I want to thank all of you who participated in Convergence 2010 in Albuquerque.  It was the first time I attended a Convergence conference.  What a wonderful time I had!! 

I taught the Navajo Weaving Bootcamp Class along with Rose Dedman, Jennie Slick and Mary Walker.  We had about 53 students in a huge space we called “the echo room”!  Actually, once we got started it was not a problem to be in that room.  I want to thank Rose, Jennie, Mary and Pat for helping me in with the first ever class I taught.  I also want to thank my students for being patient and having a sense of humor.  I enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to doing it again next year. 

-Morris

I decided to share with my audience some of the treasures I’ve found and purchased from my weekend Native art shopping trips.  I am offering these items for you to add to your collections or perhaps you are beginning to collect. 

I am offering two silver bracelets that are imitations of handmade Navajo silver bracelet cuffs.  I purchased these pieces because of the fact they are high quality imitations.  I know of some collectors who collect authentic Native jewelry, but also some high quality imitation Native jewelry.  I am in no way misrepresenting handmade Native jewelry.  I buy what I like.  I am also offering a turquoise choker with a single spiny oyster shell “corn bead”.  The turquoise beads are likely Santo Domingo Pueblo handmade and stabilized (not natural).  The most unexpected piece I found is an authentic vintage Navajo silver and turquoise hairpin.  Contemporary Native hair accessories are not like their vintage counterparts.  I prefer vintage handmade Navajo hair ornaments over the contemporary ones. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.  Enjoy!

	Turquoise choker   It’s likely this is a handmade turquoise choker. Turquoise is likely stabilized and not natural. I bought this choker because it’s charming and looks vintage. L=15″  Price: $40 plus $7 shipping in the U.S.
	Imitation Native bracelet #1   This bracelet is likely “machined” rather than handmade.  It has “Sanford” stamped on the inside of the bracelet. I light polished it and it’s “white” like sterling silver.  Silver. Size   5.25″. Price: $40 plus $7 shipping in the U.S.
	Side view of Imitation Native Bracelet #1
	Imitation Native Turquoise Bracelet #2   This bracelet is also “machined”.  The turquoise is like imitation and not natural.  It has “STERLING” stamped on the inside of this bracelet.  The bezel cups that house the turquoise pieces are quite nice.  Nice to add to any collection. Size:  5.25″. Price: $55 plus $7 shipping in the U.S.
	Side view of Imitation Native Turquoise Bracelet #2.
	Vintage Navajo Hairpin   This elegant, refined vintage Navajo hairpin has hand-cut turquoise.  I’m not certain if the turquoise is natural or stabilized, but it has facets that show it’s handmade.  Nice hairpin to add to any collection. Price: $35 plus $7 shipping in the U.S.

I have one more offering of Navajo weaving tools.  This handmade Navajo weaving batten is made from oak.  If you interested, I have included a Paypal link to purchase it.  If you are interested in purchasing and  live in Albuquerque or the Santa Fe area, I could meet you and not pay the shipping cost.  Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.  Thank you!

Handmade Navajo Weaving Batten  Made of oak on the Navajo Reservation.  This is an authentic Navajo-made weaving tool for Navajo-style weaving. L=24″, W=1.5″.   SOLD

I have been advocating for the return of Navajo medicine bundles, jish, memory aids for sandpaintings, vintage prayersticks and fetishes, ceremonial masks, ceremonial gourd rattles, and vintage medicine bags.  I search the internet regularly to search for these items.  Here’s what I found tonight.  I located 2 vintage Navajo memory aids for sandpaintings and one vintage Navajo medicine bag.

I often rely on the kindness of collectors who own these items to donate them to me. Yes, there are collectors who want to do what’s right with items they know they should not possess.  Ocassionally I purchase these items when I can find and afford these pieces.  Often vintage paraphenalia is beyond my budget.  I post my personal jewelry to raise money and use that money toward the purchase of these items.  I purchased some small pieces of paraphenalia this past weekend as I shopping on the Navajo Reservation.  I ask for your help with monetary donations, donation of ceremonial paraphenalia, and understanding of the return of these items.  I ask for these items because I want to restore the spiritual balance, hozhojii, and natural order in our world.  Navajo ceremonial paraphenalia were made for Navajos by Navajos in the Four Sacred Mountains. 

I appreciate your time and understanding in reading this post.  Please contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.

One of my goals on my site is promote Navajo weaving and Navajo made products.  I want to make Navajo handspun yarns, Navajo made weaving tools and hand-dyed yarn available to fiber artists who have an interest in Navajo weaving.

A few years ago I “hand-dyed” dozens of skeins of Navajo Churro wool by fermenting them in a prickly pear dye bath.  I purchased my yarn from Connie Taylor when she was still living in Ojo Caliente, NM. Connie now lives in southern Colorado and she can be reached through her website, http://www.navajo-churrosheep.com/member-webpages/CerroMojino.html.  I’ve known Connie for years and I really like she raises Navajo Churro sheep while still being involved in Dine’ be’ Iina’ (Navajo Lifeway) organization, http://www.navajolifeway.org/.

Here’s how I fermented the skeins of yarn.  I washed my skeins in very warm water to wash out the oils–lanolin and spinning oils–that were still in the yarn.  I then rinsed and soaked the yarn while I sliced up the prickly pear fruits.  I filled my containers with water and added the sliced prickly pears.  I mixed the prickly pear bath differently each time with the wool depending on what I wanted to achieve.  I wanted to make some yarns have more varigated, streaks of color while other were very uniform.  In the end, it was up to Mother Nature’s gifts of prickly pear, water and the fermentation process that produced the following yarns I have available for sale. 

I did rinse and wash the wool after the fermentation so there’s no funky smell in the yarn.  I aired out the yarn and rinsed the yarn.  Word of caution about these colors.  Although the prickly pear fermented dye bath is self-mordanting, the colorfastness is not absolute as with all vegetally dyed yarn.  As a hand-dyer, I am very conscious that I wash my yarn so the excess dye does not “bleed” into the neighboring colors when used in a weaving or knitting project.   In short, please keep in mind the pink color may fade with exposure to different types of light and washing.

 Please contact me if you have any questions. (By the way I usually do not offer my hand-dyed yarn for sale to other fiber artists).  I did the dirty, smelly work for you so you can now enjoy this beautiful naturally dyed pink Navajo Churro wool yarn!

	Prickly Pear yarn #1      Weight: 4oz Navajo Churro wool yarn, single ply This yarn has some light to dark pink streaks in it.  Overall subtle streaky appearance. Quantity: 1 Price: $32 plus $8 shipping in the US
	Prickly Pear yarn #2   Weight: 4oz Navajo Churro wool yarn, single ply This yarn has some light to dark pink streaks in it. Overall subtle streaky appearance.  Quantity: 1 Price: $32 plus $8 shipping in the US
	Prickly Pear yarn #3  Weight: 4oz Navajo Churro wool yarn, single ply This yarn is uniform in color withs some peach to orange highlights. Soft pink color. Quantity: 1 Price: $32 plus $8 shipping in the US
	Prickly Pear yarn #4   Weight: 4oz Navajo Churro wool yarn, single ply This yarn is the darkest pink of the yarns featured here. The actual color is darker than yarn #3 above.  There are some dark pink streaks in this yarn.  Quantity: 1 Price: $32 plus $8 shipping in the US

Here’s another aspect of my weaving class, the supplies.  I’ve tried several types of warps, yarns, and weaving tools.  I can hand-select for you my favorites when it comes to weaving combs, battens, spindles, finishing tools, yarns, and types of warp. 

So the total package of taking my weaving class includes a handmade Navajo loom made by me, weaving lessons in warping and weaving, an opportunity to meet Noel Bennett and Ramona Sakiestewa, and hand-selected tools and supplies to start and finish your first Navajo weaving in my class.  Which other Navajo weaving instructor can offer you all the materials and inspiration to learn Navajo weaving?

I have been trying to acquire Navajo ceremonial objects from collectors and galleries.  There are many Navajo ceremonial medicine bundles, called jish in Navajo, ceremonial masks, rattles, memory aids, feather plumes, and other objects in private collections, auction houses, and galleries. Ceremonial Navajo items were made by Navajos for the sole purpose of use in ceremony and spiritual practices.  These items were not made for sale to non-Navajos. I have been saving money to purchase some these objects, but I cannot afford all the objects. 

In November 2008, I met a couple from Atlanta, Georgia, David and Laura. They were kind to host me in their home which houses collections of art from all over the world.  Their home is like a gallery!  David was giving me a tour of their home and I noticed a Navajo medicine bundle, jish, in a curio case on their wall.  We looked at it and it was indeed a jish. David and Laura wanted to return the medicine bundle to me, but I had to call my uncle who is both a traditional Dine’ medicine man and a Native American Church medicine man.  As it turns out my uncle asked me to accept the bundle and return it to the Dine’ medicine people, but this was after I returned to New Mexico.  David sent me the bundle, which they paid $3,000 for in the early 1990s. I received Navajo jish via overnight FedEx in Santa Fe, NM where I work the following week.  I then took the next day off and took it to my uncle who re-blessed it and returned to use by the Dine’ medicine people.

The kindness of David and Laura and their concern to return the bundle to the rightful owners inspired me to continue to pursue Dine’ medicine bundles, rattles, memory aids, and other objects.  I found 2 objects that are available for sale at galleries.  I know there are collectors out there who have the medicine bundles and objects I am pursuing.  I ask all of you who read this to do the right thing by returning or donating any and all traditional Dine’ medicine bundles and paraphenalia to me.  My tribe and ancestors greatly appreciate your compassion and kindness in doing so.  This helps to restore the spiritual balance for the Dine’ and the universe around us. 

The two listed items are examples of what is available for sale to collectors.  I know there are many, many more items out there in private collections, auction houses and galleries.  I hope there are collectors out there who are kind and compassionate to help me in bringing spiritual balance back to my people and the rest of the world.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please contact me if you have any questions, leads on where some objects are or if you want to return your Navajo ceremonial paraphenalia.  If and when I do receive returned Navajo ceremonial paraphenalia, I will return items to be re-blessed and spiritually restored to the proper medicine people. 

	This is a Navajo  memory aid for a ceremony. It is for sale at www.shiprocktrading.com.
	This pair of ceremonial Navajo rattles is available at the Michael Smith Gallery. http://michaelsmithgallery.com/gallery/artifacts/rattles/

I have been working on some spider pins this weekend.  I made 4 spiders–3 are pins and one is a pendant.  I will be posting these pics when I straightenen out my technical difficulty.  I have a feeling it will be until later this week.  Stay tuned for spider pins and pendants.

I will be posting new photos in the next few days of my time spent at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Denver.  I had a great time and it was cold for me!!! 

Everyone associated with the exhibit both the exhibit builders, collection managers, curators and of course, the audience.  Thank you all for making my time at CU and Denver a wonderful one!

I’m sure you wonder “Why should I buy weavings and jewelry made by Morris?”.  As an artist, I create well designed pieces instilled with vintage quality and styling.  I also have the reputation for being an award winning weaver and I’ve lead the contemporary, new Navajo weaving movement for the last few years.  My weavings are unique and one-of-a-kind, and will someday fetch high prices at Sotheby’s auctions.  In contrast to my weavings, my jewelry is becoming more sought after.  The exposure of  my jewelry is relatively new in contrast to my weavings.  Collectors of my weavings are also collectors of my jewelry. 

I am also a small business trying to stay afloat in these tough times.  I look forward hearing from you and hope you consider purchasing some of my work for your collection.  Thank you!