Johnnie Bia, Jr., Diné College Psychology BA Intern, Office of Miss Navajo Nation
Blog #4: Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Series
Hi, everyone! It's Johnnie again! These past two weeks I have been exploring the connections between silversmithing and Diné Holistic Well-Being. I know that most sources believe that silversmithing was introduced by the Spanish and I am not one to refute history but here is what I have learned. Silversmithing is about forming and fabricating metals and minerals and Diné people were working with metals and stones long before the Spanish arrived. Its purpose included and still includes ceremonial, hierarchical, and aesthetic purposes. The Spanish did, however, offer us new ways of working with stones and metals, including tools, techniques, and designs. Atsidi Sani from Wheatfields is known to be one of the first Navajo silversmiths by trade in the 1800s. He was a blacksmith who transitioned into working with silver, sharing his talents with his sons.
As I look into the Diné holistic components of Navajo silversmithing, I reached out to Master Silversmith, Leonard Gene and Emerging Silversmith, Waycee Harvey for some guidance. Leonard is Tó'aheedli'inii, born for Bit’ahnii, his maternal grandfathers are Ashii'hi, and his paternal grandfathers are Hashk'a'a i Hadzohí. He is originally from Rock Point, AZ. Waycee is Tachinii, born for Kinyaa'áanii, his maternal grandfathers are Todichinii, and paternal grandfathers are Tlaashchii. He is originally from Many Farms, AZ. He is apart of the 2017-2018 NCAP cohort and learning silversmithing from Don Denetdeal and Wilson Aronilth, Jr. I also took advantage of revisiting previous blogs written by former NCAPers, Delia Wauneka and Carlon Ami, to understand how the process of silversmithing makes us holistically unique.
From a physical perspective, silversmithing builds your stamina; even if you think you have stamina - silversmithing proves you otherwise. Stamping,
soldering, sawing, and the dreaded buffing - it all takes a lot of endurance as you have prolonged sitting periods. Your back, hands, eyes, fingers, and neck will all be tested. But you will find that patience will be one of the greatest tests you'll have to pass, especially when you are learning how to use the tools. The very basic tools needed are a ball peen hammer, ruler, rawhide mallet, saw frame, scribe, saw blades, files, acetylene tank, pliers, and creativity. This was the shopping list that was given to Waycee when he first started learning how to silversmith. From that basic tool kit, a silversmith can build up their supplies depending on the specialization they select (or I could also say the specialization that selects them). Specializations can include everything from stamping, overlay, in-lay, lapidary work, sand casting, tufa casting, and so forth.
Leonard explained that silversmithing brings joy and happiness to other people when you present them with your artwork. To know that your creation is appreciated by others is a wonderful thing, especially when they pay you their hard earned money. He also added that the emotional celebration isn't just for those who receive your work. Emotionally, silversmithing brings an elated feeling to the silversmith too - particularly when you finish a project to your liking. Delia also explored this elation in her blog "Wauneka's Meldown." On a NCAP trip to Meltdown Studios, Delia challenged herself to learn different techniques like chemical and electric etching. She also desperately wanted to learn how to make her own beads. It was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster: "I watched as Lauren did her demonstration, yet I struggled with this project and I decided to put it aside. Later on the day, I confronted my own self-doubts and challenged myself to finish one bead. You know what… I did it! I am so proud that now I can say, 'I made my own bead'". Delia explained that her self doubts were over come by her persistence. This is what Leonard must have meant when he reminded me that when you complete a project, it uplifts your spirit and makes you respect yourself for what you have done.
Silver represents a positive way to think about life. For this reason, before you start working with silver, you have to think positively because if you
have negative thoughts or feelings it will show in your work. In this way, silversmithing helps individuals grow mentally by allowing those positive thoughts to become visual. Silversmiths are artists and as such they are gifted in a way that they can bring their visions to reality. However, the creation process can be mentally challenging and, as Leonard reminded me, there is a certain amount of mental toughness you have to have. Carlon also wrote of this toughness in his blog "Just Take It Apart and Put It Back Together": "Don't let convention limit you. If you can reasonably imagine it, you might be able to build it. If it doesn't work out, you can always melt it down later for casting material." At the end of the process, there is a sense of satisfaction for completing the puzzle and having your ideas all come together. But the mental challenges don't stop there. When your done buffing and publishing, Leonard explained, there is a motivation released that inspires you to make improvements on the next project.
Silversmithing can effect an individual spiritually as making jewelry is an extension of Diné culture. As Christine explained in her blog "NCAP Logo and Diné Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being," many of the gems and minerals that are used in silversmithing are used in our traditional ceremonies. White Shell, Turquoise, Abalone, and Black Jet stones have cultural values within them and they give us a sense of who we are as Diné People. They have the power to heal us when we wear silver or any of these stones. Additionally , when you are working with minerals and stones, it gives you another level of respect about what our culture means. With this understanding, you can have prayers done every now and then to help your work along and to keep you strong so you can continue your work with positive motivations. You can also sing songs while you’re working. It helps to stay connected with our traditional culture and values.
After speaking with Leonard and Waycee, reconnecting with Carlon and Delia's blogs, and sitting in on some of the NCAP silversmithing classes, I can begin to understand how silver work helps an individual’s holistic well-being. There are physical demands when working with silver, sacred stones and minerals but you get energy, stamina, and motivation from them as well. Silversmithing is an emotional journey, bringing joy to you and others when your work is completed, even amidst the self-doubt and frustration during the process. This cultural art helps your mind to focus on the positive, which in turn, helps maintain creativity within your work. Ultimately, silversmithing as a Diné individual evokes a spiritual feeling through the stories and history of how Navajo people have always had silver and the sacred stones. Silversmithing has many benefits for a person who wants to learn. It will give you as much as you want to give to it.
And with that said...
Christine Ami, Grant Manager, Navajo Cultural Arts Program
Blog #3: Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Series
If it has been a while for Crystal to write a blog - it has been even longer for me! And to be honest, I don't know if I have ever officially introduced myself. This is Christine. I am Tachiinii and the NCAP Grant Manager. Along with our NCAP staff, we are responsible for the inner workings of the grant - everything from recruitment for our Navajo Cultural Arts Certificate Program to the editing of blog pages submitted by our Apprentices.
Currently, I am working along side Crystal from Office of Miss Navajo Nation and Johnnie from the Diné College Psychology Program on this unique Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Blog Series. While Crystal and Johnnie are focusing on specific emphasis areas and their relationship to the cultural arts, I'll be posting on NCAP's perspectives of holistic well-being as well as ways for artisans to self reflect on how they can utilize a holistic approach in their own work. This week I'll be looking at our NCAP Logo and how it dialogues with Crystal's platform and Johnnie's research.
The NCAP logo was collaboratively created by graphic artist, Corey Begay, and the NCAP staff. We contacted Corey because of his work with Salina Bookshelf, Inc. and the reputation he created through his mural projects in Flagstaff. We were in search of a logo that embodied our mission - to enhance and revitalize traditional Navajo cultural arts practices while promoting intergenerational teachings. We wanted something recognizable that also emphasized the cultural arts specializations offered in our Certificate Program: weaving, silversmithing, moccasin making, and basketry. Corey was up for the challenge and sent us a few sketches. We selected one of his ideas that interwove elements of beauty and protection. His ideas meshed so well with our own that we could see the potential of the Program through his sketches. From that draft, Corey consulted Diné individuals and the NCAP staff brought in suggestions from the Center of Diné Studies' faculty members. This is what was created!
Ts'aa (the Navajo basket) is found at the heart of the logo - it represents our world and our travels through it. Weaving designs are placed strategically within and extending from the basket. The clouds, the mountains, and the cornstalk are key philosophical markers for Diné people, connecting us to our natural laws, our geographic settings and our corn stalk ways of life. The naja, or crescent pendent, serves as a protector as well as a reminder of our abilities to adapt and self-determine our future. The brown leather of the moccasin encloses the whole of the logo and ties us back to the earth.
Within the elements of the logo exists a ring of colors. These colors are not meant as a kitschy approach to culture nor is it a Panindian understanding of wellness. They are Diné philosophies encapsulated within our sacred stones - yoolgai, dootl'izhii, diichilí, dóó bááshzhinii. The NCAP understands them as the ontological (yoolgai - white shell), epistemological (dootl'izhii - turquoise), methodological (diichilí - abolone shell), and ethical (bááshzhinii - black jet) approaches to surviving this world in a balanced manner. These stones are at the base of the Diné holistic well-being framework presented by Crystal. When we work with these stones, we pull to us the physical health, emotional health, mental health, and spiritual health from which they stem. And when we work on our holistic well-being, we call upon these stones for guidance. This is how the relationship between the stones and well-being are reciprocal.
Without doubt the stones can function on their own independently. But when placed together, they become even more significant. This interlocked approach also applies to the areas of wellness. Physical health, emotional health, mental health, and spiritual health can be treated independently from one another. But when you look at the interconnections of these areas and nourish them together, an individual's potential to succeed in their endeavors becomes even greater. Johnnie's research, such as his blog on NAC peyote fans, aims to offer examples of how a cultural arts emphasis effects each of these Diné holistic well-being areas. And his work is quickly revealing how interconnected the cultural arts and holistic well-being truly are.
If you enjoyed this quick read today or for more information about the cultural arts and Diné holistic well-being, don't forget to.....
-Visit Miss Navajo Nation's website and her next 5K run in Tuba City
-Check-in with the NCAP blog - Next week's blog is on silversmithing!
-Apply for the 2018/2019 Navajo Cultural Arts Certificate Program :)
Johnnie Bia, Jr., Diné College Psychology BA Intern, Office of Miss Navajo Nation
Blog #2: Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Series
Ya’at’eeh. My name is Johnnie E. Bia Jr. My clans are Totshonii (Big Water) clan, born for Ma’iideeshgizhnii (Coyote Pass) clan, my maternal grandfathers are Hoonaghanii (One Who Walks Around) clan, my paternal grandfathers are Todichinii (Bitter Water) clan. I am originally from Dilkon, AZ, but I grew up at Canyon De Chelly. At Diné College, I am a Psychology BA student as well as as a Peer Mentor to Freshmen and Transfer students. As a part of my Internship for my Field Work Experience Course, I am working with Miss Navajo Nation 2017/18, Crystal Littleben to research the connections between Diné Holistic Well-being teachings and the Navajo cultural arts. This means that I am exploring how cultural arts help Diné people to improve themselves on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. This week I am focused on how Native American Church Peyote Ceremonial Fans help and heal an individual from a holistic perspective. To do so, I reached out to some friends and fan makers, Troy Uentillie and Jess Williams, in addition to my own experience making fans to help me better understand and explain this connection.
According to Troy and Jess, the physical process of working on feathers and making fans can help an individual increase their overall awareness, maintain their alertness, and assist them to approach scenarios with a positive caution. From a basic supply consideration - there is the monetary cost when working with feathers, especially because supplies can be expensive. With that in mind, you have to be careful about what you are doing so a planning component is essential.
But in addition to the monetary costs, the fan makers see this caution and awareness as it applies to our everyday - we have to be aware of our surroundings and the people we have around us. We can’t just trust anybody with the fan that we make because we put a part of ourselves into it. In this manner, and perhaps more importantly than the monetary costs, fan making teaches the maker to take care of themselves when we are working with feathers and beads. We have to eat the right kind of foods, and we have to take a break and move around from time to time. Otherwise it can get to our back and shoulders if we tend to sit there for long periods of time. That tension comes out in our work.
From a mental perspective, fan making teaches the maker how to focus. This cultural art trains your mind how to pay special attention to what you
are doing, what you are working with, what you have in your hands and how each of those actions can effect the other - positively and negatively. By having a positive mind set the fan maker can concentrate on what he/she is doing while working with beads and feathers. That concentration shows in the final product. Working on feathers and beads also helps to occupy and train the mind to the control your creative powers as you learn how to work with different colors and supplies to make these fans beautiful. But aesthetics aren't the only thing because you are putting your time and effort into something more powerful than looks. Instead of being somewhere else and getting into other things that are not good for you, the fan makers find themselves creating a tool for prayer. Fan making also helps you to be organized and maintain cleanliness with our supplies and feathers. Most of the time working with feathers and beads can get messy but with diligence, you learn to keep your work area and things in order. Otherwise, you will be misplacing things all the time, creating a chaos of the mind.
When making these fans, it helps a person emotionally. It teaches you how to be calm and patient with these craft work otherwise you will be frustrated when you work on feathers and beads. Being patient and calm is one of the techniques that you gain from fan making because you have to sit still and for a long time to finish. That patience is something that can be applied to all areas of our lives.
Another significant thing about working on fans is having the motivation to do the bead work and feather work. A person has to be feeling up to it and wanting to work on these things. They cannot be forcing themselves to do work on these things. If you force it, it will not turn out they right way. On the other hand, fan making allows for the maker to find happiness when they are complete with their projects, especially when the rightful owner sees it. The owner's happiness only builds to the makers own sense of happiness from how the fan turned out.
In a spiritual sense, these NAC ceremonial fans are not just something to mess around with - they all have a spirit within them. A person has to know protocols and stories when working with feathers from certain birds. Some of these birds have their own way and their feathers are living. No one truly knows what kind of power they have. For this reason, it is always helpful to ask someone such as a Roadmen, Medicine Men, Elders, and other people who know specifics about these ceremonial items. These NAC fans will be used around ceremonial settings and the fan maker must keep that in mind while making them. While there is a sense of pride when you are able to pray and utilize your work for prayer, it is also reinforcing your spiritual connection with the world as you put all the time, effort, thoughts, feelings, emotions, prayers, and songs into these prayer fans. This is especially true when it is your creation that moves a person, touching their minds and hearts. A person can get well just by looking at your beautiful artistic work, they look so deep into it that they can forget their worries, concerns, and sicknesses.
If you are interested - NCAP and the OMNN will be co-sponsoring a Feather Tying Workshop this summer as part of our Summer Weekend Workshop Series led by Troy Uentillie - so stay tuned! For more information about Diné Holistic Well-being, please visit Miss Navajo Nation Crystal Littleben’s website, her blog "Leading with Fire: Navajo Cultural Arts and Holistic Well-Being," and the NCAP blog!
Crystal Littleben, Miss Navajo 2017-2018, Office of Miss Navajo Nation
Blog #1: Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Series
Ya'at'eeh! It's been awhile... I know... but I hope my NCAP followers haven't forgotten me! This is Crystal, the former NCAP Project Coordinator and the current Miss Navajo Nation 2017-2018. Born in Tuba City, AZ twenty-six years ago, I was raised in Round Rock, AZ. I am of the Red House People Clan, born for the Coyote Pass Clan. My maternal grandfather is of the Deer Springs Clan and my parental grandfather is of the From Under His Cover People Clan. I graduated with at B.A. in Psychology from of Northern Arizona University with a minor in Native American Studies. After my reign, I do plan to return to NCAP as the Project Coordinator to continue my work, educating our Navajo people about our cultural arts and language. But in the meantime - during my reign - I have been afforded the opportunity to bring my personal, professional, and educational experiences to the forefront through my pageant platform - improving the holistic well-being of Navajo communities through Navajo cultural arts, stories, and language. Before addressing some of my current and future reign projects, I wanted to take a moment to explain my understanding of Diné holistic well-being.
The Diné Lifeway is integral to a person’s daily life - it is not something that lies outside of who we are or relegated to a certain time of day or specific location. Our lifeway is a holistic approach that not only influences how we think, plan, and behave, but it also explains why we make the decisions that we do. This framework, which includes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual components, has been applied to many areas of thought and teaching, including Diné College’s Educational Philosophy and the Navajo Nation Department for Self Reliance's Pathway to Self Reliance. Furthermore, they are deeply tied to an individual's thinking (nitsáhakéés), planning (nahat'á), doing (aadííliil), and growing (bee niisééldo). Each action coincides with cardinal directions, as well as ceremonial colors, mountains, and stones.
Preparing for the Miss Navajo Nation Pageant tested my abilities to follow this model and now I am implementing it as a pathway to holistic well-being for my reign. Starting in the east with our physical well-being, the Office of Miss Navajo Nation is building momentum as we continue working with and improving our emotional well-being in the south, mental well-being in the west, and spiritual well-being in the north.
With that approach in mind, the Miss Navajo Nation 5K Run Series, was one of my first initiatives to create Diné holistic well-being programming.
Beginning with the east, the morning of the planting season, my 5K Run Series incorporates physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual approaches to Diné well-being. Running can be a sacred practice for many cultures, and it most certainly is for Native communities, including our Diné Peoples. It is the motivating factor for running series like: HNCP's Just Move It Program, NHI's Running Medicine Events, and Diné College's Peer Mentor's Run Series to name a few.
The Miss Navajo 5K series shares their mission - that running can strengthen our Indigenous communities - and emphasizes that running can better themselves from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual perspectives. The Diné women’s puberty ceremony, for example, challenges our young women to run towards the east every morning as an act of physical endurance, emotional balance, mental strength, and spiritual connection. The participants of the Miss Navajo 5K series are asked to face these same challenges during their runs. Even in the manner that the runs have been planned out took into account the holistic geography. Beginning in an Eastern location (Sanders), the runs will follow circular path around the Navajo Nation (Dilkon, Tuba City, Shiprock, Tsaile, and Fort Defiance). Following this model, younger generations can experience how our well-being is interconnected within this framework and helps us remain in balance with ourselves and the physical and spiritual worlds.
In addition to physical exercise, I also utilize the Navajo cultural arts as a way to practice this pathway. The cultural arts, like silversmithing, weaving, basket making, and moccasin making to mention a few, require the artist to be physically prepared, emotionally capable, mentally apt, and spiritually attune in order to fully understand and produce quality and sacred work that has become to represent the Navajo people’s artistry.
I first became aware of these components as I picked up the art of silversmithing when I joined NCAP. Taking workshops and classes, I had to connect to my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual self in order to learn and practice with traditional stones, wool, tools, and designs. I found that when one was out of balance, I had difficulties concentrating, my designs wouldn't come quickly, and my work was rough and required extra filing. Some of my stressors included school pressures, family struggles, personal challenges, and even worrying about my puppies. Once I stopped avoiding my stressors and addressed those issues head on with the purpose of finding a solution, my work was directly impacted in a positive fashion. I gained confidence not only as silversmith but also as a Diné woman. While I understand that these pieces can be created without the cultural connections, I am seeking to better understand and support a holistic approach to the cultural arts.
In collaboration with the NCAP, the OMNN has created this Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Blog Series to showcase the importance of my platform. Over the next 6 weeks, we plan to release a blog that addresses one cultural arts emphasis and its holistic components each week. With help from the Diné College Psychology Bachelor of Arts Program, I have gained a PSY B.A. intern, Mr. Johnnie Bia, who has expressed an interest in learning more about Navajo Holistic Healing and the application of holistic healing in efforts that promote well-being. Mr. Bia will also be able to showcase the knowledge he learns through his hands on research by attending events hosted by Miss Navajo Nation and the NCAP. As a deliverable, Mr. Bia will share his experiences and newfound research through this Navajo Cultural Arts Holistic Well-Being Blog Series.
This summer, as our crops are growing, I will be conducting a Summer Weekend Workshop Series across the Navajo Nation with the NCAP to lead my community through holistic well-being model with cultural arts. More information will become available for these community-based workshops - Stay tuned!