User:Jdaigle23/Hosteen Klah

Notes / Planned Edits:

-Under the "gender" section, it states that Klah was most likely intersex. While possible, many two-spirited people like Klah are not biologically intersex, but identify differently to their (binary) sex assigned at birth. By all accounts, Klah appeared to be AMAB, but developed their Nádleehi identity as they grew up and began to understand themselves more.

-The google preview for the article says that Klah was born in Bear Mountain, NY, which is untrue. Klah was born in a place called Bear Mountain in New Mexico, which the biography section of the article correctly states.

-I think Nádleehi and / or two-spirit should be linked in the "see also" section, seeing that Klah was a notable two-spirited person.

"In 1916, Klah wove imagery from the Yéʼii bicheii dance into a rug. He incorporated more representations of Navajo religion into his weaving, including sandpainting imagery by 1919. This practice was regarded as sacrilegious by many Navajo traditionalists and is regarded as such by some Navajo people today."

Background

Hosteen (spelled "Hastiin" in the Navajo language) Klah was born to Navajo parents Hoksay Nolyae and Ahson Tsosie in 1867 in the Tunicha Valley of New Mexico, USA. He was called "Klah" for being left-handed. Able to avoid residential schooling, Klah learned traditional Navajo spirituality from his uncle, who was a medicine man. Klah was trained in healing ceremonies that involved dancing, chanting, singing, and sandpainting- the act of creating temporary designs on the ground using colored dirt and shells. Klah was able to fully memorize and perform his first ceremony by only age ten.

Gender

Hosteen Klah was commonly identified as a Nádleeh (pl. Nádleehi, meaning "one-who-has-been-changed"). Nádleehi are a third gender recognized by the Navajo people who take on both traditionally male and female roles, in Klah's case, being a healer (a traditionally male role) and a weaver (a traditionally female role). Nádleehi at the time, including Klah, were often assigned male at birth, though some may have been intersex. They would also often dress in traditionally women's clothing, although Klah did not. Klah was also reportedly not interested in women and never married.

Weaving and Sandpainting

Klah mastered multiple traditional art forms, most notably sandpainting and weaving (which he learned from his mother). Klah wove his first complete weaving at the 1892–1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where he also was probably part of a sandpainting demonstration. Around 1914 Klah began experimenting with combining other sacred imagery of with the act of weaving, and wove imagery from the Yéʼii bicheii dance into a rug. He completed his first sandpainting-inspired weaving around 1919. Some fellow healers within his community found these weavings controversial, as sandpaintings and their imagery produced during ceremonies are purposefully meant to be non-permanent- Klah did not conform to this by weaving them into a more permanent form. His colorful and intricate designs caught the eye of various art collectors, many of which purchased his work.

Klah went on to demonstrate sandpainting in 1934, at the Century of Project Exhibition in Chicago, of which President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in attendance.

Klah taught his two nieces both his weaving techniques and designs before his death in 1937.