Anthony Tallboy
Navajo Weaving
Anthony Tallboy was born to Bt'ahnii (Folded Arms or Under His Cover
People—maternal clan) and born for Tdik'nzh (Salt Water People—paternal clan) on November 11, 1971 in Shiprock, New Mexico. Interviewed for the first time, Anthony took time out from busy preparations for a Squaw Dance (Enemy Way Ceremony) his family was sponsoring to talk. With sheep baaing and family around us, this interview took place in the hghaan where family and other gatherings take place.
Anthony currently lives in his mother's compound in Rock Point, Arizona, where his mother's and father's families have lived for many generations. He adheres to the traditional way of life and no other outside religions have influenced his life. He is, however, firmly grounded in today's world and does not find it difficult to interact in both the biligaana and din' societies. He quietly relates, "I have been here all my life, and I have been living here with my mom and aunts and sisters." Anthony assumed responsibility for his family at the age of fourteen when his dad passed away because none of his mother nor aunts worked.
Now twenty-nine, Anthony is both a weaver and a medicine man. His work as a medicine man does not include the use of sand paintings; he doesn't and wouldn't weave sand painting or Yei' i patterns into his rugs. "They told me...the medicine man told me not to do that, the sand paintings and the yeibichai because of their songs that I sing and their prayers that I pray for other people." By weaving these designs, Anthony acknowledges "the power would be in my rugs and not in my prayers and songs.... If I chose to do the rugs [of] the Yei'i and sand paintings, they told me to put the songs and prayers aside and not to do these anymore." Navajo philosophy believes sand paintings, which are made most often for the sick or troubled, must be destroyed after a ceremony. In so doing, the sickness is also destroyed.
Anthony comes from several generations of weavers, and notes that his grandmother and mother weave. His mom learned to weave from her sister who learned to weave from Anthony's grandmother. He learned to weave from his cousin's sisters, his mom, and his aunt. "I learned by watching them. They never taught me." Through this process, Anthony learned to warp and he also makes his own looms. When he weaves, Anthony interlocks the weft threads rather than dovetailing them. His mother also uses this technique. He doesn't use the braided side-cords, but simply wraps his weft yarns around the side warps. End-cords are used by both Anthony and his mom, but the difference is, "my mom twists hers twice within the warps, I twist them once."
Anthony Tallboy's world is devoted to raising and caring for his family's sheep. He notes that "only sometimes" will he use his own wool in his rugs. His family does, on occasion, wash, spin, and card the wool. Anthony does not do the washing, but he has carded and spun the wool. When asked if he dyes the wool, he noted, "I ask this one lady to [do] it for me...she probably does use the natural plants, but I don't know...she's from Rock Point." Anthony's designs are like his cousin's sister, the woman he credits with helping him learn how to weave. "I weave these designs because they are pretty." Anthony does not believe these designs are woven because they sell well. He offered a resounding "no" to that question and added, "my grandma...I guess my grandma taught her that pattern, and then she told me, O.K. you can use it....I paid her for that design."
Anthony Tallboy weaves both as an economic resource base and as a creative release. His primary concern is his family and the homelands where he resides.
Images: (Top) Portrait by
Mark Nohl
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