Phase III Texts
3/5/16
Navajo Texts
Origin of a Navajo Weaving Style
The Navajo (Diné) were latecomers to the Southwest. Their nomadic ancestors migrated from their homelands in Alaska and northwestern Canada ca. A.D. 1200–1400. Taught to weave by neighboring Pueblo Indians during the mid–1600s, creative Navajos turned the medium into one of the best-known Native American art traditions.
For the next two hundred years, Navajo weaving evolved through many styles. During what is known as the Classic Period from 1650–1865, women wove four phases of so-called chief’s blankets featuring stripes and diamond shapes.
Surprisingly, one of the most creative phases of weaving emerged during the darkest period in Navajo history. After the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, the U.S. Army was sent to the region to resolve years of conflict between Navajos and settlers in the Rio Grande Valley. Thousands of Navajos were forced on the “Long Walk,” for hundreds of miles to the Bosque Redondo in southeastern New Mexico, where they were imprisoned from 1863–1868. Since their sheep had been slaughtered, wool yarns from Germantown, Pennsylvania, were issued for weaving.
Returning to their homeland in 1868, artists experimented with these commercial yarns that were colored with vibrant synthetic dyes. Along with this new color palette, they were exposed to exciting designs from Mexican blankets also issued to them. One of the new styles created with Germantown yarns was the eyedazzler, a textile that differed radically from any they had previously woven.
The Art of Navajo Jewelry
Navajos were the first Native Americans in the Southwest to master the art of making silver jewelry, yet the art tradition had a relatively short history. The first known Navajo silversmith was Atsidi Sani (ca.1828–ca.1918), who learned blacksmithing before working with silver. Sometime after his return from Bosque Redondo in 1868, he began silversmithing and taught others to make jewelry out of American and Mexican coins using simple tools.
By 1890, trading post operators supplied smiths with more sophisticated tools along with sterling silver ingots and sheet metal, which replaced coin silver. Artists began to experiment with a variety of techniques from sandcasting to stamping. Early jewelry was fashioned mainly from silver with turquoise stones used sparingly. When turquoise from Colorado and Nevada mines became available, more stones were added.
Navajos made silver jewelry for personal use only until tourists began to arrive in the region and Fred Harvey Company shops sprang up along the railroad in the late 1880s. In just a few decades, Navajo silver jewelry was in great demand and has remained a major source of revenue. Contemporary Navajo jewelers express their personal artistry by fashioning new styles using a wide variety of stones and metals.
Navajo Subtext
Eyedazzlers
This eyedazzler is an example of textiles woven by Navajos during the Germantown phase from ca. 1870–1910. It is easy to see how this style was given its name. The use of serrated, zigzag patterns and the manipulation of colors fools the human eye into thinking the textile is in motion.
In time, trading post operators discouraged Navajo weavers from using colorful, commercial yarns. Traders also provided catalogues of Persian carpet designs for weavers to copy. With the art market emerging, traders knew buyers preferred textiles with familiar rug designs for their homes. Once Navajo sheep herds were replenished, the Germantown phase ended and regional rug styles developed.
Navajo Reader Rail
Map of the Navajo Nation
Located in the Four Corners region of the Southwest, the Navajo Nation crosses into three states: Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Photo of Spider Rock
The Gift of Spider Woman
According to Navajo legend, it was Spider Woman, a mythical ancestor, who taught the Navajos how to weave. Spider Woman wove the universe out of sacred materials on an enormous loom. Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly, located in Arizona, is her legendary home. It is unclear when and how Navajos learned to weave after their arrival in the Southwest, however, their early textiles resemble those woven by neighboring Pueblo peoples: belts, manta dresses, and shirts.
Drawing of Navajo Loom
Three photos of Navajo Textiles
Chief’s Blanket, Eyedazzler, Regional Rug (?)
Ad for Navajo Rug (?)
Turquoise
To the Navajo people, a bright blue turquoise gemstone symbolizes water and sky, both extremely important to life in the arid environment of Arizona and New Mexico. Navajos have long treasured the stone, which they feel represents good health, bountiful crops, and provides protection.
Turquoise stones vary in color, ranging from light blue to dark green, even a shade of yellow. The color is determined by amounts of metals in its composition. For instance, copper produces a very blue stone, and zinc, yellow. Well-worn turquoise stones set in jewelry often darken in color from exposure to skin oils. Another relevant color in turquoise stones is the matrix, which appears as veins in the stones. Matrix is what remains of the host rock in which the stone was formed over time by flowing water.
Techniques for Navajo Silver Work
Channel Inlay
This is a technique used to separate stones in a piece of jewelry using thin walls of metal. Stones are cut to fit the separated chambers created by the thin metal walls.
Photo of a Bracelet (2006.20.17)
Sandcasting
During the early years of working with silver, Navajo smiths molded jewelry by pouring molten silver into a cavity shaped in sand mixed with oil. Later, they shaped jewelry forms in molds made of sandstone or tuff, rock formed by compressed volcanic ash.
Photo of a Bracelet (T1971.84)
Stamping
A technique used by Navajo silver smiths to decorate jewelry is stamping. Designs are carved into dies made of iron or steel, which are then hammered onto the surface of a piece of silver jewelry.
Photo of an Earring(1931.418 a,b)
Repoussé or Embossing
Navajo jewelers use a technique, which creates a low relief on the surface of a piece by hammering the design on the backside.
Photo of a Ketoh(Wrist Guard) T1989.73
Squash Blossom Necklaces
Photo of a naja up close
When Navajos first learned the art of making silver jewelry, they proudly wore it as personal adornment representing wealth. For a long time, only Navajos wore squash blossom necklaces and conchabelts that are so closely associated with their culture. Eventually, the necklaces were sought after by tourists traveling in the Southwest.
The small floral piece called a squash blossom is actually a pomegranate flower that was a decorative Spanish motif inspired by Moorish art. This motif was introduced to the Navajos on Spanish-Mexican trousers and jackets. At the end of the squash blossom necklace is a decorative pendant called a naja, a silver crescent-shaped piece once found on Spanish bridles. A naja is said to be a symbol worn for protection by Moors, Spaniards, and Navajos.
Concha Belts
More than likely, the iconic Navajo concha belt was inspired by leather belts typically worn by Plains Indians that were decorated with plain, silver discs made from coin silver. Plains tribes acquired these silver discs from some Woodland tribes who had learned the art of silversmithing before moving from the East to the southern Plains. Navajo smiths picked up the basic form of conchas either through trade or as loot obtained through warfare with southern Plains tribes.
Early Navajo smiths attached thin, round conchas to leather belts by lacing the belt through bars covering slots. They sometimes made conchas with scalloped edges and applied some simple designs. Later, after they learned to solder and acquired better tools, they attached a loop of metal to the back of each concha to allow the belt to run behind. In time, smiths decorated concha faces using embossing to create a raised center along with a profusion of stamped designs. The setting of turquoise stones into conchas did not begin until around 1900.
Ketohs(Wrist Guards)
Originally, Navajo men wore ketohs, leather bow guards, to protect them from the snap of bowstrings when using bows for hunting. These early ketohs were simply pieces of leather tied together with leather lacings.
When Navajos learned the art of working with silver, smiths began to fashion plaques of silver that were decorated with chiseled or stamped designs and attached to leather bow guards. After smiths became more proficient and acquired better tools, they created more elaborate designs on ketohsoften by casting and embossing. In time, artists set turquoise stones in design areas.
Plains Indians Section Texts
Beadwork of the Plains Indians
Until the late 1800s, the Plains tribes were nomadic peoples subsisting on the enormous herds of bison. They obtained nearly all the necessities of life from the animal: food, clothing, and shelter. Their nomadic way of life ended abruptly when the bison came close to extinction due to over-hunting. At the same time, tribes were confronted by a surge of settlers and miners encroaching on their lands. Ensuing conflicts led to the tragic U.S. Indian Wars, which ended with tribes forced to move onto reservations.
Adjusting to confinement on reservations was especially harsh for men used to hunting bison and engaging in warfare with tribal enemies and the U.S. Army. Plains women fared better by finding more time to devote to artistic endeavors. They were relieved of their traditional workload involving moving camp, preparing animal skins, and myriad other hard tasks. Living closer to trading posts, they gained access to colorful European glass beads, silk ribbons, and sewing equipment such as metal awls and needles.
Always adept at incorporating new materials, women who had embellished clothing and other items with porcupine quills rapidly switched to beads since working with them was easier. A great flourishing of beading took place leading to an increase in quantity and quality of beadwork embroidery on dress clothing, horse gear, and many other articles.
Plains Subtext
Contemporary Plains Beadwork
Today, Plains beadwork artists create both traditional and highly creative styles of beadwork. Some make traditional clothing such as beaded vests, dresses, and moccasins, to wear and sell at competitive dances and fairs. Other contemporary artists enter their unique beaded works of art to be judged at annual competitions such as the Santa Fe Indian Market, which is produced by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), and at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market in Phoenix, Arizona. At these prestigious events, master and emerging bead artists sell their much sought-after artwork to private collectors, museums, and art galleries.
Plains Reader Rail
iPad for photos of the Pah-Bo Ledger Book
The Pah-Bo ledger book is on long-term loan to MAM by a private collector.
The ledger book of 65 colored pencil and lead pencil drawings by Kiowa artist Chief Pah-Bo was commissioned by Captain Merritt Barber of the 16th Infantry, United States Army, stationed at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, Oklahoma whose descriptions accompany each drawing.
Chief Pah-Bo, or Buffalo Head, was the political leader of a small band of Kiowa Indians who lived on the Kiowa-Comanche Reservation near Fort Sill. Dating from ca. 1889, the ledger chronicles the daily life of the Kiowas during the period when Indians were first settled onto reservations from the mid– to late–1870s. As a first-hand account, the drawings give us detailed insight into daily life of Native peoples, including their housing, clothing, social life, and warfare.
During most of the 1860s and 1870s, the Kiowas, one of the largest Southern Plains tribes, were actively engaged in warfare with tribal enemies and the U.S. Army. In 1867, the Medicine Lodge Treaty established the Reservation near the Washita Mountains.
Plains men’s drawing and painting was always narrative art recounting tales of their personal valor and exploits. After moving onto reservations, between 1860–1890, nostalgic ex-warriors continued to draw scenes of battles in account ledgers books, muslin, and paper giving details about actions, weapons, and clothing from an era long gone.
Map of the Great Plains
The area designated as the Great Plains extends from Saskatchewan in the north to Texas in the south, the Mississippi River to the east, and the Sierra Mountains to the west.
Plains Horse Culture
Photo of Horse with Beaded Equipment
Spanish-bred horses from the Rio Grande Valley were traded first to the tribes of the southern Plains ca. 1700. In turn, they traded horses to tribes of the northern Plains, and by1750, all the Plains tribes were mounted.
Horses immediately improved the life of Plains nomadic peoples. Moving camp became far easier with a horse pulling a travois to transport heavy loads, especially tipi poles. Horses also facilitated bison hunts by allowing men to successfully chase and kill the animals. Horses along with guns dramatically changed warfare. In the Plains warfare society, which focused on individual prestige gained through military exploits, raiding for horses was paramount and incited endless intertribal clashes.
Warriors were devoted to their war and hunting ponies and their concept of personal adornment extended to their horses. Men and women dressed their horses with elaborately beaded horse gear for special occasions. Since horses were originally obtained from Spaniards, Plainsmen also adopted some features of Spanish horse gear. Many of these articles looked similar to Spanish prototypes that originated with the Moors in Spain.
Saddle Blankets
Women decorated a rectangular piece of deerskin or canvas with beaded borders on all four sides. Saddles were placed over these blankets, which hung down on both sides of the horse. Often long, hide fringes were added to the ends.
Horse Collars
Women added distinctive neck collars to their dress horse gear. Horse collars of the reservation era were made of red or dark blue stroud, a wool trade cloth imported from England, and were elaborately beaded. Often exquisitely beaded bandolier bags from the Great Lakes region were used as neck collars.
Pad Saddles
Men usually rode their ponies without saddles using only a rope bit for control, but for dress occasions, men used a pad saddle decorated with beaded rosettes. Over time, the rosette in the corner grew larger until it covered the entire corner of the saddle. Plains pad saddles were inspired by Spanish-Mexican packsaddles. This man’s saddle was sometimes used by women.
Women’s Saddles
Women of a few northern tribes rode horses with a dress saddle made with a wooden frame covered with rawhide and canvas. These saddles were distinguished by high pommels and cantles with flattened extensions on the top, which were decorated with beaded cloth pendants. These saddles were derived from a Spanish style saddle that was adapted using Native materials.
Stirrups
Beaded decoration on women’s stirrups often matched the cloth pendants hanging from their saddles. Stirrups were made of wood covered with rawhide and stroud cloth.
Horse Quirts
A quirt, similar to crop, was used to increase the pace of a horse. A quirt’s handle was carved of bone or wood. Quirts were frequently decorated with beaded wristbands and other materials. This style of quirt was very popular among Plains horsemen.
Magnetic Board and Plains Tribal Motifs
Beads, Beads, and More Beads
Christopher Columbus was the first to bring Venetian glass beads to the New World for trading with Native peoples he encountered. Other explorers and fur traders who followed always carried an assortment of trade beads knowing that Indians were very attracted to shiny, colorful beads for personal adornment.
Elongated, tubular beads of shell known as hair pipes became an important trade item to the Plains as early as the late 1700s. Plains men and women wore earrings, necklaces, and breastplates fashioned with hair pipes. By the early 1800s, fur traders introduced large glass beads to Plains peoples who added them to necklaces of animal claws, teeth, and other precious items. Smaller beads called pony beads became available by 1800. Even smaller so-called seed beads replaced pony beads in the mid–1800s. These tiny beads were available in a host of colors and were easily obtained at trading posts.
As more colorful beads became available, tribes developed preferences for colors along with motifs. The Blackfeet decorated pipe bags and other objects with checkerboard patterns while the Crow stacked triangles to make hourglass and diamond figures. When Indian students in a Canadian missionary school were taught to embroider European floral patterns in the late 1800s, floral design swept across the country in the late 1800s. Popular floral designs can be found on all types of clothing and horse gear still today.