Feather Arts de Santa Fe

EXQUISITE FEATHER ART
by Plumassier de Santa Fe, Winchinchala, daughter of
Seawolfe, a Sagamore of the Wampanoag Indian Nation of Massachusetts.             

Artist Winchinchala with Chichimec Indians, San Miguel de Allende

Here are a few examples of her work: Sculptures/Decorative Fans & Wands,

Feathered Life-size Wolf Heads/Protective smaller heads, Bouclier and Anges.

 STATUE: 3' Tall"MIKWANEW," 

means "Full of Feathers" in her father's Wampanoag language.

MIKWANEW FRONT/BACK & WITH TRADITIONAL WAMPANOAG CAPE

  STATUE 3" TALL "KIETAN," means "Spirit" in her father's Wampanoag language   

LA ROUSSE, RED WOLF 2' 5"

WHITE WALL WOLF

WILD WOLF MOUNTED ON CANVAS  2.5" X 2.5

LADY WHIMSEY SCULPTURE on brass base  circa 2" Tall

DECORATIVE FANS (all about 2 +' in height):

1.    Map Turtle and Peacock on wooden stand.

 

2. PEACOCK FRONT AND BACK

4.  PEAHEN, TURKEY, OSTRICH   FRONT AND BACK

SMALL SCULPTURE: 14" (nothing painted or dyed)
Natural color Peacock -Pheasant, Macaw, Parrot on Buffalo head nickel stand

Front                                                                               Back 

WANDS: 

All natural feathers.

1.  Great Argus, Peahen and Peacock with bone turtle

Detail of wand handle

Great Argus, white ostrich and genuine garnet beaded handle

 Detail: garnet beaded handle detail

BOUCLIER  (14"tall):

Toquée

Badger

Violet

Rouge                               Fluffy

Camille

Winchinchala Plumassier (feather artist) 

Winchinchala is the eldest daughter of Seawolfe, a Sagamore (chief) of the Wampanoag Indian Nation of Massachusetts and a green-eyed beauty of European descent. Art was woven into the fabric of her being in childhood when she learned sewing, beading and featherwork from her father and his mother. While working, they sometimes told tales of the birds, their origins and meanings; that made the magnificent feathers more precious to her. Those experiences gave her a profound sense of home, anything else seemed unimaginable, but change was inevitable. Soon, the family, filled with pride, watched her leave to pursue advanced degrees at Columbia University in the City of New York. Her bags were packed with those comforting feathered times as she headed into the future.

Amid the crushing cityscapes of New York, bird sightings sometimes brought them to mind. A crow or a woodpecker was most welcomed, for they stand for wisdom and happiness respectively. Each species, depending on the tribe, symbolizes something: eternity, change, luck, happiness, etc. Collectively, all birds across Native American cultures are revered as the most free and spiritual of creatures because they alone can fly all the way to the Creator in Heaven. Their spirits dwell in their feathers forever, even when the host molts them or passes away. For this reason, plumes are as venerated as the birds themselves. Thus native peoples use them as adornments, to make fans to carry messages to the Creator or to reward acts of bravery.

Winchinchala earned her degrees and worked, but then those halcyon days with the pretty feathers recalled her, not to create traditional Native tools but exotic objets’d’art to express who she had become, honor her father and grandmother and, of course, the birds. Collectors from Stockholm to San Francisco deem the resulting “sculptures,” “fantastic,” “unique” and “museum worthy.” 

NOTE Only humanely gathered feathers from loving bird-occupied homes, sanctuaries or small family-owned farms are used to ensure positive energy. Each completed piece is cleansed with smudge to ward off negativity.