Dig It - 2/2/23
Well Hello Fellow Seekers, Today's story is kind of personal. It deals with this here Ketoh that was made for me some 52 years ago.
I first came out to the Southwest in the summer of 1968 with an outfit called “Prairie Trek Expeditions.” The object of the Expedition was to experience the most unspoiled country left in the Southwest. We were divided into groups of 20+ kids and many of the counselors were graduate students in Natural Sciences. We lived in tents, cooked over open fires, hiked, explored, caught snakes, collected minerals, talked with Indians and saw ceremonies, just to give you a hint of the kind of things we did. Anyway, I had bought myself a sand cast ketoh at the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild and I wanted a stamped one.
The Henio Family were, and still are, Navajos who lived nearby the Treks basecamp in Thoreau, New Mexico. The Henios were an integral part of Trek and had been so since the 1920s. The patriarch of their outfit was Tom, so called "Old Tom", because he had many children named, Tom. He was also called, Grandfather Henio, as a sign of respect. I remember one year Grandfather Henio taught me about Navajo Medicine plants using his grandson, Benny, as a translator. He did not like Poison Oak which he considered a particularly dangerous and evil plant.
The Henios were not full-time silversmiths. I believe Old Tom’s father had been, and they had a full set of stamps and tools from the turn of the century. I bought the silver at the Trading Post and gave it to the Henios. They picked out the turquoise and made the ketoh. I paid them when they were done and now here it is for you to see. It is still one of my proudest and most valuable possessions.
The second photo shows the Henios, c. 1920s.
That's my story and it’s time for me to move on down the trail. Adios Buckaroos!
