Indian Hat Company

Master hatter to offer new line

By Jack McNeelNate Funmaker is a master hatter noted for his high–quality hats, each handmade, designed and constructed with a particular buyer in mind. His business is Nathaniel’s Hat Shop.

It’s a passion with him, something he’s devoted the past 16 years doing. He loves making hats, but realizes there is a limit to what he can do and what he can earn. “Everything I sell now, I have to touch. That’s fine, I don’t mind, but I’ll always just make wages doing that.”

With that in mind, he’s going to start producing a lower-priced line. The hats will be made under the name Indian Hat Company.And:Funmaker now lives 40 miles from the Four Corners Monument near the base of Mesa Verde National Park. The park draws about 750,000 people each summer, and he gets a decent percentage of them. “People see this tiny shop and see the name Nathaniel’s; it’s funny how many walk in and comment, ‘I thought I was going to meet an old Jewish guy.’ No, I’m Native American and I make hats.”

He was born in Wisconsin, but his parents moved when he was five. His parents were both Winnebago, his mother from Wisconsin and his father from Nebraska.