1993 by Kris Hotvedt. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publishing Data:
Hotvedt, Kris, 1943-
Pueblo and Navajo Indian life today / Kris Hotvedt; with illustrations by the author..
p. cm.
ISBN 0-86534-204-0; $8.95
ISBN 978-1-61139-295-1 (e-book)
1. Pueblo IndiansRites and ceremonies. 2. Pueblo IndiansSocial life and customs. 3. Navajo IndiansRites and ceremonies. 4. Navajo IndiansSocial life and customs. I. Title
E99.P9H67 1993
973'.04972dc20 -14236
CIP
Published by SUNSTONE PRESS
Post Office Box 2321
Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321 / USA
CONTENTS
PREFACE
W hen I first saw Kris Hotvedts woodblock prints several years ago, they appeared to be childishly simplistic or outright primitive depictions of Pueblo and Navajo life. Perhaps this accounts for their distinctive charm and continuing appeal. They reflect the emotional impact of their scenes without too much concern for perspective and facial detail. But guiding the cutting of these woodblocks is the hand of an artist who knows what shes doing, and the heart of a woman with a devoted love for Southwest Indian gatherings in all weathers.
She begins this small book with Kings Day, January 6, and follows the calendar with the spring ditch cleaning, the summer Pueblo Corn Dances, to All Souls Day, the animal dances, powwows, throw-aways, and the Navajo Fair in late September. Composite scenes of people watching ceremonial dances, eating fry bread and mutton stew, appraising sheeppeople shown inside and outside of pueblo rooms at the same time, with a big, round, red sun or moon overhead. How suggestive they are! They remind us local South-westerners of the ceremonial dances and social fiestas we have attended, and they show at a glance the warmth and fun a new visitor will experience.
The text accompanying each illustration is just as simple. Informative to children as well as grownups, it briefly tells the ages-long traditions behind these current events without going into technical explanations.
One need not attempt to explain the growing popularity of these woodblock prints, now available in book form. The mystery of their appeal lies in their warm homeyness which evokes the beat of a drum, the smells of roasting chiles and tortillas, firelight and moonlight on a snowy winter night. And most of all perhaps, they remind us of a communal life our modern society has lost, the joy of gathering together without the need for commercial amusement.
Frank Waters
INTRODUCTION
E ach year in the Southwest thousands of visitors from all over the world attend the various ceremonial dances of the Pueblo people, the Navajo Nation events, and Southwestern powwows.
Many visitors arrive with a knowledge and understanding of these events. For other people these are totally new experiences, and a door is opened to unfamiliar ways of life, customs, traditions, and beliefs that have existed for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, long before this country was called America.
These woodcuts and drawings depict some aspects of Pueblo and Navajo Indian contemporary life: the small things that compose the communal aspects of life and provide a sense of continuity in their relationship to traditional and ritualistic events.
The images are about communal ditch cleanings, about women working together on feast days, about waiting for the beat of the drum that sounds as if it is coming from the center of the earth, about Rivermen and koshares, and about people gathering together on certain days each year.
They are about the Navajo Nation fairs: powwows, food booths, fry bread contests, and parades. They are about women in velvet blouses and full skirts and men in Western clothes and hats, and about many people coming together for a few days for a special and good time.
This collection represents a small segment of the lives of the Navajo and Pueblo peoples, two diverse groups who are an important part of the life of America today.
After the first edition of Fry Breads, Feast Days, and Sheeps was published, people asked which came firstthe woodcuts or the text? The visual images came first. They were done over a period of several years and were not intended as book pieces. However, people often asked for the stories behind the images.
After I corresponded with Frank Waters, he suggested I write about the events in my woodcuts and said the two presentations would go well in a book. At about the same time, a gallery director in Arizona, after looking at the woodcuts, commented that the pieces were documentary and should be used for a book.
Because the visual images came first and the text second, and since this is a book of woodcuts and the purpose of the text is not technical detail but explanation of visual image and introduction to Navajo and Pueblo life, the text was written in a simple style so it could be read by families and used in school programs. There are books available that go into great technical detail, and that is not the purpose of this publication.
Before the first edition was published, people from several pueblos read each page for content, intent, and accuracy. For this second edition, I was asked by Pueblo people to add a few pages concerning behavior, manners, and dress at Pueblo events, and I have done so. Please keep in mind that customs vary at each pueblo, and most of these images concern southern pueblos.
The visual images are woodcuts, linocuts, and combinations of wood and linoleum. The original woodcuts and linocuts are for the most part in two, three or four colors; there are bright orange or gold moons, red suns, earth-tone backgrounds, blue water cascading in the throw day images. If the print is one color, it is a dark purple. The originals are hand printed with a spoon on rice paper
HINTS FOR VISITORS TO PUEBLOS
About QuestionsDont Ask Them
A Pueblo woman said to me, Well, I hope you say in that book that visitors to pueblos should not ask questions. They should just watch and enjoy, but they shouldnt ask any questions about anything.
In some cultures asking questions is a sign of politeness and a way of expressing interest; the reverse is true concerning Indian religion, dances, ceremonies. It is impolite to ask questions, and it is considered equivalent to being downright nosey.
Because the dances are religious and their purpose is not that of entertainment, even when there is obvious humor involved, and because the religion is by its very nature secretive and mysterious, questions should not be asked, even seemingly very innocent questions: about the role of a particular dancer, the meaning of a dance or gesture, or the parts of costumes.
Do not even ask the children questions about the dances, their roles in the dances, or their costumes. The children, no matter how young, already know that religion is private and not to be discussed with outsiders.
Because the religious ceremonies are highly complex, tightly structured, and metaphysical, there is no way to give a simple meaningful answer.
