About Americana Indian & Western Shows, dealers of Native American arts and crafts
The Americana Indian and Western Gallery had its beginning in 1947, when the Anderson family lived with an uncle on his trading post adjacent to the Navajo Reser vation. The eventual founder of Americana, Lee Anderson, attended school on the reservation and worked after school for his uncle in the trading post.
The family collected American Indian art and later decorated their Phoenix home in this style. They collected Navajo rugs, pottery, baskets, and other Indian and western items. Lee and his brothers started their Indian arts, crafts, and jewelry business as a part-time venture to their normal occupations — Lee was career Army officer, Wayne, a game and fish ranger in Flagstaff, Arizona, and, Arvid, a guidnce counselor in Yuma, Arizona.
Following Lee's retirement in 1974, they opened galleries in Sedona and Flagstaff, Arizona. However, their first love was the road, and they established a wonderfully loyal following in several cities and states throughout the U.S. Several years ago, they closed the galleries and dedicated all their resources to conducting shows and sales nationwide. Currently they conduct 26 shows and sales a year. Lee is a credited appraiser of Southwestern Indian jewelry, kachinas, rugs, baskets, pottery, and artifacts. He provides written appraisals for insurance purposes for a small fee (not a percentage of its value). To learn more, contact us at info@americana.net.
Americana, through its resident silver / goldsmith Brian Clark, also offers custom jewelry and jewelry repair.
If you have a piece you're interested in knowing about — which tribe or clan made it, when it was made, and, if possible, who made it — feel free to bring it to one of our shows; we're more then happy to identify it. If by some fluke we can't help you, we'll direct you to one of our good friends at a museum or trading post who can.