from the Library collection that display beautiful interpretations of his Navajo homeland.

These samples of Whitethorne’s artwork, which honor, celebrate and explore Navajo culture, are currently on display in the public reading area of the Library. Please feel free to visit the Library to review these or any other items of interest in the Library and Archives collections. For more details or additional collection information, click on the link labeled Library Catalog Search located in the pull-down menu of the Library tab on the Heard Museum website.

Farley, Walter; Baje Whitethorne, Sr. (illustrator); Elsie Carr (Navajo translator)
Little Black, a pony = Lííshzhiin Yázhí
Flagstaff, Ariz. : Salina Bookshelf, c2006
Heard call number KIT: PS3556.A7178 L58 2006

Hammerschlag, Carl A.; Baje Whitethorne, Sr. (illustrator)
Sika and the Raven : based on the Native American legend
Phoenix, Ariz. : Turtle Island Press, 1999
Heard call number E98.F6 H23 1999

Whitethorne, Baje, Sr. (author, illustrator); Darlene Redhair (Navajo translator); Marvin Yellowhair (Navajo editor); Jerrold T. Johnson (English editor)
Father’s boots = Azhéʼé bikénidootsʼosii
Flagstaff, Ariz. : Salina Bookshelf, c2001
Heard call number PS3573.H34 F3 2001

Yazzie, Seraphine G.; Baje Whitethorne, Sr. (illustrator)
Beauty beside me : stories of my grandmother’s skirts = Shimá sání bitł’aakał noot’ishígíí : nizhónígo nidaashch’ąą’go baa hane’
Flagstaff, Ariz. : Salina Bookshelf, c2011
Heard call number OVW: E99.N3 Y435 2011