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Jolyana Bitsui - What it means to be a Navajo woman
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Powwow 'adornment.'
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| Powwow 'adornment.' Photo by Venaya Yazzie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015 |
I took a 'selfie' while participating in the powwow grand entry this past weekend in Dulce, New Mexico on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation.
This annual community celebration is a favorite on my list of summer powwows, and it did not disappoint. I was able to wear my favorite Jingle Dress and beadwork.
Dine' Women's Cultural Adornment
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| Dine' Women's Cultural Adornment at Dulce, NM Powwow Photo by Venaya Yazzie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015 |
This past weekend I was able to attend and dance at the annual Jicarilla Days Celebration Powwow in Dulce, New Mexico.
As a dancer participant and as an observer I had a great opportunity to take some photographs and to talk with spectators. As I danced in the Inter-tribal dances, I befriended a Dine' (Navajo) woman who was dressed head to toe in her cultural adornment regalia. Her attire was striking and she stood out as she was the only Dine' wearing her traditional clothing among the pan-Indian dress of the powwow dancers.
I befriended her and learned she was a mother for Sweetwater, NM community. I asked her about her clothing and expressed it was good to she her dressed up in the Navajo way, or as I said, "Nizhoni'go ha'di'tee." In the Navajo way this expression concerns the physical act of wearing 'turquoise' adornment. She danced the both days of the powwow among the powwow people.
She wore a traditional wool woven dress called a 'biil,' and Navajo-style footwear called 'ke'tsal' made of cowhide and deer buckskin moccasins, and she carried a Pendleton women's shawl on her left arm. She dripped in an array of various turquoise jewelry pieces included a full-turquoise and silver belt. She wore her hair in a traditional Navajo women's 'tsii yaal' or hair bundle.
It was good to see such desert women's Indigenous Adornment. She made me proud to be a desert woman, her dress showed the beauty, dignity and strength of the Navajo woman. She blessed the People.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Thursday, July 9, 2015
My Dine' masani's hands full of story
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| My Dine' masani's hands full of story Photo credit Venaya Yazzie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015 |
An Indigenous grandmother's hands are strong and full of the most amazing stories on this earth. I photographed my maternal grandmother's hands this week, and each image blesses me.
Vintage shell earrings
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| Mother-of-Pearl earrings with turquoise additions. Photo credit Venaya Yazzie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2015 |
Jewelry adornments made from natural shell have been utilized by Southwestern Indigenous People for hundreds of years. Though the desert people do not live by water, the nearest source is the Pacific Ocean. For the Navajo and the Pueblo people, shell products are embedded not only in the Indigenous Adornment culture, but also play a vital role in the origin stories, including those of creation.
These earrings were acquired by me from a antique shop. The 'white shell' or mother of pearl shell teardrops are a 'vintage' shell. The shop keeper told me they are from the 1960s. I added the turquoise pieces later. They are beautiful and one of my many favorites to adorn.
Navajo-made sterling silver earrings
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| Navajo-made sterling silver earrings. Photo credit Venaya YAzzie ALLRIGHTSRESERVED 2015 |
New acquisition.
These earrings are basic, but carry exquisite design. Made from tufa-casting technique, these are made with sterling silver by a Navajo silversmith in Window Rock AZ.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Navajo girl 'adorned'
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| Photo collage of a Navajo girl Photo credit kohuhuoke |
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