“O’odham heart, Yuman spirit.”
— Cher Thomas
Cher Thomas is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. She has family ties to the Keli Akimel O’odham of the Gila River Indian Community; the Kwapa of the Cocopah Tribe; the Yavapai of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation; the Xlychidom Piipaash of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Dine of the Navajo Nation.
A 4th generation craftswoman; Cher Thomas comes from a long line of traditional Indigenous seamstresses. Her great-grandmother, her grandmother, her aunt and mother have all been seamstresses, making traditional ceremonial clothing for the Indigenous Peoples across the American South-West. Cher learned how to sew from her mother 20 years ago and started her company, Cher Thomas Designs in 2012 during her Junior year of college at Arizona State University.
An accomplished designer, Cher’s work has been featured in Native Peoples Magazine, Melbourne Fashion Week, the Cooking Channel\Food Network, the Santa Fe Indian Art Market’s traditonal clothing contest, the Heard Museum Indian Art Market, and the Huhugam Heritage Center’s living artist solo exhibit hall.
Cher currently lives on the Gila River reservation. Her home nests in the valley between Muldagi Do’ak (The South Mountains) and the Estrella Mountains in Komatke near Laveen, Arizona.