Pop Chalee
| Pop Chalee | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Merina Lujan March 20, 1906 Castle Gate, Utah |
| Died | December 11, 1993 (aged 87) Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Dorothy Dunn |
| Alma mater | Santa Fe Indian School |
| Known for | Painting |
| Awards | Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, 1990 |
Pop Chalee, also known as Merina Lujan (March 20, 1906 – December 11, 1993), was an American painter, muralist, performer, and singer.
Pop Chalee was born Merina Lujan on March 20, 1906 in Castle Gate, Utah. Her father, Joseph Cruz Lujan was from Taos and her mother Merea Margherete Luenberger, was predominantly Swiss. Pop Chalee, which means "blue flower", is a Tiwa name given to her by her Taos grandmother soon after birth. In the year that Chalee was born, US President Theodore Roosevelt seized most of Taos Pueblo lands including Blue Lake, which played a vital role in Native American sacred beliefs.
Chalee's early life was fairly chaotic and her living situation changed many times over the years. Early in Chalee's life the Lujan family broke up and moved away from Utah. Chalee was placed in the care of her father's much older half-brother, Santiago Espinoza, who lived at Taos pueblo. Although she was not living with her sisters, they remained close as they were living near each other on the pueblo. After the first summer in Taos, Chalee's father sent the children to the U.S. Indian School in Santa Fe. As a young teenager, Chalee was on the move again to return to Salt Lake City, Utah.
On the journey back to Utah, she realized that she could not remember what her mother looked like. When they arrived at the station their mother never arrived to get them. After seeking out the help of a family friend they finally found their mother's home, but were met with an unwelcome greeting. Chalee recalls their mother turning them away and calling them "little black devils". "And boy, that cooled me out for my whole life. It did. It just cooled me ... that devil business and her not coming down to pick us up were terrible. It took something out of me. And I never could get the feeling I should have had towards her."
Despite the cold welcome, Chalee would live at her mother’s house where she got her first job to contribute to the household. Chalee's mother was a strict Mormon and was a tough disciplinarian. She was also independent, physically strong and mechanically minded. One trait in particular had an influence on Chalee: her mother's love of animals, especially Pekinese and chow dogs. This influence is captured in one of Chalee’s private paintings called Pekinese Dog, a realistic portrayal.
At age 16, Chalee could no longer tolerate the authoritarian and oppressive environment of her mother's house and ran away. She married Otis Fred Hopkins, an Anglo craftsman of wood and metal. As she was starting her married life, international interest was growing for Native American art, which was defined more as the subject of Native Americans and not made by Native Americans. While Native American art shows were traveling around the county, Chalee gave birth to her first son at 18 years old; Jack Cruz (also named Kun Funa or Black Buffalo). Less than two years later, her daughter Betty (named Pop Pina or Red Flower) was born.
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