New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-13
TIE BEST BLANKET IN THE WORLD.
THE BEAUTIFUL WORK OF THE NAVAJO.

THE BEAUTIFUL WORK OF THE NAVAJO
Charles F. Lummis in The Land OF Sunshine.
Exactly the most perfect blanket Neither otto
man fingers nor British machines nave ever pro
duced rs peer me only hng know 81 10 s ari
historic fabrics We have eXhumcd IN me mummy
mines OF Peru. but they are not blankets ana tl.s
matchcss weaving Is the handl"orh' no, OF som.
old World craftsman, not OF trained helr OF
civilization. bur OF wild nomad dirty. ioNy' par
barous dcuizen OF a corner OF the Great American
rho Navajo Indian Of New-Mexlco and Arizona
canno, v.o with the modern Turk III rugs. nor with
the extinct Yuncd in frngts, but when X comes 70
blankets ne can beat the world or rather, ne
could-for ii j. nearly generation since Naval
hlank.t Of strictly the first class has been created.
Here is a lost art-not because the NavaJoes no
longer know how. but because they will no longer
inEr the trouble They make thousands OF blan-
kcts still-thick. coarse, fuzzy Things when are
,hn bos, camping blankets to bc had anywhere. and
mosf comfortable robes Bur OF the superb Old
pouchos and zarapes Tor chiefs-those iron Fabrics
woven from vayeia "a Turkish cloth imported spe-
by them and it's thread rcincalnaie in an infinitely
better new body not one has been woven in TWEEN
~ wears Il is a loss TO the world. but the collector
who began In time can hardly be phlanthropist
enough 10 lament the deterioration which has made
Il Impossible that even the richest rival shall ever
rh,re are sin Navajos (20.O,o Of thcm and there
Is sin vaveta. and as there people WHO would
give 500 tor absolutely hrst-ciass vayeta blanket,
Can might fancy that the three things would pool
Eut that is to forget the Navajo He Is barbarian.
to whom enough Is an elegant sufciency BY weav-
ing the cheap and wretchcd blankets of to-day
wretched that is as works OF art-he get all the
money hr desires Why then toll twelvemonth
over blanket for $500 (which is more coin than he
can imagine anyhow when a weeks Work VIII
gring s.; $50
outh Kock-and almost bigoted. You can tell a
genuine just far you can see II. II IL = Curl
Gus fact. known % the student. that when left 10
himself the Indian never bunders in color. 1t is
only when long rubbed with our shoddy cvillZa-
ton and poisoned with the ease and cheapness Of
our accurscd anne dyes that he perpetrates atroc-
tiles His eye for color is elemental and absolutely
correct Red Is kng-and no bastard magenta
Inauve or lake. but true red. Blue Is good. because
il stands the sky. and green. because IL is the
grass. and yellow for the sun ana white for the
clouds and snow-and these are the only colors
found in Il strictly perfect Navajo blanket. To the
Indian color is a part of religion, and puppies and
he is fully corrupted The blanket of to-day is the
most graphic witness to the falling-off OF the abo
rignc that came into court II Is full OF hues
that any decent Indian knows to he literally in
famous. a generation ago "A Navajo would nave
been put 10 death by his people If simply found In
true old blanket was perfect in its color scheme
rs IN its woaving-and have blankets which have
for seVenty-fiv. years done duty an adobe floor.
OF course at all times these gems were compare
lively few. Not every Navajo weaver was mas
ter and not many could afford blanket whose
wool at 30 cents But what has done most to make
the Old time perfect blanket scarce Is the fact that
IL was almost invariably buried with It's owner. In
the Christian graVeyardS OF the Puebos in the
harbaric lonely last cuddlng-places of Navajo cap
iains the vast majority OF the perfect blankets have
gone the worms. | myself have seen ponchos
not three collections in the world could match to-
day swathed about the corpse and covered with six
feet OF earth: and YOU fancy If that would make
"A collector