Christmas Was Delayed . . . .

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

A foot and a half and counting. At least.

More on the way.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Steadfast In Winter's Snows

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's our Saturday visitation by Buffalo on this final day of February. He's deceptively small and modestly priced, but especially suited to the day here, where we have about 16 inches of snow on the ground and more coming down.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Sometimes it's a ladder . . . .

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Sometimes it's a bridge.

Sometimes it's a fence.

Sometimes it's a window.






All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Out of Hibernation

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the first entry in our final February weekend series featuring archetypal animal spirits. As with previous editions, since it's Friday, it's Bear, and today, it's a little guy with an exceptionally modest price tag. Don't be fooled: He's got power, and there's a reason he's my favorite.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Spiraling Down

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

There are days . . . .

I knew I was in trouble when I got up at six-o'clock this morning.

Oh, it's been bad for a while — a good long while — but this morning was different. I know the signs, but I also recognize when there's a new element. Don't know what it is yet (although I can hazard some very well-educated guesses), but it's going to require monitoring.

So it'll be yet another day or more before I get to anything substantive around here. Taking care of gallery-related business, on top of regular chores and tasks, is my limit right now. Of course, when it feels like the world is about to spin out from underneath your feet at any moment (I mean that literally, not metaphorically), it does tend to slow your pace a bit. More than a bit, actually.

I have plenty of substantive stuff in the works, but it's all in various stages of [in]completion. I'll get to it all eventually. No promises as to when, though.

And, as always, don't expect to see me unless you see me. I am committing to exactly nothing outside of Wings, myself, the animals, and the gallery right now.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

#TBT: People of Other Willows

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's a trip back several centuries to a very old culture, brought forward to today. One small, modestly-priced item featured, one that highlights bigger lessons about history and culture and names and legacies.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here. 




All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Don't Miss Nothin'.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Hawk doesn't.

Neither do we.

There's a lot to write about, and I have several posts in the works, in various stages of completion. The most immediate stems from that putrid nonsense from the Oscar stage/backstage, but it's grown by leaps and bounds over the last two days.

The latest involves an attempt by a white woman who engaged in spectacularly rude and privileged behavior against both a Black woman and a Black man, in public, to mount a campaign apparently designed to lose said Black man his job. Oh, yes, there will be much more to say about this, and about the many tendrils and tentacles emerging from this whole nasty nexus of "liberal" racism. But time is short, and I make no promises that it will be finished tonight, or even tomorrow.

In the meantime, it's enough to point out that, like Hawk herself up there, we don't miss nothin'. Yes, we see what's being done to ourselves, to our friends and family members and colleagues. We also have long memories.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

In Every Form and Variation, Sacred Drops

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final entry in our February Wednesday series featuring Wings's triangle-wire cuffs. And, as with the others, there's a recurring theme. Of all of them in inventory, today's featured piece is also the one with the lowest price tag.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Snow and Shadow

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Nothing of substance tonight.

All the usual tasks on my to-do list, plus a few extras, including Web site maintenance and getting Wings's latest pieces posted there. Maybe get a jump on tomorrow's blog post for the site?

Or not.

Also dealing with the repeating blood pressure spikes of the last two days' worth of erasure of and bigotry against women on the basis of race and sexual orientation and gender identity, all in very public venues and spaces both physical and virtual. It's a recurring theme in my life, and it's not like it improves with age; if anything, seeing it happen to younger women today infuriates me more, because of all the congratulatory "post-bigotry" drivel that saturates the so-called progressive sphere. I'll write about it in detail when I have the time, but right now, I don't (beyond the occasional outburst on Twitter; 140 characters means I don't spend much time on in-depth analysis).

Tomorrow? Maybe. More snow projected, as it is for the next ten days or so. We're staying close to home as much as possible.

In the meantime, have a willow. Some snow and some shadow, too. Taken about 7:30 this morning, a few yards from where I now sit. Come to think of that, I can extract all sorts of metaphorical crit-theory analysis out of weeping willows, white snow, and shadow.

But tonight, I'll spare everybody the discomfort. You can thank my to-do list for that.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Jewels and Gems: Cherries In the Snow

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the latest in our current Tuesday series on Jewels and Gems. This week, it's garnet (mostly about the red variety), with three beautiful, very different incarnations of the stone. The two cuffs have long since sold; the pendant is not for sale at any price. That said, he can make a custom version of any of his pieces that I post at any time, a version unique to the wearer.

Today's post is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

All New From Wings: NDN Silver

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Five pieces, all so new they're not even on the Web site yet.

Above, it's a Warrior Woman with a difference: Like my own Warrior Woman, this one's a pendant, rather than a pin. Sterling silver and Sleeping Beauty turquoise; $325 + s/h/i.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

The classic Warrior Woman pin. Sterling silver and lapis lazuli; $325 + s/h/i.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

 A final one in pin form. Sterling silver and jade; $325 + s/h/i.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

And rings!  Above, rolled triangle wire with a repoussé concha accent. Sterling silver; $275 + s/h/i. 

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Lastly, an elegant band, almost  — but not quite — plain. Sterling silver; $275 + s/h/i.

Coming soon:  Cripple Creek heart pendants with overlays on the reverse.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Royalty

Photo copyright 2015; all rights reserved.

What? 

He wears a crown. If that pyramidal post doesn't qualify as a throne, I don't know what does.

White-Crowned Sparrow, holding court.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: Winter, Receding Into Spring

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

All new at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday photo meditation to chase away your winter blues. Of course, we have a foot of new snow here, with more coming, and we couldn't be happier, but for the parts of the country that are beyond winter-weary now, today's imagery holds out the promise of warmth to come.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

No Red Carpet Here.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Only a red willow screen, and celebrities garbed mostly in gray and brown.

Today, Red-Tailed Hawk had a cameo, while Northern Harrier garnered a quick walk-on fly-on. Of course, every day, the "lead" is an ensemble: Raven, Magpie, nationalized immigrant Eurasian Collared Dove. Today's featured roles, though, were played by Cassin's Finch and House Finch, House Sparrow and White-Crowned Sparrow, and, of course, Dark-Eyed Junco, who got the playbill shot above.

They'll all be back tomorrow for an encore, possibly with a few new extras. 

And the really great thing about this performance? Never any mocking of young children of color or the mothers of people lost to suicide; no segregation or exclusion, no dismissal or erasure, based on color and identity.

Hollywood could learn a thing or two. Or ten. Or a thousand.




All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Winter Dance

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the last in this weekend's series of animal spirits with a wintry theme. Today's piece embodies the earth beneath the snow, and, dancing, rises above it; you'll see how at the link.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Insistence

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Neither snow nor wind nor blustery day . . . .

This is what a refusal to be silenced looks like.

Message heard, loud and clear.








All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

The Return of Winter

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the return of winter, and of the buffalo, whether they (or we) are ready or not. It features an absolutely inspired and inspirited piece by one of our younger artists, a beautiful rendering perfect for this time of year.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Trinity

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

A trinity

Diagrammed invisibly, 

The wheels of celestial Tinkertoys

They turn

We turn

In indigo atmosphere

New moon

Planetary alignment

Dusk of a new day

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Friday Feature: A Winter Thaw

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Friday Feature that's uniquely seasonal (if a bit earlier than it should be). The little Spirit Bear pictured is only one member of an extended clan, all of whom are linked in the post.

That post is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Of Clicks and Pixels and Hearts.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

There are days when I am entirely disheartened.

This is one.

I've been doing this a lot of years now. Writing, I mean. Writing about our issues. Writing, in some cases, about matters of actual life and death.

I don't expect that anything I write, however important the issue, will somehow magically trump the Kardashianing of American life, especially on social media.

What I did think I could expect is that those who proclaim themselves my — our — allies could spare a second or two, and a click or two, to spread the word. 

Apparently not.

#TBT: Mothers, Mountains, and Mugs

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, the imagery is distinctly feminine. Conceptually, it also weaves a bit of some of our recent posts into today's piece, which features a modestly priced item by one of our women artists.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Catwalk Colonialism

Image copyright B. Yellowtail; all rights reserved.

Sometimes "appropriation" goes way beyond what that term implies. It's a word that sort of sounds like someone just borrowed something for a little while because s/he genuinely needed it.

Really, it's just a synonym for theft, but even then, not all thefts are equal. Some are more outrageous, and more openly racist, than others.

When a white British fashion house appropriates the work of a Native designer — work that features a lineal ancestral pattern with deep cultural and spiritual significance to the designer herself, no less — and when said white-run design house then submits it as part of a redface catwalk minstrel show for New York's Fashion Week . . . well, even theft doesn't begin to cover it.

It's catwalk colonialism.

And when the international fashion media are complicit not only in the cover-up but in using their collective megaphone to amplify the racism of the company involved . . . it's time to do something about it.

Symbols, Stories, Sacred Spaces

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a look at stories, symbols, and multiple meanings, all by way of one of Wings's newer pieces. It's a piece that is so apparently simple and sparely beautiful, yet it holds such significance; it's no surprise that it's one of my favorites.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Hunter's Day

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

Six years ago today. About 4:35 this afternoon, to be precise.

She's been gone nearly as long as she was here. And the worst of it is that it was so unnecessary.

Our beautiful, bubbly baby girl, a furry bundle of pure, unadulterated love — who, in the last seven months of her life, went through so much. I miss her every single day. This evening, I put some cedar on the place where her ashes are scattered, as I do every year.

We love you, sweet Hunter girl.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Jewels and Gems: Going Green

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's "green" in its purest form — and "green" symbolically, as well. We have beautiful stones and beautiful Native jewelry, all in malachite's brilliantly verdant shades, among today's images.

The post itself is here.  Wings's main page is here.




All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Meme

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

No, that's not the word for a social-media trope. It's two distinct syllables, and it translates in English to "flicker."

For the second day in a row, I was given the gift of wildlife photos I've never before been able to get. This morning, it was Meme, the male red-shafted Northern flicker shown here. 

I had put on my jacket and shoes, and picked up my cedar and feather, and opened the door to go outside in the cold for morning prayers. As I stepped out, I heard an unmistakable sound and looked up at the two-story latilla anchor post a few feet away.

There he sat.

I turned around, put down my prayer bundle, and dove for my camera, praying aloud but under my breath, "Please stay; please stay."

He did. Longer than one ever has for me before.

The one above was among the first few shots I took (of a total of 28, most of which were not good enough to display here). He looked right at me several times, and continued to alternate between calling to his mate and pecking at the pole.

So I moved to the ground outside.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

They are timid birds when it comes to larger creatures like humans, easily spooked. Usually, once they realize you've fixated on them, they make a quick getaway.

For some reason, this one wasn't bothered. He let me get a shot of him calling to his mate, his song like the chime of a crystal bell.

I kept shooting.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

I managed to get a shot of him at work: He is, after all, a woodpecker. Entirely out of season, too — in winter, we get downy and hairy woodpeckers here, but the flicker is an autumn visitant.

I've written about Meme at Wings's site; he's a spirit bird, one with a long tradition of lending his song and beauty and other qualities to our peoples. He's one to whom Wings is especially close; seven and a half years ago, after the loss of BearGirl, he would sit outside the studio and play the flute our little girl loved. That autumn, Flicker came in answer to the call of the red-cedar notes, hovering a few feet from Wings, dancing on the air to the music of the flute. 

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Wings has managed to get photos of Meme in the past, but I have never been so lucky.

Until today.

He waited while I brought the camera back in the house and retrieved my prayer bundle. By the time I reached the grass, he'd flown away out of sight, but still within earshot, still singing as I prayed.

I burned a little cedar and said a little prayer of thanks just for him.






All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: Founding Fathers

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

New at The NDN Silver Blog, it's some imagery to provide a much-needed counterpoint to the tropes of the day. I explain in the post; there are reasons why we don't observe this day in accordance with dominant-culture themes.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here. And as always, photos are indeed available for purchase: the original as photo only, or matted and framed; or in smaller signed and number print form.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Coyote Waits

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Actually, Coyote stares you insolently in the eye and says, "Whatchoo gonna do 'bout it?"

He's afraid of very little. I saw him just as I finished with evening chores, sauntering northward along inside the fenceline up by the gate. He wheeled to look at a passing vehicle, then turned around and headed back south, which took him past us on the western boundary. I just got the camera in time, and as I walked out to try to find him and grab a shot or two, he halted and stared straight at me.

I'm sure he was hoping for an easy chicken dinner, but he was too late; all the girls were already in for the evening. Of course, toward the southerly direction he was headed, there's ample evidence of nocturnal visitations by elk. Yesterday I heard a report of a cow [elk] nearby, possibly the mother of our little yearling visitor at year's end. 

If she is the mother, Coyote will be waiting a very long time.

It is, incidentally, the first photo I've ever gotten of Coyote. It's nowhere the quality of those Wings gets, of course, but that's why he's the professional and I'm the amateur. I haven't done any editing for the bright light of sundown, either; these are strictly as taken. But I was surprised to see that he was willing to stand still for me to get a couple of shots. Looking at them, he's had a good winter — sleek, well fed, and very, very beautiful.

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

He and the rest of his clan will be singing all night.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Lines of Mediation (Lines of Love)

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one final "Valentine" of sorts for this weekend, one in keeping with our current weekend series on animal spirits, and embodied in one of my favorite pieces. [Yes, he reminds me of Miskwaki, my Magic Horse.]

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.





All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Stormy

Photo copyright Wings, 2015; all rights reserved.

We buried Storm today.

I was supposed to be writing about the #MMIW movement today. I can't. I know people will think it's crazy to mourn a chicken, but I am. Maybe it's just too much cumulative loss lately.

The photo above was taken not quite three years ago, inside the coop. That's Storm with her twin Dominique, Smoke (who we lost over a year ago). Of the original group of chickens from 2012, only two remain now (one of which is Silver, the black and white Silver-Laced Wyandotte in the photo just below.

A Strong Heart

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a piece that embodies the themes of this day, even if not in the conventional manner. But the symbol most associated with Valentine's Day is the heart, and here, we give you a look through our own cultural lens at what it means, to us, to have a strong heart.

The post itself is here. Wings's main page is here.




All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.