Untitled

This mural portrays the Winter and Summer Moieties, the two main societies within the Pueblo. The Winter Buffalo Dance, in the right-hand sphere, honors the buffalo—once the most important food source during the winter. The Corn Dance, on the left, expresses a prayer for rain and a bountiful harvest. Corn is the staple of life for Pueblo people. A plumed Avanyu serpent, symbolizing power over water, encircles the winter sphere, and on the left a ceremonial banner surrounds the summer sphere.

The Artist

Dennis Silva is known in the Tewa language as Kah’P’o, Wild Rose Place. Dennis was strongly influenced by his family; his father was a watercolorist, his mother was a potter, and his brother was a painter. He attended New Mexico Highlands University, and his work has been exhibited at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the Scottsdale Invitational Show, the Philbrook Museum of Art, and the New Mexico State Fair. 

© All murals are copyrighted, and cannot be used or duplicated without express permission from the copyright holders. You can purchase select mural images on stone magnets available exclusively through the Indian Pueblo Store. SHOP HERE