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| Home at Huerfano Photo by Venaya J. Yazzie, 2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
A poem I wrote after a day spent at the land of my matriarchs and family patriarch.
"..on the land
of sage feet
the trail of rabbit
beams in the winter sun trails.
I am a sister at Home
in the scent of gray-green sage..."
(excerpt from a poem in process)
Venaya Yazzie, 2021
Blessings all around.
I began my collaboration "Visit with Respect" mural journey on September 26th (which was my birthday)with the help of Friends of Cedar Mesa and Tsé Kǫǫh Outfitters located in Bluff, Utah.
Since the early months of 2020, when my maternal grandmother's passing, this adventure was the first time I really felt a kind of 'happiness' in my spirit The process of making art, perpetuating the creative heals the spirit is a fact as far as I'm concerned. I have always advocated for the concept of art as a healing agent for the spirit. This recent mural experience in southeast Utah has re-awakened my artist muse.
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Kǫǫh Outfitters blank wall facing west |
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| Day one of my mural project |
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| Venaya at the wall on day three of mural project |
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| Complete mural with building owner, myself, Venaya Yazzie and community member |
Shash Jaa and the nearby communities of natural environments and Indigenous sites are precious and are considered "sacred sites" which remain unguarded by wayward visitors and "pot hunters" looking for items to take and sties to plunder. This is the truth about the many infamous activities and have and continue to take place daily.
I was happy to create this mural with a message to that people visitors will see it and ingest it into their psyche - taking this message of visiting with respect with them wherever they roam. I personally think that this will give awareness of the land as a living space and also that the area's cultural narrative is vital to living a good life.
For the Indigenous people and tribes as a whole, the land near Shash Jaa is sacred. There is great reverence to such places here on our ancestral homelands. We live to respect the land and in turn the land respects us. This epistemology is rooted in our DNA, we are the land and we will never leave it.
Blessings in all things,
Venaya J. Yazzie, 2021
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I arrived in Bluff, Utah on Sunday evening. The brilliance of the orange - ochre sunrays were shining in the mesa valley of the small rural community. I had visited Bluff on many occasions, most recently in June and July of 2021. I was also to work as a cultural consultant in the area which included visiting 'Shash Jaa', or as it is known, Bears Ears mountain.
June 2021 was my initial visit to the high desert mesa lands of southeast Utah, including many areas of the Navajo nation land within the immediate areas of Bears Ears. As a Native person from the southwest land, this area is one that I had not visited much. For sure I know my soul was soothed as I walked and talked in and with the environment.
In July I continued my work in the area of Cedar Mesa and Bluff. This second time around was a beautiful experience for my spirit, for I was and am still grieving the passing of my grandmother. Everything was right, and this visit seemed to be a blessing, one that my grandmother would enjoyed hearing about. For this visit was totally a true muse-experience, for my five senses were alert.
I was in awe of the famous "Bears Ears Meadow" - and I continue to be inspired by the grandeur of the two Bears Ears peaks that stand in the background of the high plains meadow. The blessings that were bestowed included a picnic at the meadow and continued cultural dialogue at the base of Bears Ears.
As far as the issue of Shash Jaa being designated as a national park, it's an 'iffy' situation. America as a whole had no idea that such a place existed, but since the designation, the hordes of tourist have come and gone. They as a greater public, do not have any or much concepts of 'visiting with respect' and therefore much has been stolen and many ancestral indigenous cultural sites have been vandalized as a result. With only two park rangers servicing the entire park, there is much room for disrespectful activities.
As a native person, whose ancestors are rooted in this community of Cedar Mesa, I know and understand the protocols that need and should be instilled. For me this area is a sacred experience, and should be respected.
Blessings All Around,
Venaya Yazzie, 2021- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Yazzgrl Art owner Venaya J. Yazzie
The art of southwest Indigenous women is monumental in its existence in 2021. Venaya was born to enact the role of "artist." In the mother tongue' of her tribal culture, she is "na'a'cha'ii' asdzaan." The meaning refers to a number of creative notions in the Dine' (Navajo) language, but generally refers to a human being who makes 'beautiful, extraordinary, fine, complex' things about Art.
Venaya has participated in a plethora of art show exhibitions and art festivals throughout the southwest and west coast communities of America including Santa Fe Indian Market and the Autry Indian Arts Market in LA. During her time in different communities, Venaya feels very blessed to continually meet various new people, especially those who are interested in the Arts and who have appreciation for modern Indigenous art.
The Dine' people are a very gifted group of people for many of them are artists which include those are are weavers and silversmiths. The area of painting and other 2-D art is were Yazzie favors, she primarily is a painter but also works in the area of Fine Art Photography.
Southwest Indigenous women poets: Tacey A. Atsitty and Venaya Yazzie
Poetry by Navajo poets was shared by Tacey A. Atsitty and Venaya Yazzie who are two of the six artists included in the Resilient Matriarchy: Indigenous Women's Art in Community exhibition. The women's virtual art show is sponsored by Open Doors Art in Action in Flagstaff, Arizona on Thursday, March 11, 2021 via a zoom meeting.
The Zoom meeting was hosted by board member Sue Norris and Amy S. Martin. Navajo Poet Tacey A. Atsitty who is the author of Rain Scald share her poetry from her publication and also some her new work. She also spoke about her experience as a poet in America. Navajo/ Hopi poet and multi-media artist Venaya Yazzie also shared her work and her narrative of how she is inspired to write and create are. Both women are residents of New Mexico.
The Zoom event was recorded and can be accessed via YouTube in the link below.
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| Poet, Venaya Yazzie |
Poetry: Tacey Atstitty & Venaya Yazzie
Resilient Matriarchy: Indigenous Women's Art in Community will end in May 2021. The show in its entirety can be view online at:
Resilient Matriarchy: Indigenous Women's Art in Community
Blessings.
