It's just tourist junk, right?

Depends on your point of view. These objects symbolize multiple aesthetic, cultural, and ideological boundaries between mainstream society and the region's indigenous communities. Souvenirs define the differences between seller and consumer, between artist and critic, between national and regional cultural perspectives.

Travelers might decide that popular culture and fine art are irreconcilable concepts. Many Native artists, however—including some of the most famous—simultaneously produced novelties for the tourist market and fine quality items for the Indian Fair (1922--1932) and for its successor, the Santa Fe Indian Market. These examples demonstrate the expressive possibilities for both categories of art.