Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-27
BIZ e
J. S

ing audience for her tale. She salts
flies some creative instinct by produc-
ing the blanket, and then she makes
another. Her own tribe o perfers
blankets from American factories
about the home. They are not art
work but they are lighter in weight
and cheaper.
Almost every popular kind of craft
work can be initiated, but the Navajo
blanket defies machinery. The colors
are used and dropped in a fashion that
cannot be copied by weaving machines.
limitations Easily Detected
Such machine-made limitations as
are on the market fall so far short
of the beauty of the handmade art
icles that they do not achieve ready
sale. limitations are easily detected.
In a genuine Navajo blanket the de
sign is exactly the same on both sides.
A pin stuck through will come out
on the other side at exactly the same
color and place in the design.
Though mutations are not numerous
the government has taken precautions
against the sale of such articles for
genuine Navajo blankets. Every pro-
duct of the Indian weaver's loom is
inspected and tagged before the trad
err can handle it. The tag is a protec-
ton to both the weaver and the buyer.
Since weaving is the best thing that
the Navajos do, the government en-
courages them to make a living by their
art. In the schools Indians who are
skilled weavers are employed by the
government to interest the children in
blanket making and to teach them the
processes.
The weavers seem to lose none of
their skill with the passing Of genera
tons. and while old blankets are sought
by collectors the new ones, if well made
always find buyers. Like a fine
violin, a good Navajo blanket increases
in value with age. Colors soften but
do not fade, and the tightly woven
fabric wears like iron. Old woven
strips that were roughly used as
saddle blankets by the Indians have
been found by collectors. and under
the CRIME the colors were still clear.
Connoisseurs scour the southwest
country, even as far as Mexico, for
old products of the Navajo looms. Once
fine specimens could be bought from
Indians f various tribes all over New
Mexico and Arizona. But gradually
travellers have bought up the best of
these so that an old blanket is con-
sidered a rare find.
Museums all over the country have
blankets that were bought for a few
dollars and that would now bring sew
eral hundred. AS much as $1,000 is
paid for an unusual piece OF work.
A valuable private collection is
owned by Mrs. John A. Logan, Gen
eral Logan collected blankets when
fine specimens were easily available
for the white man who could dis
tinguish them. and his collection re-
presents a long and active interest in
Navajo weaving.
The General became fascinated by
the art of the Navajos shortly after
the Civil war. Later, as a senator.
he was a member of the Indian affairs
committee. and made a number of trips
to the west to see that the Indians
were treated fairly by their agents.
On these trips he continued his prac-
tice of buying blankets to encourage
the production of this beautiful craft
work. Old Chief Joseph and other
chiefs helped him to add to his col
lection. and Navajo Charlie. one of the
best blanket makers of his tribe and
one of the comparatively few male
weavers, sold the general some of his
work.
The Indians have never profited by
this principle of the increased value
of old blankets. Twenty dollars in
the hand means more to them than
a possible hundred dollars a few years
hence. So long as the white man pays
cash they are satisfied.