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Sarah Natani's 2010 Navajo Weaving Workshop Schedule
Click each date for detailed information

July 26 - 30, 2010
Woodland Woolworks, Carlton Oregon
Lora Rinke, (503) 628-4593, rinksters@earthlink.com

September 20 - 24, 2010: Table Mesa, New Mexico
Kathleen ( 831) 335-2554, kburnham527@gmail.com

Click here for an archive of Sarah Natani's Navajo Weaving workshops in prior years

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Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:27:58 -0800
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Subject: Lora Pirtle Rinke invites you to the event "Navajo Weaving Workshop with Sarah Natani"...

Lora invites you to "Navajo Weaving Workshop with Sarah Natani" on Monday, July 26, 2010 at 9:00am.

Event: Navajo Weaving Workshop with Sarah Natani
What: Workshop
Start Time: Monday, July 26, 2010 at 9:00am
End Time: Friday, July 30, 2010 at 4:00pm
Where: Woodland Woolworks, Carlton Oregon

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=100000547369627&k=Z6E3Y5R6R4XNY1CJPB63QTQZSSDEZY2NUWFUG1SOV2
&oid=287047821128

For more information, contact Lora Rinke,  (503) 628-4593,  rinksters@earthlink.com

Dates: September 20 - September 24, 2010
Fee: $385
Deposit (not refundable after thirty days of receipt): $200 due no later than August 1, 2010

Lab/Materials fee: $75 payable to Sarah Natini. $10 loom rental fee unless you bring your own loom. Returning students: contact Kathleen. If experienced weavers want to learn advanced techniques like twill, there is an additional $50.00 fee.

DEPOSITS CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE REFUNDED
AFTER AUGUST 31, 2010

Make checks payable to SARAH NATANI
Date the check September 1, 2010
Mail checks to:

Kathleen Burhnam 155 Oak Avenue Felton, CA 95018

Please call Kathleen at 831-335-2554 before mailing your deposit. You can also E-mail Kathleen at kburnham527@gmail.com

The remainder of the workshop fee ($185), materials fee, and loom rental fee is payable on the first day of the workshop.

We ask that you do not bring family members, friends, or pets to this workshop.  This event at Table Mesa is for weaving participants only. There will be occasional interruptions during the workshop to facilitate field trips to trading posts, collection of native dye plants, and visits from Navajo friends and artisans who may bring various items for sale. Please be respectful of the Natani family and the Navajo culture during your stay at Table Mesa.

When the time draws near for the workshop, you will be sent a list of materials and camping supplies to bring and directions to the Natani's.

Announcement of 2010 Table Mesa Weaving Workshop

(This note received from Sarah Natani is intended for those students interested in her Navajo weaving classes .) I am a Navajo Native American. I teach Navajo Weaving which comprises of preparing raw wool, washing, carding, spining, applying vegetable or commercial dye. The classes consist of instructions on setting up the loom, warping, use of proper weaving tools and wool for the various type of weaving. Applying various type of designs into the weaving, such as the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal pattern. The class also includes some Navajo Native American Cultures pertaining to weaving which are passed down in the Navajo Culture. Students are urged to obtain Navajo pre-spun wool and warp which are available. If you cannot get into these classes, and still interested in taking Navajo Weaving class, write to me and we can set some arrangement. Sarah Natani P.O. Box 4121 Shiprock, New Mexico 87420 (505) 368-4906 Send an e.mail to Sarah Natani.  It will be redirected to TahNibaa L. Naataanii

Personal
Note
from
Sarah
Natani

COMING FULL CIRCLE -
A RETURN TO THE WEAVER'S WORKSHOP

The Table Mesa Workshop with Sarah Natani is returning to the focus it has had in the past. It is a workshop for weavers who desire to learn or improve on the Traditional Navajo style of weaving.

I am a volunteer coordinator for this workshop. I believe an introductory letter would be beneficial for the Natani family, for ourselves, and especially for potential workshop registrants so that the purpose of the workshop is clear: this is a weaver's workshop, not a convenient excuse to take a friend and vacation in the southwest. The Natani family has graciously extended to us an opportunity to learn to weave in the Navajo style while living on their land, hearing their stories, and experiencing firsthand the conditions under which they have endured and produced their beautiful weavings, jewelry and pottery.

View of the small, original hogan and distant outhouse

This workshop may not be for everyone. The weather can be quite harsh, with cold winds, rain and lightning storms. There is a hogan with the traditional dirt floor and coal burning stove that can sleep approximately six people comfortably. We recommend driving to New Mexico in a vehicle you can sleep in, as tents have been known to blow over in the soft, sandy dirt. The bathroom facilities consist of one outhouse, which is shared by all of the weavers. If you feel you must have a shower, you can bring a solar shower bag and hang it in the outdoor shower stall. You are responsible for your own breakfast and lunch, which you may prepare in the hogan or at your vehicle or tent. I prepare dinners for the workshop participants, the Natani family, and guests, and are eaten in the Quonset hut or, weather permitting, in the brush arbor. When the wind dies down and the weather is sunny and warm, flies are abundant. This is camping, not resort living. We live as the Navajo live(d), however briefly and superficially, and in this way we develop an appreciation for their accomplishments, their enduring dignity, their grace and beauty in the face of adversity, and we come away with the glow of the southwest sunsets in our hearts.

Originally, all the weavers slept, ate and wove in the Natani's first hogan. This was how the Navajo families lived, and this was how the workshop participants lived. Eventually, as the workshop evolved, people began varying the sleeping arrangements, the meal preparation was pared down to one communal meal a day, and Sarah and Leo graciously allowed the weavers into their own larger hogan at night so they could continue weaving, carding and spinning, and to just relax and talk. To avoid misunderstandings that might exploit the Natani's personal generosity or offend their cultural heritage, what is--and is not--allowed needs to be very clear to every potential registrant BEFORE the deposit checks are sent in. Sharing the incredible beauty and variety of experiences at Table Mesa provides the workshop members with a very real and tangible sense of common purpose and focus.

I look forward every year to returning to Table Mesa and visiting with the Natani family. The sunsets and sunrises are spectacular. The wide, vibrant sky is filled with fluffy white clouds against an unbelievably blue background or millions of tiny stars that go on and on, and the rush and pull- and-tug of civilization quickly fades to the rhythms of a simpler life. The field trips to the trading posts, especially Two Grey Hills Trading Post, are fun and a great diversion and treat after laboring all day with the intricacies of Navajo weaving. There are opportunities for trips into town on your own after the end of the day's workshop activities. This is a wonderfully fulfilling workshop if you can give yourself up to it and not have unrealistic expectations.

I encourage anyone with a desire to learn about Navajo weaving and the Navajo culture, and who can laugh at a few minor discomforts, to sign up for the Table Mesa Workshop with Sarah Natani. It is an experience you will not likely forget.

Click here to download a PDF image of this page, "Coming Full Circle."

Sarah Natani's Navajo Weaving Workshops
Click here to see workshops in prior years

Sarah Natani's 2009 Navajo Weaving Workshops:

June 22 - June 26: Chuska Mountain Sheep Camp Retreat
    Lora Rinke, (503) 628-4593, rinksters@earthlink.com

July 20 - July 24: Beginning Navajo Weaving Workshop, Carlton, Oregon
    Lora Rinke, (503) 628-4593, rinksters@earthlink.com

September 28 - October 2:  Table Mesa, New Mexico
    Kathleen ( 831) 335-2554, vernonst@pacbell.net

October 26 - 30: Black Forest, Colorado
    Debra Greer, (719) 499-3874, deb.j.greer@gmail.com

November 15 - 20: Columbia, Missour
    Carol Leigh Brack-Kaiser: (573) 874-2233,
    CarolLeigh@HillcreekFiberStudio.com

Sarah Natani's 2008 Navajo Weaving Workshops:

May 19-23, 2008 at the Eugene Textile Center, Eugene,  Oregon
June 9 - 13, 2008 at The Mendocino Art Center in California
September 22 - 26, 2008 at Table Mesa

Sarah Natani's 2007 Navajo Weaving Workshops

May 7 -11, 2007 at Table Mesa, New Mexico
June 18-22, 2007 at Mendocino Art Center
July 23-27, 2007 at Silver City, NM
September 24-28, 2007 at Table Mesa

Sarah Natani's 2006 Navajo Weaving Workshops

September 25 - 29, 2006 at Table Mesa, New Mexico
September 11 - 15, 2006 at the Mitchell Museum, Trinidad, Colorado
August 28 - Sept. 1, 2006 at the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Blanding, Utah