October is my natal month. As I’ve done for a few years now, this October I’ve treated myself to a new rug made by a Navajo elder, through the Adopt-A-Native-Elder program.
Some years ago, while googling the cast of Into The West, a TNT historical miniseries about several generations of two families, one Lakota and one white, I came upon actor Jay Tavare’s* website and that’s how I discovered the Adopt-A-Native-Elder program, and their online rug catalog.
My heart was tugged. I bought a rug.
All proceeds from these beautiful rugs go directly to the elder who created them. My first two rugs were accompanied by a photo of the weaver.
Alice’s hands
Mary’s hands
My newest rug, made by weaver Sally Yazzie
*Jay Tavare is a spokesperson for this
non-profit program that helps support Navajo
elders in Utah and Arizona who choose to live traditionally.
Visit the Adopt a Native Elder site
Check out the online rug catalog
I've never heard of this site. How intriguing! I'll have to check it out.
I found the White Earth Land Recovery Project & Native Harvest through an article about their yearly rice harvest, with recipes, in a magazine I recently subscribed to, Midwest Living: nativeharvest.com. The description of how they harvest the rice and what this grain means to them economically and spiritually was very interesting. I'm going to get a supply of their rice as soon as I have a few extra coins on hand.
Let me know what you think of the rug catalog. I've been extremely happy with their service. They send the rug very quickly and they have all been as beautiful, or more so, than the photo in the catalog.
That's interesting about the rice. I had researched that for Kindred, years ago, and still have images of the people in canoes, beating the rice stalks so the grains fall into the canoe. Does that sound right? It's been a long while since I did that research.