A Tribute to April Wilsey

by John Aldrich

ANE is losing another dedicated volunteer this summer. April Wilsey and her husband Bill are moving back to Southern California to be closer to their family. This will leave a void in our organization that will be hard to fill. April has been one of our most active volunteers over the eleven years or so that she and Bill have lived in Park City. She has worked in a variety of volunteer roles but has probably had her largest impact on the annual rug show.

April's first rug show came in the early years of the event when it was being held at the Kimball Art Center in Park City. That was before she was a full-time resident of Park City. After moving to P.C. she became very involved with the show and served as chairperson or co-chair for a number of different shows. Anyone who knows what's involved in putting on the show will realize what an enormous commitment in time and talent that this involves.

Another challenging position at the show is organizing the Friday night auction. April successfully carried out this role for a number of years. She also has played a key role in soliciting sponsorships for the rug show.

My first photo of April shows her at the 2004 show. I may have earlier pictures of her, but they would be on film and not easy to access. She's at a familiar place for her at the show, the Amasani table.

April has been responsible for several innovations at the show. One was the establishment of the Rug Show Manual. This is a compilation of the myriad of organizational details that must be tended to in order to have a successful show. It's updated, of course, every year, but new chairs now have a defined starting place for planning. April also came up with the idea of having a different chairperson for each day of the show. This spreads the workload around in a more readily defined manner and has worked quite successfully for the past several years.

Another big position for April has been coordinator of the Amasani Program in recent years. This provides an opportunity for classrooms to adopt an Elder and learn about Navajo culture. April, along with Rodger Williams, also traveled to many classrooms to bring firsthand demonstrations to school children as well as mini-rug shows.

April and Bill have attended many food runs where they would most likely be seen at Teesto where their adopted Elders, Frankie and Anna Jackson reside. The Wilseys developed a close relationship with the Jackson family and opened their home to them each November during the rug show.

In addition to all these other activities, April has been a member of ANE's board of directors, serving as its secretary.

Here's a small collection of photos in chronological sequence starting with the rug show of 2005 where April served as a co-chair:

During the setup for the 2006 show April poses next to the Christmas tree (which she donated) that is used to hang the Elders' ornaments.

April was co-chair again in 2006 and received another personalized rug to honor her work.

April and Bill are part of the volunteer group being introduced at the Sanders food run in the spring of 2008.

They posed later for this photo at Sanders.

At the rug show in 2008 April was again at a familiar spot setting up the Amasani table.

Back on the reservation in 2009 April is getting plastic bags ready for the rugs that will be purchased and donated at the Big Mountain food run.

The following day at Teesto, April and Bill pose with their adopted Elders Anna and Frankie Jackson.

A bit later that day April pauses for a quick moment of relaxation at the end of a shoulder massage chain.

At the 2010 rug show April is honored along with the other co-chairs. This was the first year for the new plan to have a co-chair for each day of the show - an approach that was April's inspiration.

April has received many honors for her work at ANE, and it's only fitting that she received another rug at last years rug show.

We will miss April's boundless enthusiasm and energy.

Warehouse Food Delivery

by John Aldrich

Yesterday all of the food for the upcoming fall food runs was delivered to the warehouse. Once again it arrived in three truckloads from Walmart, and once again Boyd Mitchell volunteered to drive the truck and wrangle the pallets. CJ Robb had a new role this time as coordinator of the project.

Here are Boyd and CJ in the truck moving one of the pallets:

The food is moved by pallet from the truck to the warehouse. Then the cartons of food are stacked in alotted spaces around the periphery of the warehouse to be ready for the upcoming food box packing days.

We were pleased to have a number of new volunteers show up to help. A Navajo family, the Blakes, came in force:

The Blakes are from Navajo Mountain but live in Salt Lake currently. The youngest, Tasheena, pitched in along with everyone else.

On the second truck load was a very overloaded and top-heavy pallet. CJ looks like he has met his match as he tries to stablize this towering monster during the unloading. Fortunately it didn't fall over, but discretion won out as the top cartons were finally taken off first.

Here's another shot of volunteers stacking food in the warehouse.

At the end of the morning Mary Begay stopped by to pick up backpacks to take to the reservation. Mary and her husband, Harry, are from Hardrock and will distribute these backpacks to schoolchildren there.

Many thanks to everyone who showed up to help, especially the new volunteers.

100 Backpacks For Navajo Children

by Nathan Wilsey
(Note: Nathan is the grandson of ANE super-volunteer April Wilsey. Nathan's Eagle Scout project was carried out in support of our Backpack Program for Navajo children.)
 
My name is Nathan Wilsey, and I live in southern California.  In 2009 I attended the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Rug Show.  I helped the Elders set up their looms, brought them water, and boxed food for them to take home.  The Elders were really nice, and I will always remember my time with them.

This July, I completed my Eagle Scout Service Project.  I had decided earlier in the year that I would like to organize fundraising for 100 backpacks for the Navajo students who live on the reservation.

First, I sent an e-mail with my fundraising information to family and friends. Some people donated money while others sent in supplies.  I also had a garage sale.  I collected over $2000.

Later, I ordered the backpacks online and then began to buy different supplies to fill the backpacks.  In each backpack I put a pencil box, scissors, crayons, an eraser, 2 pencils, a pen, a glue stick, and a ruler.  I also put in a notebook, markers, colored pencils, a box of granola bars, and a special note to each of the students.  Some of the backpacks are for boys and some for girls who are 6-9 years old.

After collecting everything that was needed, I organized an assembly line with 15 scouts in my troop.  We filled all of the backpacks and put them into several large boxes.

On July 9, I went with my family to Salt Lake City, UT to deliver the backpacks to the ANE warehouse.  I organized some volunteers to unload them from the large boxes and then they placed each backpack into a smaller box that can be delivered individually to each student.

     
Knowing that the Navajo people live well below the poverty line, it made me feel proud of myself for having completed this project. 

Rugs Of The Week - From The Benale Family

by John Aldrich

The Pinon food run is hosted by the Benale family. It's one of the smaller runs, and it's also an outdoor event. These are among the reasons that this tends to be a favorite among volunteers. It's part of the sequence of food runs based out of Chinle.

Pinon is quite a drive from Chinle, in one of the more remote areas of the reservation. And the Benales' homeland is actually even further, located in an area known as Forest Lake. They live on the edge of the Hopi Reservation on the flank of Black Mesa.

The recent additions to the rug catalog include a few from this family of very skilled weavers.

The first rug is called Butterflies and was woven by Jane Benale.

This evocative pattern in bold colors measures 19" x 24" and is priced at $135. The catalog listing is 7401.

Here is a photo of Jane taken at the May 2011 food run when she was honored with one of our ANE Limited Edition Pendleton blankets.

The other two featured rugs were woven by nieces of Jane. First is a Four Corner rug by Susie Benale.

This rug measures 25" x 36" and is priced at $600. Catalog listing is 7409.

This photo of Susie was also taken at the May 2011 food run.

The final rug is by Elsie Benale.

She calls it a Personal Design, but the inspiration seems derived from the traditional Ganado style of weaving. This rug is 6893 in the catalog. It measures 32" x 57" and sells for $1500.

The Benale family attends the rug show every November, and this photo of Elsie shows her explaining some of the rugs to an audience at a weavers' demonstration during the show.

All three of these rugs exhibit tasteful combinations of striking and unusual colors. The Benales are weavers of consummate skill, and you have a wide range of prices and sizes to choose from here.

To see more rugs, new and old, visit the Rug Catalog.

See this 2010 post for more information about the rug catalog.

Notes: Every effort has been made to photograph and present the rugs with as accurate rendition of color as possible. It's not possible, however, to be certain that your computer won't show some variance. Where two prices are listed in the catalog, the higher represents what the weaver hopes to receive and the lower, the minimum she will accept. As has always been the case at ANE all the proceeds of every rug sale go entirely to the weaver. Prices are set by the weaver, and since there is no "middleman" they are typically very reasonable.

And to see more of what's happening at ANE visit us on Facebook.

Weaving The Night Sky - Rug Show Theme 2012

by Linda Myers 

(Note: This post describes how the theme for this year's rug show evolved. Join us for the show at Deer Valley in Park City this fall, November 2-4.)

At the 2011 Rug Show, I had lunch with one of the Elders and her granddaughter.  The granddaughter had been struggling to stay in school and maintain positive family relationships.  Her grandmother explained that there is an order in life which was established from the very beginning when the Holy Ones made their plans for setting up the sky.  She said that when we go out in the evening and stand on Mother Earth we need to look up at the night sky and we will see the order above us.

The grandma said that there are star beings who watch over us.  She described how the moon changes at certain times, just like we do.  Sometimes we only show a little of ourselves, just like the quarter moon.  But regardless of the phase of the moon, its light is always there shining on us.  Sometimes when we have struggles with our families, we need to go outside at night and listen quietly to the stillness.  The stars teach us to be quiet and reflective.

She said that in traditional ceremonies people wait for certain stars to be above the hogan before starting and that different ceremonies are held during different seasons.  She said, “We always watch the night sky for guidance.”

As I listened to the grandma speak, I felt the faith she had in her beliefs and the strength of her connection to the skies.  There was such a beauty in the way that she talked about the stars.

Later, I met with all of the weavers to talk about the possibility of weaving the night sky for this Rug Show.  I asked them if they would be willing to share their traditional stories of the stars.  The Elders listened then discussed their perspectives.  Some said that they would weave rugs that represented the traditional star beings that appear in the sky when they weave their rugs.  Some said they would weave the stars in the skies over their homelands.

The special rug featured on the cover of this year's rug catalog was woven by Miriam Whitehair.  Miriam wove the rug to represent the sacred mountains at dusk.  The evening stars, represented by crosses, fill the sky.  The moon is shown with her feathers.  The corn stalk represents the sacredness of life.  A chief’s blanket at the bottom of the rug represents the male.  Miriam is a young weaver.  As we discussed her rug, I was touched by her knowledge of traditional teachings and their importance to her.

We received many rugs.  Some of the weavers even wove several rugs because they enjoyed weaving the stars.  Each rug has a story of sacredness associated with the design that brings me back to the grandma’s teaching to her granddaughter.

Rug(s) Of The Week - Handspun Rugs by Nettie Tsinajinnie

by John Aldrich

Continuing with rugs that have been newly added to the catalog, this week we feature two handspun rugs by Nettie Tsinajinnie. Nettie is a traditional Navajo Elder who lives in Nazlini and attends the Many Farms food run. She weaves rugs the old way using wool from her own sheep that she has processed herself. This is a declining skill as younger weavers almost always use commercial yarn.

The first rug is a beautiful Star Dazzler and, at 49" x 76", is one of the largest in the current catalog:

This is a gorgeous rug and is priced at $1650. That might seem like a lot of money, but for a rug this size and quality, it's a real bargain. The catalog listing is 7291.

The other new rug from Nettie is also a large one. Star Burst measures 46" x 58" and is selling for $950:

The catalog listing for this rug is 7290.

Here is a picture of Nettie by her loom:

And here she uses a traditional hip spindle to spin her yarn.

To see more rugs, new and old, visit the Rug Catalog.

See this 2010 post for more information about the rug catalog.

Notes: Every effort has been made to photograph and present the rugs with as accurate rendition of color as possible. It's not possible, however, to be certain that your computer won't show some variance. Where two prices are listed in the catalog, the higher represents what the weaver hopes to receive and the lower, the minimum she will accept. As has always been the case at ANE all the proceeds of every rug sale go entirely to the weaver. Prices are set by the weaver, and since there is no "middleman" they are typically very reasonable.

And to see more of what's happening at ANE visit us on Facebook.

What's Happening At ANE?

• Tuesday July 3: There will be no volunteer activities today. Enjoy the holiday.
• Wednesday July 3: There will be no ANE booth at the Park City Farmers' Market today.
• Friday July 6: Regular volunteer activities.
• Tuesday July 10: Regular volunteer activities.
• Wednesday July 11: Visit the ANE booth at the Park City Farmers' Market.
• Friday July 13: Regular volunteer activities.
• Tuesday July 17: Regular volunteer activities.
• Wednesday July 18: Visit the ANE booth at the Park City Farmers' Market.
• Friday July 20: Regular volunteer activities.
• Tuesday July 24: Regular volunteer activities.
• Wednesday July 25: Visit the ANE booth at the Park City Farmers' Market.
• Friday July 27: Regular volunteer activities.
• Tuesday July 31: Regular volunteer activities.

For more detailed information about volunteer activities please visit the Volunteer Activities page of our web site.