Three members of a talented Fort Gibson family recently won top honors for their Native American Art in a national competition.

Ron Tanyan, and his children Michael and Kari, in August placed in the first and second slots in two categories at the prestigious Santa Fe Indian Art Market in New Mexico.

“This was our first year attending,” Ron said. “Santa Fe is the best of the best. I was pretty excited just to be accepted.”

His entry was a Mississippian head pot which won second place in the contemporary category.

Tanyan, 42, who is Seminole and Kiowa, said his pottery is a blend of historic and modern ideas.

“I do Southeastern pottery; the designs are ancient,” he said. “I fell in love with it. We’re descended from that Mississippian culture. I research all of that; how they made the pottery and the design.”

Michael, 16, won first place in the youth category, and his sister Kari, 18, won second place in the same category. They both also have Cherokee blood through their mother, Jill.

Michael said his colored ink drawing was named “Inspiration.”

“I’m Southeastern like my dad; I take interest in all those old designs,” he said. “This drawing had all those designs as a cloud on top. There was a Southeastern pottery person below with a ray coming down on the woman doing the pot.”

Michael said he has been drawing since he was little, but he only decided to approach it professionally about two years ago.

“I like to doodle,” he said. “But then I look through everything and try to put the ideas together in the Southeastern style.”

Observing and listening to people who look at his art is not only fun but useful as well.

“I like to watch people,” he said. “What I want to see is their interpretation. It helps me out a lot. If I find something that’s really cool, I’ll try to make in cooler. Or, it will just happen when I’m not really trying.”

Michael said he is very aware of his creative heritage from his father and from his late grandfather, Mirac Creepingbear.

“I think about it a whole lot,” he said. “I’d like to carry on the name.”

Kari, who works in paints, said she used thick layers of oil paint that took a long time to dry.

“I entered a painting of a dancer titled ‘American Pride,’” she said. “I wanted to interpret the beauty and strength of the Native American dancer.”

Kari said she gets a lot of inspiration from her dad and from grandfather Creepingbear. Kari says she’s only been painting seriously for two years.

“I tried pottery, but it broke into a hundred pieces and I got discouraged,” she said.

Ron said the family’s artistic accomplishments have been made possible by the Cherokee Artists Association, which has a gallery in Tahlequah. He also credits a spiritual source.

“If it wasn’t for God in our lives, we couldn’t do all these things,” he said. “We’re thankful for being given this talent.”