We had a ball wish, you were there! On June 19, 2004, 75 of the best Navajo rugs of the 20th and 21st centuries went on display in the Weaving Museum at the Historic Toadlena Trading Post. It was an honor to watch another bit of history unfold at the Post.

About 1,000 people attended the 6-hour event. Most ate lunch in the shade while listening to The Toh-nih Singers, Navajo folksinger Sharon Burch and “Firecat of Discord.” Wes Studi, the band’s lead singer, was enthusiastically received. This was his first appearance at the Post since portraying Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn in the popular Tony Hillerman PBS movies Coyote Waits and A Thief of Time. Girls of all ages had their pictures taken with the Star!

View Opening photographs HERE.

The places of greatest honor were reserved for Mark’s beloved “Grandmas.” Master Weaver or not, every Navajo Grandma was served lunch and waited on by the newly formed “Toadlena Boyz.” This simple gesture of respect spoke volumes of the esteem Mark and Lerin Winter have for each and every Navajo Matron that enters the Post. Sure looks like love to me!

The business at hand was wool and the Master Weavers who spin and weave it. The work of over 50 Weavers are displayed. Two Legendary Master Weavers, Daisy Taugelchee and Bessie Manygoats are represented by 8 exquisite rugs.

Daisy Tauglechee is presented as the Alpha Weaver, evidenced by the fact that Mark reserved 3 enclosing walls exclusively for five of Daisy’s weavings. They span 40 years of her singular career from 1938 to 1972. They are reason enough to travel to Toadlena for any who love Navajo rugs.

The awe does not stop here. Simply put the exhibit presents wall after wall of one rug more stunning than the last. The first documented, attributed Toadlena/Two Grey Hills rug, woven by Frances Manuelito, is on display. This piece dates to c.1922. The most recent masterpiece was woven by Caroline Sales, completed in March of 2004.

Each exhibition has had its own distinctive (and overwhelming) fingerprint. The Master Weavers is the best of the best from the last 90 years. You have the opportunity to see the most impactful gathering of Navajo rugs ever assembled. Don’t miss it.

Best regards,

John Andrews
Web Marketeer