Preserving His Heritage

A hand-woven basket, pottery shards, and other artifacts led Arizona artist Urshel Taylor to research his rich cultural heritage as a member of the Akimel Au-Authm (Pima) Community. As a result of his efforts, Brother Taylor, of the Tortolita Ward, Tucson Arizona North Stake, received the Arizona Indian Living Treasures award for 1998. The award recognizes Native American artists not only for their artistic efforts but also for their work in preserving and revitalizing their culture.

“So much has been lost of the Akimel Au-Authm, or River People,” says Brother Taylor, who travels around the state in an effort to preserve Native American culture and skills through education.

Reared in Utah on the Ute reservation, Brother Taylor knew little of his mother’s ancestry until he visited an abandoned family homesite on the Gila River Reservation near Phoenix, Arizona. There he held ancient pottery shards belonging to his forefathers. Using his imagination of what those early people looked like, he sculpted wooden figures of women with long hair and soft robes. From that start, his art has come to capture more and more of the Akimel Au-Authm culture, along with his other award-winning works that portray the Northern Plains traditions he knew as a youth.

Tradition has it that the Akimel Au-Authm met members of the Mormon Battalion. “They took them by the hand and led them to food and water, then gave them mules to help them on their way. I like to think that my mother’s grandfather might have been one of those men,” says Brother Taylor.

Another legacy from his mother is Church membership. “I can still hear her singing the old hymns,” he says. “She’d sing while standing in the kitchen or hanging out the clothes.”

Gathering family history records has been a challenge. For years Brother Taylor has collected oral histories of his mother’s people. One account tells of his grandfather, Domingo Baptisto Morgan, who worked on the Mesa Arizona Temple. “The day before the dedication of the temple, he hitched up his team and drove all night to pick up my mother and her girlfriend at the Phoenix Indian School so they could attend the dedication,” he recalls. The girlfriend later joined the Church.

Brother Taylor is currently working on a series of acrylic paintings depicting Pima burden baskets, using as models those from the Arizona State Museum collection in Tucson.—Arlene Miera, Tortolita Ward, Tucson Arizona North Stake