15th Annual Sheep is Life Celebration Workshops

Monday through Friday, 20 – 24 June 2011

Diné College, Tsailé Campus, Navajo Nation

 

Register at www.navajolifeway.org.

Classes are open to all, including visitors from the USA and abroad.

All times are Mountain Daylight Time.

Learn how to work with Navajo-Churro sheep fiber in hands-on workshops with weavers, spinners, and pastoralists who practice traditional Navajo Lifeways in the heart of the Navajo Nation.  Spin, card, felt, and weave with Diné teachers and students and experience the unique qualities of Navajo-Churro wool.  Learn how every part of the sheep is used from shearing raw wool to humane butchering for food and making skin creams from sheep fat. Learn the Diné philosophy of tending plants, animals, earth, and people from teachers who know how to turn the Earth’s gifts into art, warmth, food, and sustenance.

 

>From Sheep to Loom:  Work with Fiber the Diné Way.

1.      Basic Navajo Weaving, Ilene Naegle.  Monday – Friday, 9-4

      Learn to weave on a traditional vertical loom and how to create patterns using different colors. Class is geared to those new to Navajo weaving. (5 days)

      Tuition and materials:  $430.  Loom rental: $30.

 

2.      Beginning Navajo Sash Belt, Gilbert Begay.  Tuesday – Thursday. 9-4

      Weave a Navajo Sash Belt and learn how to create a design using the floating warp method and Diné concepts of balance and beauty. (3 days)

      Tuition and materials:  $350.  Loom rental:  $30.

 

3.      Horse Cinch Weaving, Instructor TBA.  Wednesday – Thursday, 9-4

      Learn how to weave a horse cinch and create designs or striped patterns. Some weaving experience is required. (2 days)

      Tuition and materials:  $210.  Loom rental:  $30.

 


4.      Navajo Dyeing with Native Plants, Instructor TBA.  Wednesday – Thursday, 9-4

      Learn to recognize and collect native plant dyes in the field on Day One.  On Day Two, select at least three plants and learn to create dyes using different mordants and processes to obtain a range of colors with Navajo-Churro wool. (2 days)

      Tuition and materials:  $200

 

5.      Preparing Wool the Navajo Way, Ron Garnanez. Thursday, 1-5

      Learn to prepare raw Navajo-Churro wool for washing and processing and how to use natural ingredients from Dinétah, like yucca root and gypsum, for scouring and whitening. (1/2 day)

      Tuition and materials:  $110

 

6.      Navajo Basic Hand Spinning and Carding.  TahNibaa Naataanii.  Thursday, 9-4

      Card Navajo-Churro raw wool with a hand carder and learn how to spin wool using the Diné lap spindle.  Students will become familiar with the “z” twist, soft spinning, teasing the wool, and spinning the final product.  (1 day)

      Tuition and Materials:  $100.00

 

7.      Felting with Navajo-Churro Wool.  Thursday, 9-4

      Learn how to felt raw wool to make wall hangings, scarves, seamless hats, bags and clothing and whatever your imagination can create. Experiment with design application and learn how fibers bind together when agitated in water. (1 day)

      Tuition and materials:  $110

 

 

Explore Aspects of the Diné Pastoralist Culture.

8.      Butchering & Preparing Sheep, Ron Garnanez.  Wednesday, 8-5

      Watch and learn about Diné home butchering, the respectful way to slaughter, and how all parts of the animal are used. Learn how to remove the pelt, salt it, cut up the carcass, remove and prepare the organs, prepare specialty foods such as blood sausage, achíi (wrapped intestines), and different cuts of meat, then eat the results. (1 day)

      Tuition and materials:  $250

 

9.      Making Beauty Creams and Sun Screen, Ron Garnanez.  Thursday, 8-Noon

      Make beauty creams (cla’) from sheep fat and piñon pitch. Add red earth to make the Diné sun screen (chií), the special secret for keeping skin beautiful while spending all day herding sheep in the sun. (1/2 day)

      Tuition and materials:  $110

 

10.      Marketing and Business for Sheep Producers, Cindy Dvergsten.  Wednesday, 8:30-4:30

      Learn about marketing techniques and what it means to have a competitive edge. Explore the possibilities for value added products, wholesale and retail strategies, and how to develop local markets. Be introduced to basic budgeting and business planning strategies. Gain skill in identifying weak links and making action plans to move forward. (1 day)

      Tuition and Materials:  $50

 


11.      Grazing to Grow Pasture, Cindy Dvergsten.  Thursday, 8:30-4:30

      Learn how to practice managing animals to restore health to the land. Gain more understanding about how to avoid over-grazing, make best use of resources and overcome challenges. Gain valuable skills in how observe and evaluate land health through a guided land monitoring walk about. Hear how traditional Diné graze to grow pasture.  (1 day)

      Tuition and Materials: $50

 

For more information on the Sheep is Life Workshops, contact TahNibaa Naataanii, Project Director, 505.406.7428, info@navajolifeway.org; or Charleen Touchette, charleen.touchette@gmail.com.  Send mail to PO Box 683, Window Rock, AZ 86515. 

 

Register for workshops at www.navajolifeway.org and pay through paypal.  Or download and mail the Registration Form with payment in full to Diné be’ iiná, Inc. Register early to ensure your place in the workshops of your choice.

 

Cancellation Policy.  DBI will refund tuition minus a $45 administration fee if the registrant cancels on or before 20 April 2011.  DBI will refund 50 percent of tuition for cancellations made between 21 April and 28 May 2011.  No refunds will be made after 28 May 2011; however, the registrant may convert the tuition amount into a donation to DBI. 

            If DBI cancels a class, all tuition and materials fees will be refunded, which is the only amount for which DBI will be liable.

 

Contribute to the Sheep is Life Workshop Tuition Fund.  Help pass on and strengthen Diné weaving traditions by making a tax-deductible donation to DBI’s tuition waiver fund for Diné youth, parents, and elders.  Donations enable Diné students who do not have access to these teachings within their own families or communities to learn and pass on these skills by taking a workshop at Sheep is Life.  Diné be’ iiná, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization; donations are tax-deductible as provided for in the federal IRS Code.

 

Free Celebration Events on Friday and Saturday.  Everyone is invited to participate in free Celebration events on Friday and Saturday, 24-25 June 2011, at the Diné College Rodeo Grounds, Tsailé Campus.  Please check www.navajolifeway.org for the detailed Celebration schedule and updates.  Remember that the Navajo Nation goes on Mountain Daylight Savings time, as does New Mexico and Arizona.  The rest of Arizona remains on MST. 

 

Travel and Lodging Information. Maps and links are at www.navajolifeway.org

Celebration Headquarters are at the Rodeo Grounds, Diné College, Tsailé Campus.  Free primitive tent camping and RV parking are available at the Rodeo Grounds adjacent to sheep pens and the show arena.  No hook-ups are available.

 

Hotels, motels, and campgrounds are available in Chinlé, Window Rock, and St. Michaels.  Be sure to make reservations early as summer is a very busy time.  Links to hotels are on the web site.  Check listings for hogan bed and breakfast opportunities. 

 

The Diné College Tsailé Campus is located off of Highway 64, west of the junction with Highway 12, on the north rim of Canyon de Chelly.  Link to maps on the web site.