In 1977, we (Susan and William Waites) discovered Australian Aboriginal Art while living in Adelaide Australia. We began to collect it in 1978.
In 1979 we returned to the United States via Africa. In Africa, we discovered African Tribal art and sensed a connection with Australian Aboriginal art. “Same Beat, Diferent Drum” was how we characterized it.
Shortly after resettling in the US, we travelled to the Southwest, where we discovered Native American Art. Amazingly, we had lived most of our lives here but were oblivious to the richness of the culture in Native America and the Arctic.
In 1990, William gave up his Big Time advertising agency career and combined with Susan to open a physical gallery, Aboriginals: Art of the First Person on Florida’s Sanibel Island. We operated that gallery for 16 years, during which we transitioned our business to online, finally closing the physical gallery in 2006 and continuing to offer top quality indigenous art and artifacts exclusively on the internet at TribalWorks and other websites. We are constantly trying new approaches to this fascinating field, of which this is the latest.
