With a snip of the scissors Tuesday, tribal leaders and others cut a ceremonial red ribbon and kicked off the first (official) Indian Arts and Culture Week leading up to Santa Fe Indian Market.

Until the passage of the memorial earlier this year, the third full week in August that leads up to Indian Market unofficially celebrated Native arts and culture for the past 88 years. Now there is an official state memorial recognizing the event, the week, and most of all, the 1,100 artists whose work draws tens of thousands of people to Santa Fe each August. The memorial was sponsored by state Sen. John Pinto.

Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Executive Director Bruce Bernstein welcomed a packed house at Hotel Santa Fe to celebrate the accomplishments of artists who participate in the "one and only, the singular, the largest, the best" Indian market in the world. He pointed out, too, that in addition to the estimated $81.47 million in revenue visitors spend during market week, that buyers spend another $18 million on the art itself.

That money stays in New Mexico because so many market artists — some 47 percent — live in the Santa Fe area. "Because we are one of the largest local employers, that money stays right here," he said.

The economic engine of market is needed now more than ever, said Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Wurzburger. With spending down in Santa Fe and cuts expected in city government, "we really need this market in ways we have never needed it before."

Other leaders — Deputy Tourism Secretary Jen Hobson, Indian Affairs Secretary Alvin Warren and Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. George Rivera, Acoma Pueblo Gov. Chandler Sanchez, Zuni Lt. Gov. Max Zuni and former Santa Clara Lt. Gov. Frances Tafoya — spoke about the connections forged at market.

"When you purchase an item from a Native American, it's the heart they put into it," Zuni said. "It lasts for years and years and years."

Rivera said the memorial is important because, "it brings more acknowledgment to the creative process and to Native culture that has been the face of New Mexico."

The week, all agreed, is the foundation to build an even stronger Indian Market in the years and decades to come. New this year: the first-ever literary event on tonight, a discussion of cutting-edge trends in art helped by the Eitlejorg Museum fellowships on Thursday afternoon and a skateboard event for young people on Saturday.