Dyeing to learn- Women teach weaving from wool to rug
By Shine Salt
Navajo Times
On a plateau near Fort Defiance that felt like the top of the world, students and a teacher gathered sagebrush and lichen to dye wool.
It was once a common sight, but these days few weavers gather plants for natural dye.
“You don’t need more than what you need,” cautioned Mary Walker, a bilagáana weaving instructor for the weaving class. “That’s greedy.”
The 10 students arrived at Quality Inn in Window Rock on Saturday and Mary James, from Washington State, immediately started planning colors for her first rug.
“Coming down on the train from Albuquerque I saw the colors out of the window and I originally got the idea to use those types of colors,” said James. “Then we were in the gift shop and I saw a postcard of Canyon De Chelly.”
Incorporating different shades of green, brown and yellow, James found her inspiration from the picture of the canyon and began to weave Sunday morning after building her warp.
As the Navajo instructor of the class, Jennie Slick from Houck, Ariz. said she wanted to help Walker because she didn’t want to keep the teachings of weaving to herself.
“I’d rather share it because when I was learning I had to look up to my mom to show me how to weave,” Slick said. “So why can’t I share what I’ve learned? I feel good that the people around me are learning some of my teachings.”
The two instructors have been working together for 14 years and they first started a weaving class under an art school. They then created their own class called “Weaving in Beauty: A Textile Tour” where they have been teaching both non-Indians and Navajos the fundamentals of weaving.
“We want to see Navajo weaving continue to develop as fine art like weavers who show their work in galleries, ”Walker said. “We want the young people of the Navajo Nation to reclaim and look at weaving as something they can do and try to keep in the Navajo culture.”