Archive for May 2010
Heading Home
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…
Read MoreThe Dye Plants of Spring
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…
Read MoreHigh Water at 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…
Read MoreThe Natural Color Palette at Toadlena and Two Grey Hills
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…
Read MoreI’m Sure We Need Some Yarn…..Let’s Go to Burnham’s
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…
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