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Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land:
Star Mountain Grandmothers, Daughters & Granddaughters
Judy
Keyonnie
Judy Keyonnie at a Black
Mesa Weavers for Life and Land hay run with three new weavings,
September 14, 2000.
MBM-476. Judy Keyonnie. This
ceremonial weaving has enormous power-- pure handsome churro,
tightly woven in natural immaculate white and natural brown/grey
(the color on the left--the brown/grey-- photo is more accurate),
with a reverse image border of clouds, mesas, and vegetation,
and a central ceremonial image, in a slightly larger than single
saddle blanket size of 39 in. x 35 in. Judy Keyonnie told me
the entire weaving image came to her in a dream, from which she
awoke feeling good, and she started weaving it.
I had a feeling of its uniqueness when I first took it out of
the box, recognizing the clouds imagery of the border, and feeling
the unusual power of the central image, but unable to identify
it. I asked another Dine' who visited our booth at the winter
2005 Cultural Survival bazaar in December 2005 if she could tell
me what it was. The granddaughter and daughter of master traditional
weavers from the Red Lake area of Black Mesa, she immediately
put her hand on the center and said: "It's a hand trembler."
A hand trembler is a man or woman who is consulted by traditional
Dine' to diagnose illness and other problems, and prescribe appropriate
treatment, which may include a specific ceremony. This kind of
extraordinary traditional weaving is rarely seen for sale. Judy
Keyonnie has confirmed that this is what the weaving must have
meant in her dream, and has given her permission to tell its
story here. The purity and power of this design is unique, and
must be experienced to be fully understood. A very rare and special
weaving.. SOLD by Needle Rock Fiberarts, Telluride, Colorado,
September 2008).
MBM-329. Judy Keyonnie brought this handspun natural
and commercial wool blanket to the June 2003 wool buy, along
with her Churro wool to sell. The photo doesn't begin to do justice
to this large, powerful, and beautifully woven Wide Ruins design--with
its wavy water lines and star/plant themes--60 in. x 36.5 in.,
in dark brown, greys, natural white, black, and commercial tan/orange-flecked
wool. (SOLD)
MBM-109.
Judy Keyonnie is a granddaughter of Jennie Paddock. This all-handspun,
powerful classic storm pattern weaving is tightly and evenly
woven, in deep red, grey, black, and white, with lightning to
the four sacred mountains, stacked clouds, and water beetle motifs,
40 in. x 25 in., SOLD.
MBM-120.
Judy Keyonnie, small blanket of handspun and commercial wool,
black, pink, yellow, and carded tans, 22 in. x 16 in., SOLD.
MBM-121.
Classic reverse twill herringbone weave saddle blanket by Judy
Keyonnie in natural, light tan, black with flecks of brown, 28
in. x 24 in.; this is one of the oldest Dine' (Navajo) weaving
styles. SOLD.
Ida Mae Clinton's homesite at Star Mountain
No One Owns the Earth
"This land is free for all the people,
even insects" (--Ida Mae Clinton, Dine'elder)They hold the earth with their feet
and keep it with their hands.
The earth feeds them.
On Black Mesa, she is thirsty, and thin.
Her heart beats black with coal,
her heart is laid open
but the people hold her.
They sing her to live--
their hands would heal her still.
(©6/26/99 Carol Snyder Halberstadt)
As one of the long-time resisters who has refused to sign the "Accommodation Agreement" (AA) passed by Congress in 1996 (which would make her and her family "tenants" on their ancestral homeland, and restrict certain basic civil rights and religious freedom) Ida Mae Clinton could be served an eviction notice by the U.S. Attorney, which was a major concern until 2000. However, since the 2000 deadline passed, and jurisdiction over Hopi Partitioned Land has been handed over to the Hopi Tribe, the Department of Justice has indicated that it is not likely that any action will be taken against nonsigners. The Hopi Tribe could also serve them with eviction notices, but has not done so as of this date (December 2005), and any such proceedings would take a long time to wend their way through the court system. Nevertheless, the nonsigners live with the possibility that court proceedings could begin against those Dine' who have refused to sign the AA, which in their eyes violates the U.S. Constitution as well as international laws and treaties protecting the human rights and religious freedom of indigenous peoples. Also, nonsigners do not have the same rights to livestock permits and other protections included in the Accommodation Agreement. As of now, however, things are still quiet and they generally are being left alone by the Hopi tribal administration. The focus of Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land has always been and will be on problem solving--working to make life better for everyone in the region, and to heal the traumas of the partition of the land that had been shared by Hopi and Dine' for at least hundreds of years.
Our work is grounded in the knowledge that human and environmental justice are inseparable.
MBM-108.
This powerful Ye'iibicheii weaving, of all handspun wool, is
remarkable in its detail, intricate border, and strong depictions
of the Ye'ii (Holy People), holding rainbow prayer sticks and
arrayed in ceremonial clothing. At one end is a corn plant. The
weaving is 34.25 in. x 23 in., in black, carded grey, turquoise,
green, light blue, deep red, natural white, and gold/ochre. SOLD.
MBM-122.
Jennie Paddock brought this small but beautiful "four corners"
weaving to the hay run on September 14, 2000. Of handspun and
commercial wool, it's 22 in. x 17 in, in black, red, blue, carded
tan, and deep brown ochre. SOLD
MBM-105.
Rosie B. Francis, a sister of Jennie Paddock., passed away in
the spring of 2003. She wrote in the note that came with this
weaving, 30.5 in. x 20.5 in: "Two Face Star Design Old-Fashion
Rug. Hand card, hand spin and dye yarn, out of own sheep."
Deep red, carded tan, natural light tan, deep brown. SOLD.