Born with the name of Tse Tsan at the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, Pablita Velarde has been painting since childhood and has become one of the most famous American Indian painters and muralists. Her work depicts Indian ceremony and daily life, and she pays meticulous attention to detail, which makes her work valuable historical records. Some of her murals are at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. At age 15, she did a large mural for the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago in 1933.

Her mentor has been Tonita Pena, a painter from San Ildefonso Pueblo. Pablita became a professional painter although in her culture that was considered a masculine pursuit. She taught drawing in a day school and then built her...