The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-05
NAVAJO BLANKETS.
4 Wonderful Product of the Primitive
Looms Used by the >quaws.

Americans are a travelling people. but
how many. outside of army circles,
have visited "A Navajo camp or
ed the manufacture of "A Navajo blank
ct? 1t is q product of the loom really
wonderful in design and texture when
the disadvantages under which it was
made are considered. The Navajos are
a peaceful people of the Pueblo type
The suuaws weave blankets and the
men tend sheep and ponies. Many OF
them are rich, and most of them are
self supporting. deriving their income
from their herds, the wool of their
nocks and the manufacture of their
blankets. The wool of what Is termed
the native wool blanket" is taken
from their own sheep, and native dyes,
produced from various herbs, give the
blanket it's peculiar coloring.
A Navajo blanket belongs to the Nav
ajo and to him alone. In fact ii is a
part of him. In every hogan or hut
YOU will find these blankets, and a
short distance away, amid the sage
brush or on the windward side OF a
rock. you can see a Navajo squaw
~squatted on the ground busily engag-
ed weaving another.
The outfit is very simple. Two sticks
on which strings are strung, "A long
fla; stick to ram each thread home, a
cylinder-shaped one to keep the threads
Ellai6hA. " FiAihii nv Ahi'i' W N''
to prevent any tangles-this is the loom
which produces the weird Navajo
blanket. Yet with these tools a Navajo
squaw manufactures a blanket which
may be used for a rug Will last
half a century. 1t may seem an easy
thing to produce one, but just make
the attempt.
In these days when Navajo blankets
have become a product of the market,
and when the Indian is surrounded by
civilization. with traders stores ena-
bling him To exchange his blankets for
articles of European make, there has
arisen a new Navajo blanket made
from Germantown wool. 1t is certain
IL a work OF art, handsome as well as
unique in appearance. The indian buy
this wool from the traders. and il is a
curious fact that of the multitude of
blankets produced no two have been
known to be alike. / visited the store
of the largest collector Of these blank
cts when he had more than 10000
worth in stock, and | could discover
no exact counterpart.
The NaVaiOs as a rule are cute and
sly in the business. Their contact with
civilization has taught them the yam
kee method" of driving a bargain. At
Fort W1ngate. a regular army post,
situated on the edge of the Navajo
reservation, il is not unusual to see an
lndlan begin at one emu OF the Officers
quarters and enter every house trying
to sell his blankets. Sometimes he
meets with success at the first house.
but il is a well established fact that
with each refusal the price of his arti-
Gle decreases. The spring n early
summer is the best time for buying.
During the winter the squaws are busy
weaving, and then as the summer APP
proaches they are brought into the set
Elements. Sometimes the u IA come,
but never alone. The Duck accom-
panies to see that they are not cheated.
The buck stalks ahead. followed by the
blanket-laden squaw. The Indian has
no |compunCtion i'm loading his better
half with all she can carry.
To find "A real Navajo blanket weav-
er you must go away from the towns
and villages. Walk across almost any
level plain until you come to the bluffs.
and there, among the hillsides, you Will
find her home. | have thought as |
watched her at work. which goes OF
from morn till eve for months at a
time. how wearied she must get, and
have asked myself. Does she ever want
to stop / do not know that, but !
have learned that when money is scarce
she cannot stop. but must work on and
work on, content to receive as her
share of the profit some poo tobacco
or bright calico.