Weaving in Beauty

The 2010 calendar is ready for your inspection!  By collaging the pictures in several of the months, I’ve included many more photographs than I’ve been able to show in previous versions, which is a darn good thing since I was only down to 78 pictures when I got done selecting the ones I wanted. The calendar is available immediately from lulu.com if you can’t wait, but I you can also pre-order directly from Weaving in Beauty.  Pre-ordered calendars will be shipped after October 15.

Many thanks go to the weavers, traders and students whose work and places of business are featured.   Weavers Lynda Teller Pete, Jennie Slick, Shirley Brown, Rose Dedman, Kathy Strathearn and the Spider Rock Girls (Emily and Alyssa Malone, Rose Yazzie and Lavera, Laramie and Lariisa Blake) are featured.  Work by Gloria Begay of Crownpoint, NM and Pauline Glasses of Pinon, AZ was photographed at Richardson Trading in Gallup, NM.  Multiple photographs were taken at Toadlena Trading Post.   The Ye’i rugs were photographed at auctions run by R.B. Burnham and Co. Thanks also to Two Grey Hills Trading Post for the beautiful background seen in Shirley Brown’s picture.

Sales of the calendar help to support the operating costs for the reporting and reference aspects of Weaving in Beauty.  I really love putting the calendar together, and although it’s difficult to select the pictures from the several thousand that I take each year, as I’m doing it I realize how very privileged I am to be a part of this community of hózhó dóó nizhóní (harmony and beauty).

A preview of the calendar appears below.  You can click on any picture for a more detailed view.

2010 Calendar Cover
January (Weavings by Gloria Begay/Richardson Trading, Gallup)	February (Lynda Teller Pete/Southwest Indian Fair)	March (Weavings by Kathy Strathearn)
April: (Weaving by Daisy Taugelchee and family/Toadlena Trading Post)	May (The Spider Rock Girls and Friends)	June (Ye'i Collage/R.B. Burnham and Co. Native Auctions)
July (The sheep of Navajoland)	August (Natural dyes with Rose Dedman and her family)	September (Shirley Brown with her handcarded, handspun rug/Two Grey Hills Trading Post)
October (Ye'i Bi Chei pictorial by Pauline Glasses/Richardson Trading)	November (A collage of pictures from the Toadlena Trading Post)	December (Jennie Slick at home with her loom)

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Lavera Blake's Double Diamond Burntwater is currently listed on Ebay.

Tempe, AZ The Spider Rock Girls are raising money for their back to school expenses and auctions and sales to traders are slow for them right now.  They have two items on Ebay at the moment.   Under normal circumstances, the only way to get one of their weavings is through competitive bidding or by being first in line when a rug is finished, but right now you have an opportunity to own their work at wholesale prices.   Lavera, age 25, is just completing work on a certification as a nursing assistant and will return to college  this semester to continue studies toward a business degree in addition to her weaving and work at a nursing facility.   She has completed a double diamond Burntwater rug (pictured at right) that is listed on Ebay for $1000.  The rug is 2.5′ x 4′ and is very tightly woven with Brown Sheep yarn.  Lavera is willing to consider offers at lower prices and she  accepts Paypal.   You can contact Lavera for more information on the rug or to make an offer.

Larissa Blake, 22, with her Spider Rock rug.

Lavera’s younger sister Larissa, 22,  has graduated from high school and is a full time weaver.  She is helping seven year old baby sister Alyssa with her back to school expenses.  Alyssa will be in second grade in Chinle Elementary school this year.  Larissa has woven one of her family’s signature Spider Rock rugs (see picture at left) and it is also currently listed on Ebay.  This rug is also 2.5′x4′ and is woven with Burnham’s Trading Post yarns in a multitude of vegetally dyed colors.

The pattern has been developed and refined by the girls since its inception about 10 years ago.  The story is that one summer, Lavera and her cousin Harriet Whitney were staying with their grandmother in Canyon de Chelly at the base of Spider Rock.  The girls wanted to learn to weave, and their grandmother, Rose Yazzie, was glad to set up looms for them.  She told the girls that they could have her leftover vegetally dyed yarns to use, but there wasn’t enough of any one color to do a pattern.  Since Rose told the girls that they could have all of the black yarn that they wanted, they hit on the idea of using the vegetal yarns in small bars for the background and using the black for the pattern.  When trader Bruce Burnham saw the results, he loved the visual impact and a pattern was born.  Harriet doesn’t weave the Spider Rock pattern much any more but Lavera, Larissa and younger sister Laramie are still doing them.

The Ebay price for Larissa’s Spider Rock rug is $800, but Larissa is also willing to consider offers at a lower price and does accept Paypal.  You can contact Larissa’s mother, Emily Malone,  if you are interested in the rug.

The girls will be adding more pictures of their work over at their web site, but I wanted to let you know about their Back to School Special as soon as possible!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Click on any picture for a closer view

From left, Nicole Horseherder, Edith Simonson, Kathy M'Closky, Lorraine Herder and Bonnie Benally-Yazzie at the Weaver's Day symposium.

Tempe, AZ As I planned to, I attended last Friday’s Dinéjík’éhgo ‘Atło (Weaver’s Day) at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rcok.  I thought that I’d probably write an article on the event over the weekend, but it took me a couple of extra days to distill the event, organize my thoughts and sort through the issues raised,  particularly at the symposium and in Bennie Klain’s documentary, Weaving Worlds (which is well worth your time to watch, by the way).

Jennie Slick (left) and her mother Anna Ashley visit with Isabel Deschinny (right)

The agenda focused on the economic difficulties that weavers face in marketing their work.   Today, by my count, there are fewer than 10 places that are actually on the Navajo Nation where a weaver can sell textiles.  The trading post system has been replaced by convenience markets that do not deal in craft items of any kind.  Weavers must look to traders in the “border towns” of Gallup, Farmington, Flagstaff, Cortez and Durango, try their luck with rug auctions like Crownpoint and Friends of Hubbell or travel to Phoenix, Albuquerque or even Denver.  Internet alternatives like Ebay or an individual web site can present daunting technical and linguistic challenges.  A very fortunate few weavers have developed channels to sell their work directly.

The concentration of weaving in towns like Gallup works to depress prices by aggregating the supply, and as trader Perry Null observes in Weaving Worlds “I just can’t buy every rug that comes in”.   Many would argue that traders don’t pay enough for what they do buy.   Further frustrating several of the weavers in the documentary and symposium is the under-appreciation of  handspun and handcarded work and grossly unfair competition from “knock off” copies of Navajo designs woven in other countries.

Gilbert Begay puts the finishing touches a strap for one of his elegant bags.

Since the event lasted only one day, there was scant time to totally define problems, let alone talk about solutions.  Several weavers in the audience discussed the possibility of forming an organization on the order of a weaving guild that could pursue the interests of the weavers and help bring the Navajo weaving community more into the mainstream of other professional handweavers.  Kathy M’Closkey, author of Swept Under the Rug,  noted differences in Canadian versus U.S. copyright laws that would help to protect indigenous designs from appropriation if adopted in this country.  TahNiiBaa Naataanii eloquently made the case for a return to the use of Navajo textiles by Navajo people, noting the cultural pride and appreciation that she receives when she wears the shoulder blanket that she wove on a cold morning at the Shiprock Fair.  I can only hope that TahNiiBaa’s words were heard and appreciated by the groups of young people who were in the audience.

From my point of view, Weaver’s Day represented a real step forward in establishing a format for naalyéhé (work that results in progress).  Char Kruger of the Navajo Nation Museum is looking into the possibility of doing the event annually, noting the need ” to educate our children, our people and visitors in how beautiful our Dine culture is….and how much people are hungry for culture”.   I support Char in this goal and in the goal of bringing the whole weaving community, weavers, collectors, educators, traders and students together to identify problems, work on solutions and to celebrate the richness of Navajo weaving.

From left, Colleen Biakeddy, D.Y. Begay, TahNiiBaa Naataanii and Berdina Charley at Weaver's Day

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

A medicine bag by Morris Muskett (photo courtesy of Morris Muskett)

Tempe, AZ Weaver/silversmitth/artist/engineer(!) Morris Muskett (who doesn’t ever seem to sleep) will be at the Wheelwright museum’s Case Trading Post August 20-23, during the upcoming Indian Market in Santa Fe.   Morris will be participating in a round table discussion on Thursday, August 20 and will be part of a group demonstration on Friday, August 21.  He’ll also be demonstrating at other times throughout the weekend.  Morris’ work is always evolving, so every time you see him, you’re find him working with new materials, new media  or trying a completely new genre.  The medicine bag above is an example of one of his newer pieces.

See Morris’ web site for more information.  Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tso (center) will be participating in this year's Adopt a Native Elder Rug Show in Park City, Utah. From left in this picture from 2007 are Barbara Spelman, Jennie Slick, Samuel, Judy Sutton and Code Talker Keith Little.

Tempe, AZ Adopt a Native Elder will hold their 20th Annual Rug Show in Park City , Utah on the weekend of November 6th through 8th, 2009, just in time for holiday shopping.   The show draws weavers and other artists from many parts of the Navajo Nation.  You’ll find rugs and other art work and you’ll be able to see demonstrations of weaving,  carding and spinning.  This year’s event will include a tribute to native veterans featuring Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tso.  The show is a rare opportunity to witness history and art that you’ll want to attend if you can.

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Weaver Gilbert Begay will be among the participants at Navajo Weaver's Day July 17, in Window Rock, AZ.

Window Rock, AZ The Navajo Nation Museum has designated Friday, July 17 as their first Dinéjík’éhgo ‘Atło (Navajo Weaver’s Day).  The event will feature vendors, weaving demonstrations, food, a symposium, and two screenings of  the 2007 documentary “Weaving Worlds” (at 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM).  “Weaving Worlds” director Bennie Klain and weaver Gilbert Begay are among the participants in a panel discussion following each showing of the film, which is about an hour in length.   Click here to see a trailer for the film.  

Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the ongoing “Generations” exhibit of Two Grey Hills weaving at the museum.   The event is free and is open to the public.  Make your plans to be there now; I’ve got my trip planned! 

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker