A lost episode
Editors’ Note: This is an OLD episode. Idiots without Borders tells the tale of the Idiot travels from their summer home in Minnesota to their “new” winter home in Arizona in the fall of 2015 and their return to Minnesota in the spring of 2016. On the return trip the Idiots took pictures and had good intentions to share these episodes with friends – but life got busy. So… before the Idiots launch their next set of adventures, they are sharing a few “lost episodes.” This visit to Canyon de Chelly took place on May 3, 2016.
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The Idiots enjoy scenery… but the most memorable experiences always involve people. Idiot She encountered Darlene Sam, a Navajo artist, selling her works from a beat-up pickup truck in the parking area of a canyon viewpoint.
Most intriguing were the pots. Darlene makes square pots. Most principles of art from European origins involve circles and odd numbers… threes and sevens… Most pots worldwide are round. But the Navajo have art and myth based on fours… four seasons, four directions, four sacred mountains, four sacred colors, and so on – thus the four-sided pots.
Darlene enthusiastically described the details of her pots. These are “storyteller” pots.
The bottom is inscribed with her sister’s basket pattern. The corners are her mother’s pattern. Since the bottom doesn’t usually show, the basket pattern combined with feathers completes the top and lid of the pot.
The four sides tell four stories.
One side tells of her life as a Navajo. It is easy to pick out the traditional six-sided home, the Hogan. There’s a weaver at a loom… and the summer house made of sticks where much of the living and cooking takes place during mild weather. There’s a tree and a yucca plant and clothesline, a hoe and a wagon… all looked over by the canyon walls an ruins.
Another side tells of Kokopelli… the hunchbacked flute player god that is depicted thousands of times in stone art around the southwest for at least a thousand years. He embodies joy and his flute music brings the warm winds of spring to drive out winter. He is surrounded by a cliff dwelling, a corn plant, the circle/dot that represents day and night, and a lightning bolt.
One side shows an antelope herd… a primary source of meat for the Navajo and one of the few animals whose horns are used in rituals.
And one side is illustrated in ancient rock art symbols… the ancient form of Kokopelli at the top middle… and counter-clockwise, the symbol for day and night, the four-pronged symbol for a star, the interwoven arcs that symbolize marriage, the water wave, the scorpion, the square maze symbol for echoes, and five dots representing a calendar.
Of course, the Idiots bought the pot. It is a good pot, but it was the encounter – a real human connection with Darlene Sam – that makes it a treasure. The Idiots have their memories… and a video of Idiot She and Darlene discussing Navajo life…
and another picture of another artist’s hands…
Departing Canyon de Chelly, the Idiots spied old friends. Ravens have been their companions for over half a century. Beautiful... magical... graceful acrobats... tricksters... and a little frightening. Old friends!
