In the last post I described in part the harvesting of Cottonwood Root or "paako" that I occasionally trade to the Hopi carvers. Now I would like to share with you a little bit about my first trading foray at Hopi. It was September of 2001 and I had driven down to Tucson to visit family and then I was on to Hopi with my trunk-load of paako to trade at Hopi.
I arrived in the late morning morning at Tsakurshovi, which if I remember correctly is located on 3rd Mesa. It has been a while since my last trip, so please forgive me for any errors. I spoke with Joseph Day, who along with his Hopi wife Janice, owns Tsakurshovi, a trading post where many traditional kachina carvers come to sell their crafts. I spoke briefly with Joseph and offered to come back with any root that I hadn't traded. I passed 2nd Mesa and drove on to 1st Mesa. I parked near Ponsi Hall in Sichomovi (Middle Village) and many carvers came to me to see what I had to trade. I really didn't know what I was doing. I gave some carvers root with their word that they would send me dolls that they had agreed to carve for me, which ended up being hard-learned lesson, for none of them ever did. I must have had the word "sucker" written on my forehead. We had exchanged addresses and phone numbers and wehn I called asking for my dolls, the reply was always..."I will send it to you soon...in a few weeks." I did work out a few trades on the spot. V.J. Poleahla, who was a very talented carver and now deceased, gave me a very nice Hey Heya Puchtihu for a little bit of cash and some paako. The other nice trade I made was with Joseph Day. I returned to Tsakurshovi with some paako and he took 4 or 5 pieces and I gave him some cash for a very nice Suyang Evu (Left-handed Warrior) by Jarrett James.
Despite the lessons I had to learn....never hand over root w/o carving in hand, I had a great time and I became more adept at the trading game if you will. There are certain ways to go about working out a trade and estalishing a rapport with certain carvers helps. I will write more about this later.
Hi Jimmy, To start off, this is my first blog, whatever that is ? We met through ebay. A flat doll I got from you welcomes me every day at work here in East L.A. Hopi is an interesting place. One visit a shop is there, the next it's not. Tsakurshovi is a most wonderful place. On 2nd mesa it sits with a great view of Hopi. One visit you may meet a movie star the next you are the only one there. To have your photo on the wall from a distant place is an honor. To be invited to be a part of the night dances at Hotevilla is more than one Pahnna could ask. I am still waiting for a doll from a carver going on two years now. I heard it could take up to 12 years. But, hey I'm just say'n That's the intrigue of Hopi. That is what keep you comming back. Thanks
ReplyDelete