Marie Begay is the second oldest of the Burnham area weaving family that has revolutionized the way people in that area look at weaving.
Marie's husband of 51 years, Matthew, was also from the Burnham area which is a chapter house area (similar to states on the Navajo reservation), directly east of the Two Grey Hills Chapter area. When Matthew was a teenager, he was, according to his daughter, "getting into a lot of trouble." His parents decided it was time for him to settle down and they arranged a meeting with Marie's family. The two met and the families decided they should be married.
Last year, my mom and I attended their 50th wedding anniversary party. It was a wonderful experience and I asked their daughter, Teresa, how she felt the "forced marriage," had turned out. She said, "Dad still brings her coffee in bed every morning."
Marie speaks little English. Matthew worked for Public Service of New Mexico and is now retired. They live in a home, half-way between the Highway 491 (that runs from Shiprock to Gallup) and the Veterans' Memorial Highway (that runs from Farmington to Crown Point, NM). They live in a home that Matthew built and they just got electricity a few years ago. Water is still trucked in and they heat with a coal stove.
They have a small herd of sheep that they shear for Marie's weaving. Their oldest daughter, Teresa, is an accountant for Navajo Products Industries (a huge agricultural enterprise that uses water from the Navajo Dam). Shawnda lives as home with the family and takes care of Marie and Matthew. The youngest daughter, Julia, went to UNM and graduated with a teaching degree. After teaching chemistry for a couple of years at a charter school, she is now studying to be a medical technician.
Teresa uses to be a great weaver, now she's a wife, accountant and helps on her husbands family farm and in his ministry. Julia used to mail us weavings that she did in her dorm room at UNM. Today she is too busy with school to weaving. Shawnda never learned to weave. Marie is left to carry on the tradition.
Marie is still making some of the finest "Two Grey Hills" style weavings on the Navajo Reservation. She works only with hand spun wool and the rich browns and greys, with her own unique design intricacies, have made her works very desirable as collectibles. | | |
