Native Artist Robert Yellowhair Evokes Richness Of Navajo Life

Robert was born Aug. 8, 1937, in Na-ah-tee Canyon near Keams Canyon in Navajo County, the son of Peter Yellowhair and his seventh wife Phoebe. He attended the Indian School High School in Reno, Nev., and served his country for two years as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne.

In 1964 Robert moved his family to Snowflake, where he began his career in art. He worked in the grocery store of fellow Snowflake native Nephi Bushman and created art in his spare time, with his art becoming a hit in the community.

He has immortalized his Native American culture through his paintings, and brings greater understanding and appreciation for Navajo culture. Many in Navajo County and beyond have purchased his artwork, captivated by the vibrant colors he uses to bring to life the visions of his culture that abound in his mind.

Robert’s quick wit and telling smile are immediately captivating, as well, revealing the keen perception with which he seems to soak in and depict the world around him.

“I knew I had the talent when I was a little boy. I didn’t have the materials, and my mom and dad didn’t know whether to recognize my talent, so I did it on my own. But my mother helped me with my colors. I used to drive all over the country and study Indian artifacts. In Phoenix, there are about 20 different tribes and a lot of them have really good artwork, so that’s what I painted. Up here, I pick out the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo and Apache. All in all, they have really good artists, and I just paint some of the artifacts that the outstanding artists make,” he explained.

Robert cites the late Native American artists Maria Martinez and Joseph Lonewolf, both renowned internationally for traditional Pueblo pottery, as inspirational to his craft, often using their pieces as the subjects of his still life selections.

But it is Robert’s late father, Pete Yellowhair, whom he says provided the most inspiration in his life as an artist, and in the history of Navajo County.

Pete Yellowhair was born in 1882 in the Jeddito Valley on the Navajo Reservation. His father was Chief Hosteen Nez of the Navajo Tribe. Pete was the last of the old traditional medicine men, and had driven freight wagons from Keams Canyon to Gallup and Fort Apache. He was a stonecutter, rancher and farmer, and helped with the construction of the hospital at Keams Canyon. He died Dec. 17, 1985, at the age of 103.

Robert notes that throughout his life he was often asked how his family acquired the distinctive name Yellowhair. In what he says is his first telling of the story, Robert relates, “My father got the name when he was a really young boy, about 13. He went jogging and his mother saw him. The sun was just barely coming up, and she said she saw a yellow-haired person coming over the horizon.

“She didn’t know it was her son, because her son woke up before her and she was cooking breakfast. She said to her husband, ‘I think the white people are back, I saw one running over the horizon,’ to which her husband replied, ‘How do you know it’s a white man?’ She said, ‘I saw his hair, it’s all yellow.’

“The old man jumped on his horse, went out there to check and came back laughing. ‘It’s our lazy son, he decided to go jogging.’ Right there and then, my grandfather said to my father, ‘I’ve been trying to search a name for you, but you’ve earned one today. When you went jogging, the Great Spirit put His light through your hair when your mom saw it, so your name shall be Yellowhair,’ and he has been known as Yellowhair since that time.”

Robert also noted that his father served the community as a distinguished bounty hunter for the United States government in the early 1900s. “During his time period, no lawmen could go onto the reservation without permission from the federal government, except the bounty hunters,” Robert explained.

“He made about $30 a month doing that, putting his life on the line. He had to make his own handcuffs, and used a bolt with a wrench he designed himself as the key. He made his moccasins, he made his own spurs. Everything he had except maybe his rifle and his pistol was handmade.”

Hearing this story, and hearing Robert tell it in person, lays pleasantly silent the question of where he gets his creativity and innovation. The rest of his stories he poignantly tells through each bright-hued stroke of his paintbrush.

Robert says he wants to add to his collection of Western-themed renderings a historic moment in Holbrook’s history. “What I want to do is a painting of the Bucket of Blood gunfight,” he said, which would be a welcomed honor.

Samples of Robert’s work can be viewed on Facebook at Robert Yellowhair (Snowflake, Arizona Artist). For more information, contact Robert’s agent, Chris Brimhall, at (928) 243-3568.