Weaving in Beauty the Navajo Way Gary Parks

Weaving in Beauty the Navajo Way

By Gary Parks

It was a weeklong immersion into Navajo weaving held in Window Rock, Arizona, taught by three master weavers: Gloria Begay, Jeannie Slick, and Mary Walker of Weaving in Beauty.

Included was an excursion to Mary’s shop and studio in Gallup, New Mexico. She inspired us with the history of the many Navajo rugs she displayed on her walls. We also visited several historic trading posts and Canyon de Chelly.

Arriving in Window Rock, we witnessed a cannonade of thunder that echoed through the scattered Hogans and junipers across the valley. This dramatic arrival felt like a foreshadowing of the coming workshop. Our first night, we fell asleep listening to the rain drumming on the roof and the wind chanting through the cottonwood trees.

The next morning, the students and instructors gathered in a circle. We took turns holding the Talking Rug. It was an opportunity for introductions and sharing our wide range of weaving experiences. The workshop was open to locals and weavers abroad. Each described their own sense of a magnetic draw that brought them here.

Soon we were warping our traditional Navajo looms under the watchful eyes of our instructors. As we quietly began to weave, we heard in the distant background the recorded music of the Navajo flute player. It created an atmosphere of the primeval past that set the tone for delving deeply into the spirit of weaving. As we wove, our instructors spoke of the Spirit of the weaver being a part of the weaving. They

say the warp is male and the weft is female. Their skills were passed down for many generations.

Because the Spirit of the weaver enters the weaving, I was advised to create a spirit line so that when I was done my spirit could leave to start another weaving. It is a simple line of yarn of another color that runs from the center to outside the selvage.

Ken Begay, Gloria’s husband, appeared in class each day. He brought weaving tools and looms he had made, offering them for sale. He was also a humorous, traditional storyteller.

As we continued to weave, the rain outside pelted the windows. Ken in a soft melodic voice with Athabasca inflections said, “It is a female storm. It is only rain.” Soon the lightening and thunder began. Ken said, “It is now a male storm. The lightening and thunder make it so.” With the onset of the male storm, Gloria said, “According to our custom it is time to stop weaving and cover our looms. It is tradition.”

We visited the historic Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado. It provided more inspiration through immersion. I left the intense Ganado, Arizona sun outside as I stepped into the coolness created by the adobe walls. I immediately smelled the aroma of brewing Navajo tea and was offered a sample. It had a delicious herbal flavor. There was also the scent of leather saddlery and the desert after a rain on rabbit brush and sage. The walls and tables offered vintage Navajo rugs to examine. The vigas in the ceiling were covered with woven baskets. The glass cabinets were filled with Kachinas, pottery, and silver and turquoise jewelry.

The highlight of our immersion was Canyon de Chelly. We began a buckboard-bouncing ride in a four-wheel drive truck driven by our Navajo guide who also dwells in the Canyon. She made several stops to point out thousand-year-old Puebloan cliff dwellings and five-thousand-year-old petroglyphs high on the Canyon walls.

She told us the tranquil river we experienced that day seldom appears. As we drove between shear Canyon walls 800 feet high, we had to cross the river several times. The ephemeral river, under a blazing sun, would soon disappear again back into the red sand until the next monsoon.

At weeks end, as we prepared to adjourn, we each reflected on the total Navajo weaver and the impact the immersion made. A holistic picture emerged. It begins with years of raising Churro sheep, the shearing, cleaning, carding, and spinning of the wool. The weaving, itself, is the culmination of a long spiritual journey. It is where a pattern is uncovered that is already there. Because they are reverently and spiritually created, this is how the Navajo transform natural resources into their amazing weavings. During this workshop, I also discovered patterns that revealed themselves to me as I wove. The patterns in the local geology, landscape, and dramatic weather were the inspirations for all of us.

The Weaving in Beauty workshop with their master weavers has moved to Gallup, New Mexico. They still offer six week-long workshops with several excursions. There are three to five boot camps per year (tune-up classes) available in Mesa, Arizona, Gallup, New Mexico, and Lake Tahoe, Nevada. For more information, contact Mary Walker at 233 W. Coal Ave. Gallup, New Mexico 87301. Or visit their website at www.weavinginbeauty.com.