ABOUT THE ARTISTS

DIANA L. PASSMORE

Diana L. Passmore is an enrolled Blackfeet tribal member and a skilled beader. She is descended from the Little Dog Clan of the Piegan (Pikuni`i`) branch of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. Her mother was born and raised on the Blackfeet reservation in Browning, Montana and her father was Irish.

Diana has participated in many shows, most notably the Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, where one of her pieces was awarded third place in Traditional Native American Beadwork, Red Earth in Oklahoma City, Northern Plains Tribal Art held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sweet Willow Indian Market in Great Falls, Montana where her pipe bag won first place in Traditional Native American Beadwork.

Diana and her sister Kathy have also done beadwork presentations, most notably in St. Louis for the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial.

Her beadwork can be found at various galleries throughout the United States as well as Switzerland. Additionally, through her website (www.neokistomi.com), Diana has sold her work throughout the United States, Spain, England and Australia. Diana also worked closely with the author of Kit’s Railway Adventure, a book published by The American Girls Collection concerning a young girl’s trip through Glacier Park in the ‘40’s and her contact with the Blackfeet.

“It is an inspiration to me to see the complexity and beauty of some of the older pieces of beadwork and quillwork made by my ancestors and the ingenious use of materials at hand -- even more amazing when you consider the tools they had to work with and the struggles of daily living. I think of that every time I start a new piece in the warmth and comfort of my home and can only strive to achieve the same level of beauty.”

Diana and her husband, Phil, currently reside in Spokane, Washington.

KATHY E. ANDERSON

Kathy Anderson, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation was born in Bozeman, Montana and is descended from the Little Dog Clan of the Piegan (Pikuni’i’).

Kathy is a self-taught bead artist and produces a variety of beaded items, both traditional and contemporary, incorporating traditional Blackfeet and other tribal designs and colors as well as creating her own designs.

Although she has no formal art training past the many art classes taken in high school, she has always aspired to be an artist, dabbling in various other mediums over the years before settling back into the needlecrafts. She began her beading at the urging of her sister and Partner, Diana, and has done extensive research into the materials and methods used by Native Americans of all tribes, and tries to incorporate their influence in all the work that she does using traditional material s.

She has participated in many shows Her beadwork can be found in galleries and private collections throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Additionally her work may be found on her web site: (www.neokistomi.com )

“Once I began the journey of learning more about my ancestors beadwork, and started working in that medium, it has become my passion. I love bringing the colors and designs of our ancestors to life and also bringing public awareness of the skills involved in creating such beautiful pieces with the most rudimentary tools.”

Kathy and her family are currently living in Spokane Washington

Eiteljorg Indian Market – 2003 Traditional Beadwork – 1^st. Place

Contemporary Beadwork – Honorable Mention

Northern Plains Tribal Arts – 2003 Traditional Beadwork – 3^rd. Place

Sweet Willow Indian Market – 2005 Traditional Beadwork – 2^nd Place and 3rd Place

Northern Plains Tribal Arts – 2005 Contemporary Beadwork – 3^rd. Place

ABOUT THE WEB PAGE

PEACE TO ALL WHO VISIT HERE and WELCOME to our website. We are glad you stopped to visit. We hope you will enjoy this site and will return often to see what we have added. This is a family affair which includes our entire Native American family, but specifically our tribe, the Blackfeet. The web page was created by Diana Passmore after the death of her youngest son in late 1999.

Neoki'stom'i is Blackfeet for Three Bulls and the site was named after Diana’s three sons, and in honor of her youngest son..

We have visited numerous pow-wows and while there is beautiful Native work out there, we were very disappointed to see products offered for sale that were labeled as Native American, but were shoddy and made with substandard products or were imported pieces passed off as Native American. All of the items we create are hand made and the beading is done by hand. We have used traditional patterns and materials as much as possible. You will find no plastic items here. Everything is as nature intended - bone, glass, metal, feather, leather.

Since these items are hand-made, there are no two items that are exactly alike. There are variations in the beads, feathers, leather, etc. that make them unique.

What you see on our web page are samples of items we have created in the past and they are not necessarily in stock. We are not a factory and every piece is made by hand. It usually takes a week to 10 days - or longer - depending on the size of the piece. It also depends on the backlog on our work board. Kathy and I stay very busy so please plan ahead and let us know your wishes as early as possible. We will be glad to furnish references if you desire. We have many happy clients who order from us again and again. We try to be very reasonable with our prices so our creations are affordable for everyone. If there is something special you are seeking that we cannot create, there may be another artisan we can refer you to. Don't be bashful - we will try to answer every request.

THE INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS ACT OF 1990

Upon request, we will be glad to furnish a Certificate of Authenticity with our tribal registration number. On occasion, we will feature artisans who are extremely talented and who do honor to Native Americans and their traditions, but are not registered tribal members. That fact will be made clear. It is important to know that it is against the law to falsely represent that a product has been made by a Native American when it has not. (Public Law 101-644, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990).

You can file a complaint about products alleged to be offered or displayed for sale or sold in a manner that falsely suggests they are Indian products by writing to the Director, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Room 4004-MIB, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240.

NOTE TO ALL WHO VISIT HERE: Let each one of us make it our personal mission to do away with those who try to capitalize on our heritage at our expense. Each time an article is made and represented falsely as being created by a Native American and sold, it not only cheapens our art, but is literally taking the bread right out of our mouths. Encourage your tribes to only allow enrolled Native Americans to sell their crafts at the pow-wows. We have been questioned about our stand on this issue by other craftsmen who are not enrolled Native Americans. Our position is simple. If your work is beautifully made, it will stand on its own merits - you should not have to try to "pass it" as a Native American product. One of the finest quill workers we have ever seen is not Native American and she does not try to sell her work as such.

  Please e-mail us at neokistomi@comcast.net with any questions or comments you may have. We look forward to hearing from you. THANKS!

Home

Last Revised: January 12, 2011