A Plea For Assistance

by John Aldrich

Many within our ANE family know, or will remember, Calvert Norton. Calvert and his wife Ericka, along with their three children, have been volunteers and supporters of our Program for many years. Daughter Calora was the second princess in the Shi Yazhi pageant program and was crowned at the rug show in 2006. This photo shows Calvert along with other members of his family when Calora was crowned. He is standing behind the princess.

More recently Calvert has been suffering with a significant health problem, ankylosing spondylitis. This is a chronic debilitating disease without effective cure by modern medicine. Calvert is turning to his cultural roots for help in dealing with his illness.

Here is his plea:


My name is Calvert Norton, My clan is the Redhouse people, born for the Red Bottom people, my paternal clan is the Edge of the Water people, and my maternal clan is the Tangle  people. I'm from Montezuma Creek, Utah. I currently reside in Lehi, Utah with my immediate family, my wife Ericka, our three children, Kirk, Calora, and Angelica.

I have a form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis, that I was diagnosed with a few years ago. It has affected my ankles, knees, hips, back, and elbow. This arthritis has limited my ability to run, fold my legs to sit or cross, stand a long period of time, and has slowed me down considerably. I manage my condition with modern medicine prescribe by my rheumatologist.

My belief is within my Navajo tradition, therefore I am seeking a healing ceremony to help heal my condition. A Navajo healing ceremony known as the Enemy Way (Nidaa). This ceremony will take place the week of the 11th of August. The week long ceremony is a huge task and financial expense which involves a Medicine man fee, ceremony materials, food,  sheep, and wood gathering to name few.

I ask for financial assistance to cover the expenses for this ceremony.

Thank you,

Calvert Norton

Although he alludes to the challenges and cost of staging an Enemy Way ceremony, the reality is that it can cost up to $6000 to put on an event of this complexity and scale.

Readers of this blog might be interested, as I was, in knowing more about this particular ceremony. Here is a link to a detailed description of the Enemy Way ceremony. Interestingly, it is written by a medicine man named Johnson Dennison. Johnson has worked with the Indian Health Service Hospital in Chinle to help provide traditional Navajo healing services to compliment the modern health care provided there. Johnson has spoken to our food run groups on a number of occasions in Chinle and will be remembered by those who heard him as a fascinating source of information about Navajo culture.

We extend our sympathies to Calvert and hope that his ceremony will be a comfort and blessing to both he and his family.

Those who wish to make a donation in support of Calvert's ceremony can do so via the Ceremony Fund of our web site. All proceeds of this fund over the next three weeks will be used on Calvert's behalf.

Announcing New Rug Show T-Shirts and Hats

by John Aldrich

The 25th anniversary of our annual rug show in Park City will be a very special event, and we are doing everything possible to honor our weavers. As part of this celebration we are offering specially designed T-shirts and hats. Rodger Williams designed a beautiful logo which has been embroidered onto each of the shirts and hats.

The T-shirts come in two styles with two colors, red and black. The women's shirt has a vee-cut neckline and the men's a round neck. The hats come in black and are a one-size-fits-all design.

Pricing of the shirts and hats also fits with our 25th anniversary theme - $25 for each. The small profit we will make on each sale will help defray the cost of staging the show. So help to support the show and at the same time acquire a unique shirt and/or hat. You may purchase these items through the Trading Post section of our web site or in person at the warehouse.

The sizing of the shirts is a little small, so we recommend that you order the next larger size than you ordinarily would buy.

Food Delivery

by John Aldrich

In pursuit of the goal to assist our Elders, the delivery of food, both in the form of food boxes as well as food certificates is central to our mission. As we get ready for the fall food runs, the first step in preparing to pack the Rainbow Food Boxes is to get the food to the warehouse. C.J. had worked out the order with a Walmart several miles away, and yesterday it was time to move it. Boyd Mitchell, who is practiced at this activity, rented a large Penske truck, and in the course of two round trips the food arrived at the warehouse and then had to be moved to designated spots around the periphery of the warehouse and unloaded from the pallets.

Waiting for the first truckload, some of us quickly realized that we had missed the memo about the proper attire for the day.

When the truck arrived, however, everyone forgot they thought they had signed up for a vacation to Hawaii and got to work.

Maneuvering the pallets off the truck is tricky, but Boyd is highly skilled at this and had no trouble .

Sam was our pallet jockey and is helped here by Lamar as they move canned food to its designated location at the perimeter of the warehouse.

Not to be outdone by the guys, Gene Berry rolled up her sleeves, donned her gloves, and worked just as hard as any of the rest of us.

Then it was on to peanut butter as Gene, Tony, John, and Jason formed a line to move the heavy packages off the pallet.

While C.J. and Lamar did the same with cans of corn.

Tony is working here on an inventory of the delivered food,

while C.J. checked his master list.

The second truckload was somewhat delayed by circumstances at Walmart, and some of the volunteers had to leave. Those that remained to the end paused for this final photo.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to help with this big job. We're well on our way now with preparations for the upcoming food runs. The next major volunteer-intensive task will be packing the Rainbow Boxes. This will happen on two successive Saturdays, August 2nd and 9th. Details and time can be found on the Volunteer Activities page of our web site. We hope to see you then.