My shopping cart
Your cart is currently empty.
Continue Shopping
Meet The 2026 Inspired Natives® Emerging Artist Award Winners
As part of our Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebration, we are honored to announce the three winners of our recent 2026 Inspired Natives® Emerging Artist Award contest! We had nearly 150 submissions from Native artists all across the country, specializing in a wide variety of mediums and styles.
Formerly called “Eighth Generation’s Inspired Natives® Wool Blanket Design Contest,” this emerging artist award program began in 2017 as a way to work with as many Indigenous artists as possible. This contest both symbolizes our respect for Indigenous artists and ensures that we help new and emerging artists prosper in a global marketplace.
These new textile pieces will add to the brand’s list of over 100 blankets and textiles designed by authentic Native artists—and will be a vital part of Eighth Generation's movement and mission to support Inspired Natives®, not "Native-inspired."
This contest was judged by a cohort of Eighth Generation's Inspired Natives® Artist partners—including Bethany Fackrell (Snoqualmie), Giizh Agaton Howes (Anishinaabe-Ojibwe), Michelle Lowden (Acoma Pueblo), and John Isaiah Pepion (Piikani/Blackfeet).
Grand Prize: Autry Lomahongva (Hopi), Kayenta, AZ
Autry Lomahongva (low- ma - hung - va’) is both a Hopi and Navajo (Diné) artist, whose work is mainly focused on depicting Hopi and Navajo (Diné) designs. “I create all of my artwork using only pen & paper, I have no need for the aide of digital help”. With each piece I strive to make them as complex and beautiful as possible. Just like the Hopi and Navajo (Diné) ancestors did in their artworks," Autry says.
As our Grand Prize winner, Autry will receive $15,000 USD and an opportunity to have his winning design featured on a wool blanket to be sold by Eighth Generation.
Second Prize: Brittney Walley (Hassanamisco, Nipmuc), Medway, MA
.
Brittney Peauwe Wunnepog Walley is a Nipmuc artist and historian whose work brings together traditional weaving, Indigenous history, and community-centered cultural revitalization. Her work is featured in Chemacheg Menuhki: Paddle Strong, a permanent installation she co-curated at the Concord Museum, and has been exhibited at museums across New England and beyond. She serves as a Project Assistant at the Institute for New England Native American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston and holds an M.S. in Critical Ethnic and Community Studies, with a certificate in historical archaeology.
As our Second Prize winner, Brittney will receive $10,000 USD and an opportunity to have her winning design featured on a to be determined textile product to be sold by Eighth Generation.
.
Third Prize: Lexis Jacobs (Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe), Hogansburg, NY
Lexis Jacobs is an award winning multidisciplinary artist and illustrator from the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Akwesasne. She is known for her realistic charcoal drawings and her coloring book series “Kwá:ri and Friends” inspired my native culture and traditions.
As our Third Prize winner, Lexis will receive $5,000 USD and an opportunity to have her winning design featured on a to be determined textile product to be sold by Eighth Generation.