I just knew that I wanted to create, even if it was something for myself and a small group of friends, I wanted to release these thoughts and visions that I have has for so long. My culture has been on my mind and I often think about my ancestors and where our people have journeyed throughout the years.
Being Diné living in the modern world, I think to myself, are we not also modern people? Certain voices in our community call on us to return to tradition and the ways our great grandmothers and grandfathers once lived. In this world, I never consider maintaining tradition because our culture is all that we are and ever will be. I imagine a community isolated from the rest of the world, and a place where our language never wavered and where our artists, warriors, and medicine people guide our path. Compared to today's reality, somehow that world feels more modern than what we have right now.
After one year I have a lot of my mind. Returning home and reconnecting with my family has been priority for me. It has been so long since I've seen members of my own family. I want to respect and protect them, so I recognize that coming back in the middle of a pandemic may not be the best right now.
Ever since I lost my parents in 2007, my extended family has not felt the same. Years later as an adult, I understand more about my parents and the struggles they faced. Coming out into the world, seeking happiness, honoring family, and having fulfillment is surprisingly very difficult.
But I think there is something that will always remain. Our kinship. I had the great pleasure of reconnecting with uncles and aunts I have not heard or seen in years. Somehow memories I had as a child come flooding back. Now as an adult I see my family not as superhuman figures but as strong and brave as they maintain peace, seek out happiness, and celebrate each other.
Perhaps that is what is meant by return to tradition. It is not a call for the tangible and physical manifestations of our culture (which has transformed over the years), but instead is a call to return home and connect with our community. If that is tradition, then I am wondering how we ever strayed from that path of harmony.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I appreciate that you take the time to follow Hashké and for that I am grateful.
]]>For my introductory collection, I focused on the theme of maintaining mental harmony, one of the tenets of Navajo thinking. I reflected on the experience of walking alone at night on the northern edges of the Navajo homeland.
As Navajo people, we believe that our thoughts have great power and contribute to how we interact with the world around us. We aim to live a life centered in beauty and positivity; we live connected with our world and those around us. In the Navajo language, we call our life in balance hózhó.
The world is complicated and always tests the balance of our thoughts. Our personal well-being is affected when disharmony in our thoughts comes from ourselves or others, usually in the forms of envy, jealousy, rage, anxiety, depression, and self doubt.
I looked to this theme for the collection not to be melancholy, but to share the idea of journeying forward when surrounded by self-doubt. Driving at night or walking at night by yourself can be lonely and feel petrifying. As kids you hear your parents say not to wander far at night or something will snatch you and take you away. As an adult I reflect on what this meant. Maybe it wasn't a physical beast that was going to come, but the beast of the unknown creating disharmony in your thoughts and stealing away your well-being.
The materials in this opening collection reflect on these themes. The colors represent the land and sky transitioning into darkness across the northern regions of the reservation: off whites of aspen trees, deep blues of the night sky, transitioning colors at sunset, canyon walls as the shadows change, and tall pine forests creating a veil of shadow. Each piece has a story and I invite you to learn about each item as I share one aspect of the Navajo experience.