May
10th
2010
Rose Yazzie works with a traditional hip spindle during the Friends of Hubbell Native American Arts Auction
Window Rock, AZ All of the students from our May class have headed home and most of them are already there. I’m still in Window Rock to take care of a few errands and I’ll be heading back to the Phoenix area today. I’ll be writing about the class this week, but I wanted to say thank you to the students and to the many, many members of the Navajo Nation who dropped by to say hello while our class was in session.
Our class ended with a trip to the Friends of Hubbell Native American Arts Auction at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. It’s one of the largest Native American auction events in the country and is held twice a year (the next auction will be on September 18, 2010). Spider Rock Girl Rose Yazzie sat with our group and gave us a hip spindle demonstration as she watched the auction. I thought that Roses’s picture would be a good one to leave with you as I head home.
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
May
6th
2010
Yarn dyed with copper solution, sage, wild carrot, ground lichen, walnut hulls and rabbitbrush dries on the fence in Ft. Defiance.
Window Rock, AZ Today, Rose and Henry Lee Dedman helped us to dye some wool in the Navajo way, over an open fire. We collected ground lichen, sage and rabbitbrush on the Defiance Plateau and used walnut hulls and wild carrot that we had harvested last year and stored. One of the students brought a copper penny solution that dyes wool in the color of a light green copper patina. The most challenging plant to collect is the ground lichen, which grows in small clumps on the higher elevations of the reservation. Once you learn to recognize the plant, finding more is a thrilling hunt. It produces a beautiful burnt orange color that is quite beautiful and colorfast. We carefully took only as much as we needed, leaving more to propagate for the future.
The day turned out to be too windy for a post dye session barbeque, so we invited Henry and Rose to have lunch with us back at the Quality Inn in Window Rock. Since this is the first Thursday of the month, the menu featured the popular mutton buffet. Rose said that it was delicious!
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
May
5th
2010
Tour vehicles head into Canyon de Chelly.
Window Rock, AZ A very deep and welcome snow pack in the Chuska Mountains has led to historically high water in Canyon de Chelly, about 67 miles from Window Rock. The canyon was even closed to tours during late April, but the waters have receded enough in the last week or so to allow people to venture back in. There is still a lot of water and Thunderbird Lodge was using their large amphibious vehicles for most tours. There were also plenty of tour guides using standard SUV’s in the canyon, but the open top of the Thunderbird Lodge trucks makes for some great sightseeing. We returned to Window Rock through Tsaile and spied the guard llama below near the Snake Rocks north of Navajo, New Mexico. In Navajo, the llama is called tł’izi bida’i (the goat’s uncle).
A guard llama (tł’ixi bida’i) at the Snake Rocks near Navajo, NM.
Depending on the weather, we’ll either be heading for Gallup or doing some work with natural dyes tomorrow.
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
May
4th
2010
This 1920's vintage Ye'i is at the Toadlena Trading Post.
Window Rock, AZ Today we went to the Two Grey Hills area, about 70 miles northeast of Window Rock. We took a spectacularly beautiful route along Indian Route 12 and crossed Narbona Pass on New Mexico route 134, stopping to visit the abandoned Crystal Trading Post, where J.B. Moore helped to extend the market for Navajo textiles by pioneering the idea of selling Navajo textiles through a catalog. Moore’s catalogs, issued in 1903 and 1911, established styles that are still influential today.
As we came down the east side of Narbona Pass, we could see the San Juan Mountains and Sleeping Ute Mountain in Colorado and we had a view out into the Bisti Badlands that seemed to go on forever. Turning back toward the Chuska Mountains, we arrived at the Toadlena Trading Post and toured the weaving museum there with trader Mark Winter. Mark allowed us to examine a 120+ wefts per inch Daisy Taugelchee tapestry and I was drawn to the vintage bordered Ye’i weaving shown above. The figures reminded me of Yanapah Simpson’s work, but this weaving is from a period about 20 years after Yanapah’s career ended.
At the Two Grey Hills Trading Post, trader Les Wilson graciously allowed us free access to his rug room and we were really taken by the contemporary runner below by Rose Blueeyes. Rose’s design work is very original, using commercial wool. The traditional motifs take on a fresh and contemporary, almost electric look in Rose’s skilled hands.
Rose Blueeyes used commercial wool for this distinctive and exquisitely woven runner.
I need to close so that I’m up and ready to head for Canyon de Chelly in the morning. This week is really flying by.
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
May
3rd
2010
Virginia Burnham holds a Wide Ruins rug by Myrtle Francis. Behind her is a Germantown Revivial by Rose Yazzie.
Window Rock, AZ The snow is gone! Today, our class took a field trip to R.B. Burnham and Company Trading Post in Sanders, Arizona. Burnham’s features yarns that are custom-spun for Navajo weaving, and it is always a favorite stop for our classes. Virginia Burnham spent some time showing us some of the rugs currently in their gallery. Above you can see her holding a spectacular Wide Ruins rug by Myrtle Francis. The yarn in this rug is Brown Sheep sport weight yarn that is re-spun. Behind Virginia, you can see part of a Germantown Revival rug woven by Rose Yazzie.
We made the 60 mile trip back to Window Rock via Indian Route 12, which boasts some of the most photogenic scenery on the Navajo Nation. Below, you can see a picture of Teapot Rock. Tomorrow, we’re scheduled to try our hand at the dyepot. Let’s hope that it’s a good day to dye!
Teapot Rock is a sandstone formation the can be seen on Indian Route 12. It's about six miles north of Lupton, AZ.
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
May
2nd
2010
A snowy morning in May at the Quality Inn in Window Rock.
Window Rock, AZ Our May weaving class started off in a spring snow storm this morning. It was still snowing this evening, but the temperature is expected to rise tomorrow and we’re hoping for a return to more springlike weather. In the meantime, we had a chance to capture some out of season beauty with our cameras and we got our looms warped. Weather permitting, we’ll visit R.B. Burnham and Co. in Sanders tomorrow.
Spring snow at the Window Rock
Hagoshíí (so long for now)
Mary Walker
