Navajo Nation Library helping groom new rug weavers

Posted by Jalen Woody | Jul 6, 2023 | Culture |

WINDOW ROCK
A small group of Navajo men and women gathered in early June in the Navajo Nation Library to learn a lesson about their culture and heritage.

Navajo Times | Jalen Woody
Harold, who did not want to give his last name, stares intensely at his rug titled “The Elements of the Heavens” as he stitches it together during the Navajo Weaving Traditions Workshop June 28.

As they sat in front of rug-weaving looms that stood half their height, they worked their hands and fingers to find the right way to string a wool thread onto them. This is part of the magic of rug weaving.

The opening session of the Navajo Weaving Traditions Workshop was held on June 6 and is the first of a two-part session. There were 10 students in this group, and the same number is expected for the next session in July.

“There is a shortage of weavers,” said weaving instructor Christine Curtis. “I rarely see any weavers myself. I don’t want our rug weaving to diminish, and I want to keep it going. I want our legacy to keep going, and rug weaving was what we grew up on, our great-grandmothers and grandmothers that was their work of art.”

Read the full story in the July 6 edition of the Navajo Times.

A correction was made on Aug. 14, 2023: An earlier version of this article misstated the Navajo Nation Library. It’s not the Navajo Museum Library. The library and the museum are separate entities. The library staff worked to distinguish itself from the museum. The library staff works to continue more Diné culture and language programs at the Navajo Nation Library. The article also misstated the Navajo Weaving Traditions Workshop. It’s not the Navajo Nation Museum Weaving Workshop.