This 5^th grade curriculum unit introduces students to Navajo people and how their weavings reflect the context of the world surrounding the Dine.  Students will learn about the spirituality that is integral to Navajo weaving and history. In order to contextualize this new understanding into a project, students will focus on process and practice over product for their own unique weavings.

While strides have been take to include Black, Asian, and LatinX history into curriculum taught in schools across the United States, there has been little to no accurate inclusion of Native Americans.  People in this country continue to perpetuate stereotypes of Native Americans through mascots, outdated and inaccurate history books, and whitewashed Thanksgiving celebrations.  Young people need to recognize and begin to understand the stories, perspectives, and contemporary voices of Native peoples.  By studying the art of a group of people, we can better understand their culture, make personal connections, and gain empathy for their current situations. This curriculum will focus on Navajo weaving, through accurate historical events that affected and continue to influence artists today.

According to the Navajo, they have been weaving ever since Spider Woman gifted them with this ability.  Unlike Western culture, art is engrained in everyday life for the Navajo, and weaving represents their connection to their physical environment and spiritual world (Antonio, 2019, p.9). Through weaving, one connects with the universe and brings beauty and harmony to the physical world (Ornelas & Pete, 2020, p.8). Spider Woman traveled to four sacred mountains for items essential to her weaving. These four mountains, Blanca Peak, Mount Taylor, San Francisco Peak, and Hesperus Mountain encompass the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Reservation.  This vast area makes it the largest reservation in the United States. The reservation sits in the the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Despite suffering the trials of Colonization, the Diné people have maintained and protected their language and culture from assimilation (Ornelas & Pete, 2020 p.11). The United States government attempted to destroy their culture by forcibly removing the Navajo from their lands in 1863. This is known as the Long Walk, Hwéeldi, and most of the Navajo had to live in terrible conditions at Fort Sumner for five years. Those who could managed to hide from the military in canyons in their homeland. Unfortunately, many died along the way, or at the fort during those difficult years (The Long Walk). After the treaty of Bosque Redondo in 1863, the Navajo returned home to trading posts which commercialized their weavings and missionaries who wanted to destroy their religious beliefs through Christianity.  In an effort to find an outside market for the Navajo weavings, these trading posts did not honor traditional designs but rather encouraged a turn away from functional blankets and clothing to the weaving of rugs. The White trading post owners, such as Hubbell at Ganado, introduced a new aesthetic upon the weavers to meet the demands of European settlers.  The missionaries came with the new governmental policies designed to convert and ‘civilize’ Native Americans across the United States. Children were removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools, thus beginning the disastrous toll upon Native Americans that removed culture and language from an entire generation. Due to the physical isolation of the Navajo Reservation, the Diné managed to hold onto their culture and language and choose elements of the new American ways that benefited them (Ornelas & Pete, 2020, p.12).

Hózhó is a Diné word embracing their worldview with an emphasis on beauty. This beauty encourages inner beauty, the process of beauty, and the way to positive choices and balanced harmony (Hedlund, 2015). For Navajo weavers, the act of weaving embodies Hózhó purely and fully.  Because of the link to Navajo spirituality, the process itself guides the artist to beauty, rather than simply the design. While historians can and have categorized traditional Navajo weaving along a timeline and each region on the reservation has a distinct style, the act of individual creativity persists (Hedlund, 2015, p.45).  The loom itself symbolizes the Navajo universe; the top is the sky, the bottom the earth. Each aspect includes elements of their spirituality and every step of the process teaches a lesson. This focus on process encourages balance, presence in the moment, and acknowledgment of teachings from elders and Spider Woman.  The loom breathes the spirit of the Navajo and the balance of male, female, earth, sky, day, and night.  Preparing the loom involves prayers, positive thoughts, songs, and human energy. A weaving also provides an income, thus sustaining a family and bestowing harmony. Navajo cherish their sheep as providers of wool for their weavings and meat for sustenance. Over the years, Navajo have demonstrated resilience by continuing to practice spirituality through weavings, using complex math patterns, and developing new styles to appeal to contemporary aesthetics and express individual creativity. Contemporary weaver Kalley Keams sees personal expression as an essential element to her work. Melissa Cody uses a traditional loom and applies much of the teaching from her mother into designs reflecting video game culture, pixelated words, and vibrant colors to appeal to a new generation of Navajo youth. Barbara Teller’s work reflects the style of Two Grey Hills, and describes finding symmetry and balance as a rhythm of her heartbeat achieved while weaving. Navajo rugs reflect great skill in technique and design with incredible sense of color, skill, and symmetry.  However, for the Navajo, ‘…weavers are less concerned with technical issues in a mechanical or material sense, and more involved with the technique as a relational part of mental, kinesthetic, and experiential process of weaving’ (Hedlund, 2015, p.15). For the Navajo, weaving exists as an essential part of their spirituality, history, and stories. While some hold their teachings close and believe that do share openly would disrespect the Holy People, others feel that the knowledge should be shared freely. According to Johnson Dennison, a Navajo healer and cultural educator, people are the temporary holders of oral stories and wisdom. The sharing of their knowledge must continue for the people to thrive (Yohe, 2021, p.8). The act of weaving creates an environment of reciprocity that brings harmony to the world. Weaving teaches people to be better human beings and helps bring a sense of well-being to the weaver (Yohe, 2012, p.10). The commitment to embrace creativity and bring beauty and balance to the world can serve as a source of healing and growth for students as they continue to navigate the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am choosing to explore the concept of process over product by exploring the historical and contemporary weavings of the Diné people. I intend to introduce students to the history of Navajo weaving, how it has changed, and how the weavers view the interconnectedness of all life. By understanding the perspectives held by Navajos as it relates to weaving, I hope that my students will make connections to their own personal world and viewpoints.

I have taught weaving to students over the past 10+ years as an art teacher in Philadelphia, and it never ceases to amaze me how engaged the students are with the process. In particular, I find that the most active students become completely enthralled with their capacity to make something beautiful with their hands. As we have emerged from the multiple challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, I see an urgent need for young people to connect to their school community and the world around them. Philadelphia public school students spent 18 months learning from home, and over Zoom, I witnessed some of their struggles. Spotty internet made it challenging to verbally communicate, noisy homes made it difficult to focus, and lack of resources limited the type of art supplies students had access to.  As we have re-entered the physical teaching and learning space of the classroom, it has become clear to me that students need hands-on experiences with art materials. In conversations with my students, they have told me that they needed to be around friends and teachers in order to learn better. By learning about the Navajo’s view of weaving as a living entity, I feel that weaving will serve as a therapeutic practice and a method of finding these essential connections (Ornelas & Teller). In the act of making something with their hands, I believe my students will find joy and connection the Hózhó.

Although we will have to simplify materials, the essential reasoning behind our exploration will be similar. My students will benefit from this process and will find joy and therapy by creating something beautiful.

In order to simplify the traditional methods and materials of the Navajo weaving, we will use cardboard looms and cotton/polyester blend yarn. I do hope to acquire some sheep wool and have them card and spin it between their fingers. I will teach them the history of Navajo weaving, the forced Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, and we will learn about contemporary weavers such as Naiomi Glasses and Melissa Cody. Additionally, we will investigate the meaning of cultural appropriation and how it has harmed Native People.

Through our exploration of Navajo Weaving, I wish for my students to gain a deep understanding of the Navajo people and how weaving is a part of their everyday lives. I hope that my students will find joy and confidence in the process of weaving and discover the beauty of creating with our hands.

In her poem, ‘When I Weave,’ Ilene Naegle writes about her connection to weaving. I wish to utilize a stanza for each of the 15 days we will be working on our weavings. The stanzas I intend to use are, “Weaving is thinking. Weaving is culture. Weaving is tradition. Weaving is creativity. Weaving is healing. Weaving is emotion. Weaving is reflection. Weaving is identity. Weaving is diverse. Weaving is adaptable. Weaving is happiness. Weaving is work. Weaving is connection. Weaving is reward. Weaving is expression.’ (Antonio, 2019, p.11). I plan to use these stanzas as either ‘Do Now’ written reflections at the start or end of class each day. They will connect to the specific lesson for that day.

Weaving is thinking: As seen in my list of Core Standards, I will use various thinking routines from Project Zero. These routines are designed to engage students in deeper thinking and stem from inquiry-based teaching and learning.

Weaving is culture: Students will learn about the different phases and styles of Navajo rug patterns. They will learn about Spiderwoman and how the creation story relates to the tradition of weavings past and present. They will make connections to personal traditions and culture and how that is reflected in their homes and even school life.

Weaving is tradition: Students will learn about contemporary weavers such as Melissa Cody and Naiomi Glasses and watch videos of them discussing their work. Students will learn about traditional materials and about the importance of sheep to the Navajo.

Weaving is creativity: Students will learn about how weavers have developed their own unique styles over the years. They will examine images, methods, and colors of contemporary weavers and compare them with weavings from long ago.

Weaving is healing: We will discuss the meaning of Hózhó and how it relates to the process of weaving.

Weaving is emotion: Students will write short poems about weaving and how it makes them feel. They will write an acrostic or a haiku.

Weaving is reflection: How do Navajo weavings reflect the place and time where they were created? How can we use color and simple designs to reflect our own lives?

Weaving is identity: How are Navajo weavings unique to their people? How do contemporary weavers show their traditions and appeal to a new aesthetic? How can we make a weaving, using simple style and materials, to show something personal?

Weaving is diverse: Students will compare and contrast various Navajo weavings.

Weaving is adaptable: Students will learn how Long Walk to Bosque Redondo and forced encampment changed Navajo weavings. Students will examine traditional weaving tools and compare them to materials they are using.

Weaving is endurance: How has weaving survived despite so many challenges the Navajo people have endured?

Weaving is work: Students will watch videos that demonstrate the process of creating a traditional weaving from start to finish. Students will write down instructions for making a weaving in a Philadelphia classroom.

Weaving is reward: Students to reflect on start to finish project and answer the prompt, ‘I used to think that weaving was….Now I think it’s….” Reflect on what we gained from this unit.

Weaving is expression:  How can we express ourselves through the process and practice weaving?

Core standards

Creating

• Cr.1.1.4a: Brainstorm multiple approaches to a creative art or design problem.
  • Students will use sketchbooks to generate ideas for design. Students will work on various design ideas. They will share and discuss successes and struggles.
• Cr3.1.4a: Revise artwork in progress on the basis of insights gained through peer discussion.
  • This will be a part of reflection. We will spend time sharing our process and will do gallery walks weekly.

Presenting

• Pr.4.1.4a: Analyze how past, present, and emerging technologies impacted the preservation and presentation of artwork.
  • Students will examine photographs of weavers from the past and present and engage in a See Think Wonder Routine.

Responding

• Re.7.1.4a: Compare responses to a work of art before and after working in similar media.
  • Students will reflect with prompt, “I used to think weaving was…..Now I think it’s…”
• Re.8.1.4a: Interpret art by referring to contextual information and analyzing relevant subject matter, characteristics of form, and use of media.
  • Students will utilize, ‘See-Think-Me-We’ when learning about history of Navajo persecution and how it relates to Civil Rights and current Black Lives Matter movement.

Connecting

• Cn.10.1.4a: Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.
  • Students will consider color choices to reflect personal culture.

Lesson 1: Where are the Navajo?

I will introduce the lesson by showing students the map, ‘Native Land Digital,’ and having them compare it to a map of the United States as we know it. They will use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast. After looking at a print version, they will examine digitally, and I will give them the keyword, ‘Navajo’ to enter in the search bar. This will help them place the Navajo Reservation on the map. I will introduce the term, ‘Reservation’ for them to begin to understand the meaning. They will look at photographs of the landscape from this area and will compare it to what they see in their neighborhood.

Students will choose a photograph to draw on a postcard. On the other side of the postcard, they will write using a Project Zero Thinking Routine called, ‘See, Think, Wonder.’

National Standards

• 1.4.B Describe and locate places and regions as defined by physical and human features.
• 2.4.A Identify the physical characteristics of placesand regions.

Key Words

Native American, tribe, Navajo, Diné,reservation

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

• Students will learn how maps are subjective and subject to change.
• Students will learn that reservations are areas of land that the federal government determined as native land.
• Students will learn that the Navajo have their own language and refer to themselves as the Diné.
• Students will learn that the Navajo reservation is the largest of all tribal lands in the United States.

Skills:

• Students will be able to draw a landscape from a photograph.
• Students will be able list observations from a photograph.
• Students will independently determine what they think specific imagery is in a photograph.
• Students will be able to write down at least one wondering they have about their photograph.

Assessment

Informal observation for whole class during map comparison.

Postcard: Rubric

Lesson Introduction

Students will be looking at the Native Land map and comparing it with a more familiar map of the United States. We will do a whole-class Venn Diagram. I will then ask them to open their own laptops to the website and enter the Keyword, ‘Navajo.’ This will take them to the Four Corners region and they will need to find out where on the map it is located.

*Independent Work:

Students will either use one of the images I provide of the Navajo Reservation, or find one on their own using their laptops. They will then draw this landscape onto a 5”x7” card. On the back, they will engage in the thinking routine, ‘See, Think, Wonder.’

Teacher Resources

Smartboard, or Promethean board to project initial image.

Slide Presentation with two maps side-by-side. (Native Lands and U.S. map with all states and borders)

Google Slide with vocabulary: Native American, Tribe, Navajo, Diné, reservation

Materials and Supplies

• Printed photos of Navajo Reservation landscapes
• Pencils
• Crayons
• 5”x7” cards-one side blank, other side printed with, “I see, I think, I wonder”
• Scrap paper
• Student laptops

Lesson 2: Weaving is Culture

Students will learn about the Navajo story behind weaving. They will learn about Spider Woman and how each part of the loom reflects the story.  They will learn about the concept of Hozhó.

Students will make a paper weaving in order to understand the basics of the weaving process.

National Standards

Va.Cn.10.1.4a: Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.

Keywords

Weaving, Hozhó, Spider Woman, loom, weft, warp

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that weaving connected to the creation story for Navajo.

Students will learn that Hozhó is the Navajo’s view of beauty and balance.

Students will learn that weaving has been an essential part of Navajo culture for centuries.

Skills:

Students will learn the basics of weaving process through a paper weaving.

Students will be able to explain loom, warp, and weft.

Assessment

Paper Weaving Rubric

Motivating Activities

We will look at an image of a weaving in progress and utilize the Thinking Routine, ‘Peeling the Fruit.’ This is a thinking routine used for engaging with ideas. We will continue to use this over the course of the unit, and student understanding of the topic will expand. The central theme will be ‘Hozhó.’

After examining the photo, I will read portions of the Spider Woman story as told in the Tellers book.

We will examine a photo of a loom with its parts labeled. Students will create a paper weaving and label the parts of that loom. (loom, warp, weft)

Teacher Resources

• Google Slides with image.
• Spiderwoman story transcribed to read out loud.
• Smartboard/Promethean Board

Materials and Supplies

• Chart paper with template of an orange drawn on it.
• Markers
• Black and white construction paper for each student
• Rulers
• Pencils
• scissors

Closing Activity

Group questions: What was most challenging about the weaving process?

How does the story relate to their culture?

Do you have any stories specific to your own culture?

Lesson 3: Weaving Is Work

Students will prepare their own looms and will begin weaving. They will learn about the process of shearing sheep and spinning the wool in the Navajo tradition.

National Standards

VA:Cr2.2.4a: When making works of art, utilize and care for materials, tools, and equipment in a manner that prevents danger to oneself and others.

Key Words

Wool, shearing, carding, spinning

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that Navajo people depend on their sheep for the wool and that traditions have continued for many generations.

Students will learn that the process of a weaving is important from start to finish.

Skills:

Students will be able to prepare a loom with the warp.

Students will be able to weave at least three lines of weft.

Assessment

Informal formative assessment: Check to make sure that the warp is taught. Check to make sure that they have woven the weft correctly. Peer-to-peer review and help.

Motivating Activities

We will watch videos of Navajo ethnobotanist, Arnold Clifford as he shears his Churro sheep and discusses tradition. Shearing

Next, I will show a portion of a video of the late Navajo weaver, Clara Sherman as she cards and spins wool.( carding, and spinning. )

Demonstrate how to prepare loom.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard/Promethean Board
• Google Slide presentation with embedded videos of shearing, carding/spinning

Materials and Supplies

• Cotton balls
• Cardboard looms
• Masking tape
• Sharpies
• Yarn for warp
• Yarn for weft
• Scissors
• Large Ziploc bags for each student to store work

Closing Activity

I will provide students with a cotton ball, and they will try ‘spinning’ it by rolling it between two fingers and stretching it out.

Lesson 4: Weaving Is Reflection

How do Navajo weavings reflect the place and time where they were created? Students will begin to learn about the different styles of Navajo weavings and how they reflect the place, time, and materials that were used.

Students will learn about the Long Walk, Bosque Redondo, and how it changed Navajo weaving traditions. They will observe the shift from traditional blanket making to rugs for consumers. We will look at examples from the Classic, Transitional, and Germantown periods. They will return to the Peel the Fruit thinking routine we previously started, and will add to it with new information.

Students will reflect on how they can bring balance to their lives after so many challenges experienced during the pandemic. Color choices for weaving should reflect a desire to achieve personal balance.

National Standards

• 3.4.D Distinguish between conflictand cooperation among groups and organization that impacted the history and development of the United States.

Key Words

Hozhó, reflection, Classic, Transitional, Germantown, Long Walk, Bosque Redondo

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that Navajo weavings reflect time and place.

Students will learn that the Navajo people were severely mistreated and that the U.S. Government tried to assimilate them into white society.

Skills:

Students will be able to make color choices that are personal.

Students will continue to improve their weaving skills.

Assessment

Reflection Exit Ticket:

Today I chose to use __________(color), because this color helps me feel balanced.

Checklist rubric

Motivating Activities

Students will look at different examples of weavings from the three time periods. They would make observations lines, shapes, color, pattern, and repetition. After making visual observations, I will provide them with photos of Bosque Redondo, maps of the Long Walk, and images of Germantown fiber/yarn mills. Then, they will try to make connections between the photos and the images of the weavings.

During the Classic era, weavings served as a utilitarian purpose to keep people warm or to clothe them. The Transitional period came about with the railroad, and mass production of factory blankets being a cheaper source than hand-woven items. The Navajo transitioned their weavings to become rugs in order to sell their work. Additionally, the designs began including more diagonal lines and diamonds. The chemical production of dyes from Germantown, PA resulted in brighter colors that the weavers began using in their work during the Germantown Eyedazzler period. They will use the routine, “See, Think, Me, We’ to dig deeper into the photos, images, and maps.

Teacher Resources

Laptop

• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slide presentation

Materials and Supplies

• Color copy images of weavings from three time periods.
• Maps of Long Walk, photos of Bosque Redondo, images of Germantown fiber mills/colorful yarn.
• Sticky notes
• Pencils
• Student weavings
• Yarn
• Scissors

Closing Activity

Does anyone have a connection they can make between what happened to the Navajo between 1863-1868 and enslaved African Americans?

How do people make the best of change?

If you could name a color that makes you feel balanced and peaceful, what would it be?

Lesson 5: Weaving Is Creativity

Students will learn about how weavers have developed their own unique styles over the years. They will examine images, methods, and colors of contemporary weavers and compare them with weavings from long ago.

Building on their knowledge from previous lesson, students will look contemporary weaver Velma Lee Craig and Venancio Francis Aragon.

The students will compare what they see in these artists’ works with previous understanding of Navajo weavings and will make observations of what they have done differently.

During studio time, I will teach them two new weaving techniques that they can add to their own weaving if desired.

National Standards

Va.Pr.4.1.4a: Analyze how past, present, and emerging technologies impacted the preservation and presentation of artwork.

 Key Words

Contemporary, tufted

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will recognize that artists adapt traditions with a contemporary lens.

Skills:

Students will learn how artists use their creativity while always recognizing the past.

Student will be weave a series of tufts into their piece.

Students will be able sketch a dream design.

Assessment

Informal/observational

Motivating Activities

I will present them with this quote from Venancio Aragon, “The purest essence of Navajo weaving is for one to have freedom and creativity and to bring beauty into the world.”****

After reading this, we will look at his work and the work of Velma Kee Craig, ‘Barcode.’ We will discuss design and technique and how these artists showed creativity.

I will model tufting technique.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard/Promethean Board
• Google Slide presentation
• ‘Texture and Movement,’ (Venancio Aragon)
• ‘Barcode,’ (Velma Kee Craig)

Materials

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• Yarn

Closing Activities

Students will draw an idea for their dream weaving if they could make any image into a weaving.

Lesson 6: Weaving Is Healing

We will discuss the meaning of Hózhó and how it relates to the process of weaving. Students will reflect on how the process of weaving makes them feel.

We will look at the work of Velma Kee Craig again and read about her weaving, ‘Hózhó.’ She writes, “Hózhó is recognition of the healing/destructive power that is you–ownership of how your words and actions create your part of this world we all share. It is starting anew each day with a more grown perspective that builds upon the previous day.’ We will look at that specific work and students will make inferences as to how it shows healing or how it might have been healing for her to create. This will be a day for the students to simply weave, and I will play music from Craig’s blogsite.

National Standards

Va.Re.8.1.4a: Interpret art by referring to contextual information and analyzing relevant subject matter, characteristics of form, and use of media.

Va.Cn.10.1.4a: Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.

Key Words

Healing, mindfulness

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that the process of making art can serve to heal.

Skills:

Students will be able to focus on something that they wish to ‘do better,’ and think about that as they weave.

Students will be able to work for a prolonged period simply focusing on the process.

Assessments

Informal observation and exit ticket.

Exit ticket: ‘Something I thought about that I wish to do better internally is…..”

Motivating Activities

Looking at Craig’s work, ‘Hózhó’ and watching a video of her discussing her work.

Teacher Resources

• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slides with her work, ‘Hózhó.’

Materials

• Student weavings
• Yarn
• scissors

Closing Activities

If students wish to share their exit ticket reflection, we will close with that.

Lesson 7: Weaving Is Tradition

Students will learn about Two Grey Hills design and tradition. They will watch a video of Barbara Teller Ornelas discussing weaving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7mZSGi3cVY

The Two Grey Hills tradition is woven with the wool from Churro sheep, and is never dyed. The colors are the natural colors of the sheep wool.

We will discuss the importance of tradition and how tradition can survive.

National Standards

Va.Pr.4.1.4a: Analyze how past, present, and emerging technologies impacted the preservation and presentation of artwork.

Va.Cn.10.1.4a: Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.

Key Words

Tradition, oral history, Two Grey Hills, trading post

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn how Native American culture (including traditions and language) survived or struggled due to boarding schools.

Students will learn about the history of Two Grey Hills design and where on the reservation it originated.

Skills:

Students will be able to improve their weaving skills.

Assessments

Progress Rubric

Motivating Activities

I will begin by using Google Earth to show students where Two Grey Hills Trading Post is located. They will engage in a ‘See, Think, Wonder’ routine to make observations about the geography/surrounding landscape. Because my students live in an urban environment, I predict that they will wonder where people live and where they go shopping for food. The Two Grey Hills Trading Post has been operating for almost 100 years in one of the most remote regions of the Navajo Reservation. Barbara Teller Ornelas father worked here.

We will discuss why the rugs might look the way they do and why people maintain a tradition of pattern and design.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard/Promethean Board
• Google Slide presentation with links to the Two Grey Hills Trading Post, Ornelas’s weavings, and images of Churro sheep

Materials

• See, Think, Wonder template
• Sticky notes
• Pencils
• Student weavings
• Scissors,
• Yarn

Closing Activity

Talk about traditions. What sort of stories or traditions does your family have? How did you learn about them/who taught you? Why is it important to maintain traditions?

Lesson 8: Weaving Is Adaptable

Students will compare how weaving looked in the past, and how it has changed over time. They will learn about Naiomi Glasses and her partnership with Sackcloth and Ashes. She is a contemporary Navajo weaver who designs patterns that are then made into blankets sold by this company. 100% of the profits are donated to an organization called,’Chezh for Cheii’ that provides free firewood to Navajo elders. Additionally, for each purchase, the company donates a blanket to a homeless shelter. While these blankets designed by Glasses are not woven on a handloom, they are sustainably made.

The students experiment using different recycled materials for their weavings.

National Standards

• Re.8.1.4a: Interpret art by referring to contextual information and analyzing relevant subject matter, characteristics of form, and use of media.

Keywords

Adaptable, sustainable

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will understand how traditions can adapt.

Skills:

Students will be able to make a connection to the Hózhó concept of making the world balanced through sustainable projects such as Glasses’ work.

Students will be able create yarn from recycled items such as t-shirts and plastic bags.

Assessment

Informal formative; progress—student creates ‘yarn’ from either t-shirt or plastic bag and includes it in their weaving.

Motivating Activity

Look at images of Glasses; juxtaposition of her traditional clothing as she skateboards through the desert. Short discussion. Open Sackcloth and Ashes website; show video. Discuss issue of poverty on reservation and lack of resources.

Model how to create yarn from recycled materials.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slides with photos of Naiomi Glasses and links to Sackcloth and Ashes
• Document camera for demo

Materials

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• T-shirts(or other cloth from homes)
• Plastic bags

Closing Activity

Brainstorm how we can make a difference in the world. Discuss why we should recycle or up-cycle.

Lesson 9: Weaving Is Diverse

Students will compare and contrast various Navajo weavings. Students will compare weavings styles that developed across the vast territory of the Navajo Reservation. They will analyze the imagery and offer suggestions as to why they look so different.

They will also look at one another’s weavings, and will have an opportunity to look at the weavings from a separate class of 4^th graders.

By looking at peer work, they might have ideas for their own weavings.

National Standards

• Re.7.1.4a: Compare responses to a work of art before and after working in similar media.
• 4.4.C: Explain how continuity and change in world history have influenced personal development and identity.

Key Words

Pictorial, Raised Outline, Ganado, Pine Springs

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will understand that within Navajo weaving, there are multiple styles.

Students will understand that weavings can be geometric or pictorial.

Skills:

Students will begin to develop their own unique style using color and technique.

Assessment

Group game: Categorize weavings after learning about the styles.

Motivating Activity

Look at a map that shows the Navajo Reservation and explore using Google Earth. Show examples of some of the styles of weavings from different areas on the reservation.

Gallery walk around room to see peer work.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slides with image of map and styles
• Separate slides with images of Pictorial, Raised Outline, Ganado, and Pine Springs
• Laminated images of the styles for game

Materials

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• yarn

Closing Activity

Name your style of weaving.

Lesson 10: Weaving Is Identity

How are Navajo weavings unique to their people? How do contemporary weavers show their traditions and appeal to a new aesthetic? How can we make a weaving, using simple style and materials, to show something personal?

Students will learn about contemporary Navajo weaver, Melissa Cody. Through observing her work and watching a brief video, they will gain insight into how weavers such as Cody, who learned from their family, blend both tradition and contemporary aesthetic in order to express themselves.

National Standards

• Pr.4.1.4a: Analyze how past, present, and emerging technologies impacted the preservation and presentation of artwork.

Key Words

Aesthetic, appropriation, Germantown Revival

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that aesthetic is the appreciation of beauty and will compare this to Hózhó.

Students will learn that a tradition can adapt in certain ways.

Skills:

Students will be able to identify their own unique aesthetic and explain how they express that in their weaving.

Assessments

Reflection: How do you show your aesthetic through your weaving?

Motivating Activity

Look at Melissa Cody’s work, ‘Good Luck,’ and ‘Dopamine Regression.’ Students to add to Peel the Fruit in the section, ‘Outside Skin(What do you notice), and ‘Different Viewpoints(How could we see this from another perspective?)

What symbols do you see? In what places or ways have you seen these symbols used? Explain the use of the cross to represent Spider Woman and the series she made about her father’s battle with Parkinsons. Explain that, although we view the Swastika as hurtful and negative symbol, it was actually a symbol of good luck appropriated by the Nazis.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slides with images of Cody’s work

Materials

• Images of colorful yarn from Germantown
• Student weavings
• Scissors
• Bright colored yarn

Closing Activity

Why is appropriation harmful?

How can your art have a voice? What sorts of traditions do you think have changed within your own family?_________________

Lesson 11: Weaving Is Endurance

How has weaving survived despite so many challenges the Navajo people have endured?

Students will learn about the sheep reduction program and boarding schools. When the treaty of Bosque Redondo was signed in 1868, the borders of the Navajo Reservation were created by the federal government, and children began being separated from their families. They were placed in boarding schools, where their hair was cut and they were forbidden to speak Navajo. Because family and clan connections were an essential part of the Diné people, this was a way of truly killing their culture and ways of life. These boarding schools denied contact between families and their children for years. The repercussions are still felt to this day. The trauma of separating children from their families meant that they did not learn traditions, stories, or ways of life. Some of these children died at the schools, or ran away and were never found.

The Navajo people, like many other tribes across this country, are resilient. They have endured, and weaving has survived.

National Standards

8.4.4.C: Explain how continuity and change in world history have influenced personal development and identity.

Key Words

Assimilation, boarding schools

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn about the U.S. Government’s plan to assimilate Native American children into white society.

Students will learn that racist policies cause generational trauma.

Skills:

Students will make connections to current events.

Assessment

Informal, observation of progress of weaving.

Informal, questioning

Motivating Activity

Images of students in boarding schools. See-Think-Wonder

Teacher Resources

• Smartboard, or Promethean board
• Google Slides with photos of children in boarding schools and ‘before and after’ photos.

Materials and supplies

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• yarn

Closing Activity

Why does culture matter?

Lesson 12: Weaving Is Emotion

Students will write short poems about weaving and how it makes them feel. This will be in the form of an acrostic poem.

National Standards

• C.1.2.4: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Key Words

Expression, Hózhó

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn to use words to express the way weaving makes them feel.

Skills:

Students will be able to write an acrostic poem to express how weaving makes them feel.

Assessment

Acrostic Poem completion.

Motivating Activities

Brainstorm words to express how weaving makes them feel and what they have learned. We will use these words to create a collective word cloud.

Teacher Resources

• Smart Board
• Laptop
• Word Cloud ready to create
• Student Chromebooks

Materials and Supplies

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• Yarn

Closing Activity

Share acrostic poems

Lesson 13: Weaving Is Freedom

Students will use this day as a work session. They will have the opportunity to learn new techniques or simply continue with their weaving.

National Standards

• Cn.10.1.4a: Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.
• Cr3.1.4a: Revise artwork in progress on the basis of insights gained through peer discussion.

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will recognize that weaving allows the artist freedom of color choices, technique, and styles.

Skills:

Students will progress to 75% completion.

Assessment

Progress check. Glow and grow; what are students doing well, what could they improve. Peer-to-peer assessment.

Motivating Activities

I will model ‘glow and grow.’

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Music
• Smart Board

Materials and Supplies

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• Yarn

Closing Activity

Goal setting for next class: What will I focus on as I begin to finish my weaving?

Lesson 14 & 15: Weaving Is Reward

Students to reflect on start to finish project and answer the prompt, ‘I used to think that weaving was….Now I think it’s….” Reflect on what we gained from this unit.

Students will use final two sessions to remove weaving from warp, draw weaving on white paper, and reflect on what they have learned.

National Standards

• Cr3.1.4a: Revise artwork in progress on the basis of insights gained through peer discussion.

Lesson Objectives

Concepts:

Students will learn that reflection helps us grow.

Skills:

Students will be able to do the finishing work for their weaving including removing it from the loom.

Assessment

Rubric

Motivating Activites

We will look at our weavings start to finish. I will show them photos of their weavings from the first few sessions, and they will reflect on their progress. I will also model how to remove weavings from looms.

Teacher Resources

• Laptop
• Smartboard or Promethean Board
• Google Slide presentation with photos of student work.
• Document camera

Materials and Supplies

• Student weavings
• Scissors
• Yarn

Closing Activity

Gallery walk and reflection.

Antonio, M.B. (2019). “Sitting to My Loom”; Weaving Sustainability Through Navajo Kincentric Wisdom. [Doctoral dissertation, Prescott College]. Proquest Dissertations Publishing.

Barbara Teller Ornelas. (n.d.). Craft in America. Retrieved December 19, 2021 from https://www.craftinamerica.org/short/barbara-teller-ornelas-on-weaving.

Harvard Graduate School of Education. (2016). Project Zero’s Thinking Routine

Toolbox, Project Zero, http://www.pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines.

Hedlund, A.(2015). Beyond Beauty. Exploring the Ethno Aesthetics of Navajo Weaving.

American Indian Art Magazine 30(3).

Glasses, N.(n.d.). Diné Youth Weaves into the Future. Coalition to Stop Violence Against

Native Women. https://www.csvanw.org/dine-youth-weaves-into-the-future.

The Long Walk, (n.d.). Native Knowledge 360, Retrieved December 19, 2021 from https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/navajo/long-walk/long-walk.cshtml

Melissa S.Cody. (2018, January 9). Retrieved from https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org/melissa-s-cody

Naiomi Glasses.(n.d.). Sackcloth and Ashes.https://sackclothandashes.com/pages/naiomi-glasses.

Navajo Nation. (n.d.). Where is the Navajo Nation? Retrieved December 19, 2021, from https://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/LocationMap.htm

Ornelas, B.T. & Pete, L.T.(2020). How to Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman. Thrums Books.

Struggling with Cultural Repression, (n.d.). Native Words, Native Warriors. Retrieved December 19, 2021 from https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/code-talkers/boarding-schools/#story3

Yohe, J.A.(2012) The Circulation and Silence of Weaving Knowledge in Contemporary

Navajo Life. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 36(4).