The Navajo culture and the European-American culture define art differently. We see art in the wrinkled hands of our grandparents and in the sounds of weaving. From these observations and experiences we create our art. And the process of creating is more important to us than the end product. Navajo weavers treat their textiles with care, as though they were newborn infants.
Some weavers talk and sing to their textiles as they weave.
Tremendous care and attention are given to the creative process. Non-Native peoples, on the other hand, find the finished art of more interest than the process by which it is created. Despite the ongoing changes in the Navajo cultures in North America, our parents and grandparents continue to teach us self-expression through various forms of creativity. The bright-colored yarns used today were introduced relatively recently, and they tend to devalue the textiles. Earth-tone colors are the most authentic.