Navajo Folk Art Corn People Set of 6 Bottom Left - 5 5/8" tall x 3" wide @ base Bottom Middle - 5 3/8" tall x 3" wide @ base Bottom Right - 6 3/8" tall x 3 1/2" wide @ base Top Left - 6 1/2" tall x 3 1/2" wide @ base Top Middle - 6 1/2" tall x 3 1/2" wide @ base Top Right - 6 1/4" tall x 3 5/8" wide @ base Watch the Video!
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Dennis Ross
Dennis
Ross - Kachina Carver Asked how he first started carving, Dennis Ross
answers with a laugh, "My brother - he gave me a knife, and a stone, and
a piece of carving wood, and said, 'Here you go'."
Dennis
was twenty-six years old. His brother, Harry Bert, also gave him a little
constructive criticism on that first experiment into the creative world
of carving, but Dennis took it from there. Now he is a well known carver
of Kachina dolls, and his constructive criticism comes from his wife,
Harriet Yazzie, who helps him make the dolls. Dennis has entered his Eagle
Dancer dolls in the Gallup Ceremonials and the Totah Festival the past
two years, and has the honor of garnering three first place prizes, an
honorable mention, and the coveted Best of Show.
For
Dennis Ross, making Kachina dolls is a family business. Seven years ago
he was working in Phoenix, as a steel worker. In his spare time he made
a Kachina doll and then took it to an art gallery to see if they would
be interested in buying it. He was surprised to find that they not only
bought it, they paid him double what he usually got on his paycheck from
work! Over the next six months, Dennis carved dolls in the evening, and
on weekends, keeping his day job, and then, with his wife's approval,
he quit working on construction. Together they began making dolls full
time.
"I
don't have a hard time selling my work," Dennis says, and he only remembers
one time when he felt he was underpaid for a piece.
The
reason for Dennis's success is the high quality of work he produces. His
dolls are outstanding for several reasons. First of all, Dennis loves
what he is doing. It allows him to be home with his wife and young son
and daughter, and he enjoys that. He also enjoys being financially independent
and free to set his own schedule.
Dennis
loves to ride his motorcycle down to the San Juan River, about 3 miles
from his home, and spend time along the river's banks. He may take his
gun and go rabbit hunting, or he takes his binoculars so he can just sit
and watch the wild life. He especially loves to watch the eagles. It is
not uncommon to see bald eagles soaring along the river, and he has also
sighted a golden eagle. This time of meditation and renewal is inspiring
for him, as he later carves his Eagle Dancers.
Dennis
also gets the cotton wood roots he carves from along the San Juan, in
the bends of the river. He says that the wood is clean, and soft, with
no rocks, easy to carve. It's a pretty wood, bleached out from the river
and the sun to an almost iridescent white. Dennis sometimes sketches the
facial features onto the top of the wood piece, or he may just begin carving.
He has done it so many times now, it is almost second nature to him. He
says after he has the face finished, he does the hair, and then the rest
of the body just "falls into place". He burns small details into the figure,
and sands it two different times before he oils the wood and then paints
it.
Dennis
generally makes dolls that stand about 10" tall - the collectors choice
- and works on as many as a dozen at a time. However, he has made larger
figures. He does Redtails as well as Eagles, but has found the Eagle figures
to be in greater demand.
The
Hopi Kachina dolls are part of Dennis's heritage, his father being Hopi.
Dennis's mother is Navajo, and Dennis thinks about making Navajo figures,
especially since his wife, Harriet, is Navajo. Dennis says Harriet gives
him his greatest encouragement, as well as doing most of the sanding and
paint work. "She's good with her hands", he praises her, "We help each
other out."
Wherever
Dennis goes, whatever he does, his mind is not far from his art. He is
constantly trying to improve on his technique. He observes people, their
posture and body language, thinking about how he can make his still life
figures look more animated.
Dennis
usually rises about 6 a.m. and does his chores, then begins to work on
the dolls. He says that sometimes, after the children are in bed, he gets
so caught up in his work that he forgets time and is surprised to find
he has worked into the early morning hours.
An
insight to his personality comes when he is asked if he would be willing
to teach others how to carve, and he answers that he already has. "It's
better to share it. You'll get something back in return." Dennis isn't
afraid of possible competition, even though it has become obvious that
others have begun copying his unique bases. "I can share," he says, "they'll
develop their own style."
Dennis
was raised in a traditional Navajo setting. He speaks fluent Navajo, and
understands Hopi. He has felt some criticism for daring to carve figures
out of wood, a Navajo taboo, but defends himself, "I know a lot of people
don't agree with that - carving eagles - but I disagree because I don't
put religion into it."
Dennis
says his Kachina figure's bodies are not painted white, as the real life
ceremonial figures are, because of his respect for the sacred part of
the Hopi ceremony. "It's an art," he insists. "No religion, just wood."
At
some point he thinks he'll begin carving Navajo figures. "Wood carving
is what I do. I feel good when I finish a piece. I look at it and think
'I made that. That's my piece'."
He
comments with a bit of pride, "My carving will never end- it will just
keep getting better and better." And then, he adds with a laugh, "But
you can't predict art. I could be eating jack rabbits next week."
Religion
plays a big part in Dennis's life. He was approached four different times
by a Medicine Man about becoming an apprentice. The fourth time Dennis
accepted the calling, and is training to become a crystal gazer. "I do
a lot of prayers and blessings for myself," Dennis admits. "I think that's
what keeps me going."
First Pair
First Man
('atse' xasti'n) and First Woman ('atse' esdza') (U) were transformed from two
primordial ears of corn. The gods decreed marriage for them and four days later
hermaphrodite twins were born to them. After four more days a normal boy and girl
were born, and later other twins until they had five pairs. The first boy and
girl mated with each other, as did the members of each succeeding pair; the hermaphrodites
alone were barren.
Four days after the last pair of twins was born, First Man and First Woman were
taken to the east where the gods dwelt. They were brought back after four days
and all their children were taken for a similar sojourn. When they returned, they
sometimes wore masks like those Talking God and xactc'e'oyan now wear and they
prayed for blessings such as man desires. However, in addition to the knowledge
of good, they acquired also the secrets of witchcraft, "for," states
the myth, "witches always keep such masks with them and marry those too closely
related to them."
After their return from the east, the siblings separated and, keeping their unlawful
marriages secret, took mates from the Mirage People, had many children who intermarried
with the ancient pueblo people and those who had come from Underground, and aided
in populating the earth. Their immediate descendants made rapid cultural progress.
First Man was chief of all people in the fourth world, except the pueblo people
who lived there before the Navaho came. He was a great hunter. His wife was very
fat and her favorite food was greasy meat. One time, after thoroughly enjoying
a hearty meal of fat venison, she wiped her hands on her dress and gave thanks
to her vagina. When First Man asked why she did this, she replied that she was
only acknowledging the motive for everything that men do. This and her subsequent
argument made First Man so furious that he jumped over the fire and remained by
himself in silence all night. The next day the men and women agreed to separate
(Matthews 1897, pp. 69-73, 218, 32n; cp. Ch. 2 and Stevenson, p. 284).
According to the Goddard version, the First Pair existed in the lowest world,
where the perfect corn ears, white for male, yellow for female, came into being
with them. The corn was of whiteshell and abalone. The two beings met up with
Water Coyote and Coyote, and the group of four stuck together in later times.
Because of witchcraft, they left the two lowest worlds, and in the third, First
Man decreed marriage and exogamy, the legitimacy of the hermaphrodite's life,
and chieftainship. Various cultural advances were made. First Woman angered First
Man and all the other chiefs by her unfaithfulness (with Sun, says Matthews) and,
because of her offense, the women were separated from the men.
When the men and women eventually came to live together again, and First Man had
got the people through to the fourth or upper world, he was accredited with the
transformation of the earth, customs, and cultural progress. First Woman tried
to lead in sexual matters. For a long time there was no leadership, but rather
wrangling and trouble. When, however, Changing Woman was found by First Man, Mirage
Talking God decided that the 'mind' of the baby, Changing Woman, was to be the
ruling power.
The First Pair cared for her, calling her 'daughter' and regulating her life ceremonially.
When Changing Woman announced that Sun (whom she did not know) had appeared to
her, First Man did exactly as Sun directed, thus co-operating in the conception
of The Twins. After they were born, the First Pair helped care for them; First
Man made them bird arrows and occasionally gave them advice.
After The Twins had rid the earth of the monsters, First Man and First Woman went
to a place at the east beyond Narrow Water.
These accounts indicate that considerable good is to be ascribed to the First
Pair, but there is also an underlying suggestion that they may take the bad side
instead.
Gray Eyes' myth makes the First Pair wholly bad, for when The Twins, with whose
birth they had nothing to do, were young and innocent, First Man and First Woman
were allied with Coyote. All were man eaters who lived at Earth Mesa. Crow was
their messenger to spy out new humans for their food. After all possible evil
had been corrected, the First Pair were assigned a home in the northeast, where
evil and danger originate, 'because they are mean (ba'ate).'
The legend of the War Ceremony represents the First Pair as quite the opposite
of 'mean,' for First Man is so concerned with the successful outcome of The Twins'
adventures that he creates and breathlessly watches the warning prayer-sticks
for their safety.
The incidents representing the First Pair working against man almost certainly
refer to the undesirable practices of witchcraft the couple learned when they
visited the gods at the east. The Stephen version shows some causes of offense,
but does not define actual sorcery practices.
First Man and First Woman existed in the first of the three worlds described.
By rubbing cuticle from different parts of their bodies they created a man and
a woman (called Biting Vagina), then formed Water Monster and Salt Woman. From
a small piece of his tongue First Man made a wing, which he placed on his ear.
When the wind blew it told him what was to happen. He made also Big Frog and Crane.
First Woman created Thunder. After Spider Woman had made ants, the four beings
Water Monster, Frog, Salt Woman, and Crane moved to the ends of the world quarters
so they would not be annoyed by the ants; their houses were shaped like rainbows
and sunrays. When First Man and First Woman looked at these, they prayed for clouds
and rain. First Woman sent Thunder to be a guardian for Water Monster, Water Horse
to guard Frog's house, Water Sprinkler to guard Salt Woman, and Fish [Turtle?]
to guard the bird at the north. Each had a water vessel. When First Man and his
wife saw these jars, they were somewhat jealous, but First Man said that if they
were wise enough they could have just as many things.
He thereupon went to each creature and borrowed a little water from each of the
four directions. He 'planted' the water and raised a spring around which grew
five kinds of plants. One was a reed with twelve nodes, from which wind blew,
making music because it was a flute. Wind became troublesome; the guards of the
four houses could not subdue it and finally gave up the attempt. The First Pair
were still praying for something to eat, and when First Man went to look at his
spring, he found corn. Water Monster had pumpkins and squash, and Salt Woman beans
and cotton. First Woman saw that Frog had watermelons and tobacco and that muskmelons
and gourds grew at the north. In the spring First Man also found growing fruit,
which Spider Woman changed to whiteshell.
By this time the First Pair had everything, but those living at the edge of the
world had no corn. When they asked for it, First Man gave them pollen which grew
into small plants, like onions, without ears. Water Monster complained that when
First Man had wanted water, he had let him have it and now First Man would not
return the favor by furnishing corn seed. Water Monster sent Thunder to strike
First Man with lightning, but Horned Toad protected him. Frog sent Water Horse,
but Spider Woman spun a web to protect him. Salt Woman sent Water Sprinkler with
salt and lightning, but Black God saved First Man.
Then First Man sent Black God against these, his enemies. He went into their houses
and broke the water jars so that water ran in all directions, met in the west,
and caused a great flood. First Man was not afraid of water. He and his party
were able to take symbols of their possessions and float on the water in a large
reed. The four enemies sent for help; as a result, Cicada got a bow and two arrows
from Water Monster; Black God accepted from Frog a tobacco pouch of water scum
beautifully embroidered with beads:
Spider Woman received a nice cotton blanket from Salt Woman; Horned Toad was given
a flint shirt and cap. These offerings made them all friendly and First Man let
their donors get into his reed. As, with prayer, they bade farewell to their spring,
two young men came out of it. First Woman hid them in her blanket.
When the First Pair arrived in the second world, First Man laid down the mountains
as they are in this world. He made Talking God, Monster Slayer, and Black God,
and placed them on the sacred mountains. He made sky covers for the mountains
and fixed day and night. Then the First Pair made people and put chiefs in charge
of them. First Man taught Coyote all he knew; the latter quarreled with Wind and
carried back lies to First Man.
After the separation and reunion of the sexes, with which the First Pair had nothing
to do, and after the people had come up to this world, First Man made sun, moon,
and stars as described in the other version (Stephen 1930, pp. 88-104; cp. Stevenson).
There always seems to be some undesignated cause of dissatisfaction that keeps
the First Pair in a bad temper regarding man. Perhaps they are only fumbling.
They have an inkling of what is good and some desire to bring it about, but because
of ignorance, the mixed character of such knowledge as they have, and the absence
of harmony, they move back and forth between good and evil in a kind of experiment
with the cosmos. For these reasons they belong in the class of Undependable Deities.
According to the myth of the Endurance Chant, First Man and First Woman lived
with Sun and Moon. JS says that at the very beginning they lived with Earth Woman,
Sky Man, First Boy, and First Girl.
It is certain that much more could be found in Navaho lore, some of which would
make clearer the position of the First Pair in the pantheon.
Although the Wheelwright creation story gives the First Pair merely a minor position
in the emergence and transformation of the world, it has the only graphic representation
of them published so far. They are shown sitting before their house, in which
burns the fire Coyote stole from Black God. First Man has a shirt of various colors;
First Woman wears brown, the color of Earth and of Earth People (Goddard, pp.
127, 156; Matthews 1897, p. 217; Reichard, Shooting Chant ms.; Endurance Chant
ms.; Haile 1938b, p. 123; Stephen 1930, pp. 86-104; Wheelwright 1942, Set II,
3).
