Master Weaver: Cindy Nez

Born : Master Weaver: Cindy Nez
August 1977
From: the Shiprock Area of the Navajo Nation
CLAN: “Where Water Meets Born for Tangle” Clan and “Bitter Water” Clan, Her Nali is Comanche Warrior.

Cindy Started Weaving in 1981 when she was 4 years old. She was taught by her sisters and her Mother Grace Nez. Cindy “My mother is the reason I started weaving!”

Cindy has won “BEST OF SHOW” which is the highest honor award at the 2004 Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial. She not only won, 1ST PLACE IN THE CATEGORY OF TEEC NOS POS, but also, BEST OF ALL WEAVINGS, and then BEST OF SHOW! … which means that her weaving was the best of all entries in all art categories for the year of 2004!! Teec Nos Pos is Cindy’s favorite style of weaving, many of her works were also exhibited in the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, AZ.
Cindy says, “I have always lived on the Navajo Nation, as most of my family. I have worked with other art forms like painting, basket making, Kachinas, etc. but my heart is most at home when weaving with the wool. I have designs come into my mind all the time and look forward to each new one that may come into my imagination and then hopefully to my loom. I enjoy my work and strive to infuse beauty into each piece. I feel proud to have mastered the art of weaving, because it is something that very few people can hope to accomplish in their lifetime. The work is hard, takes time, the effort is not always easy but is worth it in the end to see your finished weaving come off the loom. It is exciting and spiritual, like seeing a part of you come to life in another dimension. It is like a symbol or place you were for many moons of your life.”