Navajo Weaving and Holistic Well-Being: The Youth Get It!

Johnnie Bia, Jr.

Diné College Psychology BA Intern, Office of Miss Navajo Nation
Blog #6: Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Series

Hi everyone! It’s Johnnie, again! I hope you are not getting annoyed with me yet because there are still 2 more blogs coming your way from me. This week I decided to take a look at weaving and how this hallmark of the Navajo cultural arts connects to our Diné holistic well-being. Because I am not a weaver, I turned to Sharonna Rae Yazzie, originally from Lukachukai, AZ.

Sharonna is Coyote Pass clan, born for the Mexican People clan, her maternal grandmother is Bitter Water clan, and paternal grandmother is of the Red Bottom People clan. She is originally from Lukachukai, AZ. She is 24 years young. She recently received a Business Administration BA from Diné College. She is the Office Manager the Diné College Office of Institutional Planning and Research. Both of Sharonna's grandmothers weave and she feels extremely fortunate to be the only  grandchild who can weave on both sides her family. Her paternal grandmother weaves the Yeii bi Cheii’s designs and had to have a ceremony that would give her permission to weave this sacred pattern. As for her maternal grandmother, she weaves two-faced rugs. Those rugs have one image on the font and another image on the back.

​For the physical and material aspects of weaving, the basic material that is used for weaving is  wool - used for the warp, the edge cords and the woven designs. A weaving comb is used to push the wool together and which also keeps the rug from becoming loose along with other tools such as the is the batten and the heddle. Ephraim Anderson's previous blog "Its a Clan Thing" provides a great outline of how these wooden tools are created as he learned from Mark Deshchinny in a NCAP workshop. Heddles arithmetically divide the warp to create the designs. Some are heddle counts are more complex than others. For example, the NCAP weaving cohort uses 4 heddles to create their saddle blanket patterns, also known as  ii'ii mas.

I asked Sharonna about some of the physical activities outside of weaving that directly enhances her cultural arts work. She shared that sleep, good posture, and home tidiness are most important. Sitting to long makes a person slouch when their progressing upward with my rug and it ruins a person’s posture so it would be nice to have some chair or cushion that will help them on their posture. Economically, Sharonna  does not sell her rugs but there are many individuals who do sell their creations. When other artists sell their rugs, the money is used to purchase more tools or to help the person get by with life. Within the Navajo Nation there are those who make weaving as a career because it is the only income that they receive. The NCAP cohort watched a documentary called "Weaving Worlds" to explore the complexities of Western and Traditional concepts and practices of selling rugs.

In the emotional, social, and relational aspects of weaving, Sharonna explained that she expresses her feelings through her art work with the colors and the designs that are placed within the rug. She also stated that her emotional health impacts the quality of her work because not only are you weaving for yourself but also weaving for your future, wellness, and health. Weaving helps her to maintain healthy relationships because when she weaves it does not make her think about the negative things that are going on in life. It brings she closer to her family, knowing how much they really mean to her and to what life means.

Sharonna also talked about how making cultural arts products contributes to her mental stimulation. She envisions the rug before it takes shape and that planning helps to guide her wool. But that doesn't mean that the rug will turn out like her original plan. Many of her creations would just come to her or they would be changing and making their own image until completion. So she learned to be flexible and listen to the design. Two positive things that can enhance both mental and cultural arts well-being are 1) knowing how to manage your time and 2) getting information and strategies about weaving before your start. So deadlines and strategic planning are necessary especially as she does plan on making her own dresses and blankets designs in the future. In the meantime, she has plans to improving her one sided rugs and exploring ways on how to get two different pictorial images on a double sided rug. These tests keep her mind constantly moving,  anticipating problems, and strategizing how to overcome those problems.

Spiritually, weaving makes Sharonna feel like she is not only creating the project on her own but also getting help with our ancestors who have been weaving all their lives. Additionally, weaving reflects her life - what she is capable of doing, what she believes in, and where she sees herself in the future - all of these pieces of her go into her rugs. The colors that she uses are

solid colors but there is always that one color that she picks to stand out more than others, and her designs are steps with images which tells a story of her life when she would start from bottom. She takes time for prayer, fasting, meditation, and enjoyment of her creation processes. There are certain songs that are used for weaving when starting and as you are weaving. For Sharonna, she only know two songs. When she sings and weaves, her rug grows faster and it is straight with no mistakes. Upon completion she thanks the creator and her grandparents on what they taught her, and also for helping her on getting the rug done and not having her lose herself in the process. She knows some stories about rug weaving, to her understanding there are so many stories that apply to the rug and its process from making the wool and taking the rug down. The positive activities she does to nurture her spiritual life and cultural arts practices are following what she believes in without thinking about it failing, or without having anything get in the way of her ethical values. 

In conclusion,  weaving has been in our history through Traditional prayers, songs, and stories. It goes along with our way of life through the sheep we have, how we take care of our sheep, and how we use the wool off the sheep. It teaches us how to make our Navajo people be creative in their own way, incorporating spiritual aspects.  Our hope is that Navajo Rug Weaving will continue to flourish among our Navajo people as we continue to move forward in today’s generation.

NCAP Exhibit Pieces Ready for Staging!

If you have time April 13-20, stop by the NHC Museum at Diné College to check out the variety of weavings created by our NCAP Emerging Artisans for our 2018 Navajo Cultural Arts Exhibit. We will have 25 pieces of textile, silverwork, basketry, and leatherwork on display - all vying for best of show. Don't forget to vote for your favorite exhibit entry - winner will be selected as the "Community Choice Award"!!!!