ミルトン・ハワード

Milton Howard, master kachina carver, was born on Feb. 8, 1964 in Tuba City, Arizona. His father, also a kachina carver, is from the Hopi Third Mesa area, and his mother is from the Rocky Ridge area. He is married and has three children. He spent most of his adult life in Albuquerque where he earned his electrician certificate and began selling his carvings, and in Phoenix, where he perfected his art.

He took up carving as a young boy, learning from other members of his family, but he was not serious about it until he was living in Albuquerque, in his early twenties, going to school to be an electrician and carving with his cousins, Jerry and Dan Bert, in his free time. He sold his dolls to his class mares, carving kachinas for orders only. Needless to say, his classmates were very impressed with his talent.

After moving to Phoenix, he began working with another cousin, Dennis Ross, learning and practicing new techniques and styles, meanwhile, getting to know some of the gallery owners and buyers in nearby Scottsdale, who were eager to purchase his dolls because of their high quality and low prices.

A few years later, at about 30 years of age he made the decision to start carving full time. His art is now found in the finest galleries around the world and because his work is extraordinary and his prices are so reasonable, many serious collectors have obtained his dolls. The intricate details symbolize many of his beliefs, and what he has come to know as very sacred and divine to his culture.