Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver: His Art and His World recounts the exceptional life and legacy of Diné (Navajo) businessman and artist Clitso Dedman (1867–1953). Remarkably, this project began by chance after Rebecca Valette stumbled upon a set of carvings by Dedman on display at Adobe Gallery in Albuquerque. For the next 25 years, Valette embarked on an ambitious journey to recover the scattered pieces of archival material and oral histories of Dedman's life and art.This project is ambitious for three reasons. First, one of the primary goals for Valette was to create a full-length biography about Dedman in order to put his artistic trajectory into perspective and to remediate the resounding phrase, often used to describe Dedman: “a long-forgotten Navajo artist” (p. xiii). Second, Dedman's early life unfolded during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, widely recognized as one of the most turbulent and problematic in the evolution of social and political relationships between Native peoples and the United States. Valette seeks to reconstitute Dedman as an active and dynamic subject within this historical narrative, a process requiring the rigorous excavation and critical interrogation of the past and its meanings. Finally, animating Dedman's life necessitates a meticulous and critically engaged analysis of historical sources and a rigorous interrogation of the mechanisms of power and authority implicated in constructing such a narrative.Valette assembles a narrative of Dedman's life to further an understanding of his artistic style and oeuvre. The first chapter establishes an understanding of his early life in Chinle, Arizona, during the late eighteenth century, which coincides with the establishment of the reservation and the rejuvenation of Diné society and culture after returning from their 4-year imprisonment at Bosque Redondo. Chapter 2 narrates Dedman's 8 years at boarding schools, where he learned English and valuable trade skills. Chapter 3 examines the growth of Gallup, New Mexico, driven by the expansion of the Santa Fe Railroad, and includes a section on Dedman's 4-year railroad apprenticeship. Chapters 4 and 5 expand on Dedman's journey to become the first Diné of traditional heritage to establish and operate three trading posts while also becoming a highly recommended guide and chauffeur for Anglo-American visitors, including Theodore Roosevelt. Chapters 6 and 7 recount the tragic event that compelled Dedman to close his businesses and return to Chinle. While his primary focus was providing blacksmithing, farriery, stonemasonry, and carpentry services, Dedman also tapped into his creativity to craft his first stone sculptures. Chapter 8 focuses on Dedman's 14-year artistic career while also detailing Diné cultural beliefs about the Nightway ceremony in relation to the realistic ceremonial figures Dedman carved. Chapter 9 takes a closer look at how Dedman's career faded almost entirely after his death in 1953 until it was reinvigorated in the 2000s. The epilogue reflects on the practice of Navajo wood carving as a legitimate art form. The appendix provides the most complete inventory of Dedman's carvings that exists, including those that Valette carefully studied to complete this book.Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver is an exceptionally well-researched book, pulling from multiple sources, including anthropological studies, Franciscan mission records, and government documents. However, the highlight is that Valette connects with and includes Dedman's descendants in writing his biography. Their warm contributions highlight the depth of admiration that lives on in their hearts and memories. By merging ethnographic methods with the study of material culture, this project does more than honor one singular artist's life and artistic legacy. Valette essentially addresses the propensity of the Western art world to relegate Native artists to an unknown or forgotten status, a move that positions their art as an exotic rarity and frames their humanity as perpetually endangered. This book makes a critical contribution to folkloric studies and adjacent fields by situating Dedman's artistic output within the context of Diné cultural knowledge and social life, while also interrogating and highlighting the systemic gears and springs that drive Native artists into obscurity.Although one of the notable strengths of this book is Valette's meticulous effort to restore Dedman to the historical record, the interpretive framework she employs warrants critical examination. Although Valette seeks to reconstitute Dedman's life, she does not interrogate her own complicity in frequently romanticizing occupation and domination by a colonial power. For example, Valette routinely claims that Dedman “took advantage of every opportunity to integrate into mainstream American culture” (p. xv), but “deep down, Dedman was a Navajo at heart” (pp. 40–1). By adopting a passive stance toward coloniality, Valette inadvertently reinforces harmful tropes about Native identity and history. This framing essentializes Native people as existing in a static, symbolic relationship to modernity, a narrative that Native studies and folkloric studies must rigorously contest. Therefore, Dedman is brought back to life only to be recast as a testament to the purported success of US assimilation policies. This process erases the complexities of Dedman's cultural and political existence and also divests his art of political agency and cultural significance.Although the book may appeal to art collectors curious about Dedman and folkloric art practices, it is equally significant for scholars and readers invested in critical discussions of Diné art and history. It underscores the importance of recovering and preserving Diné artistic heritage, yet it would benefit from a more nuanced engagement with the broader historical forces that influenced Dedman's life and work, such as the 1883 Code of Indian Offenses or the New Deal policies of the 1930s. Such an analysis would deepen our understanding of Dedman's art, not only as individual creations but also as creations that are a part of a larger narrative of Diné resilience and resistance. Recognizing Dedman's life and work is long overdue, and while Valette has initiated this crucial project, the task remains for future scholars to expand upon it. Dedman's art should stand as a testament to Diné cultural resilience and an enduring homage to the sovereignty and longevity of the Diné people, challenging narratives that have too often sought to romanticize or erase these histories.
Larissa Nez (Thu,) studied this question.