Two hands weaving a basket

Navajo Weaving and Culture

Dates: July 5 - 10

Status: upcoming

Instructor(s): Pearl Sunrise at the loom

Up to 12 participants

This class is as much about Culture as it is about Weaving. Pearl Sunrise is a luminous person whose gentle presence will encourage you while her extensive knowledge of these techniques helps your hands to know what to do.

Sagebrush Inn, Taos

Register Catalog

YOUR CLASS EXPERIENCE

This class is as much about Culture
as it is about Weaving. Pearl Sunrise is a luminous person whose gentle presence will encourage you while her extensive knowledge of these techniques helps your hands to know what to do.

Each morning starts with a Drumming ceremony & Stories. In this way we become centered and ready to weave. Pearl is a great Storyteller ! and we will hear about Spider Woman and her gift to the Diné People

We'll meet on Saturday and then class starts on Sunday so we have a full day to focus on the all important warping. Monday morning we start weaving. Pearl demonstrates a technique which the students then try on their own under her encouraging supervision. All levels are welcome, as each participant works at their own pace.

Come join us!

Secondary gallery image 1
Pearl demonstrating

Because this is an experience as much about Culture as it is about Art-making, we have additional immersion opportunities for you throughout the week.

  • Body Nurturing Opportunities
    (Yoga, Meditation, Massage, Swimming!)
  • View 2 hard-to-find Movies
    about Pearl and her weaving
  • See a private collection of
    historic Diné tapestries
  • Music & Drumming
navajo dance
Navajo dance
Navajo Dance

Accommodations & Meals

This class will take place at the Historic Sagebrush Inn, where you are also invited to stay for the week with your teacher, Pearl Sunrise and her family. We have arranged a special price for all students for the duration of the class, as well as extending this price for a few days on either side of the class. This is a full week, with 6 days of weaving followed by a weekend of the once-a-year Multi-Nation Pow-Wow at Taos Pueblo.

Historic Sagebrush Inn

https://www.sagebrushinn.com/

575 758-2254

Class starts on Saturday night with a gathering at 6 PM, where we join for a 2 hour introduction and get to know each other a bit before you can either head into town for dinner, or get to sleep early after a tiring travel day. It is recommend to come a few days early, if possible, to adjust to our lovely high mountain air ( 7,000’), hence we have arranged for the special student price to be available early.

Hearth at the Sagebrush

When you wake up on Sunday morning, you can head to the hotel breakfast with your class members and Pearl ( not included ) Then, right on site, the class will be held in the Pinion Room starting promptly at 9 AM.Pearl Starts each day with a Ceremony including drumming and storytelling in her language. Not to be missed!

The first day, Sunday, is a full day with student pairs warping one loom in the morning and a second in the afternoon. On this day, lunch is provided since this is the most efficient use of time.

Monday-Fri, you are on your own for lunch, usually, students bring snacks so they can keep going on their weaving and save their big meal of the day for a nice Dinner in town at one of Taos’s wonderful restaurants.

Friday night, the spectacular Opening Night Ceremony is held at the Taos Pueblo Pow Wow.This is the only time you can see every one of the many different Nations represented in their finest.All day Saturday, the official Dances are held, with many different Tribal Nations represented as they compete for prizes for such events as: The

Jingle Dance, Mens Grass & Chicken Dance, and Fancy Dance. Photography for personal use is permitted.

Gallery

Instructors

Pearl Sunrise at the loom

Pearl Sunrise

Navajo Weaving & Culture instructor

Pearl Sunrise is a gentle and knowledgeable teacher whose luminous spirit inspires all who meet her. As a 3rd generation Navajo weaver, she learned her craft from her mother and grandmother. She has been the unofficial Navajo ambassador to the world for years, receiving a Fulbright to teach in New Zealand, and a commission by the U.S. State department to visit Lesotho, South Africa, and Toronto, Canada as a Cultural Specialist. She’s on the advisory board of the New Indian Museum, in Wash, D.C., and is currently a professor at the School of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe. Her work is collected worldwide.

Instructor profile