Portfolio — Cara Romero Photography

Fawn Douglas (Las Vegas Paiute Tribe) stands with an omniscient look, staring right through the viewer. We wonder how many of you are knowledgeable about the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, or how their homelands in Las Vegas, Nevada, are some of the most sacred cultural landscapes to Nüwü or Southern Paiute people. The young city of Las Vegas (est. 1905) rests upon ancient sacred groundwater, adjacent to Nüva Kaiv (Mt. Charleston) and Red Rocks–places of creation and mythos. Since long before the first casinos were erected, Nüwü steward one of the most beautiful places in all of the Mojave Desert. They are basket makers and desert peoples; they gather pine nuts, and they survive unimaginable changes to their homelands–I imagine one of the most drastic transformations in US history. Their modern-day reservation, known colloquially as “The Colony,” is near Fremont Street, but Nüwü have been in Vegas since time immemorial.

Fawn’s contemporary urban Native identity is contextualized in the carefully curated cultural accoutrement that surrounds her. Together, Fawn and I designed and painted her dollbox, sharing our love for the classic mid-century modern Las Vegas design. We blended time and symbology because they coexist in a compressed timeline of cultural collision. Nüwü and Las Vegas are both a part of the people, and sometimes these stories of survival are ironic and quirky, but they bring us another layer of complexity that becomes a truth. Spend time with the objects that surround Fawn and be fascinated by the thick context of all that they communicate together. You will find an olla basket, winnowing baskets, and basket hats fashioned by traditional maker Everett Pikyavit (Moapa Paiute). Fawn’s uncle Lamar “Este” Anderson made the gourd rattle, and Leah Mata Fragua (Northern Chumash) created the birch bark skirt and abalone shell necklaces. Fawn contributed the white shell pieces and the contemporary metal basket–fashioned out of found construction materials from her renovated art studios. Of course, references to casino games abound, and a neon ram shines bright, representing the importance of Nagah in Nüwü lore.

Fawn is an artist, activist, community leader, and former burlesque dancer based in Las Vegas. She is the head matriarch of Nüwü Art Studios and the Nüwü Art Gallery + Community Center, and is also a board member for the nonprofit IndigenousAF. This portrait from the series honors Fawn’s enduring leadership and her work at the confluence of art, identity, and Indigenous sovereignty–grounded in the power and presence of the Las Vegas Paiute Nation. We hope this photograph imparts a glimmer of knowledge that sparks an interest in learning and honoring the legacy of the Nüwü.