Southwest Trading Company opened a few weeks ago along the 11th Street alignment of Route 66 that not only sells Native American-made goods, but is owned by a father-and-daughter team with Native heritage.
MVSKOKEMedia recently published a profile on owners David Bible and daughter Ashley, citizens of the Muscogee (Creek) tribe in Oklahoma and of the Hopi tribe, through David’s mother in Arizona. They originally started as a vendor at powwows and other events.
“We’ve named this Southwest Trading Company, because we really love the southwest Pueblo jewelry, pottery, designs and styles,” David said. “We also try to incorporate our tribes within the 39 tribes of Oklahoma and try to carry some of their designs, skirts and bead work to incorporate Oklahoma’s history.” […]
“We are in the Meadow Gold District of Route 66, and the community has been really welcoming,” David said. “The community that lives here, they remember the Indian stores of the past. So they come in and see what we have.”
Many of their items are handmade from Hopi artists from New Mexico and Arizona area. They also bring in work from local artists representing tribes from the Osage, Pawnee, Muscogee (Creek) and Absentee Shawnee. David said they do consignment and buyout items.
The Tulsa Route 66 Commission also noted in a Facebook post that Southwest Trading Company also received one of the city’s Route 66 neon-sign grants:
The business is at 1306 E. 11th St. (aka Route 66). Hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
The news of the opening of Southwest Trading Company comes about six years after the closing of Lyon’s Indian Store, which was a fixture in downtown Tulsa for a century. Lyon’s was the first Native American store many westbound Route 66 travelers encountered on Route 66.
(Images of Southwest Trading Company in Tulsa via its Facebook page)