Helen Hardin

Helen Hardin (May 28, 1943 – June 9, 1984) (Tewa name: Tsa-sah-wee-eh, which means "Little Standing Spruce") was a Native American painter. She started making and selling paintings, participated in University of Arizona's Southwest Indian Art Project, and was featured in Seventeen magazine, all before she was 18 years of age.

As her career matured and she gained confidence, Hardin became known for painting complex works that combined colorful images and symbols from her Native American heritage with modern abstract art techniques and geometric patterns. Her work frequently incorporated images of women, chiefs, Kachinas, and designs from pueblo pottery. Kachinas, or heavenly messengers, had special spiritual meaning, similar to the saints from her Catholic tradition, connecting between people on earth and heaven.

Hardin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1981 and died in New Mexico in 1984 at the age of 41.