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“Sheep is the Navajo lifeway, sheep maintains, sheep is life.”

In This Episode
Juliana Fagua-Arias speaks with Kevin Aspaas about the Navajo lifeway, the weaving process from sheep to loom, and the slow and conscientious craft of weaving in a fast-paced society.

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Download transcript here.

Kevin Aspaas (Diné, b. 1995) is an award-winning entrepreneur, weaver, and fiber artist from Shiprock, New Mexico. Aspaas utilizes the traditional Navajo sheep-to-loom weaving process. He is also best known for producing the old style of Navajo wedge weaving, alongside producing other Navajo traditional and contemporary textiles. Additionally, Aspaas serves as the president of the Diné-led nonprofit organization Diné Be’iiná (founded in 1991), which focuses on promoting and preserving Navajo lifeways through weaving, fiber arts, sheepherding, food, and community outreach.

Juliana Fagua-Arias received her MA from Bard Graduate Center in 2021, where her research focused on the material culture of colonial Latin America and the transpacific trade. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University.

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