In this episode, the Desert View team got to speak with the Jackson family about their artistry which consists of silversmithing and moccasin making. We get to hear about fun experiences such as famous collaborations, the impact of their grandmother’s weaving, and how their Diné culture heavily inspires their creative journeys.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Jackson family transcript

Tracie: I don't want to be highlighted as this like, one of only, you know, indigenous people in footwear design. I want to be with my community. I want to be designing all of this stuff with an indigenous design team.

Maryetta: More traditionally, you know, Grand Canyon has always been a sacred place for everyone. You know, we have, we have indigenous people living in the canyon. Who knows the way of the canyon.

Henry: And she used to weave a train because my dad used to work on the railroad. And then she used to make picture rugs. So a lot of my overlays are copied from that.

Noah: I'm very proud to be part of the Jackson family.

Meranden: Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Grand Canyon Speaks! This is Meranden

Lakin: And this is Lakin.

Meranden: In today's episode, we get to hear from the Jackson family. Yeah, they share the different crafts they practice, such as silversmithing and footwear design, all of which is inspired by their Diné culture.

Meranden: It's really cool because this was actually our first Grand Canyon Speaks episode recording that we got to see and be a part of as interns. Lakin: It was also raining this day, so you can hear thunder in the background. Meranden: Thank you so much for checking out this episode.

We hope you enjoy. Tracie: Yá'át'ééh. Shi eí Tracy Jackson yinishyé. Tsi’naajinii nishłį́ . Bilagáana bashishchiin.

Kiyaa’áanii dashicheii dóó Bilagáana dashinalí. On my grandma's side, we're from (Navajo word) area on the rez.

And on my cheii's side, we're from Teesto area as well. Hello, my name is Tracie and I just introduced myself in my Diné language and just said who I am and where I'm from.

Maryetta: My name is Maryetta Jackson.

Tracy is my granddaughter here. My clan is Tsi’naajinii nishłį́ . Tábąąha bashishchiin.

Táchii’nii dashicheii . dóó Tsé Ńjíkiní dashinalí . So that's my clan.

And I live in Flagstaff. I was relocated over there, but originally off the reservation is Star Mountain. Tsotsila is where I'm originally from.

Henry: Shi yáa Henry Jackson yinishyé. Kinyaa’áanii nishłį́. Áshįįhí bashishchiin. Táchii’nii dashinalí. Tótsohnii dashicheii. Ádóó (Speaks Navajo) East of Teesto Ádóó.

Noah: And then my name is Noah Kaminsky.

My clans are the exact same as my cousin's sister, Tracie Jackson, just to save some time. And I live with my grandparents in Flagstaff, learning the family business of making jewelry and everything that goes into it. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, a couple hours south in the hot valley of the sun.

It's nice to be in the mountains where it's cooler. Ranger Annie: And so since we're here, why is Grand Canyon important to you? Tracie: Good question. I think since I've moved away from home, when I first went to college, I was first generation in our family to go to college.

And when I told people I was from Arizona, I remember a lot of people from other states in California and the East Coast would ask me if I visit the Grand Canyon every time I go home. I thought that was kind of funny because I never thought of it like that. And then, you know, I started kind of thinking more as I've away from home for 10 years now.

And I think hearing that it's because we do have a special place in our home state and on our homelands on the rez. And the Grand Canyon is a very spectacular place. And, you know, thinking about our relationship, especially the communities here, all the different tribes here in the area, it is such a sacred place where we go and pick medicines.

It's where we do ceremony. It's where people have traditionally met and had homelands and I think that's what's so beautiful about it is that we're literally looking at where our, you know, ancestors from generations prior to us have walked on before. And, you know, not a lot of people get to say that they can go back to where their families are originally from or even where their ancestors or the communities have traveled.

And I think that's something that's so beautiful is that, you know, we just go up north or we just look out in the distance and we see what is and has historically always been part of our community. Maryetta: Tracy, my granddaughter, she basically covered everything. And with us, you know, more traditionally, you know, Grand Canyon has always been a sacred place for everyone.

You know, we have Indigenous people living in the canyon. Who knows the way of the canyon, how it, you know, feeds them and treats them. And so it's, and with us living so close to the canyon, it is a sacred spot for a lot of us that are Indigenous to this area.

And like Tracy said, we do give an offering and thank it for the nourishment that it provides for the whole community in the area. And so it's one of our magnificent sites to see because it's nature. So, and it's, to me, it's just right our back door and we can step out the back door and look at what we have.

I'm very grateful for that. Lakin: So, I have questions for all of you. I'll start with you, Tracie, So, what got you into creating the footwear or designing it to begin with? They do silver work, so how did you get into that? Tracie: Yeah, well, I've always loved sneakers and shoes and I don't know, it's just always been something that I grew up with. I grew up in the 90s, 2000s and, you know, sneaker culture was really big during those decades. And I'm a huge, I was a basketball player, so I think that's what also helped get me into it is the Jordan 3s.

Like Jordan 3s were my favorite shoe of all time. And I remember, you know, living in Flagstaff and going to Foot Locker at the mall. You know, I couldn't buy them at the time, but like I would just go window shopping and just look at these shoes.

And, you know, to me it was just something cool and different that, you know, we've never really had access to in the industry wise. I mean, moccasin making, my grandma's dad, her father was a moccasin maker. And I remember when I got my first pair of moccasins made for me by a Hopi man for my Kinaaldá ceremony and I went to his, you know, his village, we went to his house and he hand drew it specifically to the size of my feet. And I still have those moccasins and I'll be honest, my feet haven't grown too big, but like they still fit. And I think to me that was something that was really cool to see is like almost, again, when I talk about these two worlds of like, almost I'm just walking in between now of, you know, I loved moccasins.

We always wore it for ceremony, but then I would play with these really different types of shoes on the court and, you know, go to school in Air Force Ones. And, but it was like really cool to see like us really break barriers in the sneaker world. And I think that's where like, I would go to the Lori Piestewa tournament and see all those really cool sneakers that kids would be wearing in the games.

And some of those were sold for like $600, like resell for crazy amount of prices, but they still wore them regardless because they were showing them off and it made them look cool. And what really specifically made me go into sneakers and footwear was looking, I was playing at the Lori Piestewa basketball tournament and I had seen the N7 logo there on a drawstring bag. And for me personally, I had never seen native culture with Nike and sport culture.

And that was something to me that inspired me as a kid. And, you know, something I never thought of was like, "Hey, I could be a designer at Nike and make some cool native stuff?" And, you know, it was just something I never thought of that never connected the two because coming from the Southwest, you know, we're taught to be some of the, you know, most renowned artistries and artists in our community, but I never thought of breaking artwork into non-native design that would be sold at other companies.

And I think that's where for me, my interest started to go. And my older brother went to the University of Oregon, which I followed and funny enough, Nike was created by students at the University of Oregon. And so I actually went through the product design program and I was the first native person to go through the program.

And when I did, I asked them when I got their first day of school, I was like, what do I have to do to design a Nike? And then that's where they said product design. So it was really interesting because I felt like I kind of fell into footwear in a way. I didn't really know where I was going.

I thought footwear was cool. I thought, you know, sportswear was really cool. I was an athlete and I just wanted to continue to pursue that type of design work.

And then, you know, when I got my internship at Nike, that's actually where I got to design apparel. I didn't really touch footwear as much, but I did graphics for the brand. And I came from a graphic design background where, you know, my grandparents are silversmiths, my great grandmothers are rug weavers.

And for me, I'm just kind of an eat all of above type person where I did painting. I want to tap into everything that they do so I can be more well-rounded and also come from different perspectives and learn. And when I was interning there, I did this collection.

My first collection was actually designing a collection for Taboo from Black Eyed Peas. And, you know, since then it was always been my brother and I will always look back at him as thanking him for, you know, helping me get to where I was. But that's wher