She survived a tornado and breast cancer, and now this Native artist is earning acclaim
When Yonavea Hawkins was injured in a 2019 tornado that tore through the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site in Alto, Texas, she marked her recovery in a fashion befitting an artist of her reputation.
The nationally renowned Oklahoma beadwork artist created a bandolier bag she titled "Hasinay Wind Talkers" featuring intricate patterns made of tiny mostly red, white and blue beads.
"'Hasinay' is the word for 'Caddo,' and there are a lot of wind symbols in it. And the greens in there are the tornadoes," Hawkins said. "I was knocked unconscious; I was buried in the debris. They had to uncover me and pull me out. I spent two days in intensive care. I had 30-plus stitches, three broken ribs, 21 staples in my head. ... I feel like there's a reason why I survived it."
For Hawkins, a member of the Caddo Nation who is also Delaware and Kickapoo, one of those reasons is continuing to create as a Native American artist, a job that she said involves more than just beadwork.
"Part of your responsibilities as a Native American artist is you're educating people. Any time they stop at your booth and ask a few questions, you're the diplomat for Native American people as well as the information guide," she said.
Caddo beadwork artist named 2023 Red Earth Honored One
During this summer's 37th Annual Red Earth Festival, Hawkins exhibited her "Peace Eagle" pipe bag that was damaged by the 2019 EF3 tornado as well as her "Hasinay Wind Talkers" bandolier bag and an array of her beaded jewelry, hatbands and belt buckles.
Along with talking to potential customers, selling her work and reuniting with her fellow artists, Hawkins also danced to a special honor song recognizing her during the Oklahoma City festival, where she was named the 2023 Red Earth Honored One.
It's an award the organizers of the long-running event annually bestow on a Native American master visual artist.
"Her work just has some of the highest quality beadwork, and she puts a lot of love and attention to detail into all of her pieces," said new Red Earth Inc. Executive Director Chelsey Curry, who is Chilkat Tlingit.
Also the new president of the Red Earth Board of Directors, Hawkins is among the 150 top Indigenous artists who will show their work at the 18th Annual Cherokee Nation Art Market Oct. 14-15 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
She spoke recently with The Oklahoman about how she got started as a beadwork artist, how her style has changed over the years and how battling breast cancer, much like overcoming her injuries from the Texas tornado, keeps inspiring her:
Q: Congratulations on being named the Honored One. What are your thoughts on receiving that award?
Hawkins: It's surreal because I'm doing the things that I enjoy doing. ... It's an honor in itself to be recognized for the work that you do. But the way this award is, it's not just being an artist, it's also being involved in the community.
Q: You earned your fine arts degree from Oklahoma City University, but I understand you didn't go to school to become a beadwork artist?
Hawkins: I was into graphic design. Being a commercial artist ... or art director, that's what I intended to do. Achieving my fine arts degree, that was my main goal. I just wanted to be a fine art artist ... in whatever medium. I never thought at that time that beadwork would become a medium for me.
Q: How did you become a beadwork artist?
Hawkins: I started out because I wanted regalia for myself. ... I had already started learning how to make moccasins and dress myself, because I couldn't find anybody just to make those things for me. So, I took the initiative to learn how to make those things for myself, and that was the springboard. Once I started making those things for myself, I started making them for my family and then friends, and it just grew from there.
After practicing and improving and getting better, I entered my first competition with a pair of moccasins I had made for myself to dance in. I hadn't worn them yet ... but that's what I had.
That was in 2010, that was my very first art market, and it was Red Earth, with a pair of Delaware moccasins I made for myself. And I went ahead and decided I would dance in them. I have worn them; they have now started to get holes.
Q: How has your art changed in the 23 years since then?
Hawkins: There's always trends in fashion and colors, so I look at those things. Then, I'm also always, ongoing educating myself about my culture. So, I see those influences more as I'm learning more about my people.
Sometimes, we have to dig deep in those old books in finding out information on that. ... Several years ago, I took an interest in trying to understand pottery, which is part of our culture as Caddos — a big part of our culture.
Right now, I'm in a group of Caddos that are looking at basket revival. So, it's not just my beadwork designs that are changing, it's also some influences on the medium that I'll be using.
Then, you look some at the contemporary side of it, and sometimes that comes into play, too. You want to have that contemporary feel, because some collectors, some buyers, are not always interested in a traditional feel of it. They want something that's today.
Q: You're not just an artist: You actually have a whole other career. Can you talk about your other job?
Hawkins: My full-time job is I work for the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board, and we serve the tribes in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
We pass through a lot of grant monies to those tribes, and we have a lot of different grant programs, for mental health, men's wellness, diabetes, substance abuse. ... We are also a tribal epidemiology center. There's only 12 health boards and tribal epidemiology centers in the United States, and they're federally mandated.
I'm a public health specialist. I manage the listserv for the organization as well as the caring van. We take the caring van out to Native American events here in Oklahoma ... and we distribute public health education materials as well as doing preventative health screenings.
Q: Is there a reason you stay so busy?
Hawkins: Part of the reason why I stay so busy is that I'm a breast cancer survivor. So, that gave me pause to think about my life and what I was doing with it, with the talents and skills that I have. That really put the focus back on me being involved with people.
Going through cancer, even though you have family, it's kind of a lonely experience, unless you're involved with other cancer patients. But you have to be isolated, because you can't be around people because you're going through chemo, and other people can make you sick. So, it just caused that realization that I wanted to be around people — and that I needed to be involved ... community-wise as well as use my art skills.
This was in 2002. At that time, I wasn't doing the artwork, other than doing things for my family and myself. But then, once I got through that and physically recovered and stuff, then I started putting energy into being involved with Changing Winds (Cultural Society) and the Oklahoma City Pow Wow Club. And from there, things transitioned to other organizations — and my artwork, of course.
CHEROKEE NATION ART MARKET
When: Oct. 14-15.
Where: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W Cherokee St., Catoosa.
Information: https://visitcherokeenation.com/cherokee-art-market.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Native American artist survives tornado to keep creating
