ABOUT THE WEBSITE
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.
Neoki'stom'i is Blackfeet for Three Bulls. I named this site after my three sons, and in honor of my youngest son whom I have lost.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Diana Passmore and Kathy Anderson are sisters who are descended from the Little Dog Clan of the Piegan (Pikuni`i`) branch of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. Their mother was Blackfeet and their father was Irish.
THE INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS ACT OF 1990
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.
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.
In honor of their mother and Diana's three sons, the sisters established a website in February of 2000 primarily devoted to the craftwork of the Blackfeet Nation. It was named after Diana's three sons - hence, the name Neok-istom-i, which stands for Three Bulls in Blackfeet, (literally, nioo`kska a`i`saayooh komi).
They went on to form a limited liability company in May of 2000.
Kathy and Diana are entirely self-taught and have done extensive reading and independent research on methods, cultural significance and materials used by the Blackfeet in their creations. They use authentic traditional materials in their work as much as possible and everything is made by hand.
"After growing up seeing our mother trying to fade into traditional white culture, my sister and I wanted to restore some pride in our heritage. It is inspirational to us to see the complexity and beauty of some of the older pieces of beadwork and quillwork made by our ancesters, and it is even more amazing when you consider the tools they had to work with. Our creations are modeled after, and in some cases, replicas of, ‘old style' traditional beaded articles used in everyday life and we apply these same techniques in our modern creations as well. We take pride in everything we make and use only natural materials."
In addition to their business, Diana and Kathy both work full time and have grown children and grandchildren.
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.
Please e-mail us at neokistomi@comcast.net with any questions or comments you may have. We look forward to hearing from you. THANKS!
Last Revised: December 22, 2004