Supporting Indigenous artists and artisans is essential to confronting the still pervasive issue of cultural appropriation in design.įind a collection of Native American living room furniture, folk art, rugs and carpets, decorative objects and other items on 1stDibs. There are now Indigenous-led companies, such as Cherokee designer Cray Bauxmont-Flynn’s Amatoya and Totem House Design, promoting Indigenous work in furniture and home decor. When decorating a home with Native American–style furniture, it is important to do so respectfully, by understanding the origins of motifs and objects and examining who profits from their sale. Many styles that used Native American motifs - such as Southwestern style, which was heavily influenced by the geometric patterns of Navajo textiles - have historically not involved Indigenous creators and, instead, have taken their traditions without their tribal context. The colonization of North America and the removal of Indigenous people from their lands led to the suppression of these practices.

Although these objects were intricately made, they were usually utilitarian rather than decorative. Artisans in the Plateau region wove watertight pieces like cradles from plant materials. Generations of Native American people have made baskets for holding household items, with those in the Northeast using sweetgrass and those in the Southeast using pine needles and wicker. Indigenous furniture’s rich heritage includes the bentwood boxes of the Northwest Coast carved from cedar for storing household or ceremonial objects. Native American–style furniture and decor likewise varies widely, from pieces created by Indigenous people to those appropriated by non-native designers. Native American broadly describes any Indigenous people in North America and encompasses hundreds of tribes and groups, all with distinct cultures.

Navajo pictorial rugs