Grand Canyon Speaks

The Zuni Youth Enrichment Program Speaks (part 1)

The first of a two-part series. In this episode, we talk to two alumni from the Zuni Youth Enrichment Program, Lashae Harris and Chasady Simplicio. LaShae is an embroiderer, while Chasady is a weaver. This conversation explains the Zuni Youth Enrichment Program, how each artist decided which art to pursue, and the value of keeping traditional art alive.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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LaShae Harris: I think it presents itself as, like, just giving kids an outlet to even experience these art forms, because I know without ZYEP, I would have probably never touched embroidery or gave it a second thought.

Ranger Jonah: Hello, and welcome to Grand Canyon Speaks. My name is Ranger Jonah.

Ranger Melissa: And I'm Ranger Melissa.

Ranger Jonah: So, Melissa, could you tell us a little bit about this episode?

Ranger Melissa: Yeah! In this interview, we hear from two Zuni Youth Enrichment Program alumni, Chasady Simplicio and Lashae Harris.

Ranger Jonah: Yeah. And this is actually the first of two episodes we have with alumni from the Zuni Youth Enrichment Program.

Ranger Melissa: Yeah. What's really cool about this episode is that we're hearing from the voices of youth that come from our tribal communities. They're only 18 and 24, if you can believe it. Our coworker Dan had the pleasure of interviewing with them.

Ranger Jonah: Well, it sounds very exciting. So, without further ado, Chasady and Lashae.

Ranger Dan: We'll get this program started. This is good. This is one of the more interesting interviews that we've had here. Not because the people aren't interesting or, uh, this is a terrible way to enter. (Laughter)

Chasady Simplicio: You're going to have to do some editing.

LaShae Harris: Start over.

Ranger Dan: We are going to start over. I'm giving space on that so we can actually get this going. Well, thank you for coming out to Grand Canyon and being part of the cultural demonstration program here. It's a great honor to have ZYEP Zuni youth enrichment program out here and having you two as some of the representatives for the program, and especially as your first time here as cultural demonstrators at Grand Canyon. So, I would love to have you both introduce yourself and yeah, thank you. Our three beginning audience members here. So, I'd love for you to introduce yourself, where you're from, how old you are, and what is your discipline here that you are specializing in as a cultural demonstrator.

LaShae Harris: Okay, I'll go first. My name is LaShae Harris. I'm 24 years old from the Pueblo Zuni. And my discipline here is pueblo embroidery or traditional embroidery.

Ranger Dan: Cool. Thank you.

Chasady Simplicio: Okay. Chasady Simplicio. I'm 19 years old, and I'm also from the Zuni pueblo, and my discipline here is pueblo weaving.

Ranger Dan: Awesome! We've got embroidery and also weaving. So, two things that really complement each other very well. There's similarities and differences to these different art forms, which is awesome. What about the medium that you practice of embroidery and weaving drew you into pursuing this? And it's only been about a year or so for both of you for your art form. So, what drew you into starting down this path of embroidery and weaving?

LaShae Harris: Well, for me, I was looking for something that was other than some kind of art form, other than drawing or painting. I just felt like I hit kind of an artist block for a long time where I felt like I couldn't create anything. I just didn't know what to create or what to draw or anything. So, when I saw the opportunity to have the embroidery apprenticeship. I applied, hoping that I would get in, and I was selected for the emerging artist apprenticeship. And I like that it kind of got me out of this sort of rut that I was in, because it's very methodical with the planning and mapping out your design, and it's like you follow a kind of method. So, I kind of like that. You can still be creative with it, but it's not so much pressure to draw something new or paint something new. It's just kind of the designs are there and just replicating the designs and creating your own project.

Ranger Dan: Awesome.

Chasady Simplicio: Okay. So, for me, at first, I kind of wanted to help out my family in some way or excel at some sort of art form. I tried painting and drawing, but it never really was as good as I would want it to be. So, then, I joined the class in my sophomore year of high school for weaving, and I learned some things here and there. I was able to excel to a certain point, but once I saw the apprenticeship for pueblo weaving, I was like, I really got to get in there. Maybe I can learn something new. Especially since one of my friends had taken the previous apprenticeship before he took two, and he learned a lot of the historical background of it. And it got me wondering, what would the historical background of weaving be? So, I decided, well, I'll just give it a shot. So, I applied, and when I got the call that I was accepted, I was so excited. And after learning all the things that I've learned down from the symbolism of the designs and everything, it felt like I just excelled at an abnormal rate, I guess, because as soon as I learned what the designs meant, it was like the designs just kept popping up in my head, one right after another. And I guess I really got to thank the teachers that were there. They helped a lot.

Ranger Dan: So, a great influence from the teachers for both of you have helped out with excelling in your artistic form.

Chasady Simplicio: Yes.

Ranger Dan: Cool. That's great. And it's a traditional art form, right? Yeah, these are art forms that have been around for hundreds of years, right? This is like, specifically Zuni too, right? Or, like, the styles?

LaShae Harris: Pueblo styles. Yeah. I think a lot of the pueblo share different elements, and we kind of, I guess, adopt one another's styles, especially over history and throughout time. We've adopted various ways of dressing and different styles of clothing from other pueblos, as well as, like, pottery designs too, even jewelry styles. So, it's a lot of sharing going on within the pueblos. But what is uniquely Zuni is the language. We're an isolated tribe, an isolated language. So only Zunis speak the Zuni language.

Ranger Dan: Okay, very cool. I've noticed over the years there are some similarities, some to, like, Hopi a little bit, but there isn't that full crossover. Like you say, Zuni is its own specific language, which is very interesting. It's your own area, it's your own thing. But then branching out from there, this textile work is, like you say, there's similarities to different Pueblo areas across the Southwest. And what is a big influence has Zuni in some of these, the work that you do, like, I know we have a bit of an embroidery here. This is from Elroy, and you've got some belts that you have made over there. And so, what about your pieces kind of sticks out as more Zuni than potentially other Pueblos.

LaShae Harris: I think maybe the way that we interpret our designs and what we consider them to, like, all the colors have meaning. The different shapes and styles have meaning. And I'm not too sure if they translate to other Pueblos or if they're the exact same or not. I know that there are some similarities in the shapes and styles, but I'm pretty sure they have different ways of taking those designs and patterns into different ideas.

Chasady Simplicio: I guess the same would kind of translate over into weaving as well. The one that I have right here, this is not one that I made. It was purchased from Acoma by Elroy, and it's made from wool. But you can still see the different kinds of symbolisms in there. So, the ones that I made, they're like rolling clouds. And I guess you would say this one is like fraying clouds. Like, you know how the ones that kind of streak into the sky kind of like that. I think a lot of that kind of translates into all different types of Pueblos. I'm not sure if they have other meanings too, but I'm pretty positive that other Pueblos are able to add in some things that we are unable to add, such as animals.

Ranger Dan: Okay.

Chasady Simplicio: We're not able to, I guess, put in animals in our sash belts, because when the dancer wears the sash belts, whatever is on the sash belt is what they pray for. So, if, let's say there's a frog on a sash belt, instead of rain coming, frogs are going to come. And I guess the reason why also, from what I was told, was Hopis, they put animals on there, such as, like bears and stuff in order to, I guess, get more game throughout the year. But I do know there is several differences between Pueblo belts and Navajo belts. There are several differences, such as... One thing that you will notice is how long their fringes are. Their fringes are very long. As from Pueblo belts, they're really short.

Ranger Dan: Okay. Very interesting. Like you're saying, there's a lot of symbolism involved with both of your work and also within Zuni culture. What about this art form for both of you makes it worth it for both of you to pursue this path of embroidery and weaving?

LaShae Harris: For me, I think it's the idea that these pieces are going to be around for a very long time. They're not just like, wear it a couple of times and then you're never going to touch it again. A lot of the times, like, kilts and traditional clothes are handed down between families and generations. So, it really makes me happy to know that these will be around for the long term. And who knows? There's so many traditional textiles and stuff that are held in museums and stuff. And I bet the creators, when they were making it, wer