Jamie Okuma (born 1977) is a Native American visual artist and fashion designer from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She is known for

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary ...

, mixed-media soft sculpture, and fashion design. She is

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

, Wailaki, Okinawan, and Shoshone-Bannock. She is also an enrolled member of the La Jolla band of Indians in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

where she is currently living and working.

Biography

Okuma was born in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

and lived the first years of her life in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where her mother, painter and bead artist Sandra Okuma (

/ Shoshone-Bannock), worked as a graphic designer for

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. When Okuma was five, her family moved to the La Jolla Indian Reservation in Pauma Valley, California. At this time, Okuma began learning beadwork, encouraged by her mother. As a child and teenager, Okuma beaded her own dance regalia for

powwows A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

and earned money sewing regalia for others. She also accompanied her mother to Native American art shows. After high school, she completed several graphic design classes at

Palomar College Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. Academics Palomar College off ...

in San Marcos, California, and went on to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

Artwork

Okuma's beaded dolls can include entire families or horses and riders, all with fully beaded regalia. The antique Venetian beads she uses can be as small as size 22°, about the size of a grain of salt. She eventually moved from doll clothing design and creation to high-end fashion. "I had been doing dolls, intensive bead work '' ic', and shows for 15 years and had reached my limit in those fields. I needed a change and fashion was something I had planned on doing initially before I had such success with my beadwork, so the combination of beadwork familiarity along with a need to be an aspiring fashionista brought me to where I am today with what I call contemporary native fashion."

Career

Okuma has won seven Best in Show awards, four from th
Heard Indian Market
in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, and three from the

Santa Fe Indian Market The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...

in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was also awarded a First Place distinction in the textiles category at the 2012 Heard Museum Indian Fair & Market. Her work has been shown in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and numerous art institutions throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. In 2020, her art was exhibited in the landmark exhibition ''Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists'' at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2023, Okuma was inducted into The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and she is the first Native American designer to receive this honor.

References

External links

Jamie Okuma official website

Jamie Okuma YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okuma, Jamie 1977 births Living people 21st-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American women Artists from Glendale, California American contemporary artists 21st-century American women artists Native American fashion designers Luiseño people Native American beadworkers American beadworkers Native American designers Native American women artists Shoshone people Women beadworkers American women fashion designers American fashion designers 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women 20th-century American women artists Textile artists from California