Honoring Our Weavers - Rug Show 2014

by John Aldrich

The 2014 Rug Show of the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program represented the 25th anniversary of this event that began so humbly as a very small affair at the Kimball Art Center in 1990. This year's show honored those weavers who have been coming to the show for years as well as those who have passed on since the inception of the event.

It was gratifying that the show this year spurred record sales and attendance.

In recent years our weavers have been given a theme around which they create special rugs for the show. This year the challenge was to weave a self-portrait of themselves at the loom. This wall contained those rugs.

 The show began with special programs for school children on Thursday and Friday.

Some of the classes sponsor Elders through our classroom Amasani program. Katie Furcap received a quilt from her class.

The purpose of these programs is to give the children a glimpse of Navajo culture. They have an opportunity to see a variety of skills and activities that are important in the daily life of Navajo people. Weaving is, of course, the most important of these.

And the girls who had longer hair also had an opportunity to have it fixed in a traditional hair bun.

The students attending the show must have marveled that Israel Whitehair was able to weave such a beautiful rug at age twelve.

A special dinner was held Thursday evening to honor Elders and volunteers. A special thanks must go to the rug show chairpeople who devoted countless hours throughout the year to make the event happen. Each received a specially woven rug by Gloria Hardy.

The show opened to the public with a gala event on Friday evening. The first sight inside the door was the popular fine jewelry table.

Nearby was the table featuring rugs woven from handspun wool.

The Christmas Ornament Program provides an opportunity for people to purchase a beautiful hand-crafted ornament. Each has a photo of an Elder and a choice of things such as firewood and food certificates to help that Elder through the winter.

Throughout the show, Gary Hansen provided beautiful flute music.

The Walk In Beauty program benefits children on the reservation who often have very worn or ill-fitting shoes. Melyssa Holbrook, director of WIB had a dramatic display of shoes - old and new- along with thank you notes from the children.

Coordinating  the 200 or so volunteers who help at the show is a huge job. It was ably done by Elinda McKenna assisted by Mary Owen.

Linda and her assistants worked hard throughout the five day period of the show.

The Friday night auction is the only event during the show that directly benefits ANE. Samantha Pyne and her team did a great job this year with the bidding bringing in a record amount.

Photo albums of pictures from food runs of years past were available for Elders to view. These Teesto Elders enjoyed reminiscing.

On Saturday morning the Shi Yazhi Pageant gave young Navajo girls a chance to display what that had learned about their culture. Our new princess, Delaina Becenti, has great poise and will serve well as a representative of ANE.

During the weaving demonstration on Saturday and Sunday, show visitors were able to watch weavers at work and hear stories about their rugs.

Marty Whitehair, one of a generation of younger weavers, holds one of her beautiful rugs.

The Navajo Grandma Idol contest on Saturday afternoon is a popular. Singers were divided into age groups and had to make up a song about a subject they had only a few minutes to think about. Here are the three winners from the different age categories.

The Veterans Ceremony on Sunday morning is another very popular event. Speakers this year included 2 representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs of the Navajo Nation.

The third speaker was the son of our own Howard and Beverly Benally. Ben Benally is a veteran of the Afghanistan war and recipient of the purple heart.

At lunch of Sunday Santa made an appearance in the form of Bruce Burnham and presented each Elder with a stocking.

The show ended Sunday afternoon with the popular Pow Wow conducted by Harry James. There was lots of color along with thrilling drumming and singing.

The Friendship Circle completed the Pow Wow and provided a fitting end to the show.

These photos only touch the surface of activities during the event. Additional pictures can be seen here. If you were lucky enough to be a part of this year's show you know what a wonderful event it was. If not, we hope to see you at next year's show.

Thanksgiving - ANE Style

by John Aldrich

This is Thanksgiving week here in the U.S., and ANE got a jump start on the event with our annual dinner to honor our volunteers. The event took place Sunday evening the 23rd in our newly rededicated warehouse space. All of the volunteers who have helped throughout the year are invited to partake in the evening of celebration of another successful year in service to our Elders.

We had an excellent turnout of about 90 people who brought an outstanding assortment of food. Our new Shi Yazhi princess, Delaina Becenti, greeted people at the door.

And as people settled in at the tables they were able to relive special moments that had occurred throughout the year.

Shawn enjoyed looking over Melyssa's book of photos and narrative about the Shoe Runs to the reservation for the Walk In Beauty Program.

Before we ate Linda honored Virginia Aldrich for her efforts in organizing this annual event.

Our new princess introduced herself with great poise.

And then introduced her family. They are from Green River, WY, and made the drive to Salt Lake to be part of this special event despite somewhat threatening weather.

Then, for the most keenly anticipated moment of the evening, it was time for Linda to announce which table got to head to the food line first.

It seemed as though the selection of dishes was better than ever this year.

Following the meal, C.J. presented the results of the recent rug show. Sales were at an historic high, and the weavers were able to take back much-needed resources to the reservation to help their families through the winter.

The Christmas Ornament Program alone took in more than $14,000 to assist Elders with firewood and food certificates. This was the first year that all of the ornaments were sold during the course of the show. Sandi Aloia headed this successful effort and even made up a few additional ornaments that were available for purchase at the dinner.

Alice Sikorsky was honored for directing the Christmas Stocking Program which will deliver 1300 stockings to school children on the reservation.

Eileen Quintana spoke about the Shi Yazhi pageant and how important it is for the young Navajo girls in an urban environment to learn about their culture.

Then her daughter Rosebud, who won the Grandma Idol contest for the youngest generation at the rug show, sang a song.

And not to be outdone, her son Alfredo also presented a song.

Harry James, leader of the Pow Wow at the rug show, completed the evening with a song.

He invited all the girls who had been in the Shi Yazhi pageant to come up and help him sing another traditional song.

Then each of these girls was sent out into the room to choose a biligaana to help sing another round of the song. With three strong vocalists like this, Harry might be able to retire.

Finally, after the entertainment was over, there was still time for everyone to sit, visit, and eat more.

Wherever you might be in the world take a moment to give thanks for all we have and how we can make 2015 even better.

Setting Up For The Rug Show

by John Aldrich

The excitement builds as we are on the verge of opening the show. Today was set-up time, and we had a good turnout of volunteers to help with this important job. The space within the Snow Park Lodge starts as a blank canvas and ends up transformed into a spectacular display of rugs, crafts and jewelry. Following is a selection of photos to illustrate this process. They are presented without comment and show a variety of activities that took place as well as some of the assortment of rugs, crafts, and jewelry that will be available at the show.

Please come and join us during the three days the show is open to the public. More details can be seen here about the schedule of events.