Norma

She is a full-blood, Navajo by birth, raised in the small town of Fort Defiance near the Arizona-New Mexico border. He is full-blood also, Hualapai (pronounced Wah-la-pie) by birth, and raised in Peach Springs. They have defied their families, and their respective nations, and married. They were now both in their mid- to late forties, and had raised their family of seven. Longing for more, they had decided fostering was a good option. Sadly, children from broken homes are readily available on most reservations, and they had no problem finding some on the Hualapai lands.

She came into the shop one afternoon, and told me that her eldest foster, about 15 at the time, wanted to enter the Miss Hualapai contest. I told her that I thought it was a wonderful idea. She confided that she had no idea how to make any of the regalia that the child would need, and asked if I would be able to help. I could understand this. What many people do not know is that most of the 'regalia' used nowadays at pow wow gatherings is based on traditional Sioux dress. She, being Navajo, didn't even know where to start. Since money would not be a problem, we decided that the young woman would have a traditional dress, choker, woman's breast plate, moccasins, and hairpiece. The hairpiece would be a problem, since I am not legally permitted to even touch an eagle or hawk feather. The hairpiece, we determined, would be the last piece made.

Time, however, was not on our side. The contest was only two weeks away. Another problem we faced was the requirement that her outfit must be made by a member of her family, or a member of the tribe. Norma and her husband decided to discuss this problem with the Hualapai elders. Since I am known to most of the elders, it was determined that I could be 'adopted' into her family, since adoption into the tribe is, at best, a long and tedious process.

Ten days before the competition, Norma and I settled into getting things ready. Fortunately, I had everything we needed in stock, and we started by making the choker. I told Norma that I would explain to her how everything would be made, and would even start building the project for her. But it was she that would be doing most of the work under my supervision. I felt that this would be the best, and easiest, way for her to learn how to make these things, and she agreed. The choker was designed for a woman, three rows wide, with a small abalone button in the front center. The joints were buffalo bone, formed into elongated tapered tubes, 1 1/2 inches wide. We used the traditional brass beads, interspersed with pony beads in the Hualapai colors of black, white, green, and red. Working together, we completed the project in just under two hours, and moved on to the next.

A woman's breast plate took quite a while longer. I laid out the pattern for Norma -- two four-joint rows of 4" bone, which would reach to just above the young woman's hip. From there, two more rows would be added to connect the original two. It would end with rows of unconnected joints tipped with cowrie shell. Again, we used the Hualapai colors but this time used large faceted glass beads. Norma's hands practically flew through the building of this piece, and I was proud of her. She did have some questions about things like finishing off and connecting the rows, and when they were explained to her, she did a beautiful job of getting the project done.

The moccasins were easy. I found a pair of dance moccasins in her size in stock, and was able to match them to enough pieces of deerskin to make The Dress!

We were down to six days away, and I knew that making the dress would take most of that time. Every stitch had to be done by hand, and the fringe would take hours to cut. Now it was time for me to really pitch in, and let Norma borrow my two hands. We cut the four pieces we would need (two each for front and back), and started stitching. I did the front; Norma took the back. And I use the word 'stitching' loosely here. First, we needed to glue the two pieces onto a third, narrow strip of leather. Then, we had to punch the 'seam' so that we could cross-stitch with leather lacing. Third, we had to do the actual lacing. Getting the back and front pieces done took most of the first day. The second day went to attaching the back and front pieces to each other. Day three found us fringing. After six hours, with two pair of very sore hands, we admired our handiwork. There would be no cape, since we had the breast plate, and there would be no beadwork (that's 'Winter Work'). We laid all of the pieces out, and decided that a fine job had been done.

Now we faced the problem of the hair piece. As I mentioned, I cannot legally touch the feathers of a bird of prey. Also, if Norma brought the feathers into the store, and if a federal agent just happened to walk in, I could have faced some severe jail time -- in addition to having my entire inventory confiscated. Throw in some pretty hefty fines, and you KNOW that I am not willing to take the chance. I asked Norma to come in the next day with clippings from the stem end of each feather. I would need pieces about an inch long. She came back the next day, and I went to work. To make short feathers long, the stems of peacock feathers are cut and used as extensions. All I really needed to know was the width of the feather stem that was needed. I selected three pieces that would comfortably fit over the end of the feathers, and we started. Norma covered the three pieces with leather, and then I showed her how to wrap seed beads around the stem. Again, the four colors were used -- three rows each. The finished pieces would then be glued over the stems of the actual feathers and 'voila', a hair piece made of eagle feathers that were never touched by an Anglo!

Right about now, you are probably asking yourself 'just how does this story fit in with the others'. How did I help Norma? To start, she learned that people were willing to help. Then, she learned how to make things that she thought would be beyond her abilities. Next, she was able to pass down what she had learned to her children, grandchildren, and the numerous fosters she would have in her life. And they have passed these ideas on to their heirs, thereby continuing traditions that are being lost. Since this story took place, she has made dance bustles, dance shawls, many chokers and, by learning to actually do beadwork, has completed the 'Winter Work' on the original dress, and three others. And, dear reader, I hope I have shown you that absolutely nothing is impossible when you try.

P.S. The young lady in this narrative went on to win the 'Miss Hualapai' competition. So did the three other fosters that Norma made the dresses for. I am proud of her.