At its worst, the 21,000-plus-acre Slide Fire in May came within 300 yards of historic Hoel’s Indian Shop – the forest service’s backburns were a mere 100 yards from the shop’s back door. But Hoel’s co-owner Dave Watters, a retired firefighter of 25 years, was prepared, and lucky for Native American art collectors, the gallery escaped unscathed. “With my background, I had the knowledge and know-how to prepare and protect our home and business, and that, in turn, assisted the wild-land firefighters in their objectives,” says Dave. “But life happens. It’s not the first fire we’ve seen, and it won’t be the last. This is what we deal with in the West. Now it’s time to move on.”
While Dave stayed behind, his wife Carol was evacuated for 10 days. Nearly four months after the flames have been extinguished, she’s still relieved to be back in her home and grateful for the support they’ve received from the community, especially in the weeks immediately following the fire. “People were so sweet and kind and concerned,” she says.
But as Dave says, life goes on, and the couple has returned to managing the business that has been in Dave’s family since his grandparents, Don and Nita Hoel, opened the shop in 1945. Back then it was located in a grocery store at Don Hoel’s Cabins. In the mid-1970s, Don and Nita built a home up the road from the cabins, setting aside one room for the gallery. Dave and Carol, high school sweethearts and Northern Arizona University graduates, took over the business when Don passed away in 1983. They eventually sold the cabins, which became Butterfly Garden Inn. Hoel’s Indian Shop showcases jewelry, pottery, katsinas, fetishes, rugs and baskets from a myriad of southwestern Native American tribes.
These days, Carol is particularly enthusiastic about all the young, up-and-coming artists Hoel’s represents like jewelers Darryl Dean Begay, Michael Perry, Vernon Begaye and Samuel LaFountain. “They are the future of Native American art, and they feel just a passionately about it as their parents and grandparents,” says Carol, who has a personal relationship with nearly all of her artists. “I’m really excited about what these new artists are creating.” –– Erika Ayn Finch
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