F408 Marble Bear
Marble bear by Zuni fetish carver Ronnie Lunasee. The 2 1/2” x 1 1/2” stone bear has turquoise eyes.
The bear is the Guardian of the West. The bear is associated with great strength, power, healing and self-knowledge. He is the great protector, the "sacred bear" He is a spiritual guide and also carries within him supernatural powers. Bear is a powerful healing fetish. All bear fetishes are powerful but the white bear is the most powerful medicine bear.
About the artist
Ronnie Lunasee
Ronnie Lunasee, who started to carve at the age of sixteen, was taught by his brother-in-law, Melvin Sandoval, but it took two years for him to mature. He likes dolomite and serpentine, which he buys in Gallup and sells his work in Zuni or Albuquerque. He carves frogs and bears, especially the sitting variety, the largest of which is four inches high. He regards a creative mind as the most important part of fetish carving and often dreams about the animals he will carve. A serpentine lizard was selected for the museum exhibit because it would take a polish like glass, a quality he values. Although he learned from Melvin Sandoval, Ronnie does the more traditional stylized fetishes, leaving Melvin to do the new realistic type.
Ronnie taught his cousin Fabian Tsethlikai, and the two young men work together on opposite ends of the wheel.
From “The Fetish Carvers of Zuni” by Marian Rodee and James Ostler
Zuni fetish carver Ronnie Lunasee is a member of the Lunasee Family of carvers - who are related to the Quandelacy Family.
