Matriarch Power - Via Cultural Garb

Neo-Matriarch Gear
Photo by Venaya Yazzie
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2020

Every day the Indigenous woman, the modern Matriarch makes a plethora of decisions, not only about Her family, but about Herself. Each of us Humans, 'Ala'ashdla'ii,' the"five-finger earth dwellers" - as we Dine' refer to ourselves in this Universe - have our personal rituals, or routines.  On the daily, we ponder on what we will do, who we might see, what we might consume, where we might trek and most importantly, what we will wear! This capture is shared with you to showcase a typical weekend outfit for me, which helps to give a kind of empowerment. Knowing that I am wearing items of my culture and too the tradition of turquoise adornment give me that Matriarch Power to be sure.

For the Dine' femme, 'adszaa,' in 2020 our personal routine might involve prayer first, then we decide what will will 'adorn' our bodies with.  It might be a Beautyful wool, Pendleton coat, or a fine colored- Babushka, granny scarf, and maybe some jewelry items for our necks, fingers and ears via rings.  For the Dine' woman, I am sure it will involved the addition of 'dootlizhi' -turquoise or some sort.  This is where our Dine' identity involves the spiritual.  As as Humans, as 'Ala'ashdla'ii,' the"five-finger earth dwellers tangibly and spiritually identify ourselves to the spirit world by adorning ourselves with turquoise.

This tradition of turquoise adornment is passed down knowledge from our rich oral history of high desert ancestors. As Dine' babes we are gifted with turquoise that is attached to our cradleboards, or put on our tiny wrists in a turquoise bracelet.  The concept of wearing turquoise is on about trends in American fashion, its deep and holds a deeper, richer meaning, and foremost is about our identity as Dine' People in this dimension, the Fourth World.

Along with our turquoise, we also believe in the Beautyways of clothing adornment.  We love the garments our living Matriarchs design and create via our tribal clothing for both men and woman and our traditional hair styles.  We love the modern fashion too, skinny jeans and all! But, what we remember to keep close to us as we dwell in and out of modern American culture is that we are unique group of people on this earth.  We, as man and female beings, wear Gap, Kmart, Columbia gear, but also make sure we mix is up with our own cultural identity. We wear tribal identity on our shoulders so to speak, its turquoise and silver rings on our hands and wrists as we hold our Chanel handbags. This is who we are in 2020, we are resilient every time, all the time!  Well, I hope the most of us are, and I don't mean to generalize about all Dine' - Navajo - people, because I know not all of us are 'woke.' Yet...

Blessings all around.

Venaya Yazzie

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

2020

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