This video was a joy to watch. My mother’s family can be traced back to Polish spinners and weavers who moved from Poland to Flanders and The Netherlands out of poverty back when the Flemish cloth and tapestry industry was famous and profitable. They settled, integrated, became prosperous themselves. Somehow the art of spinning and weaving appeals to me and fascinates me but I’ve never taken the plunge more than very occasional dabbling. The background is vastly different, there is no comparison between the paths history has taken our families. But it strikes a chord. I do have a deep respect for family and for tradition. Maybe it’s that… One thing I absolutely loved was the connection you can feel throughout this video. The introduction alone: connecting to both the the maternal and paternal lines, followed by “I am a mother, I am a daughter, I am a weaver…” 💖 Every fiber in the yarn and later in the finished fabric is going to breathe the respect, the love, the tradition of the spinner and weaver. That makes the resulting work invaluable. Thank you.
It was such an honor to watch your beautiful demonstration and to listen to your melodic voice. Thank you for sharing your culture and teaching us about your process. I am a knitter who lives in Amsterdam but moved from Arizona a couple of years ago. I work in yarn procurement for a knit shop and am trying to learn all I can about the process from land to sheep, to fleece to the people that prepare the yarn for handmade projects. I am so inspired to learn to prepare yarn and spin it myself.
I don't believe I could have said it better than Deborah Rosen, above. She is an eloquent writer and a keenly perceptive person. May I add my simple gratirude to you, ma'am, for sharing your ancient wisdom, your beautiful songs and your powerful medicine with those of us who would seek to learn at your knee. Many thanks from Tennessee!
My paternal grandmother taught me how to card cotton. She would pick the leftover cotton from the local farms after they had finished harvesting their crop. She would use the cotton in her quilting and would use them to restuff mattress ticks and pillows. I admire this lady for her traditional tribal use of using natural materials from start to finish. A lovely legacy to leave to future generations.
Wow! An artist, carrier of traditional skills, language and knowledge, AND a veteran?! Aho! Gchi-miigwech for sharing your gifts, knowledge, and stories 🥰
The way your voice weaves the song into the work with your land and your traditions brought tears to my eyes. Blessings to you and to yours: I stumbled upon your video today, but it's been an honor to learn so much from you.
Thank you. I've seen old historical photographs where the wool was slapped upon cacti (pre card era). Enjoy your wool/sheep...my family and I raise sheep as well. ❤️🙏
Thank you so much. I came onto RUclips looking for information about Navajo spindles and spinning to share with a long-time friend who is a new spinner, and I found your wonderful video. I had the honor of visiting with your mother on the Navajo Nation a long time ago--likely the summer of 1996. So glad to "meet" you through this video.
Thank you, TahNibaa Naataanii, for sharing the songs and stories and keeping these historic traditions alive. I found myself trying to sing along with her, though I don't think I did very well. I know zero Diné.
I love the beautiful colors of your churro sheep, and the funny way they inspected the camera in the opening scene. I stayed with a Dine" family sometimes in the summer, and loved spinning. It was so soothing. Watching you card and sing and spin brings back many memories.
Thank you for this lovely demonstration - the minutes where you are just singing and spinning are so soothing. I love learning the types of activities that were historically evening-womens'-social types of things. A lot of my fiber and textile hobbies fit in here, even though I do them alone nowadays
Thank you so much for sharing your traditions. I was given a Navajo leg spindle by a friend who knew I used a spinning wheel for my alpaca fiber. It was given to her many years back by a friend as well. Now I know how to use this wonderful gift that was given to me and have a clue to the traditions. (Yes neither one of us are Navajo) it will make a difference of how I approach this technique.
TahNibaa, thank you very much for showing your video on RUclips. Showing how your fiber arts are intertwined with your land, heritage, language, songs, ancestral stories, memories of your parents and grandparents and your ranching is very impactful for me. The colors of your sheep are very beautiful, especially the dark brown which looks black on the video screen. I am a spinner and weaver of 40 years. I was captivated by the way you spin. I am going to try it.
Beautiful thank you for sharing your voice and song! It brought tears to my eyes. I have no knowledge of my ancestors as it was hidden by my great grandmother for her protection and her children as I have come to understand. I wonder how much of my love for fiber arts and even the urge to get sheep comes from my ancestors.
I'm a lifelong (albeit young) knitter, and I've just started learning to spin fiber. This was so awesome! I love the the idea of a large spindle used with your lap instead of a drop spindle. Thank you for sharing your experience and songs with us :)
hell yeah, knitting is what led me to spinning as well I had been knitting constantly to cope with my sleep disorder and neurodevelopmental disorders (long ass story) at school, and one day after a year or two of daily yarn usage I woke up and realized... I had no idea where yarn came from or what it even was before it was yarn. There are far worse hobbies to have and there is no completely ethical consumption under capitalism, but even knowing that it's very easy to have it slip your mind as a knitter exactly how much undegradeable plastic waste you're creating when you crank out acrylic knits (to be fair, nothing is ever going to net absolute zero unless you have a fiber animal farmer within walking distance of your house that doesn't use electricity to rear/shear the sheep or cultivate your own fiber crops without getting seeds shipped. Before factoring water in. And lord knows all our tools come from all over)
I love seeing how different cultures and communities spin their fibers. It’s such a common craft world wide with such beautiful variations. Thank you for sharing your art and craft with us ❤
Thankyou TahNibaa Naataanii for sharing. Loved to hear you sing and talk about your culture. So interesting to learn about Navajo spinning! Would really love to see more from you. Love from Sweden
Preciosa melodía señora, qué bonita manera de trabajar cantando,cuánta cultura nos dejaron nuestros antepasados, felicitaciones,saludos desde Argentina.
Thank you for inviting us into your home to watch you spin! I loved the singing and the stories, and that soothing sound of the spindle spinning away. It was a lovely experience!
Much gratitude! Your song resonates within my soul. Feelings of honor and respect for your family traditions, the land, and bringing your skills through the process of creating beautiful weaving.
Wonderful film with a most endearing subject. Learning how to spin myself, it is astonishing how many different techniques and traditions there are to produce yarn. Learned much through this - thank you all! 👏👏👏❤
My first attempt at spinning was on a Navajo spindle, and after trying other types, I always come back to this method. It's so relaxing. And you give yourself a nice leg massage in the process!
Many thanks TahNibaa for sharing your skills, wisdom and insights on weaving, spinning, carding and herding your flock. Such beautiful work you do! I hope you will be able to show some weaving at some point. You are truly an inspiration 😊
Beautiful, so calming to watch. It's why I got interested in fiber arts; the feeling of being grounded into your work. It's satisfying to see tangible progress and transformation.
Am so blessed to be able to listen to your singing and hearing you share some about your life..I watched you show some of your spinning..A gifted artist..Blessings to you.
Thank you for sharing your life and traditions, as well as that of the Navajo people. The world needs to learn about you and your people. Keep singing!
Such a beautiful way to work. Singing and carrying tradition. Thank you for sharing your light. I am not native but I always feel such a connection with the old ways that I feel emotional about it.
You are a beautiful lady singing a beautiful song. My mother was from New Mexico, she grew up in estancia and knew Navajo People and told us stories of the festivals and the gods. I’m learning to spin by hand and your technique is really very interesting and very fast. Thank you very much.
Thanks for your video! I’m getting ready to do a lesson on textiles for my husband’s 6th grade classes... beautiful song, too - thx for explaining the meaning of it to you. 💕
Thank you TahNibaa for Sharing youre Story i learned, i am observing different techniques of spinning , beautifull song you sing in the beginning and the sheep are beautifull and the whool to course and the weaving and youre smile in the end.
Thank you so much for the demo on Navajo spinning. And the language and song lessons. I enjoyed it! Where did you get your spindle? Or perhaps you made it yourself?
I loved watching and listening to TahNibaa! I would love to know who made this video. I would appreciate a link to the filmmaker's info.Thank you for sharing this video.
Hello. I came out of a mild interest in the spinning, and became absolutely fascinated by her singing and explanations of the cultural heritage! I especially loved that she took the time to explain the song after having sung it. It is wonderful to have even a small insight of what the song was about. It makes me also very curious into what the other 'weaving/working' songs are that she spoke about. Would I be wrong to presume that there were small weaving instructions 'woven' into the music? Ummm... no pun was intended! ;)
Thank you so much for sharing - your singing, carding, spinning, and how you raise your sheep. In reading about Diné weaving, I have found reference to second and third spinning, but I have never seen this demonstrated or explained. Can anyone shed some insight into this for me? Thank you!
i ended up here trying to learn how to use my drop spindle (still no idea, none of the videos make any sense to me), but i find it interesting that the way i ended up making my yarn with my tool was way closer to that of the navajo spindle/the technique she's using. i wonder if it's something in my dna, the movement just made more sense to me
truly excellent technology... I have used a drop spindle that is similar... but I think yours is more practical for use here in the southwest.. and especially in Dinétah in your homes... beautiful inside and out sister... thank you again ✌️🙏♾️🙏
This video was a joy to watch. My mother’s family can be traced back to Polish spinners and weavers who moved from Poland to Flanders and The Netherlands out of poverty back when the Flemish cloth and tapestry industry was famous and profitable. They settled, integrated, became prosperous themselves. Somehow the art of spinning and weaving appeals to me and fascinates me but I’ve never taken the plunge more than very occasional dabbling. The background is vastly different, there is no comparison between the paths history has taken our families. But it strikes a chord. I do have a deep respect for family and for tradition. Maybe it’s that… One thing I absolutely loved was the connection you can feel throughout this video. The introduction alone: connecting to both the the maternal and paternal lines, followed by “I am a mother, I am a daughter, I am a weaver…” 💖
Every fiber in the yarn and later in the finished fabric is going to breathe the respect, the love, the tradition of the spinner and weaver. That makes the resulting work invaluable.
Thank you.
Congratulations TahNibaa’, for your 2022 National Heritage Fellowship. This weaver and shepherd got recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts.
I could listen to her speak and watch her spin for hours
I've never seen a Navajo Spindle, that is so cool. I feel like I could really get into spinning that way
Right?!?! I'm teaching myself support neolithic and I am gonna try that technique
It was such an honor to watch your beautiful demonstration and to listen to your melodic voice. Thank you for sharing your culture and teaching us about your process. I am a knitter who lives in Amsterdam but moved from Arizona a couple of years ago. I work in yarn procurement for a knit shop and am trying to learn all I can about the process from land to sheep, to fleece to the people that prepare the yarn for handmade projects. I am so inspired to learn to prepare yarn and spin it myself.
I don't believe I could have said it better than Deborah Rosen, above. She is an eloquent writer and a keenly perceptive person.
May I add my simple gratirude to you, ma'am, for sharing your ancient wisdom, your beautiful songs and your powerful medicine with those of us who would seek to learn at your knee.
Many thanks from Tennessee!
My paternal grandmother taught me how to card cotton. She would pick the leftover cotton from the local farms after they had finished harvesting their crop. She would use the cotton in her quilting and would use them to restuff mattress ticks and pillows. I admire this lady for her traditional tribal use of using natural materials from start to finish. A lovely legacy to leave to future generations.
I raised Navajo Churro for many years. I loved my sheep.
I'm drawn so innately to things that reflect my heritage.
Wow! An artist, carrier of traditional skills, language and knowledge, AND a veteran?! Aho! Gchi-miigwech for sharing your gifts, knowledge, and stories 🥰
The way your voice weaves the song into the work with your land and your traditions brought tears to my eyes. Blessings to you and to yours: I stumbled upon your video today, but it's been an honor to learn so much from you.
Thank you. I've seen old historical photographs where the wool was slapped upon cacti (pre card era). Enjoy your wool/sheep...my family and I raise sheep as well. ❤️🙏
I cherish people who are preserving traditional fiber arts and the folkways that accompany those arts❤. Thank you for sharing with us!
You are awesome
Thank you so much. I came onto RUclips looking for information about Navajo spindles and spinning to share with a long-time friend who is a new spinner, and I found your wonderful video. I had the honor of visiting with your mother on the Navajo Nation a long time ago--likely the summer of 1996. So glad to "meet" you through this video.
What a beautiful turquoise bracelet.
Great documenting of traditional navajo first nations practices continue! Before all the ancient knowledge passes away
What a privilege to be here.
Thank you, TahNibaa Naataanii, for sharing the songs and stories and keeping these historic traditions alive. I found myself trying to sing along with her, though I don't think I did very well. I know zero Diné.
I love the beautiful colors of your churro sheep, and the funny way they inspected the camera in the opening scene. I stayed with a Dine" family sometimes in the summer, and loved spinning. It was so soothing. Watching you card and sing and spin brings back many memories.
Yah a teh Nahnibaa, u got some good looking sheep there.good singing too.
Thank you for this lovely demonstration - the minutes where you are just singing and spinning are so soothing. I love learning the types of activities that were historically evening-womens'-social types of things. A lot of my fiber and textile hobbies fit in here, even though I do them alone nowadays
Aheehee for sharing! I love this so much!!! I wish I could have learned this from my grandmother before she passed away.
Thank you so much for sharing your traditions. I was given a Navajo leg spindle by a friend who knew I used a spinning wheel for my alpaca fiber. It was given to her many years back by a friend as well. Now I know how to use this wonderful gift that was given to me and have a clue to the traditions. (Yes neither one of us are Navajo) it will make a difference of how I approach this technique.
TahNibaa, thank you very much for showing your video on RUclips. Showing how your fiber arts are intertwined with your land, heritage, language, songs, ancestral stories, memories of your parents and grandparents and your ranching is very impactful for me. The colors of your sheep are very beautiful, especially the dark brown which looks black on the video screen. I am a spinner and weaver of 40 years. I was captivated by the way you spin. I am going to try it.
Beautiful thank you for sharing your voice and song! It brought tears to my eyes.
I have no knowledge of my ancestors as it was hidden by my great grandmother for her protection and her children as I have come to understand. I wonder how much of my love for fiber arts and even the urge to get sheep comes from my ancestors.
I'm a lifelong (albeit young) knitter, and I've just started learning to spin fiber. This was so awesome! I love the the idea of a large spindle used with your lap instead of a drop spindle. Thank you for sharing your experience and songs with us :)
hell yeah, knitting is what led me to spinning as well
I had been knitting constantly to cope with my sleep disorder and neurodevelopmental disorders (long ass story) at school, and one day after a year or two of daily yarn usage I woke up and realized... I had no idea where yarn came from or what it even was before it was yarn.
There are far worse hobbies to have and there is no completely ethical consumption under capitalism, but even knowing that it's very easy to have it slip your mind as a knitter exactly how much undegradeable plastic waste you're creating when you crank out acrylic knits
(to be fair, nothing is ever going to net absolute zero unless you have a fiber animal farmer within walking distance of your house that doesn't use electricity to rear/shear the sheep or cultivate your own fiber crops without getting seeds shipped. Before factoring water in. And lord knows all our tools come from all over)
Thank you for sharing your talent and for sharing your beautiful song. Thank you also for sharing your culture
I love seeing how different cultures and communities spin their fibers. It’s such a common craft world wide with such beautiful variations. Thank you for sharing your art and craft with us ❤
Thankyou TahNibaa Naataanii for sharing. Loved to hear you sing and talk about your culture. So interesting to learn about Navajo spinning! Would really love to see more from you. Love from Sweden
What magic those hands do.....thank you for sharing!
much love, beautiful Lady.
This made me feel calm before going to work, thank you
Preciosa melodía señora, qué bonita manera de trabajar cantando,cuánta cultura nos dejaron nuestros antepasados, felicitaciones,saludos desde Argentina.
Thank you for inviting us into your home to watch you spin! I loved the singing and the stories, and that soothing sound of the spindle spinning away. It was a lovely experience!
Much gratitude! Your song resonates within my soul. Feelings of honor and respect for your family traditions, the land, and bringing your skills through the process of creating beautiful weaving.
Looking through you tube, learning about spindles, and stumbled onto a beautiful soul. Thank you for posting.
Blessings ~
Work and song go together, not like the insensate noise from the Radio, but son from the soul. Thank you for this, and the lesson in Navajo spinning.
Wonderful film with a most endearing subject. Learning how to spin myself, it is astonishing how many different techniques and traditions there are to produce yarn. Learned much through this - thank you all! 👏👏👏❤
My first attempt at spinning was on a Navajo spindle, and after trying other types, I always come back to this method. It's so relaxing. And you give yourself a nice leg massage in the process!
Now that’s a long draw!
Thank you for the demo carried along by your beautiful singing!
Many thanks TahNibaa for sharing your skills, wisdom and insights on weaving, spinning, carding and herding your flock. Such beautiful work you do! I hope you will be able to show some weaving at some point. You are truly an inspiration 😊
Beautiful, so calming to watch. It's why I got interested in fiber arts; the feeling of being grounded into your work. It's satisfying to see tangible progress and transformation.
Soooooooooo beautiful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have outmost admiration !!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, TahNibaa. Your beautiful voice and stories have been the highlight of my day.
Great song just love it and I see my mom Thanks you ❤
Am so blessed to be able to listen to your singing and hearing you share some about your life..I watched you show some of your spinning..A gifted artist..Blessings to you.
Thanks for sharing.I really like the idea of rolling a long rod for spinning 😊
This video is so vibes
Thank you for sharing your life and traditions, as well as that of the Navajo people. The world needs to learn about you and your people. Keep singing!
Thank you so very much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful work, language, songs and meanings. It’s so beautiful and calming.
Ahéhee'! I miss home and shimá sáni. Ill keep that song with me.
Such a beautiful way to work. Singing and carrying tradition. Thank you for sharing your light. I am not native but I always feel such a connection with the old ways that I feel emotional about it.
Love your video, you have beautiful sheep with gorgeous colors- greetings from this NYC spinner!! 😄🤗💚🌷💜
I wish I could spend the day listening to you❤
You are a beautiful lady singing a beautiful song. My mother was from New Mexico, she grew up in estancia and knew Navajo
People and told us stories of the festivals and the gods. I’m learning to spin by hand and your technique is really very interesting and very fast. Thank you very much.
Thanks for your video! I’m getting ready to do a lesson on textiles for my husband’s 6th grade classes... beautiful song, too - thx for explaining the meaning of it to you. 💕
thanks for sharing!
Loving and peaceful craft. It’s beautiful.
Your work and love are beautiful! Thank You so much for sharing your life with us! Cathy
Thank you TahNibaa for Sharing youre Story i learned, i am observing different techniques of spinning , beautifull song you sing in the beginning and the sheep are beautifull and the whool to course and the weaving and youre smile in the end.
May your songs live for ever and vibrate on our shame. Love and peace
Thank you for sharing your history with everyone.
Hi TahNibaa! Great video... and i love the Rio Grande wheel in the background, of course...
Absolutely beautiful cultural traditions!
現代的坊織娘,手藝真巧,要非常有耐心地坐著做著
Nice hearing your song.
Beautiful and fascinating! Thank you ❤
Beautiful, I so admire your skill and traditions!
As I remember it 💓
What a great video. Thanks for sharing. You make spinning look very easy. Thanks for the inspiration.
Great Video :)
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing
This is so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing this
Peaceful.
Thank you for sharing your art, livelihood, and teachings.
This video brought me peace and joy thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing, your generosity is much appreciated.
that is beautiful!
Thank you so much for the demo on Navajo spinning. And the language and song lessons. I enjoyed it! Where did you get your spindle? Or perhaps you made it yourself?
Interesting. Thank you.
Beautiful.
Thankyou for sharing 🌻
This is so beautifully. Thanks for your nice video
Hello my dear friend...just found you as I was scrolling through ...it's diane from csf...do you remember me? How wonderful to have found you...
Thank you for your video.
Loved watching your Video !, beautiful ❤️
I loved watching and listening to TahNibaa! I would love to know who made this video. I would appreciate a link to the filmmaker's info.Thank you for sharing this video.
Hello. I came out of a mild interest in the spinning, and became absolutely fascinated by her singing and explanations of the cultural heritage! I especially loved that she took the time to explain the song after having sung it. It is wonderful to have even a small insight of what the song was about. It makes me also very curious into what the other 'weaving/working' songs are that she spoke about. Would I be wrong to presume that there were small weaving instructions 'woven' into the music? Ummm... no pun was intended! ;)
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for sharing - your singing, carding, spinning, and how you raise your sheep. In reading about Diné weaving, I have found reference to second and third spinning, but I have never seen this demonstrated or explained. Can anyone shed some insight into this for me? Thank you!
i ended up here trying to learn how to use my drop spindle (still no idea, none of the videos make any sense to me), but i find it interesting that the way i ended up making my yarn with my tool was way closer to that of the navajo spindle/the technique she's using. i wonder if it's something in my dna, the movement just made more sense to me
Спасибо!
What a wonderful video, thank you.
I got a thigh spindle like yours a few years ago, but I don't draft like this. I might have to learn
Thank you for sharing ❤️
Thank you. This is wonderful.
❤️ axheehe ✌️
truly excellent technology... I have used a drop spindle that is similar... but I think yours is more practical for use here in the southwest.. and especially in Dinétah in your homes... beautiful inside and out sister... thank you again ✌️🙏♾️🙏