He Wants to be Called William Goodluck

Cover of Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

The cover of our newest release, Garden of the Gods Trading Post, shows Navajo silversmith William Goodluck and members of his family sitting on the porch of the Trading Post in 1929. The cover utilizes about half of the original postcard as seen in the below image.

Entire image of postcard of William Goodluck and family on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post that was partiallt used on the cover of the book. — Left to right, William Goodluck, son Herbert, daughter Charlotte behind a baby in a cradle board, wife Yekanasbah and daughter Elizabeth.

Goodluck came to work for Charles Strausenback during the time Charles managed “The Indian” trading post. The earliest confirmation of his employment is provided by a postcard postmarked July 16, 1927:

William Goodluck postcard 1927. — This souvenir postcard shows William Goodluck, identified by his Navajo name Host-Nat-Woty, standing near “The Indian” trading post. Mailed July 16, 1927, the sender wrote to Lelah May Hathaway, a former teacher at Carlisle Indian School, “We stopped this morning at the Garden of the Gods and there I met Wm. Goodluck who was once your pupil. He is a silversmith (Navajo). He was quite delighted to see me and told me he had been in your schoolroom. He gave me this picture to send you.”

Providing a clue to the type of jewelry Goodluck may have made while working at “The Indian” could be what he chose to wear while being photographed for the postcard above. The close-up below shows Goodluck’s arm and hand. Note the top bracelet, half hidden by his sleeve, is similar in construction to the top bracelet with the teardrop turquoise setting in the second image below.

Close up of jewelry on the arm of William Goodluck. — *A close-up view of jewelry on William Goodluck’s arm in the postcard above.*

Jewelry made at "The Indian" trading post 1924-1929. — These six silver bracelets were made between 1924 and 1929 at “The Indian” trading post by the Native American silversmiths who worked for Charles Strausenback. The bracelets are hallmarked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO. The top bracelet is similar in design to one that William Goodluck wore in the photo above, so it is likely that he made that piece.

Beginning in the 1920s, William Goodluck and his family traveled to the Pikes Peak region to work during the summer months. Goodluck demonstrated silversmithing and his wife, Yekanasbah, worked as the resident Navajo rug weaver.

William Goodluck and family inside "The Indian" trading post. — *This photograph was taken inside “The Indian” trading post, where Goodluck is shown working silver while his wife, Yekanasbah, weaves at her loom and their children spin and card the wool.*

Goodluck continued his employment with Strausenback in 1929 when Charles opened his own Trading Post on the southern edge of Garden of the Gods park.

The porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children near him.

According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article dated June, 9, 1929, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,”

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [in 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Hand tinted postcard of William Goodluck and family at Cheyenne Lodge 1930. — *Strausenback sometimes brought William Goodluck, Yekanasbah and family to work at the Cheyenne Lodge where Strausenback managed the curio shop in 1930.*

Strausenback took a number of souvenir photographs of the Goodluck family, while they were at “The Indian” trading post and then again shortly after Garden of the Gods Trading Post opened in 1929. Goodluck continued to work for Strausenback into the 1930s.

William Goodluck and two of his children on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post in 1935. — *Photo of William Goodluck at the anvil on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post published in the* Denver Post *June 16, 1935.* Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

Hoske Nal Wooty was born about 1891 around Lupton, Arizona. He attended the Navajo Training School at Ft. Defiance from 1905-1908 and then in 1909 was enrolled at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania by his mother, Mrs. Good Luck. After enrollment it was noted in his student records that he “wants to be called Wm. Goodluck,” and Superintendent Friedman agreed he should be called by that name. His student records for the years 1909-1912 can be accessed at the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. By 1920 he added the middle name Patrick and became known as William Patrick Goodluck in official documents.

While attending Carlisle, Goodluck apprenticed as a carpenter and between terms participated in the Summer Outing Program, where jobs and boarding in local homes or businesses was arranged for students allowing them to learn labor or farm skills and interact with the white world. From 1909-1910 he worked for Amos Krusen of Newtown, Pennsylvania and from 1910-1911 he worked for Joseph P. Canby of Hulmeville.

Under the employment of Canby it was noted, “Haski seems to be well pleased with his country home. He said he did not care if he returned to Carlisle in the fall or remained out.” On July 5, 1912 it was reported that, “He is a good earnest faithful worker. He has had experience living on good farms, also in the carpenter shop. Under the proper supervision he would make a good helper to a carpenter.” But he was to follow in his famous father’s footsteps.

Though he likely learned to work silver from his father Hosteen Goodluck, the first mention of William working as a silversmith is in the Carlisle records where on February 4, 1914 it was reported that he was working at that trade in Manuelito, New Mexico.

Anthropologist John Adair reported in his book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths that in 1938 the “Goodluck outfit” was situated near Lupton, Arizona and that Billy Goodluck made approximately $1000 working year-round, Adair considered silversmiths of that caliber to be professional. Adair also referred to William as “Billy Goodluck,” as that seems to be the name the reservation traders knew him by, consequently, William has been known as Billy ever since.

Goodluck worked silver for many decades and attained a reputation as a master silversmith, when not in Colorado he worked from his home in Arizona. John D. Kennedy describes William in his book A Good Trade: Three Generations of Life and Trading in and around Gallup, NM:

Billy Goodluck was a fine Navajo silversmith who lived twenty miles west of Gallup, near Lupton, Arizona. He would come to see me in Zuni for piecework. I would give him about 200 ounces of silver and he would return in a few weeks with finished goods. He made fine, large concho belts that were very popular trade items with Navajos, Zunis and reservation traders.

Goodluck registered for the draft on April 21, 1942 at Ft. Defiance, his place of residence was listed as Houck, Arizona, but it appears he never served in the military. In 1958 William Goodluck served as the first president of the newly formed Navajo Chapter at Lupton. He died October 1967 near his home in Lupton.

No confirmed identification hallmark has been recorded for William Goodluck. Though Barton Wright included a drawing of a comb-like hallmark in the Second Edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest, there is currently no evidence that William Goodluck used this or any other personal hallmark. However work he made while employed by Charles Strausenback would be stamped with the shop marks used at “The Indian” (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO) or Garden of the Gods Trading Post (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE BY INDIANS, or the Tewa Thunderbird logo).

A biography of William’s father Hosteen Goodluck can be found at the bottom of the blog To Be (Hosteen) or Not To Be, That is the Question.

Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte Goodluck stand outside of "The Indian" trading post. — From left to right, Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte—the children of William and Yekanasbah Goodluck—stand outside the ramada where their father made silver at “The Indian” trading post. On the ground are spoons and bracelets in progress and the silversmithing tools that William used. This c. 1925 photograph was taken by Charles Strausenback for his series of advertising postcards.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog May 27, 2019.

To Be (Hosteen), or Not To Be, That is the Question…

Recently the work of Navajo silversmith Hosteen Goodluck was the topic of discussion in one of the online jewelry forums. So, we proudly posted a concho (which has been converted to a belt buckle) that, when it was purchased decades ago, had been attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by trusted associates and knowledgeable dealers of Indian jewelry, including the late Jay Evetts. We were so confident of the attribution that we published the buckle in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry as that of Hosteen Goodluck.

Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of Reassessing Hallmarks. — *Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of* Reassessing Hallmarks.

But even before that it was published on page 164 of American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies under the listing for Hosteen Goodluck:

Concho above published in American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies.

You can imagine our astonishment then when we were bluntly, and embarrassingly, made aware by those who consider themselves experts on Goodluck’s work that the buckle was definitely not made by Hosteen Goodluck. Notably, one dealer who attributed the buckle to Goodluck over 20 years ago now says they find no evidence to support that designation. Which was extremely discouraging.

To understand how our concho suddenly became the work of any other Navajo silversmith except Goodluck, we politely asked what defines Goodluck’s work; what was their source to judge his techniques, his skill, or use of design elements? None of those who proclaimed themselves extremely knowledgeable in Goodluck’s work were forthcoming with evidence why their pieces were by Goodluck, but ours wasn’t. They only pointed to work they attributed to Goodluck asking, “can’t you see the difference?” Truthfully, yes we could see the difference, but struggled with discerning how they were so certain of their conclusions.

So how would the work of Hosteen Goodluck, who died in 1937, be identified when that artist never signed his work or used a hallmark? Who can credibly attest to what Hosteen Goodluck’s silverwork looks like? Attributing silverwork made in the early part of the twentieth century, at a time when silversmith’s names were rarely attached to their work in any meaningful way, is a slippery slope without a hallmark, or some proof to back it up.

Due to the absence of clarification, we decided to do our own homework and went looking for the primary source, provenance, proof, or “smoking gun” that provided the facts for discerning the work of Hosteen Goodluck. We searched for something like a concho belt in a museum collection with solid provenance, or a photo of Goodluck hammering conchos to back up the attributions. There’s not much available online, nor in the books in our library, but we did finally find a primary resource from 1975, and it was right under our noses all along.

Sotheby Parke Bernet 1975 auction catalog for the C.G. Wallace collection of American Indian Art.

Yes, the C.G. Wallace Collection of American Indian Art catalog from the Sotheby Parke Bernet auction conducted in November 1975 has not one, not two, but six illustrated concho belts attributed to Hosteen Goodluck.

*Concho belts, numbers 59 and 61, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Numbers 387 and 389, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Concho belts 548 and 1091 attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

Now, it’s hard to argue with Wallace’s attributions, afterall, he was there working with the silversmiths from 1919 until 1964 or so. But it’s also difficult not to fault his memory, or record keeping, when some of his attributions in the catalog are now known to be so inaccurate. For example, two of the items attributed to Navajo silversmith Etsitty Tsosie (or Eskiesosie, Wallace’s corruption of the name), bracelet #691 and a “Zuni comb” #1141, were said to have been made in 1943 and 1955 respectively. However, Etsitty Tsosie died in 1937 and his passing made national headlines. This raises the question, are these merely typos in the catalog, or lapses in Wallace’s memory?

Number 1141 from the CG Wallace catalog.

From the Oakland Tribune June 24, 1937. — *From the* Oakland Tribune *June 24, 1937.*

To complicate matters, we recently stumbled upon a tidbit of gossip from years ago. We had always heard from old-time collectors of inconsistencies in the catalog’s attributions, but never saw any written confirmation of the rumors. The quote below is from someone who was actively collecting Zuni jewelry in 1975 and acquainted with those involved in the catalog.

Bob Ashton said when he and his wife Sharon did the catalog it took nine painful months because C.G. kept changing his mind on who made what pieces. Ashton said there are a lot of inconsistencies in that catalog.

But we digress.

So what do these six concho belts tell us about the work made by Hosteen Goodluck? If Wallace’s attributions can be trusted, then Goodluck was a silversmith with very diverse skills and techniques, because the design elements are different in each of the six belts. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find commonality in these six examples.

Was Hosteen Goodluck a master silversmith? Undoubtedly, as Ruth Falkenburg Kirk reported that by 1920 Goodluck was recognized as one of “the most expert and best known Indian smiths.”

We remain skeptical how these experts are so confident that they are the only ones who know every style of work, technique, and design element that Goodluck used, especially since they refuse to reveal their research to back-up their claims.

And, by the way, as we see it, concho belt #389 in the Wallace catalog is close enough in construction (at least from what we can see in the photograph) to actually support the earlier attribution that our concho was made by Hosteen Goodluck.

This incident exemplifies why we largely collect only hallmarked metalwork by Native American silversmiths; because a hallmark assures us of the maker of the piece and we am not dependent on some ephemeral attribution from a dealer who may, or may not, have done as much research as we have on the subject.

Hosteen Goodluck

Hosteen Goodluck was born, in what was to become the southern part of the Navajo Reservation, about 1865 and died March 26, 1937 according to the U.S. Indian Census Rolls. He was photographed June 6, 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri where he demonstrated Navajo silversmithing, Navajo Man Good Luck.

arry Frank published this 1904 image in Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills. — *Larry Frank published this 1904 image in* Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills.

Goodluck worked for C. G. Wallace from 1919 to 1932 according to the auction catalog, and Wallace told Dale Stuart King in 1976 (Indian Silverwork, Volume Two), “Hosteen Goodluck was making heavy stamped leaves on bracelets and belt buckles in 1919. I moved Goodluck from Houck, Arizona, to Zuni to do cast work and as die maker.”

In 1929 Goodluck traveled to Colorado Springs to work for Charles Strausenback at Garden of the Gods Trading Post, he joined his son William Goodluck, who had worked for Strausenback in the preceding summers at another nearby trading post. According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,” dated June, 9, 1929,

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [September 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca. 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children around him.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 15, 2018.