2. “Navajo women weavers, as has often been said, are among the best in the Handmade Native
NAVAJO HANDMADE TEXTILES
American rugs and
world.” Raymond Friday Locke textiles are truly
works of art; they are
one-of-a-kind items
that take many
months to create.
The handmade
Navajo rugs are part
of a sacred history
that dates back more
than 300 years, when
weaving was
introduced to the
Navajo tribe. But the
gorgeous Native
American rugs, wall
hangings, blankets, a
nd other textiles are
not just
representatives of the
past; they’re also
emblems of “The
Next Phase” of
Navajo weaving.
Description by
Edward S.
Curtis: ”The Navaho-
land blanket looms
are in evidence
everywhere. In the
winter months they
are set up in the
hogans, but during
the summer they are
erected outdoors
under an improvised
shelter, or, as in this
case, beneath a tree.
The simplicity of the
loom and its product
are here clearly
shown, pictured in
the early morning
light under a large
cottonwood.”
3. SPIDER WOMAN
Textiles have been a
documented part of Native
American culture for over two
thousand years. For the
Navajo, weaving was a gift of
Spider Woman who taught
the craft to the first Diné, or
people. The loom was
brought to The People by
Spider Boy who taught them
its meaning; the frame
composed of the Sky and the
Earth, the lashing of
lightning, the warp of rain; the
whole representing the
weaver and her relationship
between the Sky and the
Earth.
5. A Navajo legend a
HISTORY OF NAVAJO RUGS & BLANKETS
The history of Navajo weaving is in deity named Spider
Woman with teaching
many ways the history of the Navajo them weaving. The
first loom was said to
people. The Navajo textile in its be of sky and earth
cords with tools of
design, materials, and purpose is like sunlight, lightning, wh
ite shell, and crystal.
a mirror reflecting not only the In reality, Pueblo
Indians taught the
Navajos how to
weaver, but her whole people, in a weave. The Pueblo
people of Northern
specific time and place in their history. New Mexico were
cultivating cotton
However it is not for this reason alone around 1300
AD, which they used
that the Navajo weaving now and for weaving. They
practiced finger
throughout history has been perhaps weaving, and had
also learned the use
of the backstrap loom
the most valued and sought after from Mexican Indian
tribes.
textile product of the American
Southwest. The artistic beauty and
sensible function of Navajo woven
textiles combine to make them
sublime.
6. ANTIQUE NAVAJO TEXTILES:
The first weavings of The People were made for
personal use and as valuable trade items. Navajo rug
blankets were renowned throughout North America for
their beauty and utility, being soft and warm, and
because of the natural lanolin in the wool, water
resistant as well. Early Navajo rug weaving designs and
yarns changed often throughout the years due to the
influence of the many cultures active in the Southwest at
the time.
The beautiful hand woven Navajo Serapes show a great
amount of Mexican and Spanish influence. The chief’s
blankets, so named because their beauty and value
often made them accessible only to the prosperous
Plains Indian chiefs and the wealthy white and Mexican
colonists, evolved over the years from simple striped
blankets to block geometrics and eventually elaborate
diamond patterns.
7. ANTIQUE NAVAJO
The turn of the century saw Each is unique to the weaver
cheaper manufactured wool and categorized in regional
blankets begin to supplant the styles based on patterns and
Navajo blanket and demand for colors that have come to be
them began to wane. Early identified as that area’s signature
traders stepped in to encourage design. As in centuries
their local weavers to continue past, Navajo rugs still are woven
weaving in the fine artistic in the highest of artistic
tradition of the Navajo standards, on the same type of
blanket, opening Eastern loom that Spider Boy presented.
markets. The weaving tradition is passed
Since the demand for decorative down from hand to
rugs far outweighed the demand hand, generation to
for blankets. The Navajo blanket generation, and the craft of the
became the Navajo rug, an art Spider Woman lives on today.
form produced today for wall
hangings and floor coverings.
8. GANADO, WOVEN BY EMMA BEGAY, NAVAJO.
Here is Emma's idea of a Ganado
pattern. As carried down even to
today, Hubbell's designs featured a
brilliant red background surrounded
by strong geometric
crosses, diamonds, and stripes
constructed with yarns of grey, white
and black. Hubbell's textiles usually
featured a central motif of one or two
diamonds, sometimes a cross, with
smaller geometrics occupying the
remaining spaces. Emma has studied
books and the original Hubbell
patterns. If you ever visit the Hubbell
Trading Post in Ganado, now a
museum, you will see some of his
original design patterns that he
handed the Navajo weavers.
Size: 33" wide by 47" long.
Price: $1,500.
9. Most Navajo rugs will be great
THE DESIGN OF NATIVE AMERICAN RUGS “MIRROR”
examples of what is known as
symmetrical balance. This means that
when the rug is viewed, it looks like
each side is a mirror design of the
other side. If the Native American rugs
were folded in half, the designs would
match up symmetrically. The design
found on the right side of the rug is
symmetrical from left to right. The rug
is also symmetrical in design from top
to bottom. The top half and the bottom
half appear to be mirror images of
each other. Even those just starting to
weave were taught to carefully plan
out their design before they began
creating the rug.
10. NAVAJO TODAY
Today the Navajo textile is
recognized world wide for its intrinsic
value as the product of an artist, a
heritage, a culture, and a history.
Older Navajo rugs and blankets are
actively sought for collection by
private individuals and museums.
Being made of biodegradable
materials the rarity and hence the
value of Navajo textiles increase
dramatically with age. New records
are being set with the purchase of
antique Navajo textiles through
important curations and auctions. The
value and artistry of contemporary
Navajo weaving is also appreciated
today more than at any other time.
