Last Friday we went to our District meeting in Crownpoint, New Mexico. We drove our van which holds us and Elder and Sister Long and Elder and Sister Bouwhuis very comfortably. In the picture above you will see Elder Bouwhuis in the row behind Elder Grimmett and Elder Long is in same row on his left. The Bouwhuis Elder and Sister are our close neighbors here in St. Michaels. They are serving as MLS/garden missionaries as are the Longs. Coincidentally, the Longs served a mission with the Days (Mark and Pat) last summer. Pat Day is our own Pat Macey/Coloca. The Days are now serving as site missionaries in San Diego at the Mormon Batallion Visitors Center. The Longs live in Sawmill out on the rez, which isn’t too far away from us. The long drive to Crownpoint is more fun when we go together.
The picture above was taken while we were waiting for the Navajo Weaver Women’s auction to begin. After our district meeting, followed by a nice lunch at the Navajo Technical College cafeteria, we walked over to the high school where the auction was to begin in an hour or more. We wanted to be early to snag chairs and also to look the rugs over. In the hallways of the school many vendors had set up their wares so that is why you just see the Elders holding down the chairs.
The Navajo Weavers Association was started 40 or so years ago when one woman became incensed because the women spent so much time and work on the rugs but weren’t being honestly dealt with by traders who would buy a rug for maybe $200 and then sell it for $5,000. She thought of having an auction where the money bid on the rug went directly to the weaver and thus these auctions began. At the beginning all of the weavers stood up so we could give them a good appreciation applause and each rug has attached on the back the name and location of the weaver who created it.
If you do the slide show above you can see the two rugs we bought. The prices are shocking at first, but when you think of the work and the artistic ability of the weaver, it makes more sense. Also on the slide show are a couple of unique pots made from clay and horse hair. Elder Grimmett fell in love with them immediately and I fell for the story rugs that had sheep in them so we both came home happy and $200 poorer, but rich in wonderful memories. I hope all the district meetings aren’t followed by auctions or we may have to sell the farm.
