News & Events

14TH ANNUAL SHEEP IS LIFE CELEBRATION
Rodeo Arena, Diné College, Tsailé, AZ, Navajo Nation
Celebrating the central role of sheep and fiber arts in cultures around the world.

Monday – Saturday, June 14 – 19, 2010

Monday-Friday, Navajo Fiber Arts and Lifeways.  One- to five-day classes. Workshop and materials fees apply. Classes and registration information will be posted on the web site by April.

9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Sheep to Loom. Free hands-on activities and presentations for the whole family. Sheep and Wool Shows. Vendor and Food Booths. Sales of sheep, wool, fiber, materials, and art. Navajo-Churro sheep exchange. Herd health, flock management, and shepherd training workshops. Premiere of international traveling exhibit on Navajo Sheep Culture.

3:00 – 8:00 p.m., Friday, Contemporary Fiber Arts Sale. Creative value-added products made from wool and other animal fibers. Open to all fiber artists.

3:00 – 8:00 p.m.Saturday, Juried Navajo Rug Show and Sale. Artists will be present. Weavings by Navajo artists from 100% sheep wool. Featuring rugs made with hand-spun, natural-dyed Navajo-Churro yarn. A night of magic, comedy, tradional and contemporary music.

Diné be’ iiná (The Navajo Lifeway) presents the 14th Annual Sheep is Life Celebration from June 14–19, 2010 at the Diné College Land Grant Program Facility in Tsailé, AZ, in the Navajo Nation. The Celebration is organized by Navajo sheep herders and weavers to honor the central role of sheep and fiber arts in the spirituality, philosophy, and daily
life of cultures throughout the world. Everyone is invited to participate. Bring tools, spindles, fibers, and creativity to share. Sheep is Life activities include: Workshops.

Logistics: The Celebration takes place at the new Land Grant Program facilities, adjacent to the Rodeo Grounds on the Diné College Tsailé campus, located in the Navajo Nation on the northeast rim of Canyon de Chelly. Tsailé is at the junction of Navajo Highways 64 and 12, approximately 30 miles northeast of Chinlé, the nearest town with hotels. Camping and RV parking is available on-site, adjacent to sheep pens and the show arena, which have a water hydrant and electric lighting.

Sheep is Life is co-sponsored by the Diné College Land Grant Program and funded in partnership with the USDA Risk Management Agency. DBI is a nonprofit, federally tax-exempt 501c3 corporation.

For more information: Diné be’ iiná, Inc., PO Box 683, Window Rock, AZ 86515,
505.406.7428; info@navajolifeway.org; www.navajolifeway.org
 

Cultural Demonstration Program 2010
National Park Service
Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano, Walnut Canyon

9:30am - 4:30pm, Saturday & Sunday, June 5 through Sept 5, 2010

The Flagstaff Area National Monuments (FLAG) Cultural Demonstration Program is set to begin June 5, 2010. The mission of the program is to bring local members of the affiliated tribes to the monuments to share their skills with park visitors. Through this interaction, visitors are able to gain a better understanding and insight to the connections present-day Native groups have to the three National Park areas. They are able to better understand the connections to the geology, archeology and the flora and fauna present at the sites as well as gain insight into the cultural perspectives of the local people.

Currently, members of the Hopi, Zuni, San Juan Southern Paiute, Hualapai, Havasupai, Western Apache, Yavapai and Dine tribes are being recruited to come and interact with our visitors and share some of the skills and techniques passed on through many generations. I am looking for a variety of artists: moccasin makers, potters, jewelers, weavers, etc.

Demonstrators must be able to speak to groups and have some knowledge of the monuments. Demonstrations will be held on the weekends starting June 5 and go through Labor Day. Demonstrators will be paid $150/day. Demonstrators will be allowed to sell what they are demonstrating. (For example, if a demonstrator is a weaver and a potter but is demonstrating pottery, pottery will be allowed to be sold but not the weavings.)

Demonstrations will be held on a rotating basis starting with Sunset Crater Volcano followed by Walnut Canyon and Wupatki. Demonstration times are 9:30-4:30. Demonstrators must bring their own tools and other necessary items for demonstration. The monuments will have a table and chairs. There are no eating facilities in the monuments so demonstrators will need to bring their lunch and snacks.

Space is limited and will fill quickly. If you are interested in taking part in the Cultural Demonstration Program or would like more information, please contact: Cecilia Shields, Cultural Demonstration Coordinator at (928) 526-0502, M-F, 9-5, or by email at cecilia_shields@nps.gov. 


 

Navajo Rug Weaving, Dying, History and Buying
with Dr. Jen McLerran
Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA)
3101 N. Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001

2 p.m., Saturday, June 12

This Insight Presentation is in conjunction with the 4th Semi-Annual Navajo Rug Auction.

Dr. McLerran, former curator at MNA and professor of art history and museum studies at Northern Arizona University, will share her knowledge of the tradition and art of Navajo rug weaving. Her most recent publications include A New Deal for Native Art: Indian Arts and Federal Policy 1933–1943, a study of Native American arts during the New Deal era, and Weaving Is Life: Navajo Weavings from the Edwin L. and Ruth E. Kennedy Southwest Native American Collection.

Admission is free with regular museum admission. Call MNA for more information: 928-774-5213.

77th Annual
Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture

July 2, 2010 (Member Preview)
July 3–4, 2010 (Public Festival)

The Oldest Hopi Art Show in the World

MNA’s Hopi festival was started by Museum founders Harold and Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton in an effort to encourage the survival of Hopi arts and crafts. The festival is now a tradition of Hopi families. Many of today’s artisans remember when they were children and assisted their parents at the Hopi festival. Now Hopis of all ages gather at this unique venue, not only to sell their wares, but also to have the chance to get to know the public better. More than 55 booths brim with fine arts and crafts. Visitors gain insight from carvers, painters, jewelers, potters, quilters, and basket and textile weavers against a backdrop of cultural presentations, storytelling, music, and dancing. Take a taste of Hopi bread or piki baked in outside ovens. Watch Hopi pottery being shaped, painted and traditionally fired. Walk the Museum’s Rio de Flag Nature Trail with a Hopi medicine woman. And take part in insightful discussions about the Hopi values of humility, cooperation, respect, balance, and earth stewardship.

The Hopi are descendants of the ancient Puebloan people whose cultural history is documented throughout the Four Corners region for thousands of years. The Hopi villages are located on mesas in northeastern Arizona. Traditionally Hopi are dryland farmers who specialize in the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. One purpose of Hopi religious ceremonies is to attract rain and snow to the mesas for the benefit of farming and all life forms. Hopi blue corn is adapted to the arid climate and plays an integral part in Hopi ceremonial life.

Admission is free with regular museum admission. Call MNA for more information: 928-774-5213.

 

61st Annual
Navajo Festival of Arts and Culture
Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA)
3101 N. Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001

August 6, 2010 (Member Preview)
August 7-8, 2010 (Public Festival)

A visit to the Navajo Festival is like traveling to the Navajo Nation. An authentic presentation of the Navajo “Beauty Way” philosophy of living in harmony is offered by more than 55 Navajo artists, storytellers, and cultural interpreters from many clans. Witness multi-generations of rug weavers working on traditional upright looms throughout the Museum. Diné Women’s presentation of rug weaving takes the audience on a journey from sheep shearing to weaving techniques and the meanings behind intricate rug designs. Enjoy hoop and traditional dancing, a retrospective fashion show, and ancient and modern Native music. Artists demonstrate jewelry, painting, beading, and pottery techniques. Cultural customs and ways families are using to keep traditions strong are discussed. Explore the tribe’s intricate language with a Navajo linguist and come to understand many ancient legends and traditions. Hike with a Navajo ethnobotanist and learn the Native uses of local plant life.


Navajo legend tells us that the Diné (the people) passed through three worlds before emerging into the present Fourth World or Glittering World. The Holy People placed four sacred mountains in four directions: Mt. Blanca in the East, Mt. Taylor in the South, San Francisco Peaks in the West and Mt. Hesperus in the North, creating the boundaries of Navajoland. Centuries ago, they also taught the Navajo how to live in harmony with Mother Earth and conduct the activities of everyday life. The traditional Navajo lifestyle was pastoral and focused on sheep and goat herding, as well as raising corn.

Admission is free with regular museum admission. Call MNA for more information: 928-774-5213.

Havasupai Ceremonial Dances
with James Uqualla and Havasupai Dancers
Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA)
3101 N. Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001

2 p.m., Saturday, September 18

The Havasupai people, Havsuw ‘Baaja or people of the blue green water, live in the beauty of Havasu Canyon. Orator James Uqualla and Havasupai dancers will share the Havasupai people’s efforts to preserve their land, and their determination to preserve their ancient cultural heritage and language through traditional dancing and ceremonial storytelling.

Admission is free with regular museum admission. Call MNA for more information: 928-774-5213.

 

Zuni Emergence and Migration History
with Curtis Quam and Jim Enote
Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA)
3101 N. Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001

2 p.m., Saturday, December 11

Zunis believe they emerged from Mother Earth within the Grand Canyon and migrated across the Colorado Plateau to Halona Idiwana’a or the Middle Place of the World, home of the Zuni for at least the last 1300 years. A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center Technician Curtis Quam, joined by A:shiwi A:wan director Jim Enote, will present “Zuni Emergence and Migration History,” beginning in the Grand Canyon, to European contact at the ancestral A:shiwi village of Hawikku, post contact history, arrival of the Americans, and finally to the influence of ethnographers, anthropologists, and archaeologists on the A:shiwi way of life. Accompanying images for this talk are from the A:shiwi A:wan exhibit Hawikku: Echoes from Our Past.

Admission is free with regular museum admission. Call MNA for more information: 928-774-5213.