EarART Earrings by Venaya

EarART earrings by Venaya Yazzie

Navajo art: Squash Blossom

Navajo Squash Blossom necklace, turquoise and silver antique
Photo credit of Victorbille, Instagram

Hands of a Navajo Matriarch

Navajo matriarch hands
Photo credit Venaya Yazzie
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015

I acknowledge the blessing I received on a daily basis as I am able to be present with my maternal grandmother. My 'masani' is my life. The things of she does in a day are so precious and sacred. Above all I am inspired by her act of constant 'adornment.' She unconsciously perpetuates the ritual of southwestern tribal 'Indigenous Adornment.' My grandmother is my muse, and therefore inspires all forms of my creative process'. Her story is my story, her "heart is my heart."

Bless.

Navajo women weavers

Navajo elders, matriarch weavers, Navajo Nation, USA
Photo credit Altea John via Cie CieEstsitty, Navajo Nation FB

I absolutely adore this photograph.

As a frequent visitor of the social networks, I found this amazing photograph which depicts Navajo women elder amidst the preparation of sheep wool. This tribal work is priceless and the process and ritual of spinning wool into yarn concerns many years of oral history and matriarchal knowledge.

What I love too about this image is the women who are dressed in their Navajo adornment, or 'Indigenous Adornment.' The woman on the left wears her fine velvet shirt, and is 'adorned' in her finest Navajo silverwork and turquoise. She and the other beautiful Navajo matriarchs wear their tribal head gear via their scarves. Most elder Navajo women perpetuate the use of scarves to cover their hair buns; the woman in the blue velvet wears her 'traditional' cultural item, a floral scarf.

I am not sure when the Navajo women first adopted the Indigenous Russian-inspired floral scarf, but it has become a treasured item for the southwestern desert women.

Blessings.