Featured Stories

Beware the Bear

By Lillian Bowe, Interpretive Ranger, Bosque Redondo Memorial

September 2024

Respect for a person or thing does not mean they are loved. You can respect something and know that it is important, but that does not mean that you must like it. This describes the relationship between the Ndé and the bear. A healthy respect for a potentially dangerous animal is needed and it would assist in the tribes’ survival. If a child was not taught to fear the bear, it could try and get close to the animal and get killed. Most folk tales are lessons to teach people what to avoid and what is right. For the Ndé, the bear is to be avoided, but the bear is more than that. 

Some of Ndé’s stories of the bear cast it as a villain along with the snake and owl. The bear represents a dangerous power that should be avoided. Some of the Ndé believe that bears are reincarnated ghosts of criminals according to James Haley in his book, “Apaches: A History and Culture Portrait.” This is not the belief of all, as the bear could also be a reincarnation of deceased relatives. Because of these views, bear hunting and consuming bear meat is prohibited. The only time a bear can be killed is in self-defense, but it should be done as far away as possible, and the remains should be left alone. Amelia Naiche, Ndé said, “And they have a respect for it. And that’s why they don’t eat the meat.” The bear was basically left alone as it was safer to leave the bear than to blatantly ignore the creature. The Ndé are very connected to animals, but this does not mean they find that all animals inherently good or evil. 

The animals of Ndé culture are multidimensional, as they have different motives and are not clear in intention. The many stories told of the animals never fully make one species a villain nor a hero. The bear is a great example of this dichotomy. One story, told by Asa Daklugie, Ndé, has the bear as the antagonist. Daklugie tells the story of Botillo, who went hunting alone and made the mistake of setting down his gun while drinking from the river. A grizzly bear attacked the man, and he could not reach his gun. He had to fight back with his physical strength and a butcher knife. He finally overcame the bear and killed the animal. The body of the bear was left at his site. The next story has the bear as a hero who takes revenge for those who can’t. Gladys Scott Cojo, Ndé, retold the story of her former sister-in-law who was married to a Tonto Apache. Her husband was physically and emotionally abusive, which prompted her family to rescue her. During her escape, her husband came home early and started to chase her. She ran to the top of the ridge where she was met by a grizzly bear below her. Knowing bears could be the spirit of her ancestors, she asked the bear to help her. “You might be my grandfather or his sister. I am in trouble with that man. He is bad to me. He is very cruel. He beats me. He makes me a prisoner in the tipi. Please don’t let that man get me. Catch him, please. Don’t kill-just stop him from following me,” said the woman. The bear turned away from the woman and the woman continued to run. While running she heard a scream in the distance which she learned later was her husband. Her husband was not killed by the bear but had his hands mangled, his gun broken, and according to Cojo, his spirit broken. The bear stopped the man from finding his wife, which probably saved her life. 

Ndé stories about bears are often personifying. The bear can attack and kill a whole village, yet in the next story, it can save individuals. Many Ndé stories do not clearly say who is a villain and who is the hero, unlike many Diné stories. The bears of the Diné are separated by species with the grizzly being evil, while the black bear is a healer and a guide. The bear of the Ndé cannot be pigeonholed. It might kill you or it might kill your enemies.

The Long Walk Weaving by Lynda Nez, Diné

Spirits in Weaving 

By Lillian Bowe, Interpretive Ranger, Bosque Redondo Memorial

May 2024

Weaving for many people in the modern age is either a hobby or a way to make a living. For the Diné (Navajo), weaving has many meanings, intertwined with the core of their culture—it is art, it is used to support families, and it also has ties to ceremony, storytelling, and practical uses. The skill of the Diné in weaving is world renowned and this could be because of the care and dedication the weavers have for the art. Many modern weavers continue to prepare their own yarn using wool from the sheep they raise. It is a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation and continues to be taught. A question worth exploring is: where did their style of weaving come from?

Some Diné claim that they have always had sheep and knowledge of weaving thanks to the Holy People. This claim has been widely dismissed by historians and archaeologists who assert that sheep only became a part of their culture when they arrived with the Spanish and that, because of the significance of the Navajo Churro to Diné culture, they were added into their history as always having been there. However, the Diné people have shared through oral histories and their own research, how their claim of always having sheep is, in fact, true. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the sheep native to the American Southwest was the Bighorn Mountain sheep. The Bighorn sheep, sometimes called the sheep of the Holy People, while not domesticated, were very much present in Dinétah. The Diné would hunt them for their hides, horns, meat, and sinew. Their wool, which the sheep shed naturally each year, was collected, and used. According to Diné traditions, the Holy People promised that someday the Diné would be given sheep of their own, that would live among them and that they could care for. In one version of the history, the churro sheep were given and then taken away because the people became prideful and unappreciative and were told the sheep would return when the people were ready. In another, this promise was not fulfilled until the arrival of the Spanish Churro.

From other Diné perspectives, it is believed that the Diné did not start weaving until sheep were introduced into North America by the Spanish. Oral histories are passed from family to family, so there are differences in the stories, but this article will refer to the story told by Lois Duncan in the children’s book The Magic of Spider Woman. The story starts with the protagonist, Wandering Girl. Wandering Girl was the shepherdess for the Diné when they first were created. While her tribe was learning about how to live by Spirit Being in the summer, Wandering Girl was busy with tending to her flock. The tribe were taught how to hunt, farm, and build their hogans while Wandering Girl was in the mountains with her sheep. Soon winter arrived and the tribe huddled in their warm hogans. Wandering Girl descended the mountain with her herd expecting to see her tribe, but they were not outside in the cold. Wandering Girl, confused and cold, cried out for help to survive the winter weather, for she did not have a hogan of her own. Spider Woman answered the cry and offered to teach the girl how to shear her sheep, transform the wool into yarn, and then weave it. Spider Woman’s husband created the loom and soon Wandering Woman became Weaving Woman. As seen in the story, weaving began as a survival skill for the tribe, but the story of weaving in the tribe and the Weaving Woman continues.

Like many arts and crafts, it evolved. Historically, Diné picked up the skill of weaving in the 17th century. According to an article by Mads Jakobsen about the history of Diné weaving, it is known that the Puebloans did introduce the vertical loom to the Diné and thus started the early period of weaving. The story of Weaving Woman explains her first weavings were all natural colors of the sheep she herded which are the Navajo Churro sheep. The colors were brown, black, white, tan, and grey and her creations were basic in design. The Spider Woman warned the Weaving Woman of spending too much time weaving and to remember balance in all things. At first the Weaving Woman took the words to heart and only weaved for a set period. However, the Weaving Woman began to experiment with colors and patterns, and it consumed her life. She wanted to create the perfect weaving with every color known to man. Weaving Woman continued to weave, neglecting her husband and her other duties. Then one day her husband found her paralyzed next to the loom and he was unable to wake her. The reason Weaving Woman was paralyzed was because she weaved her spirit into her weaving, and she was stuck. The Spider Woman warned her to keep her life in balance, but the Weaving Woman put her whole life into the weaving. A solution to free her spirit was to make an imperfection in the weaving, and so a thread was pulled near the border and the Weaving Woman’s spirit went back into her body. The lesson now learned, the Diné continue to place a spirit line in their weavings. As the story imparts, weaving is very spiritual for the weaver and is interwoven to their art, but not so connected they get lost in the beauty. An imperfection reminds the weaver that they are human and not above others in skill. The periods of history in the style of blankets mirrors the Weaving Woman’s, as functional pieces were far more important than aesthetics, but then American occupation and the interment at Bosque Redondo occurred and the weaving changed.

The movement of the Diné from Fort Sumner and the reduction of their amount of land after Fort Sumner had a lasting impact. The rugs and clothing at the reservation went back to a simple pattern, as surviving the cold became the priority, but once the tribe returned home, the weavings became more stylized and pictorial. Since the Diné were bound by a treaty, more white settlers started to venture close to their land. The settlers were able to see the craftmanship and beauty in the weaving and started to commission pieces through trading posts. Trading posts had been near their land, but it was mostly for trade between other Native tribes and the Spanish, but after Bosque Redondo, more trading took place. Advancement in dyes and commercial yarn availability gave the Diné weavers flexibility in design and colors. Once weaving transformed to art, the rugs of the Diné became world famous and can sell for thousands of dollars.

Weaving is a defining part of Diné culture, and it was also integral for the tribe’s survival. At first, the weaving warmed the tribe, then, when the Diné were forced into surviving in the American world, the weaving became a source of income. Many Diné families to this day raise sheep, shear them, process the wool, and weave the wool, just as their ancestors before them. The patterns and colors of the rugs have also inspired American culture, as many patterns of blankets can be found on non-native made clothing. The Diné should be recognized as the source of these designs, and honored and respected for their craftmanship.