Published in the San Juan Record Feb. 21, 2023
Contributing writer Janet Wilcox
Mary Holliday Black, one of San Juan County’s master basket weavers, passed away December 13, 2022. She was born in Oljato in 1934.
Mary played a key role in the revival of traditional Navajo basket weaving. She was also the mother of 11 children.
For many decades (starting in the 1970’s) she sold her art with the help of the Simpsons at their Trading Post in Bluff.
Mary played a key role in the revival of traditional Navajo basket weaving. She was also the mother of 11 children.
For many decades (starting in the 1970’s) she sold her art with the help of the Simpsons at their Trading Post in Bluff.
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| Willows are the raw materials needed for a well made basket. |
In 1993, she won the Governor’s Folk Art Award for her enduring skills and talent in preserving this traditional craft. Mary’s talents were also featured in Vol. 23 of Blue Mountain Shadows Winter 2000-editor Laura Marcus. Carol Edison, who wrote the article, was curator of the Utah Folk Art Museum, in Salt Lake and for decades did a great deal to promote and preserve the native arts of San Juan County.
Edison wrote to the National Endowment for the Arts and secured a National Heritage Fellowship for Mary, the first Navajo and first Utahn chosen for this prestigious honor.
Hilary Clinton made the presentation in 1995 in a White House Ceremony. From this beginning the Utah Arts Council produced two products: a traveling exhibit and a publication both called “Willow Stories: Utah Navajo Baskets.
The exhibit was shown in schools and museums throughout the west.
Three of Mary’s daughters – Sally Black, Lorraine Black and Peggy Rock Black (also from Monument Valley) – had baskets included in these exhibits.
The Holliday-Black baskets are tangible/visual art which also preserve Navajo traditional stories and beliefs. Changing Bear-Woman basket, Mountain Chant, and Fifth World when First Man gave the People light, are some of the stories woven by this amazing family of traditional basket makers.
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| Skilled hands are the key to a an exceptional basket |
Edison wrote to the National Endowment for the Arts and secured a National Heritage Fellowship for Mary, the first Navajo and first Utahn chosen for this prestigious honor.
Hilary Clinton made the presentation in 1995 in a White House Ceremony. From this beginning the Utah Arts Council produced two products: a traveling exhibit and a publication both called “Willow Stories: Utah Navajo Baskets.
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| Mary was a skilled artisan who passed her craft on to her daughters. Sally, Lorraine, and Peggy. |
The exhibit was shown in schools and museums throughout the west.
Three of Mary’s daughters – Sally Black, Lorraine Black and Peggy Rock Black (also from Monument Valley) – had baskets included in these exhibits.
The Holliday-Black baskets are tangible/visual art which also preserve Navajo traditional stories and beliefs. Changing Bear-Woman basket, Mountain Chant, and Fifth World when First Man gave the People light, are some of the stories woven by this amazing family of traditional basket makers.
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