The Use of the Swastika Symbol in American Indian Art

One of the most popular designs incorporated into American Indian art during the tourist era— approximately 1890 to 1940—was the swastika symbol, common to most indigenous peoples the world over and used throughout time.

Copper bookends by Morris Robinson (Hopi). The swastika design indicates they were made before 1940.
Copper bookends by Morris Robinson (Hopi). The swastika design indicates they were made before 1940.

There is historical precedence of the use of swastika-like designs by North American native peoples, who usually viewed the symbol as a representation of the four directions; for instance the Navajo use a design often referred to as “whirling logs” in sandpaintings,

1930s postcard showing Navajos creating a Whirling Log sandpainting, the design is similar to the swastika design.
1930s postcard showing Navajos creating a Whirling Log sandpainting, the design is similar to the swastika design.

and the Hopi paint a four-armed pinwheel design on rattles symbolizing the migrations of the clans across the continent.

Hopi rattle with four-armed migration symbol.
Hopi rattle with four-armed migration symbol.

A great deal of interest was generated in the swastika symbol around the turn of the twentieth century and was fueled in part by an 1894 report of the U.S. National Museum written by Thomas Wilson entitled The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations. The symbol became a very popular design element representing good luck and was prevalent in period architecture, advertising, jewelry, and on good luck tokens. The Arizona Highway Department even used it as part of their emblem. Because of its popularity, traders encouraged Indian artists to use it on their crafts made for sale to the tourist trade. The design often appeared on silverwork, textiles, pottery, and basketry.

Zia pottery tile ca. 1930s with painted swastika design.
Zia pottery tile ca. 1930s with painted swastika design.

Beginning in 1934 East Coast dealers of Indian goods urged reservation traders to discourage native craftspeople from using the swastika as a design element because of its adoption by the German Nazi Party. When the Fred Harvey Company, a major dealer in Indian arts, issued a mail order catalog in 1938 the symbol had been discontinued from their products.

Fred Harvey mail order catalog published 1938.
Fred Harvey mail order catalog published 1938.

Popularity of the design waned, eventually resulting in a proclamation signed on February 28, 1940, in Tucson by representatives from the Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Tohono O’odham (formerly Papago) tribes, renouncing and banning the use of the swastika on their artwork. The text of this parchment document read:

Because the above ornament which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples, Therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika or fylfot on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sandpaintings and clothing.

Postcard showing Indians from various southwest tribes signing a declaration that they would not use the swastika symbol on their artwork after February 28, 1940.
Postcard showing Indians from various southwest tribes signing a declaration that they would not use the swastika symbol on their artwork after February 28, 1940.

It is likely that the signing of the document by members of southwest tribes was a form of public relations arranged by area traders to distance Indian handicrafts from the atrocities occurring overseas. Nevertheless, the inclusion of this symbol on Indian artwork was discontinued at that time.

There was a small resurgence of the use of the symbol in the 1970s, especially by some Anglo silversmiths who made jewelry to look like historic, or pawn, Navajo jewelry. Presently, Native artists occasionally attempt to reintroduce the symbol into their artwork, but it has been met with resistance.

Six bracelets, c. 1925, marked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE "INDIAN" GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO, most include a form of the swastika design.
Six bracelets, c. 1925, marked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO, most include a form of the swastika design.

The foregoing was adapted from our books Hopi & Pueblo Tiles: An Illustrated History and Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government.

Originally posted on our Goodreads.com blog February 15, 2017.