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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Wisdom of the Ages

By Aurelio Sanchez
Journal Staff Writer
          Amid the sparkle of new dreams by young students at St. Michael Indian School on the Navajo Reservation, an older, more burnished dream is being forged by a 62-year-old maintenance man at the school in northeastern Arizona.
        For more than 25 years as a maintenance man and groundskeeper, Oliver Detsoi has helped the school to run smoothly, even doing stints, when needed, driving the school activity bus or coaching the basketball team.
        Still, all the while, his grandmother's admonishments rang softly inside of him to "always follow your dreams."
        As a young boy growing up just north of Gallup, Detsoi dreamed of becoming a skilled artist, watching his grandmother, Mary Manuelito, braid her magic as a skilled weaver of rugs and other textiles. She died at age 92 in 1979.
        "When I watched her weave, I was amazed by her designs and I wondered where she got her ideas," Detsoi said. "She made them look so simple and beautiful."
        He said his grandmother always counseled him to finish school and to develop his natural talents, but inside, he felt a deep-seated fear.
        "I was afraid to take a chance," he said. "I was afraid to make a mistake."
        Even as he reached later life, his grandmother's voice resonated, telling him it was never too late to start a new life, if you can find the courage. In 2003, Detsoi began working with wood, creating his first wooden showcase.
        Then in 2006, Detsoi visited a friend in Window Rock, Ariz., and was impressed by his friend's talent in cutting and shaping metal sculptures.
        "It was the first time that I realized that a sculpture could touch your heart in a spiritual way," Detsoi said. "They were so beautiful."
        That evening, he rushed home and began working on his first design for a metal sculpture. The following week, he bought his first metal plates. Under his friend's tutelage, Detsoi welded his first few sculptures.
        His own self doubts and fear began to dissolve, and Detsoi went back to school, taking some welding classes at the University of New Mexico branch in Gallup. He created three more metal sculptures; his confidence grew.
        However, it's not likely that Detsoi would be on this path today had he not laid the groundwork several years ago by ridding himself of a self-acknowledged "problem with alcohol," he said. Detsoi realized that before he could find the courage to pursue his dream, he'd have to first find the strength to deal with the problem.
        Divorced and the father of three grown children, Detsoi says he regrets not doing it sooner, but he adds he's been sober since his divorce, 23 years ago.
        "Drinking took me away from a lot of good people and things in life," Detsoi said. "It really hurt me, and it's still a struggle every day, but by doing it just a day a time, and with the help of a lot of good friends, I haven't had a drink in 23 years.
        "The other thing about being an artist is that if you don't have patience and knowledge, along with your skills and talents, then it's not going to happen for you," he added.
        Mindful of his grandmother's simple and beautiful designs, Detsoi has applied her artful sense to his own work, creating stunning metal pieces of white buffalo, bear claws, gracefully curved arrows and intricately detailed eagle feathers and cow's heads.
        Detsoi said his fellow employees, the staff and students at the school are supportive and proud of him as he walks his new path in beauty.
        He recently has been making the rounds of Native American art shows in New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah, earning distinction and adding to his growing status as an emerging skilled artist. To contact Detsoi, e-mail him at oliverdetsoi@yahoo.com.
        Detsoi also was featured in the juried Indian Arts Exhibition at the recent New Mexico State Fair, and has won the Emerging Artist Best of show at the Totah Festival in Farmington, and a First Place award in sculpture at last year's Gallup Indian Ceremonial.
        "It's been a lot of fun," he says. "And sometimes I can still hear my grandmother saying it's never too late."
       

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