On Friday, April 21, Mom was the first one at the Gallery. She usually has been for the past 40 years. She would unlock the building, get the lights on, fire up the computer, and get the Gallery ready for business.

J.B. Moore purchased the Crystal Trading Post on Washington Pass in 1896 and ran it until he left the reservation in 1911. Washington Pass was later renamed Narbona Pass in honor of the Navajo leader who defeated a Mexican Army detachment invading Navajoland in the 1800s.

During the 1970s, we began to see Navajo weavings with more than one pattern. Some would feature two or three or more Navajo weavings woven within the borders of the main rug.

Some, like the Burnham area weavings, would include parts of different design elements from multiple weaving areas.

If you have heard one of my lectures, I talk about how people walk into the gallery and ask, "Do you have any real Navajo rugs?"

Many events in the world of Navajo weaving are coming up this year; we will keep you posted! The art of the Navajo loom is one of America's most significant expressions of creativity,  born of function and now recognized for the art it is.  

The Navajo and their cousins, the Apache, were known as the most accomplished mounted warriors in the Southwest. It wasn’t always that way.

Sometimes, when you’ve been around awhile, you forget everyone has their perspective on time.

One day a couple of years ago, a young man came to the gallery with two lovely Navajo rugs he had inherited from his grandfather. He was curious to learn more about them, and someone told him to ask me.

Spider Woman is not a Navajo Deity. The Holy Ones created her and Spider Man to weave the fabric of the universe. Today, the Navajo live in the Fourth world, called the "Glittering World."

There was a time in Navajo weaving when bright, colorful dyes created many wonderful and exciting patterns. It was almost like an explosion of joy when Navajo weavers were provided with colorful commercial yarns and aniline dyes.

Most people who know about Navajo weaving know about the Teec Nos Pos weaving area. The post is just southwest of the Four Corners, where the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet.

Yes, there is a day to recognize and celebrate Native American Heritage. It is the day after Thanksgiving. The month of November is Native American Heritage Month.

After the Navajo began to abandon the weaving of wearing blankets in favor of Pendleton Blankets and White man's clothing, there was a transition to weaving floor rugs.