Charlene Holy Bear

born 1958 Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico

BiographyCharlene Holy Bear is a member of the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux Tribe and a descendant from the Cheyenne River. She has grown a cult following for her hand-beaded Vans and makes beautiful beaded bangles and earrings. She was born on the reservation and raised there until the age of two or three, then moved to Chicago with her sister, who adopted her, later returning to the Southwest. Born into a family of artists, Holy Bear first began hand-beading traditional Plains dolls when she was five years old, learning from her sister Rhonda Holy Bear, an accomplished artist in her own right. A few years later, she entered a doll into a youth competition at the Santa Fe Indian Market and won her first award, a second-place ribbon. As a teen, she was picked up by the Morning Star Gallery in Santa Fe and used the sales of her dolls to put herself through the University of New Mexico, where she studied fine arts and art history. After graduating, Holy Bear spent years on the Native American arts fair circuit, traveling from California to Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Indiana just to sell her wares.

Person TypeIndividual