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Navajo/Hopi Weaver Application
Alpaca Rancher/Donor
Please send donations
For tax deductible
Alpacas for Natives is
a division of |
Irene Bennalley
Irene lives near Newcomb, New Mexico, along the road that leads to Toadlena Trading Post. Mark Winters, who has run the old post for more than a decade, pushing for a revival of the world renowned Two Grey Hills style textiles, greeted her with a big smile on our recent visit to the post. His familiarity is warranted due to the long association Irene has with the area. Irene's grandmother has several rugs hanging in the new gallery honoring the masters of the Two Grey Hills style. Mark showed us an advance copy of his unreleased book, "The Master Weavers," containing 20 years of research on the weavers of this historic area. He turned to pages showing Irene's grandmother who was named, simply, Yellow Mustache's Wife. The picture was too indistinct to see a family resemblance, but then Yellow Mustaches Wife is credited with the two first Two Grey Hills/Toadlena style rugs, so the photo was taken quite a while ago. Irene inherited the grazing rights for her ranch from her father when he died. She had been living in Farmington for years raising her children and living a town life. Upon her divorce, she moved out to the ranch and she has been loving and raising her animals ever since. She keeps sheep, llamas, cattle and horses. She spends three months of the year at Little Valley Sheep Camp atop the Chuska Mountains, between the third week in June and the end of September. She transports the animals the old fashioned way, by herding them and you are all invited to help by walking with her and camping out after the migration. All of that keeps her quite busy, but she still finds time to spin yarn from her alpaca fiber, to weave and to felt hats. She actually uses a donated Ashford spinning wheel as well as a hip spindle. Irene has been elected to the Board of Directors of Alpacas for Natives. For information about her products, her ranch, or her trips to the sheep camp, write to: Irene Bennalley, PO Box 8054, Newcomb, NM 87455. |
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