the art of Morris Muskett

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

Do you like shopping for Native art? Do you collect Native art of any kind?  Are you interested in looking to add to your collection or gift buying?  I’m the guy for you.  I travel the reservation once or twice a month to do some shopping whether it’s for a traditional grass brush, Navajo weaving tools, a traditional cornmeal bowl, festishes, vintage Navajo or Zuni jewelry or silver and/or Native ceramic containers.  I have made some wonderful purchases on the reservation that are now part of collection. 

Did I tell this is the perfect weekend getaway? If you live in New York, Dallas, Seattle, or San Diego, you could fly into the Albuquerque Sunport and your journey begins.  Here the dates and cost I propose to go on shopping weekends. I will provide transportation on our shopping trips and I want to keep each outing small out of courtesy for the public and store owners.

May 28-30, 2010. I have 3 openings($270 per person). Deadline for reservation May 6, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

June 11-13, 2010. I have 3 openings ($270 per person). Deadline for reservation May 20, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

July 9-11, 2010. I have 3 openings ($270 per person). Deadline for reservation June 18, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

August 4, 2010 ONLY. I have 3 openings ($125 per person). You should arrive in Albuquerque on Aug. 3 if you are out of state and this is a one day trip from 9 am to 5 pm.  This is a very special day to do shopping during the annual Corn Dance at Kewa Pueblo north of Albuquerque.  This is a wonderful experience that will take you back at least 100 years!!!  DEADLINE FOR RESERVATION JULY 14, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

August 6-8, 2010. I have 3 openings ($270 per person). Deadline July 15, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

September 10-12, 2010. I have 3 openings ($270 per person). Deadline August 20, 2010 by 5pm MDST.

I also do shopping in Albuquerque and Santa Fe for Native Art.  I bought a Zuni ceramic rain priest on one of these shopping trips.  Have you ever seen a Zuni ceramic rain priest that is traditionally fired micaecous clay?  I will share with you the wonderful treasures I have come across on my shopping trips and share with you why they are treasures.  I’ve been told I have good or excellent taste, and people often tell me they wish to go shopping with me to find Native treasures. Most of the time these treasures are not extremely costly, but the fact that someone “rediscovered” or is reviving a long, almost disappearing artistic tradition is wonderful in itself.  It’s like taking home a piece of history, culture and spirituality. I guess what I am saying is all of what I buy is more than art. 

Here’s my refund policy.  If you are interested, please make a 50% deposit for the dates you wish to take the tour to hold your spot.  Pay the remaining balance no later than 3 weeks (21 days) before the tour date.  I will refund 75% of your payment if you cancel no later than 2 weeks (14 days)  before the tour date so I can advertise availability to others who may be interested. If you cancel your reservation with less than 2 weeks (14 days) or days before the tour, I will not refund your payment. 

If this interests you, I encourage you to contact me  Give me a description of what you are looking for and where you’d like to travel to. I am offering you a wonderful shopping experience here in the Southwest where you see the beautiful New Mexico sunsets, beautiful Native made art, breathe the clean New Mexico air, and taste authentic Navajo mutton stew and frybread or New Mexican food that is not made for the tourists!  I await your arrival in Navajoland and the Land of Enchantment.

*These prices are subject to change without notice and may increase with a drastic change in fuel prices.

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?

This is the first time I thought about offering a traditional Navajo weaving class and tour so I appreciate your patience and time in reading my posts.  I’m thinking aloud on my website.  So I am going to attempt answering a little more than where, when, type of class, and how much. 

I realize there are students out there who are not planning on coming out to the Southwest to learn Navajo weaving.  I would like to offer a week long course in Navajo weaving on the Navajo mini loom.  I am willing to travel to you and teach.  My rate for a group of students will definitely be more cost effective than individual, one-on-one private lessons.

For students close in the Southwest area, I will offer you the opportunity to meet legendary weaver & artist, Noel Bennett, and renowned Hopi weaver Ramona Sakiestewa.  I have known Noel Bennett and Ramona Sakiestewa when I first moved to Santa Fe in 2003.  It’s a surprise and unexpected to have met Noel Bennett the way I did.  I was sitting in an exercise class waiting for class to start.  Then this older Anglo woman sat next to me and began a conversation with me.  We began to talk about the Navajo Reservation then Navajo weaving.  Just before class started I learned it was the legendary Noel Bennett, who had spent time on the Navajo Reservation in Tuba City in the late 1960s-early1970s!!  Noel was in my class!!  I was quite honored and sweaty at the end of class.  It was unreal experience! 

Here’s a photo of Noel Bennett and I at the Live Auction at the Wheelwright Museum during the week of the famous Santa Fe Indian Market, August 2009.  I am posting with an antique Santo Domingo Pueblo water jar.  (I am posing for 3 different photographers so I’m only looking at photographer #1).

Here are the tentative details of my tentative Navajo weaving classes for 2010:

When:  May 22-29, 2010, ; June 19-26, 2010, Aug. 28-Sept. 4, 2010, and Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 2010.

Where: Window Rock, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, or your city.  Student enrollment will determine location.

Class type:  I offer beginner, intermediate and advanced Navajo weaving classes. 

How much?:  Depends on number of students and location. 

I have so much to offer students about Navajo weaving and culture.  I hope you take advantage of this opportunity.  Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.  I will be waiting to hear from you.

I am learning this year is an important year for Navajo weaving.  Convergence 2010: Ancient Paths is taking place July 18-25, 2010 in Albuquerque, NM.  I am part of the team that will be teaching Navajo Weaving Boot Camp with Jennie Slick, Rose Dedman and Mary Walker.  I am excited to be part of this wonderful team of weavers!!

In many Navajo weaving classes, the amount of time devoted to teach weavers Navajo weaving is not enough to go through all of the steps of traditional Navajo weaving.  Many students have been introduced to an abbreviated version of Navajo weaving.  I have been weaving professionally for about 10 years and I want to offer you an authentic Navajo weaving experience.  Yes, I want to share with you the hard work of warping on a warping frame you sit in, looking for plant dyes, gathering firewood for dyeing, handspinning raw wool, Navajo plying your yarn, and finishing a rug to the very last weft yarn thread.  I want to offer you a weaving education that will transform your way of thinking about Navajo weaving and the Dine’ world. A portal into the Dine’ world and Navajo weaving awaits you.

Please contact me if you have any questions about this experience I have to offer you.

Over the past year I’ve noticed collectors and students alike have been interested in Navajo weaving in aspect or another.  I’m certain it has been this way for years, but I’ve taken noticed again as I am exhibiting my weaving again.  I’m weaving again after taking a break for school.  I am also making looms again, but for my own use. Here’s my latest mini-loom (18″ high and 16″ wide)

I’m still offering Navajo weaving lessons whether you’re a beginner or have experience in Navajo weaving.  Why learn from me?  There are many reasons to take Navajo weaving lessons from me.  For one, I am Navajo and I known for fine technical weaving in Navajo, Pueblo and Pacific Northwest styles.  I also add the cultural element to weaving and you’ll understand why Navajo men were the first Navajo weavers.  I will also handbuild you a loom and hand-select for weaving tools and wool.  I will also share with you the source of my wool, weaving tools, and philosophy.  I will offer you an engaging weaving experience where you will really appreciate Navajo weaving and the work that goes into it.  Just ask my current student Paul from Santa Fe! 

Please contact me if you are interested in scheduling weaving lessons from me.  Thank you.

I officially accepted a one-on-one weaving class with a student named Paul in Santa Fe, NM.  For me, teaching Navajo weaving requires an interest and deep respect for the art and the culture.  I’m about to immerse my student in Navajo culture as much as I can while still being in Santa Fe.  Here are some of my gifts I will share with him.  I am building him a loom, selecting for him reservation yarn to use, consulting with him on his rug design, and giving him a tour of Gallup and Navajo reservation area.    I will work closely with him to complete a small rug. 

I rarely make a Navajo loom for other weavers.  I have concluded to make them available for sale to students who study with me. 

Please contact me if you are interested in scheduling individual Navajo weaving lessons with me.  I will help you to become familiar with Navajo weaving techniques and the resources I have at my disposal.

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 am selling two of my treasured pieces from my personal collection due to the current economic situation.  I purchased these pieces with the idea of keeping them, but I decided to part with these pieces and share the enjoyment of these pieces.  Harry Morgan was an award-winning silversmith as is his brother Henry Morgan. I sold the Harry Morgan canteen I had for sale.   These are made with excellent craftsmanship and finished in the classical, vintage style. 

Please contact me if you are seriously interested in collecting these pieces.

First Phase Concho Belt by Henry Morgan   Handstamped Navajo First Phase Concho belt.  I purchased this from another collector in Albuquerque, NM.  I had this belt “re-finished” to give it a presentable gallery look.  It’s highly polished with the conchos put on a new black leather strap.  There are 9 conchos and 1 buckle.  Each is 2.75″ in diameter made in a heavy gauge silver.  Price: Contact me for price and purchase.

Detail of handstamped conchos including buckle.

I had a busy few days.  I actually start projects weeks or even days before completing them.  Here are the latest fruits of my labor.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

	Tibetan Turquoise Earrings No. 2  Hand-fabricated sterling silver dangle earrings set with natural Tibetan turuqoise.  Price: SOLD. Contact me for purchase.
	Manasa Turquoise Ring #1  Vintage style hand-fabricated sterling silver set natural Manasa turquoise.  Size 6. Price: SOLD.  Contact me for purchase.
	Side view of Manasa Turquoise Ring #1.
	Mini Navajo loom built by my good friend Bill, Kathy’s husband.  Bill built a limited edition of this loom style and I am privileged to have one.  I’ve completed one rug with this loom with another on the way.
	Mini Navajo Rug #2  I wove a mini Navajo rug years ago for my younger brother Myrond.  This is my second one and it is woven in one my signature styles that is both contemporary and vintage.  This rug is woven with mill-spun Navajo Churro yarn, which is difficult to come by, that I hand-dyed with various natural dyes over an outdoor fire, which is the traditional Navajo way.  Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing. This piece comes with a sample color card with all the yarns used in weaving it.  Price $300.  Contact me for purchase.