Best of Show
Snow Maiden kachina takes top Ceremonial honor

Bruce Burnham, John Hornbek and Paqtricia Kelley look at one of the many tables full of arts and crafts Sunday while judging the entries in the 87th Annual Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock State Park. [photo by Jeffery Jones / Special for the Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — It took more than a hour of sometimes heated discussion by judges at this year’s Inter-tribal Indian

Ceremonial to pick the Best-of-Show winner Sunday, but when they did, they chose an old favorite.

The Best-of-Show went to a Snow Maiden kachina that was done by John Cordero, who is probably well known to Ceremonial visitors since he has won numerous awards there was the winner of the Best-in-Show award in 2006.

“One judge said it was flawless,” said Jeri Poletto in describing one reason why it was finally chosen from among the several items that were proposed by the judges for the top honor.

This year, there were 1,394 entries, down slightly from the 1,532 that were submitted last year. The dollar amount was also down, going from $2,334,920 last year to $2,267,857.50 this year.

Poletto said there also weren’t as many big-tickets items submitted as there were in the past, and this may be because of craftspeople deciding that the market was down and wanting “to appeal to a broader customer base.”

Ceremonial visitors will get their first chance to see this year’s winners and all of the others that were submitted at the Ceremonial’s annual preview, which will be held Wednesday night at the exhibit hall at Red Rock Park.

Admission to the preview, which begins at 7 p.m. is free, but if you want an earlier peek and get a chance to taste some wine and a buffet prepared by master chef Jonathan Tanner, you’ll have to get there at 6 p.m. and pay a $25 fee.

The exhibit hall will continue to be open throughout the Ceremonial, which officials opens this year Wednesday morning with the junior rodeo.