Agnes Gray

Agnes Black Gray started weaving when she was 12 years old. She watched her mother, Mary Holiday Black, weave and played with her scraps. She also learned from her sister, Sally Black. Agnes has woven many pictorial story baskets, but takes care only to weave them in the winter, the time for telling sacred stories. She also weaves designs inspired by things she observes, like a Diné (Navajo) rug pattern or an interesting geometric pattern in a magazine. “I try to think through hard when I am weaving where I will put things, and it works for me,” Agnes explains. “I am thankful that I learned to weave and to support myself and that I am using knowledge I learned from my mother and grandmother. I hope people enjoy and love basketry and that it makes them happy because it comes back.” Agnes would like to teach her grandchildren to weave.