Friday, March 29, 2024

‘They’re not in Chicago anymore’

‘They’re not in Chicago anymore’

Students experience Navajo culture through weaving

Navajo Times |Ravonelle Yazzie Jennie Slick of Sanders, Ariz., weaves a train on her loom during the Weaving in Beauty class on June 10 in Window Rock. Slick mentioned that her mother taught her how to weave.

Navajo Times |Ravonelle Yazzie
Jennie Slick of Sanders, Ariz., weaves a train on her loom during the Weaving in Beauty class on June 10 in Window Rock. Slick mentioned that her mother taught her how to weave.

WINDOW ROCK

The sound of weaving combs tapping down patterns on looms designed by local artists punctuated conversation and advice between weavers.

From all over the United States Native and non-Native students gathered at the Quality Inn Navajo Nation Capital in Window Rock for the Weaving in Beauty Class from June 5 through June 12. The class is sponsored by Weaving in Beauty LLC, a Tempe, Ariz., company owned by Mary Walker, specializing in Navajo rug cleaning, appraisals and repair.

Looms filled the tables in the hotel’s Coral Room on June 9, when the Navajo Times visited the class. Classes took place in the room for 13 hours during the day, and Walker, 66, said the hotel allowed students to leave their work set up on the looms overnight throughout the week.

“We just more or less take that room over,” Walker said.

The event has gone on for 17 years and brings students together with a focus on experiencing Navajo culture through weaving and day excursions on the Navajo Nation.

“The idea is to get people out of the main culture and get them into Window Rock for a week, so that they can see how things are done if you’re on the reservation,” Walker said.


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