My Father loved Navajo pictorial rugs. Of course, he loved almost any Navajo rug, but the pictorials held a special place in his heart.
I am not talking about some of the incredible art pieces weavers like Isabel and Geanita John wove or the beautiful works of Florence Riggs, Jane Hayden, and the Nez Family of weavers from north of Tuba City. Of course, these are amazing pieces and he appreciated them. He helped to make a film back in the 1990s with Isabel and Geanita explaining and demonstrating their work.
But his favorite ones were the small, unique folk art style pieces. They were not expensive, but they were always what he described as genuine expressions of Navajo life. A weaving of the Four Corners power plant with its coal-burning stacks putting smoke in the air might not be for everyone, but for him, it was a picture of how they viewed the landscape around their home.
One of his favorites was a Navajo scene with an airplane flying across the sky above it. After the weaver had left, I asked him what the white round thing in the sky of the weaving was. The plane was flying off the rug on one end, and the white dot was on the other side of the sky.
He had missed it for some reason and said he’d ask the weaver when she returned. He put it in his office, where he kept his collection of favorite pictorials. When the weaver returned a month later, he pulled it out and asked her what it was. She replied, “That’s the man with the money.”
Some of you may remember when D.B. Cooper hijacked an airplane and demanded a backpack full of cash. After the plane was airborne, he parachuted out, and no one has ever found him. The weaver felt that he had left the plane over the Navajo Reservation!
My sister and I grew up with the same appreciation for these small weavings. They often don’t meet the qualifications that would win them a ribbon at the Gallup Ceremonial, but they always bring a smile to your face. Sometimes, one of the top weavers we work with will make a small pictorial just for fun! Laverne Barber, one of the Burnham family weavers, is an example.
Recently, we picked up a collection of these small pieces from a collector in Denver. When you find these older pieces, they are sometimes attributed to a weaver, but usually not. As with Laverne’s rug, they are occasionally woven with hand-spun wool. More commonly, they are commercial yarns or a mixture of both. Once in a while, you even find one made with acrylic yarn.
I consider these weavings Navajo folk art. They lighten up the mind and put a smile on your face!
