Week 6 in Zuni

Last weekend Natalia and I hung out around Zuni and Gallup. We went to the Zuni arts and crafts festival which consisted of about a dozen artists in the visitor center parking lot. There was a variety of items including kachinas, jewelry, paintings, pottery, carved fetishes, beaded kachinas, etched glass and other items. All of the artists were local Zuni and Hopi tribal members. The pottery here is especially stunning. Apparently each family of artists has their own unique pottery designs that they pass down in the family. Some of the artists started as teenagers and are still hard at work perfecting and selling their art today in their 70’s. Some of the artists are teenagers just beginning their journey.

We then drove to Gallup to see the notorious Gallup Weekend Flea Market. It was tucked away back behind the car dealership in a large dirt lot. The circus was packing up for the day, probably because it was too windy for their clankity multicolored rides. Next to the circus were men were on horses with large trailers full of hay for sale. I looked at Natalia and asked “you think we went the wrong way??”. This didn’t look like a flea market. I had followed Carlinda’s instructions exactly…find the car dealership, turn left and drive until you find the flea market. We had indeed arrived; this was the flea market. Across from the circus there were all sorts of items for sale in tents and corrugated tin booths. Navajo fry bread fried in lard, snow cones, piles of tires, men who will replace your windshield for $15, other men who will revamp your headlights for a mere $10. Hmmm…I’ll pass on the automotive adjustments boys. The array of tents held a mismatched assortment of items arranged in varying degrees of order or rather disorder. Old Navajo women sat bundled from the wind and blowing dust with their handmade jewelry and pottery and colorful rugs displayed for sale. Handwritten signs advertising mutton stew, grilled mutton, tamales, hominy, Zuni bread, Acoma bread were plentiful. Some of my favorite items were the ones from Mexico marked “not for sale in the U.S.”

Natalia and I made one lap around the flea market, ate some fry bread and bought a couple of items before we retreated from the wind to Richardson’s Pawn and Trading Post on old Route 66. Richardson’s is packed full of everything southwestern you could ever imagine. They have a huge selection of kachinas ranging from $150-$3500, pottery, jewelry, belts, buckles, bolos, rugs, paintings, mounted animal heads. Their jewelry is primarily Navajo which is much larger and chunkier than the delicate Zuni jewelry. Navajo artists use a variety of turquoise colors from a variety of mines in the southwest and will use turquoise with bands of other colors (imperfections; lines of other minerals). Zuni artists use almost exclusively Sleeping Beauty turquoise from a specific mine in Arizona. It has no defects and is a pure blue color. We wandered through Richardson’s and met a very chatty sales clerk who told us his life story and then introduced us to the artist who made the earrings at which we were looking.

After the flea market and Richardson’s we were hungry. To end our day in Gallup we headed to Genero’s, a small Mexican restaurant in a residential area off old route 66 with a handful of items on the menu and salsa that I’m pretty sure burned off my taste buds.
During the week I was busy busy busy in the clinic as I am taking on larger case loads every week. I’m also still working on my projects for school which I cannot seem to finish. Friday was my birthday and overall was a pretty good day. Friday night I hung out with Natalia and a couple of pharmacy students. We were all invited to dinner by one of the pharmacy technicians. It was an interesting evening but enjoyable nonetheless.
This weekend I worked one day and decided to take Sunday off and go for a drive. I am currently reading “Blood and Thunder” by Hampton Sides. It is a historical account of westward U.S. expansionism and conquest in the 1800’s told through the eyes of both Native Americans and white expansionists. The expansionists just reached Canyon De Chelly (pronounced “d’shay”) near present day Chinle, Arizona, so I thought it would be fitting to take a day trip to Canyon De Chelly. It was home to the Ancient Puebloans as well as the Navajos. The canyon is a sacred place on Navajo tribal lands and hiking is only allowed with a Navajo guide. The Navajos continue to live and work on the land in and around the canyon. It was beautiful and offered stunning views. Amid this arid rocky red land the base of the canyon is green with viable farming land because there is a small river flowing through it. The high walls of the canyon also provide some protection for the fierce winds and dust storms that howl through this area. As I drove around the south rim there were local artists in the pull offs selling their handmade crafts from blankets for pretty reasonable prices. Fortunately I had a limited amount of cash with me because I found plenty of things I wanted to buy.