Janet Tsinnie
Navajo Weaving
Janet Tsinnie was born to Naakaii Dine' (Mexican People—maternal clan) and
Ta' nszahnii (Tangle People - paternal clan) in Tuba City, Arizona, in 1963. She writes, "I was very excited to see Bruce Burnham approaching my doorstep on a Sunday morning....I thought "what is he doing here on a Sunday morning? He gave me a letter and tells me this is a good opportunity for me...Quickly I glanced over the letter and gave him a puzzled look. Never in my life did I think about leaving the reservation and doing my work away from home!"
Leaving home meant finding a caretaker for her eleven year old son, Nick, since Janet is a single parent. Relocation was another move that Janet's family had to go through when their home at Big Mountain was redistributed to the Hopi people as part of the Navajo-Hopi land dispute. Janet also lived in Durango, Colorado, for six years, attending Fort Lewis College part time and working in both a nursing home and home for mentally disabled children. She writes, "As I was leaving Durango, I did not know what...was to become of...[us]." Janet returned to the Navajo reservation and to New Lands, near Sanders, Arizona, in 1987. Everything was new and exciting, everything had changed...."
"In our new neighborhood everyone was weaving New Lands Raised-Outline." Janet had done some weaving in her teens, using only three colors. But this style was new and interesting. Her little sister was weaving this style and taught it to Janet. "I had problems with the rug. At times I had to undo and start all over again. This took time and patience, but I did not give up. For my great grandma, she said, 'learn how to weave your fingers or hands, [there] is money floating around.' Then came the return of Chief Blankets. Boy, did I have a great time doing chiefs! I remember doing two 4' x 6' chiefs [that] got me a Ford Explorer. During that time chief blankets were in style."
Today in New Lands, Janet notes that her family raises sheep and seems to know contentment in her home. "I weave sometimes twelve hours a day." It is her
sole income. When Bruce Burnham, at R. B. Burnham's Trading Post, about eight miles from Janet's home, began stocking the "revival" Germantown 4-ply machine-spun yarns, Janet was excited to use them. "The color takes my breath away. When I lay in bed late at night, I get so excited I have to crawl out of bed and start drawing in colors and designs." Janet found great competition among the weavers using the Burnham yarns. "These are very finely woven which requires a lot of patience."
"In the past I did just about everything weaving my old town rugs...Storm patterns, Ganado Red, Wide Ruins, not to mention Tee[s] Nos Pos rugs. Overall my favorite is the Tee[s] Nos Pos, there is no limitation on your colors."
Janet has worked very hard in her life to support herself and her son. As with most of her peers, she is also very humble. "I cannot say I'm a good artist, every rug weaver are artists. They take pride in doing what they do."
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Portrait by Mark Nohl
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