Jackson Clark is the owner of Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango, Colorado, and he conducts the Autry’s yearly Navajo rug auction, which this year was held in June. We discovered this “detective” story in his newsletter, and reposted it here with his permission.
By Jackson Clark
Toh-Atin Gallery
You can’t make this stuff up! Perhaps you saw our newsletter yesterday about the large Ganado red “snowflake” design weaving that we have on consignment. These designs are unusual, but we recently received another really nice such weaving. One of our good clients and a real supporter of the gallery called, saying he had “too many rugs,” and asking if we could sell a couple for him. I don’t think it is possible to have too Navajo many rugs, but I told him we’d be happy to help him.
Joann Sakiestewa’s signature on the mystery rug. Photo courtesy Jackson Clark.
One was a beautiful small snowflake design with the initials JS in the corner. He had written the name of the weaver down as Joann Sakiestewa. For those of you familiar with Southwestern Indian tribes, you will recognize that name as Hopi. In fact, there is a wonderful artist and weaver by the name of Ramona Sakiestewa that I’ve known for years from her shows in Santa Fe, NM.
But she doesn’t weave Navajo rugs! And Hopis and Navajos have sort of a history of not getting along. This weaving was obviously made by a Navajo and I was intrigued. I searched the reference books looking for a Navajo weaver with that name and had no luck. I called several traders and no one could remember a weaver by that name.
The rug in question. Photo courtesy Jackson Clark.
I tried the Internet but couldn’t find any reference to the weaver. Then I found some videos featuring Hopi life that had been put up on YouTube by a Joann Sakiestewa. Very interesting, but there was nothing to indicate she was a weaver and there was no contact information for her. I decided that if she did YouTube videos, maybe she would show up on Facebook. I put her name in the search bar. Well, right in the middle of about 30 Sakiestewas, there was a Joann. I went to her page, but because I was not a “friend” I couldn’t really tell much about her. So, I saw a button that said “Messages” and I pushed it. You can tell I’m a long way from an expert at this social media stuff!
A window opened. I told her who I was and why I was trying to find her and I pasted a photo of the weaving in the message. I sent it and thought that maybe the next day, I might hear something back. Bingo! Not two minutes later, a chat window opened on the screen and she typed, “Wow! That’s mine!”
It turns out that Sakiestewa, who said she married into Hopi, was raised in Many Farms, AZ, and learned to weave from her mother. She sent me a photo of her mom with a rug. It was beautiful and I could see where the daughter got her inspiration. She then sent me several other photos of weavings she had made years ago, including one with her grandson holding onto the rug in question. She remembered selling the weaving at Hubbell Trading Post, which is where our client purchased it.
Tsuyouma, Joann Sakiestewa’s grandson, with the rug while it was still being made. Photo courtesy Joann Sakiestewa.
“My grandson is eight now, so that rug is eight years old,” Sakiestewa said. “My grandson’s Hopi name is Tsuyouma which means ‘carrying snake,’ which was given to him by his paternal aunts during a baby-naming ceremony.”
Sakiestewa, who now lives in Hotevilla in the Hopi reservation, said she quit weaving about the time he was born because it was hard to keep track of what she was doing and also help take care of her grandchildren. The last thing she wove was a “NavaHopi” dress for her granddaughter. I told her that she is a very talented woman and suggested she is really too good of an artist to quit. I asked if she has taught her children to weave. She hasn’t, but her grandson weaves Hopi belts and sashes. I told her I hoped she would keep in touch and make me a “friend” on her Facebook profile. She promised to do so.
It just struck me as ironic that I could sit down at a computer, knowing nothing about a woman that weaves beautiful art, and, through Facebook, I could actually make contact with her inside of an hour’s time. We are both grandparents and both of us are challenged by social media, but from the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, I was able to learn about and meet a wonderful artist in Arizona.
Twenty years ago, electricity was questionable on the Hopi mesas. Today, using modern technology, we connect about an art form that is hundreds of years old. Sakiestewa thanked me for encouraging her and said she was going to start spinning for her next project. I am sure she will. This was a great experience of merging the old with the new!
Join us at the Autry for our American Indian Arts Marketplace November 9 and 10, with more than 180 of the best Native American artists displaying art from painting to jewelry to sculpture to textiles. Our Navajo Rug Auction, in partnership with Toh-Atin and Jackson Clark, takes place in April 2014.
