Edgar Perry falls strictly in the traditionalist camp of American Indian artists.
A White Mountain Apache, he said it's the way to preserve the nation's way of life.
"I try to tell the kids to stay with their own Apache designs" when working on crafts, said Perry, who creates Apache moccasins and conch belts. "Don't make your own design, because it becomes something else, not Apache."
Perry will demonstrate his leathercraft and participate in other Apache traditions during the 12th annual Southwest Indian Arts Fair this weekend at the Arizona State Museum.
Other artists will demonstrate weaving, sandpainting, basket-making, flute-making and jewelry-making.
More than 200 Southwest American Indian artists will exhibit and sell their works, including such traditional crafts as Hopi kachinas, Navajo baskets and Zuni fetishes.
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The invitational also includes modern, sometimes intertribal expressions in jewelry, pottery, sculpture and two-dimensional works.
While Perry, 68, said he believes that the new expression "is beautiful" and that the artists show "really good skill," he wants to see the traditional crafts thrive because of the heritage they represent.
Before electricity and modern tools, American Indians expressed themselves with the materials on hand — wood, sand, water, ashes, charcoal — Perry said in a phone interview last week while visiting Tucson.
"We like the old designs and a lot of the old ways," he said. "They are beautiful, and I like to keep it going."
Perry also will conduct a traditional blessing of "the day and the ground and the people" on Saturday and lead Apache crown dancers both Saturday and Sunday.
Most of the entertainment for the weekend will focus on traditional song and dance, but singer Radmilla Cody will perform contemporary Navajo songs on Saturday.
Kids can try their hand at making flutes and spinning, carding and weaving fiber.
The Council for Indigenous Arts and Culture will provide information on how to recognize authentic American Indian art.
This year's featured artist is Carol Chiago Lujan, a Navajo figurative sculptor of clay.
"I would like to think that my work reflects the beauty, compassion, strength and the continuity of native people," Lujan said in a news release.
Quick Take
Southwest Indian Art Fair
What: Fine art, high craft, demonstrations and entertainment
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Arizona State Museum, inside the University of Arizona Main Gate northeast of West University Boulevard and North Park Avenue.
Admission: $8; $3 for ages 12-16; $12 for two-day pass; free for 11 and under and for University of Arizona and Pima Community College students with identification
Information: 621-6302 or at www.statemuseum. arizona.edu online
Entertainment schedule:
Saturday
10 a.m.: Blessing
11: White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers
11:45: Maricopa songs and dances by Intertribal Traditional Bird Singers
12:30 p.m.: Contemporary Navajo songs by Radmilla Cody
1:30: Water maiden dance by Hopi Senom Dancers
2:15: Tohono O'odham Basket/Friendship Dancers
3: American Indian flutist Adrian Wall
3:45: Yaqui Deer Dancers
Sunday
11 a.m.: Hopi Senom Dancers
11:45: Traditional Hopi singer Clark Tenakhongva
12:45 p.m.: White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers
1:30: Adrian Wall
2:15: Tohono O'odham Basket/Friendship Dancers
3: Yaqui Deer Dancers
