Yaqui Artist Creates Commemorative Mother Earth Blankets Story-Date: 06:02 p.m. PST Sunday , August 10, 1997 Yaqui Artist Creates Commemorative Mother Earth Blankets BY JENNIFER PARHAM, INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY, RAPID CITY, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News PORTLAND--Aug. 11--Artist Terry Hartman, a Yaqui impressionist, has broken blanket sales barriers at the Pendleton Woolen Mills store. His history-making design -- a blanket with a ``Mother Earth, One People'' symbol -- is the first Pendleton commemorative, through American Indian eyes, the connection indigenous people have with this planet. ``What everyone is so proud about is that the meaning is universal and the blanket design is enduring,'' Mr. Hartman said. ``It's the first blanket they've ever done that meant so much to all people.'' The Mother Earth blanket has been blessed by shamans, Nez Perce, Lakota Sioux, Shoshone, Apache, Navajo, Hopi, Warm Springs, Yakama,Umatilla and Cherokee people, according to Mr. Hartman. And it has been distributed worldwide. In 30 years, none of the sought-after blankets have peaked such interest, he said. Mr. Hartman, who began using the Mother Earth design in 1996, recently was invited to display his art at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz., where he has been asked to design a blanket for the museum. ``It has done really well and I'm happy for them,'' said Mr. Hartman. The Mother Earth blanket is woven in 16 colors because the Pendleton looms are limited to that number of different colored fibers. The blanket encompasses the four colors of humankind: black, yellow, red and white. The logo in the middle of the blanket is a symbolic communication ``Mother Earth, One People.'' It was inaugurated in 1995, and recognized by the American Indian/ Alaskan Native Council in Washington, D.C. ``It represents both worlds of the American Indians and non-Indians using straight and circular lines,'' the tag accompanying the blanket states. Pendleton used what is called a whip-stitch, in which the edges are hand-sewn together, a technique that it has not used since the 1930s. The company usually uses a felled-stitch on its blankets. ``Pendleton said they didn't want a spiritual blanket,'' said Mr. Hartman. ``I told them, the year 2000 is upon us and you can't ignore American Indian heritage and lifestyle.'' Pendleton's orders for the Mother Earth blanket have gone off the charts, he said. Mr. Hartman graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the internationally known Art Center School in Los Angeles, Calif., where he received formal art and communications training. The designer has done a little bit of everything, including selling western art in the northwest and southwest regions of the country. He worked for a time in the film industry in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. He is known for his legendary copy art, and has done American Indian blanket designs for Pendleton Woolen Mills for more than a decade. ----- ON THE INTERNET: Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------