temporary urban life and timeless human nature. As an 

 artist, Fonseca has developed his own style that has been 

 referred to as "primitive," "naive," and "California funk." 

 While his bold and colorful work reflects qualities of each 

 of these styles, it goes beyond to create his own personal 

 statement as a visual artist. 



Among many Native American peoples, the coyote is a 

 trickster figure. Among the Maidu of northern California, 

 however. Coyote is more than just a spoiler — he also 

 provides a guide through life, demonstrating what be- 

 havior is unacceptable and dangerous, providing oppor- 

 tunities for others to learn from his mistakes. According to 

 Maidu oral tradition, Coyote is also responsible for the 

 existence of work, suffering, and death, hie is, on the 

 other hand, a buffoon, the trickster who is only tricking 

 himself, who comes out of his adventures in a sorry plight. 



Harry Fonseca was born in Sacramento, California, in 

 1 946; he is of Maidu, Portuguese, and Hawaiian descent, 



C" Coyote in front of Studio 

 Acrylic, 30" X 24" 



Fonseca uses Coyote to poke fun at the familiar stereotype of 

 the American Indian. The urbanized Coyote, in black leather 

 jacket, Levi's, and high-top tennis shoes, wears the Hollywood- 

 approved version of the most recognizable item of Indian dress, 

 a full Plains-style feather headdress. Coyote also carries a large 

 beaded leather bog and holds three cigars as he stands on a 

 wooden box. Through Coyote's regalia, which is not worn in 

 the artist's own Maidu culture, Fonseca satirizes the stereotype 

 of the "real" Indian. 



and he grew up in Sacramento acutely aware of his mixed 

 heritage. However, he was greatly influenced by his uncle 

 Henry Azbill, a Konkow Maidu elder, who encouraged 

 him to attend the Maidu dances at Grindstone, near Chi- 

 co. Azbill was a great promoter and preserver of the 

 Maidu culture, which had undergone tremendous turmoil 

 after the tribe was decimated following the influx of gold 

 seekers and settlers to their land in California's northern 

 Sierra. 



Fonseca is largely self-taught: "I've been drawing this 

 way since I was twelve years old," he said in a recent 

 interview. His earliest works relate directly to his Maidu 

 heritage. As part of an assignment for a class in American 

 Indian art at California State University, Sacramento, Fon- 

 seca tape-recorded his uncle telling the Maidu creation 

 myth. After recording the story, Fonseca realized that it 

 was more than a creation myth; it was the tribal history. In 

 1 976, Fonseca applied for and received a Special Pro- 

 jects Grant from the California Arts Council to aid in the 

 making of the Creation Story. This marked the beginning 

 of the three-year project that became the visual record of 

 an oral history. 



Fonseca's early works, created in the late 1 960s 

 through the 1 970s, have been referred to as his "tradi- 

 tional" paintings — traditional because Fonseca was 

 illustrating the Maidu culture, the dances, the regalia, and 

 the basket designs, "the beginnings," as he said, "of the 

 California people." 





Sl(etch Book, Vol. I 

 Inkand watercolor, 9" X 12" 

 Fonseca spent a year researching and 

 sketching dance classes at the Alvin Ailey 

 American Dance Center in New York. Ttie 

 Sl^etch Booii, Vol I contains Fonseca's 

 notations about the dances, dancers, 

 costumes, and sets — later used in his 

 interpretation of European animal myths 

 in his Swan Lake series. 



