Lessons from Spider Women on Navajo Weaving

Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas, premiere Diné (Navajo) tapestry weavers, share their expertise and skill through technique demonstrations. Presented in conjunction with Diné Textiles: Nizhónígo Hadadít’eh (They Are Beautifully Dressed), an exhibition currently on-view that explores the ever changing and dynamic history of Diné textiles. Learn and experience the beauty of Diné visual language and  the cultural significance embedded in their weaving.

Free. To attend this in-person program registration is requested.

THIS PROGRAM IS FILLED TO CAPACITY. Add your name to the wait list. You will be contacted if space becomes available.

Barbara Teller Ornelas (Diné) is a fifth-generation master Navajo weaver and culture bearer who sold her first rug when she was only 10 years old. Her father Sam Teller (1918–2000) was a Diné (Navajo) trader for 32 years and her mother, Ruth Teller (1928–2014), was a weaver, gardener, quilter, and photographer. When Ornelas was 10, her paternal grandmother dreamt that her granddaughter would become a great weaver who shared their traditions around the world. Fifty-six years later, Ornelas has not only honed her artistry as a Two Grey Hills weaver but shared it with audiences all over the world in the form of workshops, lectures, and exhibitions. Barbara was awarded a 2023 United States Artists Fellowship: Traditional Arts.

Lynda Teller Pete (Diné) is an award-winning fifth-generation weaver who is best known for using a traditional Two Grey Hills regional style. The belief that beauty and harmony should be woven into every rug was instilled in her from the age of six, when Pete was officially introduced to weaving. Along with her weaving, she collaborates with art centers, guilds, museums, universities, and other venues to educate the public about Diné (Navajo) history and the preservation of Navajo weaving traditions. Together with her sister Barbara Teller Ornelas, she wrote Spider Woman’s Children: Navajo Weavers Today (2018), the first book written about Diné weavers by Diné weavers since the time of Spanish and colonial contacts, as well as How to Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman (2020). Pete is the director of equity and inclusion at the Textile Society of America and a 2022-2023 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow.

For more information about Barbara and Lynda navajorugweavers.com