Weaving in Beauty

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Emily Malone isnt sure what Pam Root's next weaving move should be...	Emily moves in to help, but Pam's wondering what she was thinking then she signed up for this....	All's well that weaves well, and with Emily's help, Pam decision is looking very wise!

Tempe, AZ The day after our visit to HGA’s Convergence 2010 ended, Jennie Slick and I started a week long class in Window Rock.  What lunatic schedules these class marathons?  Me, that’s who.  It seemed to make sense last year when I put it on the calendar, and thanks to a great group of students, it turned out to be another wonderful week of weaving on the Navajo Nation.  Our students came from as far away as Australia for this session.  We had our share of beautiful rainy weather that we dodged pretty successfully by taking our field trips in the morning and watching the weather reports.  We even made it into Canyon de Chelly on the last day before the weather closed the tours there down for a couple of weeks.

The Spider Rock Girls came by for a visit and so did Gilbert Begay, Nathan Harry, Herman and Lula Brown,  and the wonderful and encouraging members of the Navajo community who came through the classroom with stories about the ways that weaving has been part of their lives and still is.  You can see the impromptu consultation that Spider Rock Girl Emily Malone did with class member Pam Root in the triptych of pictures above.   Pam finished that rug by the end of the week, too.   Of course, there may be some magic in the yarn that we get at R.B. Burnham and Co.!

We had a wonderful visit with Mark Winter and Linda Larouche at the Toadlena Trading Post and with Shirley Brown at Two Grey Hills.  By the time that we all said good-bye on Sunday, two weavings had been completed, multiple weavings had been purchased (along with no small amount of jewelry) and we were reveling in the spirit of a class that to the Navajo way of thinking will go on as long as there is anyone to remember it.  You can see our class picture below, and you can click here to view the full picture gallery of 38 pictures.

Our July, 2011 class. From row from left are Mary Walker, Pam Anderson, Patricia Whitney, Pam Root and Jennie Slick. Back row from left, Teri Taylor (and Rowdy), Paula Pavlovic, Ana Pavlovic, Bonnie Rangel and Linda Marie Golier

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Weaver Lillie Dugi at her loom (photo courtesy of Jim David)

Storm Pattern rug by Lillie Dugi.

Chinle weaving by Lillie Dugi

Jim is also helping Lillie to sell the banded Chinle patterned rug above.  Lillie dyed several of the colors with native plants.  She also handspun the gray wool that’s used in this rug, skillfully matching the size and twist with the commercial yarns used in the remainder of the rug.   The pattern is quite detailed for a Chinle design and is almost in the Crystal class of banded rugs.   The rug is 26″x52″  in size and Lillie has priced it at $650, but will consider serious offers.

Thank you for looking.

Lillie Dugi works at her loom at her home near Cameron, AZ

Laramie Blake wears a traditional biil dress and leggings for her graduation portrait. The dress is woven in two pieces and sewn together.

Tempe, AZ You can find Spider Rock Girl Laramie Blake’s graduation album on her page at the Spider Rock Girls web site.  There are 29 pictures in the album.

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Spider Rock Girl Laramie Blake will graduate from Chinle High School on May 22nd.

Chinle, AZ Spider Rock Girl Laramie Blake will be graduating from Chinle High School on May 22nd and I was honored to be asked to take her graduation pictures.  We spent about two hours at the Spider Rock overlook at Canyon de Chelly today, taking about 125 pictures that we browsed through over dinner at the Thunderbird Lodge cafeteria with Laramie’s mother, Emily Malone and her little sister Alyssa.  One of Laramie’s favorite portrait shots, above, appears with her permission, and more will be posted in the next couple of days at the Spider Rock Girls web site.    A second picture that we both like appears below.  Laramie is wearing a traditional bííl dress, a Zuni needlepoint squash blossom necklace, bracelets and earrings and traditional moccasins with deerskin leggings.  Laramie has paid her educational expenses with her weaving since she was in middle school.

Laramie plans to major in business at Diné College in Tsaile starting in the fall.

Laramie Blake, Chinle High School Class of 2010

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Roy Kady will exhibit his work at the University of Denver, April 2-22, 2010. (Photo courtesy of University of Denver)

Denver, CO Navajo master weaver Roy Kady will show his work from April 2nd -22nd in an exhibit titled Na’ashjé’ii Biką’ Biyiin (Chant of the Male Spider). Roy is co-curating the exhibit with Teresa Montoya (Diné), a graduate student in the University of Denver’s Department of Anthropology.  Set within the context of Navajo weaving, Roy will share his personal stories, experiences, creative inspirations and work in an environment where visitors are invited to touch, smell and participate in the experience of weaving.

Roy is a truly engaging and inspirational person to meet and is generous in sharing his culture and work.  In the past, he has been a key participant in the Diné bé Iiná (Sheep is Life) organization and he is now the chapter president in his home community of Teec Nos Pos, Arizona.  The chapter is the basic unit of Navajo tribal government and is roughly analogous to a hybrid of town and county, with each chapter a distinct legal unit with the right to form binding contracts.  As if being the chapter president and an active weaver weren’t enough, Roy also cares for his large flock of sheep and goats.  You can learn more about Roy and his family at his beautiful and informative web site, Dinewoven.com.

The exhibit opens on April 2nd at Sturm Hall on the University of Denver campus and runs through the 22nd of April.  The opening reception on April 2nd, from 5:30-8:00 PM, will feature a weaving demonstration with Roy, a discussion of the religious aspects of the weaving process by Anderson Hoskie, and a sampling of foods based on the traditional Navajo diet prepared by chef Freddie Bitsoie.  Foods will include Churro lamb, blue corn puree, butternut squash tarts and Navajo tea.

Click here for further details on the exhibit from our events calendar.

Roy is looking forward to seeing both new and old friends in Denver and is busy working to finish a Guardians weaving similar to the one that he’s holding in the picture below from last year’s Heard Museum Indian Market.

Roy Kady holds a Guardians weaving at the 2009 Heard Museum Indian Market.

Oh and one more thing!  Happy Birthday, Roy!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Marie H. Yazzie (left) and her daughter Marilyn demonstrate weaving and spinning at the Scottsdale ArtWalk

Scottsdale, AZ The busy Heard Museum Indian Market weekend kicked off on Thursday, March 4, with the weekly ArtWalk giving special attention to the many Native American artists and craftsman who were in the Phoenix area for this large annual event.  Both artists and attendees travel thousands of miles to be at the market, so I felt very fortunate that it’s near my home.

Mark Winter, the trader at  Toadlena Trading Post, in Toadlena, New Mexico, had even rented a storefront on Scottsdale’s Main St. for the weekend and I enjoyed chatting with weaver Marie H. Yazzie and her daughter Marilyn, pictured above.  Marie does not speak English conversationally, so I got to practice a bit of Diné bizaad (the Navajo language).  Marie said I did pretty well for a bilagáana (white person).  At least I think that’s what she said.  Marie weaves handspun Two Grey Hills designs and also does round Sandpainting pieces as you can see in the picture below.  The larger rug is a depiction of Mother Earth and Father Sky, which has always been one of my favorite sandpainting images.

Round weavings by Marie H. Yazzie among other Two Grey Hills style work

I asked Mark how he was doing on his much anticipated Master Weavers book, the culmination of over 20 years of work with Two Grey Hills weavers and he told me that he expected to have it done by summer and possibly by May, in time for the opening of an exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum.  I’ll certainly keep you posted on that.   Jackson Clarke II of the Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango, Colorado stopped by as Mark and I were talking and I got a nice picture of both of them, which you’ll see below.

Jackson Clarke (left) and Mark Winter (right)

I also stopped at the Old Territorial Shop and Turkey Mountain Traders during the evening, so we’ll stroll there next, but it might be Saturday or Sunday before we get there!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker