Weaving in Beauty

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

Bll Malone opens the door of the Hubbell home for the group

Ganado, AZ The final event of this year’s Traders and Their Neighbors gathering organized by the Navajo Nation Museum was a tour of the Hubbell home at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic site.   The home is behind the trading post and has been kept as much as possible the way it was when Dorothy Smith Hubbell left it in 1967.  The home is built in the style of a Hispanic hacienda with five bedrooms surrounding a great room in the main house.  A kitchen and dining area were added after the main home had been built and are separated from it by a small courtyard to help reduce the hazard of kitchen fires.  Dozens of people ate their meals at the home on a daily basis, and I often think that if J.L. Hubbell were to come back to the place today, he would wonder why things were so quiet and where everybody was.  You can see a plan of the home below.  The drawing is part of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site: An Administrative History, published in 1993 by Albert and Ann Manchester.  The entire text of the publication is available online.

Although I’ve been to the Hubbell home many times, this visit was special because traders Bill Malone and Steve Getzwiller and former historic site superintendent Tom Vaughn were part of the group.  Tom was the superintendent of the site during some of the formative years of National Park Service management,  from 1974 to 1978.  He was able to provide insights into the philosophy behind keeping the home as the last resident left it and into the daily operation of the site.  Tom told us that there were some people involved who wanted to return the home to it’s 1910 appearance, reasoning that this was the heyday of the home as J.L. Hubbell knew it.   I think it’s fortunate that the decision was made to leave the home in a state that reflects the organic nature of the building process versus a peek into a point in time.

Former site superintendent Tom Vaughn (left) tells Bill Maline (center) and Steve Getzwiller (right) some of this experiences at Hubbell

Hagoshíí (so long for n0w)
Mary Walker

A Klagetoh Red Storm Pattern Variant by 21 year old weaver Calvin Toney

Window Rock, AZ Our class got started with their weaving today and we took some time out this afternoon to take a trip to Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, which is about 28 miles west of here in Ganado, Arizona.  The site was sold to the National Park Service by Dorothy Smith Hubbell in 1967 and serves as a living record of the work started here by J.L. Hubbell in 1876.   Current trader Steve Pickle is encouraging weavers to develop their own distinctive design styles and was excited to show us the latest piece that he’s purchased from 21 year old weaver Calvin Toney.   Calvin’s design is done in a Klagetoh Red color scheme, which uses a gray background with red design elements.  The composition is a variation on the Storm Pattern layout using stylized whirling logs and incorporating Spiderwoman crosses.  The rug is 48″x77″ and is priced at $3500 or a little over $136 a square foot.  I’m guessing that Calvin’s work won’t stay at this price point.  I’m going to try to arrange a Meet the Weaver interview with Calvin for an upcoming post.

Ranger Tina Lowe treated us to a tour of the Hubbell home, talking about the Hubbell family and the enormous collection of art at the site.  In his lifetime, J.L. Hubbell hosted many noted artists such as E. A Burbank and Maynard Dixon.  Some of the artists stayed for years.  In exchange, Hubbell requested art in lieu of any cash payment.   Every time I visit the home, I silently thank Dorothy and Roman Hubbell for their generosity and foresight in arranging for the Park Service to preserve and continue this special place.

Tomorrow, we’re headed to Sanders, AZ for a visit with the Burnham family at R.B. Burnham and Co. Trading Post.

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Karen Mittleider bought Larissa Blake's Spider Rock rug at the Friends of Hubbell Native American Art Auction on the second day of our class.

Window Rock, AZ Our spring weaving class and tour is off to a great start.  We went to the Crownpoint Rug Auction on the first evening and we spend the next day at the Friends of Hubbell Native American Arts auction in Ganado.  We came back to Window Rock with several rugs (including the stunning Spider Rock rug that you see above) and other treasures after a full day at the auction.   After seeing well over 400 rugs, our class started their own warps in Window Rock yesterday morning.  You can see Deb Fjetland with her completed warp bundle below.  Deb is a first time weaver, so she on a real adventure.

Deb Fjetland holds her completed warp bundle

Today, we visited R.B. Burnham and Company to stock up on their yarns, which are custom spun for Navajo weaving and to visit with traders Bruce and Virginia Burnham and their daughter Sheri, who is in the process of becoming a fifth generation trader.  After our stop at Burnham’s, we went to class instructor Jennie Slick’s home where she demonstrated weaving for us.  She is completing a 3′x5′ Burntwater patterned rug that was commissioned by one of her clients.  You can see her below with Mary Mathiowetz, who is one of the eight students participating in the class.

Mary Mathiowetz watches Jennie demonstrate weaving techniques

It’s getting late, so I’ll write more tomorrow and post some pictures of the pieces that the students are working on.

Hagoshíí (so long for now)

Mary Walker

Window Rock, AZ Two more of our first October class session students finished their rugs yesterday and our new class completed their loom warping and then went on a field trip to examine the rug styles (and jewelry) at Richardson’s Trading and Perry Null’s Tobe Turpen Trading Post.

First, have a look at the fabulous finished rugs!  Rosemary Morrill, below, completed a difficult outlined diagonal figure and did a great job with it.

Rosemary Morrill shows off her newly finished rug!

Nance Howsman also finished her rug, a great achievement for a first time weaver.  You can see Nance and her new rug posing with Jennie Slick below.

Nance Howsman (left) and Jennie show off Nance's newly finished rug.

Our group also enjoyed shopping in Gallup yesterday afternoon and you can see us at Perry Null’s below.

From left, Cindy Henry, Lissa Ward, Mary Walker, Diana Frawley, Ellen Nelsen and Debi Ward

Today, we were at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site where we enjoyed the rug room and trading post.  We visited with Geno Bahe, Maralyn Yazzie and Tina Lowe.  Tina did a wonderful tour of the Hubbell home for us.  That’s her below with Debi Ward at the conclusion of the tour.

Tina Lowe (left) discusses Hubbell Trading Post history with Debi Ward.

Finally, I hope you’ll enjoy seeing a Pauline Glasses Nightway Pictorial rug that we saw Saturday at Richardson’s Trading Post in Gallup.  The Yei Bi Chei dance season is fully underway here on the Navajo Nation at this time of year.

Nightway Pictorial by Pauline Glasses, courtesy of Richardson Trading Company, Gallup, NM

Mary Walker

Today, we made a morning visit to St. Michael’s Mission, about three miles from our class site.  The gardens there are at their height and they have a small museum that details the activities of the Franciscans in the development of the Navajo census and in documenting the Navajo language.  The prayer chapel on the grounds is built in the model of a hogan and we spent some time there dicussing the hogan and the points of the Navajo compass as defined by the four sacred mountains.

The gardens at St. Michael's Mission in St. Michael's, AZ.

Quite a few of this class’s participants had never visited Hubbell Trading Post or hadn’t been there for quite some time.  For me, it is always wonderful to stand in the house and revisit the art treasures and woven wonders amassed by Juan Lorenzo Hubbell and his family.  After the home tour, we visited the rug room and saw several new acquisitions.  Outstanding were rugs done by young male weavers and a new Eyedazzler by Verna Smith.  Below is a piece by Eddie Bonnie, a finely woven Chief Blanket variation, held by class participant Arlene Anderson.

Moqui Revival rug by Eddie Bonnie (shown courtesy of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site)

Back in Window Rock, we stopped for lunch at my favorite swap meet food stand, Scott’s, for lunch featuring frybread dishes.  Rejecting mundane frybread toppings, Diane Woods chose mustard, and I can prove it (see picture below).

b

Do you want mustard with that frybread?

The rest of our day was spent weaving and talking with visitors to the classroom.  The class participants’ rugs are proceeding very well, and one student was observed heading off for some pre-bedtime weaving with his loom and an Ott Light.  We’re up at 6 AM for a trip to Canyon de Chelly, so I’ll leave you with a picture of Marsha Herr’s weaving.  It’s inspired by the Spider Rock pattern developed by Harriet Whitney and Lavera Blake of the Spider Rock Girls.

Marsha Herr's piece is done in a combination of handspun and commerical yarns with many of her colors dyed on Sunday, August 17