Barbara Teller Ornelas
BornNovember 26, 1954
NationalityNavajo Nation, American
Alma materArizona State University[1]
OccupationTextile artist
ChildrenSierra Teller Ornelas, Michael Teller Ornelas[2]
Parent(s)Sam Teller and Ruth Teller[2]

Barbara Teller Ornelas (born November 26, 1954)[2] (Navajo people|Navajo) is a Native American weaver and citizen of the Navajo Nation.[3] She also is an instructor and author about this art. She has served overseas as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department. A fifth-generation Navajo weaver, she exhibits her fine art textiles and educates about Navajo culture at home and abroad.

Background

Ornelas is Tabaaha clan (Edgewater) and born for To-heedliinii clan (Two Water Flows Together).[4] She grew up near Two Grey Hills Trading Post in New Mexico,[5] before later moving to Arizona. Learning from her mother, grandmothers, and older sister, she is a fifth-generation Navajo weaver.[4][6]

Art process

She weaves tapestries with sheep wool from local flocks raised by Navajo families. She weaves textiles with high weft-counts, including some that are from 102 to 140 wefts.[7]

Art exhibitions

Her work has been featured at the Heard Museum, Arizona State Museum, Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, and the British Museum of Mankind in London,[2] among other museums.

Documentary

Her daughter Sierra Teller Ornelas was commissioned by the Arizona State Museum to make a documentary film, A Loom with a View: Modern Navajo Weavers, which explores the weaving of her family members, including Barbara herself, Barbara’s son Michael Teller Ornelas, and Sierra’s great aunt Margaret Yazzie.[8][9]

Awards

Cultural ambassador

Ornelas has traveled extensively as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department.[11] She has been a part of cultural programs in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Peru.[10]

Books

She co-authored the following books with her sister Lynda Teller Pete:

  • Spider Woman's Children: Navajo Weavers Today (2018) Thrums Books ISBN 978-0-99905-175-7[1][12]
  • How To Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman (2020), Thrums Books ISBN 978-1-73442-170-5[13]

Personal life

Her adult children Sierra Teller Ornelas and Michael Teller Ornelas are sixth-generation Navajo weavers.[7][9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Allen, Lee (1 March 2019). "Navajo master weavers Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete talk shop". Ict News. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Barbara Teller Ornelas: Master Navajo Weaver" (PDF). Navajo Rug Weavers. 16 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Craft in America – Barbara Teller Ornelas on weaving". PBS. 16 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Allen, Lee (13 September 2018). "Woven Through the Generations: Tapestry Artist Navajo Barbara Teller-Ornelas". Ict News. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Soul and Song of Weaving: Barbara Teller Ornelas". Border Lore – Heritage & culture of the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico. 16 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Barbara Teller Ornelas". Craft In America. 16 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Barbara Ornelas". Art In Embassies – U.S. State Department. 16 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Weaving is part of woman's soul". Arizona Daily Star. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. 1 2 Schmitt, Rory O'Neill (2016). Navajo and Hopi Art in Arizona: Continuing Traditions. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62585-560-2. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  10. 1 2 "Barbara Teller Ornelas – Navajo – USA". Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto. 18 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Lynda Teller Pete – Weaving legacy ..." (PDF). Textile Society of America. 16 August 2021.
  12. ↑ Locke, Katherine (18 June 2019). "Navajo Weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas give readers something they've never had — a look at Navajo weaving told by Navajo weavers themselves". Navajo-Hopi Observer (Flagstaff & Winslow, Arizona). Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas are the premiere Navajo Tapestry Weavers". Navajo Rug Weavers. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
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