Shivwits craft show

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CULTURAL LEARNINGS FOR MAKE BENFIT

• Today, the second Monday of October is either Indigenous Peoples Day or Columbus Day, or both in some places. Like many things in these decentralized United States the choice to go with one, or the other, or both, varies by state and even by city.

The State of Utah remains with Columbus Day. Salt Lake City (the Utah state capital in the north of the state) went with duality. St George (the largest city in the south of the state) remains with Columbus Day and the Stars and Stripes were ubiquitous.

Yesterday, we passed on the Art in Kayenta show and chose to visit the Shivwits fourth annual native American arts and crafts show, which is held on the Shivwits tribal lands beyond the well-heeled satellite towns to the northwest of St George.


I chatted with two sisters who were continuing their mothers work with Navajo jewelry. One sister had stayed with traditional designs and the other sister had taken a more contemporary path. It was the contemporary sister who explained some Navaho beliefs to me, including that her people wear jewelry to emphasize their apartness from all the other animals. Who knew that Navajo people have so much in common with Scots people that sporrans are all the rage? The traditional sister won first prize for the show. Both seemed equally pleased with that result.

As we navigated the back way into Santa Clara from the Shivwits Reservation in search of provender, a pirate ship hove into view. Hereabouts, they take secular celebrations very seriously. After a tuck-in from the excellent salad bar at the local Harmons mall, we headed for Ivins and the more direct route home. If the pirate ship was traditional, the next lavish Hallowe'en display we saw was contemporary.

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