Cultural Connections of an Unexpected Kind...

Me and my "Grandmother", Ruth Benally. She's in her nineties and she still remembers seeing me at the shows when I was small.
Photo Courtesy of: John Aldrich

So, I spent this past weekend (Nov. 8 - 10th) trying to be a good person, which involved me volunteering at the Navajo Rug Show at the Snow Park Lodge in Deer Valley. Personally, I have a very strong connection to this event. I mean, I've been going every year since I was in the first grade, and I have helped support one of the Navajo Elders throughout the years.


This Elder is my "Grandmother", Ruth Benally. She is an amazing weaver and jewelry maker, and she means a lot to me. I was so surprised when her son, Howard, who is old enough himself to be my grandfather, reintroduced me to her, and she remembered me, even though the last time I had direct contact with her was in 2008.



In regards to this event, the event photographer, John Aldrich, wrote a blog post on the blog of the Adopt-a-Native-Elder Foundation. After that blog post, I talked to my Journalism teacher about the event, and she asked me to write an editorial that later was published in the online Park Record as a guest editorial. They abridged it a bit, so I thought I would share the full version with you wonderful people.

Here goes it:

Stories That Are Felt, Not Read

“Ya' at' teeh, Grandmother,” I say, clasping her age worn hands between mine. This is how I started out my day of volunteering at the 24th Annual Navajo Rug Show, which occurred this past weekend from November 6th through November 10th at the Snow Park Lodge. I walked around the room, greeting each of these wonderful men and women in turn, and listening to the stories that they told with their hands. 
These men and women are the Elders in their small communities on the Navajo (Diné) Reservation, the largest Native American reservation in the country (it’s bigger than Belgium). They are the matriarchs and patriarchs of their family groups, and they provide for many generations of their families with their weaving, caring for their children, their grandchildren, and possibly their great grandchildren. Some of them, such as Carol Blackhorse, are as old as ninety nine (99), and they’re still weaving rugs with incredible skill and intricacy. They are amazing artisans, and even more amazing people.
Ever since I was in the first grade, I have been attending this marvelous hearth of culture. Every year I go to reconnect with the culture, and my “Grandmother”, Ruth Benally. People come from as far away as France to help support their Elders and to keep this beautiful tradition of weaving the soul onto a rug alive. After all, the average income of an on reservation Navajo is just under $6000 a year, and that barely pays for necessities like water, a rarity in the Arizona desert where most of them live, and firewood for heating their homes in the winter. 
I never really grasped how hard life on the reservation really is, but after actually getting to talk with the people who live on reservation, and seeing how excited they get over something as simple as Jell-o (they’re absolutely crazy about it), it has all become more real in my mind. Living in a harsh desert world with no running water, and only a rare occurrence of electricity, is something these people experience every day. They struggle endlessly to make ends meet, and, with a little help, they do. They make their art, whether it is rugs, jewelry, or baskets, and the amazing people at the Adopt-a-Native-Elder Foundation share it with the world. 

Elinda McKenna, director of the volunteer program at ANE, says, “the annual rug show provides a market for traditional Diné (Navajo) weavers and jewelers to sustain themselves and their families with the income they earn at the event. Rekindling our friendships and heart connections strengthens the bridge between our cultures.” These heart connections and friendships are very important, because these people have so much to share with us. They have this culture that involves intricate artwork unlike anything else in the world, and that’s something that we should cherish. They put their hearts and souls into these works of art so that each may tell one of their many stories. The least we can do is listen.

Hope you all liked it. Valete!