In an improbable display of luck and talent, a first-time participant in the Santa Fe Indian Market emerged from a crowded field of artists Friday to win the Best of Show award for a life-sized bison sculpture crafted from felt, foam and reclaimed Arkansas River driftwood.

Regina Free, a Chickasaw Nation artist who lives in northern Oklahoma, said she built the sculpture in a fit of artistic productivity that sometimes lasted from 4 a.m. to midnight.

The long hours paid off when the sculpture, titled Windswept, captured the top honor at the Best of Show Ceremony in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center to kick off this weekend’s 103rd Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest Native art market in the world.

Stunned, she wept as she embraced her family.

“I understand what they live in —

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