Indians and non-Indians have been exchanging gifts to mark
friendly encounters since first contact. In a recent gesture of
friendship, art dealer Norman Hurst, owner of Hurst Gallery, and
his wife, Katherine B. Jones, assistant dean for information
technology and media services at Harvard Divinity School, have
given a Diné (Navajo) medicine man a sacred, antique, ceremonial
healer's fan from their private collection.
Norris Nez, the hataali (medicine man; singer) who identified the
fan, informed Hurst and Jones that it would be most welcome,
because his own, similar fan had become quite worn and fragile
from many years of use in healing ceremonies and religious
rituals. He said that this fan was used in a central ceremonial
rite of Diné culture.
Hurst and Jones said they are honoring the Diné belief that such
sacred objects should not be sold or even displayed outside of
their cultural, religious context. They are delighted, not only
that the fan is being returned to the people who created it; but,
more importantly, that in the future it will play an important
role in the ongoing religious and healing practices for which it
was created. As a token of their appreciation, Norris's wife,
Lena Nez, a noted Diné weaver, has made a reciprocal gift of one
of her prized weavings.
Although Hurst and Jones and Norris and Lena Nez have not met
directly, their relationship and the identification of the fan
and its cultural significance was fostered by Carol Halberstadt,
cofounder and coordinator of Black Mesa Weavers for Life and
Land, a Special Project of Cultural Survival, Inc. The nonprofit
weavers' organization was created in 1998 to help restore
economic and social self-sufficiency to the Diné of the Black
Mesa region of northeastern Arizona by maintaining traditional,
sustainable lifeways based on sheepherding and the fair-trade
marketing of wool and weavings. In addition to receiving fair
prices for their products, the Black Mesa Weavers have been
awarded grants to develop solar-powered windmills as a source of
renewable energy, and to establish a handspun yarn enterprise
using the unique fleece from their rare Navajo-Churro sheep.
Hurst Gallery is at 53 Mount Auburn Street.
For information, www.hurstgallery.com or 617-491-6888.
