A Master Weaver’s Journey
Writer Joseph J. Airdo
At dawn in the Navajo Nation, Rena Robertson settles before her upright loom, offering prayers before her hands begin their daily dance with wool and tradition. Born in Hardrock in the Big Mountain Area, Robertson carries forward the legacy of the Edge Water clan (born for Rock Gap, Táb ah’ há — Tse clóshghizhni clan). Like the intricate patterns she weaves, her life story is a tapestry of cultural preservation, artistic innovation and unwavering dedication to a craft that has sustained her people for generations.
“I first started weaving when I was around 5 or 6 years old,” Robertson recalls, her voice warm with memory. “My mother would set aside small pieces of wool that didn’t match her other colors for me and my sisters. She would set up small looms for us and have us start with stripes. We learned to make straight lines, not wiggly ones. Once we mastered that, she would graduate us to small flat designs, then square designs. Our skills progressed step by step from there.”
Those early lessons at her mother’s side laid the foundation for what would become not just Robertson’s artistic expression, but her way of life. Her mother taught her to respect the weaving and to live in gratitude as a weaver. Now, as the featured weaver at the 3rd annual Scottsdale Navajo Rug & Jewelry Show & Sale, she’s preparing to share her masterful techniques and cultural insights with Valley residents.
The show, taking place Feb. 21–23 at the Holland Center in Scottsdale, showcases 300 traditional handwoven Navajo rugs created by 70 weavers. The event began after Laurie and Tim Soule purchased one of Robertson’s rugs and made it their mission to create a venue where Navajo weavers could sell their work.
Now in its third year, the show has grown significantly since its 2023 inception, welcoming 1,700 attendees last year and rivaling the total sales of some of the program’s most successful shows in other states. It’s a rare opportunity for collectors and art enthusiasts to not only purchase authentic pieces but also to witness the living tradition of Navajo weaving.
What sets Navajo weaving apart is both its technique and spiritual foundation. Unlike Western weaving methods, the Navajo approach requires unique preparation and sacred intention.
“We use what’s called an upright loom, and we don’t typically string it while it’s in place,” Robertson explains. “Instead, we prepare the strings separately before attaching them to the loom. Another unique aspect is the spiritual element. Navajo weavers often pray and sing for their weaving tools and their sheep. This spiritual connection sets our textiles apart from others.”
The technique has been refined over generations, with each weaver adding his or her own innovations while maintaining traditional methods. Robertson notes that the tight weave characteristic of Navajo rugs gives each design both structure and durability.
The process begins long before the first thread is woven. Robertson harvests her own natural dyes during the fall months, when plants offer their richest colors.
“Prickly pear produces a very light pink,” she says. “Sage creates a deep, rich green — not bright, but intense. There are also tall bushes that look like oversized rabbit grass. These produce yellow dyes. Some of these plants are available in my homeland, but I must travel to find others.”
The timing of this harvest is crucial, tied to both practical necessity and cultural wisdom.
“In spring, even if you find a beautiful purple flower, it won’t dye the wool well,” Robertson explains. “Spring plants are full of water and lack strong pigments. In fall, when plants are preparing for dormancy — what we call ‘plants going to sleep’ — their colors are most intense.”
It takes about a week just to prepare for weaving, with the dyeing process carefully timed to capture nature’s richest hues. The intensity of each color can be controlled through the dyeing process. “The first dip gives a deep color,” Robertson explains, “and as you continue using the same water, the color becomes lighter with each dip. This way, you can achieve a range from very deep to very light shades.”
For Robertson, weaving is both an art form and an economic necessity. She weaves four to six hours daily throughout the year, creating pieces that support her family and maintain her independence.
“It’s my way of life and my primary source of income,” she says. “I don’t receive any government assistance, so I rely entirely on my weaving to support myself, my children and sometimes my grandchildren. I live in an area without running water, so I have to haul water or pay someone with a larger truck to bring it for me.”
This reality echoes the traditional trading practices of her grandmother’s generation.
“They would weave for months at a time,” Robertson remembers. “Around October, they would load their rugs into wagons and make a weeklong round trip to Tuba City. They’d trade their rugs for food to last through the winter.”
Among the pieces Robertson will bring to this year’s show is a design that demonstrates how Navajo weaving can tell powerful stories of both personal and cultural significance. The piece is inspired by the legendary weaver Larry Yazzie’s “Blue Canyon” style, though Robertson’s approach remains deeply personal, drawing inspiration from both tradition and innovation.
“Larry created this rug design to express that his heart wasn’t whole anymore,” she explains, referencing the 1970s Navajo-Hopi land dispute that resulted in widespread relocation. “The rug’s three distinct sections — earth tones at the bottom, prominent red in the middle, and blue sky above — represented the broken hearts of the relocated Navajo. Instead of one unified design, he used three different patterns to symbolize this fragmentation.”
Today, Robertson collaborates with her husband, Martin Whitehair (Rock Gap, born for the Salt Clan, Tsé deeshgizhníí — ‘Áshiihíí), an artist who brings his own creative perspective to their work.
“Sometimes when I’m choosing colors, he’ll suggest ways to create faded effects or make colors brighter, just like he does with his paints and colored pencils,” she says. “He’s taught me a lot about color theory. We’ve woven landscapes together, and now we’re working on ocean scenes.”
The couple’s artistic partnership extends to their five children, all of whom weave. Three have chosen to make it their profession, carrying forward this vital cultural legacy.
“I passed this knowledge to my children because I wanted them to learn and, in turn, pass it on to their children,” Robertson says. “Beyond that, I’m not certain how far back our family’s weaving tradition goes, but my mother used to say that other women she considered grandmothers would also share their knowledge. Our goal is to keep the weaving tradition alive for as long as we possibly can.”
At this year’s show, Robertson will demonstrate a particularly intricate technique: the two-face rug.
“It’s not commonly seen at the show,” she explains. “A two-face rug has completely different designs on each side of the rug. It’s like having two rugs in one.”
She enjoys these demonstrations, taking time to educate visitors about the weaving process.
“Even if the questions might seem simple to me, I always answer them with patience and kindness,” Robertson notes. “It’s a way to share our culture and art with others.”
The event begins with a VIP preview night on Feb. 21, offering attendees first choice of the rugs while enjoying Native music, weaver talks, hors d’oeuvres and a chance to win a hand-woven rug through the evening’s raffle. The show opens to the public Feb. 22–23, with free admission.
All proceeds go directly to the weavers, supporting both their artistry and livelihood through the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program, which has spent more than three decades reducing extreme poverty among traditional elders living on the Navajo Reservation. What began as a grassroots effort in the 1980s now serves around 800 elders through food deliveries, medical supplies, firewood and other essential resources.
Robertson’s connection to the program began through her mother, Sarah Robertson, who received food assistance through the program.
“They serve Navajo elders, providing food and necessities for the winter,” Robertson explains. “During what they call ‘food runs,’ I noticed that Linda Myers, who runs the program, was also buying rugs. My mother received food from the program, and that’s how I initially got involved.”
The program has evolved to embrace modern marketing methods while maintaining traditional values. Robertson appreciates this evolution.
“Linda has access to the internet, which I’m still learning about despite my children and grandchildren trying to teach me,” she says with a laugh. “She uses this to sell rugs for me online. This has greatly affected my life by providing a way to sell my rugs and earn income to support myself here on the reservation.”
The program’s support has been particularly meaningful — it helped Robertson put her only son through college without any student debt, a proud achievement for the weaver.
There aren’t many weavers left, and consequently, not many rugs being made. Yet through events like this and programs like Adopt-A-Native-Elder, these sacred traditions endure. Each rug tells a story — of family, of survival, of artistic evolution and cultural preservation. As Elder Ruth Benally described the program’s food boxes, they arrive “like miracles from the sky.” For Robertson and other weavers, the program offers similar sustenance for their artistic traditions.
For Robertson, every piece she creates is more than just a beautiful object. It’s a thread connecting past to present, mother to child, artist to community.
“When I travel, I observe my surroundings carefully,” she says. “If something catches my eye, I internalize it. The image processes through my mind, then my heart, flows down my arms to my hands, and finally onto the loom. I prepare my loom with only prayers, never working from premade designs.”
In this way, each rug becomes not just a masterwork of technique but a living piece of Navajo culture, woven with prayers and sustained by tradition while embracing contemporary vision. Robertson’s rugs, like those of the generations before her, are both functional art and cultural testimony.
“These rugs are meant to be used, not just displayed,” she emphasizes. “They’re not delicate art pieces that you have to keep dust-free. Their beauty lies in their functionality and durability.”
It’s this combination of practicality and artistry, of ancient wisdom and modern innovation, that Robertson hopes to share with visitors to the show, weaving together past and present one thread at a time.
3rd Annual Scottsdale Navajo Rug & Jewelry Show & Sale
Feb. 21–23 // VIP Preview: Feb. 21, 5–8 p.m.; Show: Feb. 22–23, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. // Holland Center // 34250 N. 60th St., Scottsdale // VIP Preview: $50; General Admission: Free // 480-488-1090 // hollandcenter.org
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