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| Suzi Yahzee |
While I was in Monument Valley taking a workshop, one of the things we did was visit a Navajo weaver named Suzi Yahzee. She lived, as she has her whole life, in the middle of the park; first in a traditional hogan and now in a very modest house next to the hogan.
She had a traditional Navajo loom set up and sat in the hot sun weaving for us for almost an hour while we did our best to capture the spirit of what we saw.
When we finished there, we all went to another part of the tribal park and took pictures of Suzi's daughter Effie; dressed in traditional Navajo clothing; riding a horse; and herding sheep through the sand dunes.
I felt funny taking these images. Here were these two women putting on a show for us like they were part of a circus and here we were; happiliy snapping away. It just didn't seem right.
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| Effie Yahzee |
When I asked our Navajo guide how old Suzi was, he said "some say she's 100 years old". She has been doing this same thing; putting on her show, since the 1930s. Her entire family depended on her getting up every day; sitting at her loom; and posing for the tourists.
This didn't make me feel any better. It made it seem ever more wrong.
Then the Navajo guide told me not to feel so bad. There's nothing else really for them to do in this place, and besides, she was charging our group $400 per hour!
Good for you, Suzi.
