Rug Show Moments 2011 - The Grandma Idol Contest

by John Aldrich

Held on Saturday afternoon, this is one of the popular events of the show. Loosely based on American Idol, the Grandmas are given a theme about which to make up a song. In keeping with this years rug show theme, they were asked to sing about their horse and how it helped them in their lives. After a few minutes to think it over they stood up to present their song.

To add color to the event each Grandma picked out one of several brightly colored western hats to wear while they sang.

One of the early contestants, Lena Cowboy, was the eventual winner:

Additional entertainment was provided by Jay Tavare and his stick horse:

Most of the contestants sang of the merits of their horse, however a few lamented that their horse was lazy and just cost them money to feed.

Last year's winner, Carol Blackhorse, was back to defend her title but didn't pull it off this year:

Grace Smith Yellowhammer conscripted Jay to be a part of her presentation, and this was very popular with the audience:

The Grandmas were divided into groups and the group winner was decided by audience acclaim. As Jay held his horse over each contestant, the audience responded:

Other colorful participants included Jane Benale:

And Elsie Benale:

Eventually a winner emerged from each group and a final overall winner was proclaimed:

May Shay, Elizabeth Clah, Grace Smith Yellowhammer, and Lena Cowboy share the stage with Jay and Miss Indian USU. The winners each took home a basket of prizes.

At the end, overall winner, Lena Cowboy, takes a victory lap on Jay's horse:

Rug Show Moments 2011 - The Auction

by John Aldrich

The show opens to the public on Friday night with a gala fund raiser, and the auction is the center of attention for the evening. A festive atmosphere helps set the mood, and attendees receive a 10% discount on rug purchases. Proceeds from the evening are used to help defray the cost of staging the show.

Deer Valley served tempting food:

Music added to the ambiance. Nancy and Gary played beautiful flute music:

Fred Engel entertained with cowboy poetry:

And the musical duo Stampede wowed the audience:

As we moved toward the actual auction, people had a chance to peruse the various packages that would be offered:

This beautiful horse-themed textile piece by ANE volunteer Gina Zimmerer was one of the highlights:

Our auctioneer for the past several years has been Richard O'Keefe who conducts a fast-paced and highly entertaining event:

Art Sleeper once again did an outstanding job organizing the auction. This year he added an additional feature in which bidders could win free raffle items based on a drawing of paddle numbers:

Another unusual auction feature was the opportunity to purchase Rainbow Food Boxes for delivery on food runs to the reservation. Bidders could jump in at any price that suited their inclination and budget:

Four rugs were included in the auction this year. The most unique was this ceremonial rug by Dorothy Cody, one of our Elders at Leupp:

This offering produced the most spirited bidding of the evening:

Thanks to the result of this package plus all the others and the generous bidding by the audience, we had the most successful auction in rug show history.

Rug Show 2011 - School Programs

by John Aldrich

Special programs to educate school children about Navajo culture have been a part of the rug show since early in its history. Linda offered an explanation about how this tradition got started: "Several children once asked me, 'Aren't you afraid of them?', referring the Navajo people. This experience made me think that adding an opportunity for them to learn about Navajos would be a valuable experience."

Currently we have three sessions of programs, Thursday morning and afternoon, and Friday morning. Each session is divided into two parts occurring simultaneously in different parts of the Snow Park Lodge. At the midway point students switch to the other venue. Thus we can handle a larger number of  students, and they can experience a greater range of topics. As many as 110 students were present at a time.

During the course of the three sessions, we have over 600 students from 15 schools come to the rug show. Most are of elementary age, but two high schools and one junior high participated as well.

This year, the coordination of all this was in the capable hands of Masuda Medcalf, shown here with Mary Owen, as they prepare the children for the first round of programs:

Navajo Elders and weavers participate by explaining or demonstrating a variety of aspects of their culture. Additionally, children can directly experience some of this by either spending a few minutes weaving at a loom or having their hair put up in a traditional hair bun.

During the program children are able to watch as weavers work at their looms:

The youngest weaver from the reservation this year was eight-year-old Israel Whitehair. The school children were impressed that at such a young age Israel was able to make his first rug:

Some of the other aspects of Navajo culture that are demonstrated include basket making, explained here by Leonard Holiday:

Corn grinding, demonstrated by Marklyn Whitehair:

And the winter activity of making play animals from Play-Doh, explained by Vina Horseherder:

For the past several years we have been fortunate to have two talented flute players at the show, Nancy Haga and Gary Hansen. School children are typically fascinated by their demonstrations of flute playing:

One of the program leaders this year was Julius Chavez:

Julius is a traditional Navajo who lives locally. He was able to give the children first-hand descriptions of what it's like to be Navajo.

The other program leader was Robin Field-Williams. Here she shows children a model Hogan, the traditional Navajo dwelling. With the removable roof it was possible to imagine what life might be like inside such a home:

Many of the classes bring gifts for the Elders. Often this is in the form of food:

A number of the classes participate in ANE's Classromm Amasani Program, where they adopt one of the Elders. These classes usually make special presentations to their Elder during the school programs. Here is Helen Rose Lewis with her class from the Trailside School:

Soaring Wings Montessori School sponsors Frances Bahe who is seen in this photo receiving gift baskets from them. In return she is holding a rug to present to them:

And the final photograph shows Katie Furcap with her class from the Soldier Hollow School.

In the past all of the classes attending have been from elementary grades. This year we also had some students from junior and senior high schools. Regardless of age, the students seem genuinely fascinated and entertained by the programs and hopefully leave with a much richer understanding of Navajo culture.

Rug Show 2011 - Getting Ready

by John Aldrich

Setting up the show represents the culmination of a year's work by many volunteers who have spent countless hours to preparing for this day. During the course of 5 or 6 hours, the Snow Park Lodge is transformed into a dazzling display of Navajo culture.

The early scene at the Lodge seems like one of chaos with boxes scattered everywhere. This disarray is quickly converted to order. A jumble of electrical cords seems an apt metaphor for the initial scene:

But it doesn't take long for things to start taking shape. John Percival can be seen on a ladder most every year helping to install the ceiling lights that illuminate the displays:

Not long after we started work, a weaver, Louise Cly, showed up with a beautiful large rug over 12 feet in length. Taking a photograph of a rug this size presented a challenge which was solved by using the stairs and a ladder:

Later, the rug was hung over the east exit by Mac Lund and Boyd Mitchell:

The biggest job is hanging the hundreds of rugs that make up the core of the show. Here is CJ Robb at work on a ladder:

While Susan Cook and Robin Field-Williams offer advice on the layout design:

One of the biggest jobs at the show is that of volunteer coordinator. This task was ably  shared this year by Elinda McKenna and Mac Lund. Setup day gave them a chance to get things organized:

Another important task that takes place Wednesday morning is stocking the condos where the Elders and their families will stay with a variety of food items for their use. Samantha and Brad Pyne arranged for the condos while Virginia Aldrich and Marie English shopped for and packed the food. Here is Virginia with her food stocking group pouring over a map of Park City to locate their delivery destinations:

Here's part of the hard-working group that helped hang lights and rugs:

In addition to the rugs, there are many other displays that must be assembled. One of the big jobs is setting up the tables of crafts. Here is part of the group that worked on that task:

And the result of some of their effort:

This display featured a variety of craft items that were made using sacks from Blue Bird Flour, a stable of the Navajo diet.

The final reward of all the volunteer work is seeing the show ready for the public. But an additional bonus is the lunch featuring a selection of delicious sandwiches prepared by Jean Glazer:

With the work done by 2:00, the show is ready for prime time.

Rug Show 2011 - Rug Training

by John Aldrich

Although the rug show doesn't officially open for a few more days, last night's rug training event at the warehouse seemed for many of us as though it was the start. A record crowd of volunteers who will help at the show came to learn about Navajo weaving and get last minute instructions.

John Burrow is incredibly generous with his time and knowledge for this event. He not only makes the trip from his home in Oregon for this occasion but returns just a few days later for the rug show itself. Volunteers, whether veteran or new, benefit from John's discussion of the art of Navajo weaving as well as the variety of different rug styles.

After a break, John spent some time discussing how to be effective sales people. His advice is that the rugs will "sell themselves" to people who make a connection with a particular weaving. The role of the volunteer is just to facilitate this happening. First time volunteers probably feel a sense of relief at this recommendation since they can feel more relaxed with their role.

Besides the rug training itself a variety of other things took place. Before the meeting and during the break, volunteers could enjoy a selection of potluck goodies:

Masuda Medcalf manned a table where people could buy rug books or DVD's of the recent ANE Turning Point broadcast:

Volunteer coordinators, Elinda McKenna and Mac Lund, gave us some last minute advice and instruction:

And during the break a variety of horse rugs were on display:

To close the evening, Linda gave us some rug show history and spent time reviewing the real purpose of the rug show:

It's easy to think of the show as a venue for this unique art form and a place for people attending the show to find a wonderful piece to hang on the wall. But Linda reminded us that these rugs represent the livelihood of the weavers, and that by buying the creations of their looms we are giving them the means to continue not only weaving but to acquire the basic necessities of life and support their families.