Navajo weaving workshop brings centuries-old tradition to Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A constant bumping sound fills the room at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel on the east side. At first, it may sound chaotic, but for Navajo weaving master teacher Lynda Teller Peete, it’s the sound of comfort.

“When you are weaving, you use a comb and you beat on it,” Peete explained of the sound. “In this class, it may sound like a racket because they are new students and don’t have a rhythm yet.”

Growing up, Peete remembers the sound lulling her to sleep as her mother weaved into the night, the only time she could work without interruption. Similarly, she would wake in the morning to the sound.

For the past three days, students have gathered around upright looms, learning the intricate art of Navajo weaving from two master teachers, Peete and her sister Barbara Teller Ornelas.

But this workshop is about more than just weaving—it’s about reclaiming a cultural legacy.

For over a decade, Ornelas and Peete have shared their knowledge with Tucson residents, teaching a practice deeply rooted in Navajo history.

“Our weaving holds our family together. It’s like our umbrella shelter,” Ornelas explained. “It keeps us from the cold, it keeps us from poverty, it keeps us from all the outside forces that are against us.”

This skill is not only a form of artistic expression but also an economic and cultural lifeline for the Navajo people. As Ornelas recalls, her grandmother predicted her future as a teacher who would bring the story of Navajo weaving to the world. That prophecy came true when Ornelas began teaching internationally, including a residency at the British Museum in London.

Since then, she was named a cultural ambassador for the State Department, traveling to countries such as Peru, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to exchange ideas with indigenous weavers.

After being a weaver for over 50 years and winning numerous awards, Ornelas says that her proudest achievement has been teaching her children and grandchildren the art of Navajo weaving.

The workshops offer more than technical lessons—they reconnect participants with their heritage. “When we get our students, they always say, ‘My grandmother or my great-grandmother was the last person to weave,’” Ornelas shared. “From that generation on, they’ve lost their linkages.”

The journey that brought the sisters to Tucson began serendipitously, thanks to Vicky Konecky, the owner of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel. The sisters had come to the shop for a felt workshop, when they were recognized by Konecky’s husband. They engaged in conversation and the sisters expressed interest in running a weaving workshop for the Tucson community.

“It was exciting for them to bring their weaving experience community to our community,” Konecky said. “We hadn’t given any thought to anything like that and we said, ‘sure, why not?’”

After around a decade of providing these workshops, they remain popular in Tucson, with each year seeing more demand than the room can fit. This led to the workshops being offered twice per year.

As educators and cultural ambassadors, the sisters are also rewriting history. The pair released a book titled, Spiderwoman's Children, the first book of its type to be written by a Navajo person. The title references the Spider Woman, who is believed to have taught the art of weaving to the Navajo people.

“There’s a lot of books about Navajo weaving,” said Peete. “None of them have been written by Navajo people. It’s just to make sure our story is told from us.”

Peete says this aligns with a recent pivot to including more indigenous voices in popular culture, such as the FX network’s Reservation Dogs and Peacock’s Rutherford Falls, in which Ornelas’ daughter, Sierra, served as showrunner.

The Navajo weaving workshop is set to return in the spring, though exact dates have not yet been announced. For now, the students leave with more than the skills to create a tapestry—they carry forward a tradition that weaves together culture, resilience and history.