The Navajo Weaving Tradition (original) (raw)

Bruce Museum

Greenwich, CT

203-869-0376

The Navajo Weaving Tradition

The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science presents The Navajo Weaving Tradition through January 15, 2001. Featuring blankets and rugs from the Bruce Museum collection, donated by several Greenwich residents, the exhibition presents several examples of major styles and influences on the Navajo weaving. Through tradition and innovation, Navajo textiles tell a story of adaptation, survival and change.

According to Navajo myth, the Dine, or the People, were led to the Southwest from the underworld by the Holy People. Spider Man taught the Navajos how to make a loom from sunshine, lightning and rain. Spider Woman taught them to weave. Anthropologists say that the Navajo migrated south from Canada into New Mexico sometime before 1400. From the Spanish settlers the Navajo acquired churro sheep, noted for their long, fine, lustrous wool. From the Pueblo people they adopted the upright loom and weaving techniques.

During the years before 1864, known as the Classic Period (1650-1863), Navajo women wove textiles that ranged from thick utility blankets (diyugis) to extremely fine "wearing" blankets. The broadly striped "Chief blankets" were so named because they were prized items of trade between high-status members of neighboring tribes and early traders. A Chief Blanket, Third Phase, distinguished by a diamond motifs, is on view in the exhibition and represents a later example of one of the most avidly collected of the Classic blanket styles.

Historically, the Navajo era of prosperity came to a sudden and traumatic end in 1863. Seven thousand Navajo were rounded up by U.S. troops led by Kit Carson and held captive for four years at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Only one-quarter of these Navajo survived, and when they were released, they found their homes, pastures and flocks destroyed, and their homeland reduced to one-fifth of its original size. During their confinement the Navajo were issued "Rio Grande" blankets, and the eight-pointed Vallero star, a motif commonly used in blankets woven in the Spanish villages, later filtered into the Navajo weaving cycle. A Rio Grande with Vallero Star Blanket, is featured in the exhibition.

The Transition Period (1863-1875) is marked by many outside influences on the Navajo weaving tradition. In the 1870s, trading posts were established on the reservation. Weavers could now buy packaged synthetic dyes and commercially spun yarns. With these multi-colored yarns the Navajo wove "eye dazzlers," named by the early traders because of the intense colorings of the dyes. And as the Eastern market sought more Navajo-woven rugs, weavers switched from making wearing blankets to floor rugs. The Eye-Dazzler Blanket on view features bayeta threads taken from prized European Bayeta cloth which was painstakingly unraveled strand by strand and respun into yarn. (left: _Eye Dazzler Blanket,_c.1875-1885, Transition Period, Bruce Museum Collection, Gift of Perkin-Elmer Corporation)

The Transition Period also found the Navajo weavers departing from the stripe design, a characteristic of the Classic Period. The Banded Style Shoulder Blanket on view features bands of sharp-toothed serrated zigzags alternating with solid bands. The blanket also features diagonal "lazy lines," a style created by weaving one segment wedge at a time, and a technique unique to the Navajo, not found in Pueblo or Hispanic pieces. (left:Banded Style Shoulder Blanket, c.1880-1895, Transition Period, Bruce Museum Collection, Gift of Margaret Cranford)

The Rug Period (1895-1950) is known for the Navajo use of plant dyes in their weavings and for the regional styles that developed. For the next 40 to 50 years, the Navajo developed a new weaving style almost every decade. Always resourceful, weavers absorbed the new ideas, and incorporated them into existing Navajo designs or invented new ones. Regional specialization developed as weavers living in a single area adopted similar techniques and styles. Taking the names of trading posts or communities, regional styles included Ganado, Two Gray Hills, Crystal, Teec Nos Pos, Chinle and Wide Ruins. The Trader Influenced Outline Style Rug from Ganado, Arizona is a gift to the Bruce Museum collection from Greenwich resident Avice Lea and was originally acquired from the Fred Harvey Co., a popular hotelier from the era, by the president of the Santa Fe Railroad as a housewarming present for Mrs. Lea's parents. Weavers were also encouraged to experiment with native dye plants to produce designs in soft earth tones.

Another example from this period, the Ye'ii Rug, depicts five elongated front-facing ye'ii figures (Holy People) separated by four tall corn stalks. Ye'ii rugs mark the first time Navajo deities were featured in Navajo weavings. The ye'ii figures were adapted from sand painting designs of healing ceremonies, but the rugs themselves were not used in Navajo worship. And due to the spiritual nature of the subject matter, not all weavers felt comfortable with this style weaving.

Today's Navajo nation, with over 220,000 members, is the largest Indian group in America. In the present day, Navajo weavers continue to adapt, innovate and create their art within a traditional framework. While regional styles persist, the Contemporary Period (1950-Present) includes individual weavers who have become known by name. Both on and off the reservation, Navajo women today can choose between weaving and many other jobs to support themselves, yet those who choose to weave are growing in number. Weaving allows them to express their own ideas, and provides a balance between their spiritual and physical beings. By creating fine tapestries as wall hangings, rather than as floor coverings, today's weavers now approach their work as professional artists. Designs have become increasingly complex, and the dye palette more extensive. A representation of this period on view in the exhibition, Wide Ruins Rug, was made in 1981 by Navajo weaver Fannie Joe from Wide Ruins, Arizona. The Wide Ruins regional style represents a revival of the 19th century Hispanic serrate diamond design and vegetal dyes in soft tones. (left: Teec Nos Pos Rug, c.1940-1970, Contemporary Period, Bruce Museum Collection, Gift of Perkin-Elmer Corporation)

Navajo weaving is a sacred art, embodying creation stories, prayers and ceremonial practices, the ancient and historical past. In weaving, the individual preserves hozho, the concept that combines order,beauty, balance and harmony. "Outsiders over emphasize external influences - the Pueblo, Spanish, and Anglo contributions of materials, techniques, and designs, and the role of traders and collectors - rather than the weavers themselves," said Deborah Brinckerhoff, curator of The Navajo Weaving Tradition and Bruce Museum Collections Manager. "However, the individual's freedom to make decisions about design, color, and technique has remained at the center of Navajo weaving. While we can never see the blankets as the Navajo - collectively or individually - see them, we can feel the sensibility of an individual artist and the spirit of a people in each blanket."(left: Ye'ii Bichell Rug, probably Shiprock vicinity, c.1970-1985, Contemporary Period, Bruce Museum Collection, Gift of Perkin-Elmer Corporation)

Essays follow by Deborah Brinckerhoff, curator of "The Navajo Weaving Tradition" and Bruce Museum Collections Manager

Weaving from a Navajo Perspective

There is more to a rug than a tight weave or aniline or vegetal dye. An entire culture might be woven into a single textile, but to the non-Navajo, the rug is silent. We search for meaning. Anglo collectors and tourists like Native American art with "symbolism" and hidden meaning - figurative art that "tells a story" rather than geometric patterns. Even in geometric forms, many will search for deep significance in every triangle or zigzag, suggesting that stepped triangles and stripes represent striations in the mesas and the desert sunset. These results are more romantic than realistic. Streaks may come from faulty dyeing; the step motif results from the nature of the vertical loom.

Outsiders also over emphasize external influences - the Pueblo, Spanish, and Anglo contributions of materials, techniques, and designs, and the role of traders and collectors - rather than the weavers themselves. However, the individual's freedom to make decisions about design, color, and technique has remained at the center of Navajo weaving.

Weaving is a sacred art, embodying creation stories, prayers and ceremonial practices, the ancient and historical past. In weaving, the individual preserves hozho, the concept that combines order, beauty, balance and harmony.

A recent study asked fifty Navajo elders to examine a collection of 200 traditional textiles at a museum and identify symbols and meaningful techniques in each. One elder interpreted the design of an M-like figure to be Spider Woman in the Creation story. Barely visible particles - bits of feathers and plant matter - woven into rugs were thought to relate to stories or ceremonies. Another weaver saw a diagonal cross as signifying the Long Walk, and the double diamond as specifying the imprisonment at Bosque Redondo. A slight variation in color along one edge of a rug was said to be the weaver's attempt to avoid perfect symmetry.

This study is controversial because there is no way to tell whether a color change is intentional or a dye result, or whether a foreign item has simply been picked up in the wool. Only the actual weaver can explain the piece. Most Navajo will not explain another weaver's rug because it is too personal and individual; the meaning belongs to the textile.

While we can never see the blankets as the Navajo - collectively or individually - see them, we can feel the sensibility of an individual artist and the spirit of a people in each blanket.

The History of Navajo Weaving

According to Navajo myth, the Dine or the People, were led to the Southwest from the underworld by the Holy People. Spider Man taught the Navajos how to make a loom from sunshine, lightning and rain. Spider Woman taught them to weave.

Anthropologists say that the Navajo, an Athabaskan-speaking people, migrated south from Canada into New Mexico sometime before 1400. From the Spanish settlers they acquired churro sheep, noted for their long, fine, lustrous wool; from the Pueblo people they adopted the upright loom and weaving techniques.

Classic Period (1650-1863)

During the years before 1864, Navajo weavers produced textiles that were extraordinary in terms of weave and design. The patterns were characterized by the individuality and creativity that is reflected throughout the history of Navajo weaving.

The Classic period was a time of self-sufficiency and stability, with an economy based on planting crops and sheep herding. Women wove textiles that ranged from thick utility blankets (diyugis) to extremely fine "wearing" blankets. They adapted designs from their own basketry and from Mexican Saltillo serapes - terraced diamonds, triangles, and crosses in horizontally banded layouts. The broadly striped Chief blanket was avidly sought after by neighboring Indians as well as settlers.

Transition Period (1863-1895)

The transition period was marked by many outside influences on the Navajo weaving tradition. In 1863 the era of prosperity came to a sudden and traumatic end. To prevent Navajo interference in westward expansion, U.S. troops commanded by Kit Carson rounded up 7000 of them, forced them to make the 400-mile "Long Walk" eastward, and imprisoned them at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. After four years the survivors were allowed to return to their homelands (reduced to one-fifth of the original area) where they found their homes, pastures and flocks destroyed.

In the 1870s, trading posts were established on the reservation. A decade later, the Santa Fe Railroad brought a flood of settlers. Travel and communication became easier. At the trading posts, weavers could buy packaged synthetic dyes and commercially spun yarns produced in Germantown, Pennsylvania, With these multi-colored yarns the Navajo wove "eye dazzler" designs, in which Hispanic serrated diamonds often replaced Classic terraced shapes.

As the Eastern market sought more Navajo-woven rugs, weavers switched from making wearing blankets to floor rugs.

Rug Period (1895-1950)

For the next 40 to 50 years, the Navajo developed a new weaving style almost every decade. Always resourceful, weavers absorbed the new ideas, and incorporated them into existing Navajo designs or invented new ones.

Around the turn of the century, traders revitalized weaving. Lorenzo Hubbell urged a return to quality weaving and to Classic banded patterns. John B. Moore urged weavers to imitate the layouts and motifs of the oriental rugs popular in late Victorian society back east. Traders sold hundreds of rugs at Fred Harvey's tourist outlets along the Santa Fe Railroad.

Regional specialization developed during the Rug Period, as weavers living in a single area adopted similar techniques and styles. Taking the names of trading posts or communities, regional styles included Ganado, Two Gray Hills, Crystal, Teec Nos Pos, Chinle and Wide Ruins.

Weavers were encouraged to experiment with native dye plants to produce designs in soft earth tones. Sand painting designs were adapted for weaving as the older styles continued to flourish. Ye'ii designs, featuring Navajo deities, appeared in weavings for the first time.

Contemporary (1950-Present)

With over 220,000 members, the Navajo nation is the largest American Indian group. While most of the reservation remains rural, many households are moving away from the traditional subsistence of herding and farming.

Both on and off the reservation, women today can choose between weaving and many other jobs to support themselves, yet those who choose to weave are growing in number. Weaving allows them to express their own ideas, and provides a balance between their spiritual and physical beings.

Weavers continue to adapt, innovate and create their art within a traditional framework. While regional styles persist, individual weavers have become known by name. In creating fine tapestries as wall hangings, rather than as floor coverings, the weaver approaches her work as a professional artist. Designs have become increasingly complex, and the dye palette more extensive.