Aaron Scheche ( ? - 2002) and Thelma Scheche

Thelma Scheche is the daughter of Theodore Kucate, who was one of the earliest commercial fetish carvers at Zuni. Kucate based his fetishes on those published in anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing's 1883 United States Bureau of Ethnology Report, Zuni Fetiches. His descendants have continued to carve in this traditional style.

Many of Aaron and Thelma's children and grandchildren have distinguished themselves as carvers. Daughter Lorandina Scheche and granddaughters Marnella Kucate and Trilisha Kucate are among the best known.

Aaron and Thelma Scheche (Zuni)
Turtle Fetish
Banded serpentine
c. 1975
3/4" x 2-3/8"
KMA 2006.21.01		  
Links:
http://www.sedonawolf.com/Fetish/ThelmaS/ATS.htm
http://www.quicksilver-gallery.com/htm/zuni_Sheche-Lorandina.htm

Sources:
McManis, Kent. A Guide to Zuni Fetishes and Carvings. Tucson, Ariz.: Treasure Chest Books, 1995, p. 17, 18, 41.
McManis, Kent. Zuni Fetish Carvers of the 1970s: A Bridge from Past to Present. Santa Fe: Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 2006, p. 32-34.
McManis, Kent. A Guide to Zuni Fetishes and Carvings, Volume II: The Materials & the Carvers. Tucson: Treasure Chest Books, 1998, p. 21, 22.
McManis, Kent. Zuni Fetishes & Carvings, one-volume, expanded edition. Tucson: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2004, p. 20, 21, 54, 55, 87, 88.
Rodee, Marion and James Ostler. The Fetish Carvers of Zuni. Albequerque, NM: The
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 1990, p. 52-53.