Mae Clark
Navajo Weaving
Mae Clark was born to the Kinyaa'aanii (Towering House People—her maternal clan) and born for the Chishi (Chiricahua Apache
People—her paternal clan) on November 9, 1965. Born and raised in Rocky Ridge, near the Hopi village of Hotevilla, Arizona, Mae's family was removed from their homeland near Big Mountain on the Navajo reservation when that land was awarded to the Hopi as part of the Hopi-Navajo land dispute settlement. Mae now lives in the New Lands area near Sanders, Arizona. Mae's father was a medicine man, and her family values are grounded in basic Navajo cultural traditions. She and husband Jackson also participate as members in the Native American Church.
Herding sheep, horses, and cattle were some of her responsibilities as a child and she credits her mother, "a very tough teacher," as one of the people who taught her how to weave. Mae notes, "she only showed designs to you once." The late-night winter camp sounds of her mother weaving at the loom under a flickering kerosene lamp "made me feel secure," Mae confides, and "it made me feel like everything will be all right, because we didn't have electricity or running water. Our only link to the outside world was a radio." It wasn't until Mae entered boarding school that she learned about the technology of television. She was good in math and science, but when her father's health began to fail, she returned home to help the family. It was during this difficult time that Mae requested that her mom put up a loom for her so she could help with family finances. She reminisces that her father told her stories that carried the meaning of what it is to be a weaver in Navajo culture and the responsibilities it entails. "My parents used to have sheep, but after my father passed away, it seem like the joy of having sheep went with it." She credits him as the second most important influence in her life.
Today, husband Jackson Clark helps Mae coordinate her colors and is one of her most staunch supporters. He reminds her, "she can do any design she puts her mind to." She is a loving mother to Shyn and Nocona and her warm, caring personality is reflected in the vibrant colors of life found in her rugs. Mae works with the machine-spun Germantown yarns supplied by trader Bruce Burnham at R. B. Burnham Trading Post, in Sanders, Arizona and with the multiple colors of the yarn weaves rugs to which she sometimes gives a name. She credits Mr. Burnham with helping and encouraging her work. She adds, "before I started weaving for Bruce Burnham, I just wove Storm patterns. The yarns I used were basic red, black, light and dark gray, and white." Mae Clark says, "the work I do reflects the kind of person I am. I usually don't think about the economic value or the beauty. I was told not to put a price on it or never brag about your rugs." She is, nonetheless, very picky about her
rugs, because "that is how I express myself."
Every four years Mae has a Blessing Way to help her in life and "to bring all my thinking back to me, because all my rugs go in different parts of the world." At that same time Mae's weaving tools, some of which belonged to her grandmother, and some made by her husband, Jackson, are blessed and renewed. It is clear that Mae Clark is a young lady with clear direction and meaning in her life and she never fails to thank those who have helped her.
Images: (Top) Portrait by
Mark Nohl
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