Visitors to the U.S. National Museum of the American Indian recently had a chance to buy artwork made by some of the world’s finest Native American artists. The handmade objects included jewelry and clothing, as well as paintings and statues. They were offered to the public as part of a two-day Native Art Market at the museum’s headquarters, in Washington, D.C. One artist at the event was Porfirio Gutierrez. His ancestors belonged to the Zapotecs, an ancient group of people that lived in what is now southern Mexico. Gutierrez says he and his family create handwoven cloth by using the same methods as their ancestors. He describes the resulting textiles as “functional art,” influenced by the natural world. "These ways of making colors and making an authentic piece, it's disappearing. So I feel like I need to contribute into the preservation, and the only way to preserve it is to actually employ these old ways of making the arts."