Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-06-27
NAVAJO WEAVING ART
BY Frederic j. Haskin.


washington, June 27|-The Navajo
weavers have reached a new height OF
fame. The attention Of the fappcr
has been attracted to their wonderful
arbaric designs and a wave OF Navajo
sweaters is sweeping tho country.
Flappers arc blazing forth In
sweaters knitted In true Navajo
colors. red. green. yellow. white. and
black. Typical Indian designs--
diamonds, zigzags. even angular hui
man figures-march in stin borders
across the fashionable mhiden's Ghost.
The Navajo squaw remains obi
vious to this final tribute TO her
art. Socially she continues to weave
blankets to supply the nevcr-endiug
demands OF pale face collectors and
/ tourists.
| The Navajo blanket Is one Of tho
strangest art Developments in this
country. No blanket makers have
ever rivsled tho squaws Of this race
who sit in their huts and weave
mysterious stories on primitive looms.
Tho weavers are almost everything
that we would not expect. We think
of tho Indian arts as evolving slowly
out OF long ago centuries. Yet
scientists believe that the Navahos
learned their craft only rince 1870. and
that colors were not employed by
them IN blanket-making until 1900.
In other words. tho Navajo squaw
became a master craftsman scarcely
moro than a hundred years ago, but
In q single century Of development her
work has been pronounced a high
ype Of barbaric art and eagerly sought
after by numerous collectors.
Another unexpected turn 10 Navajo
blanket making is that among the
deliberately designed blankets no two
are alike. The squaw wants no pic
} tire nor finished blanket to copy She
weave5 from memory and from the
life around her. Jagged terraces ot
lines are the mountains Rows of
. square figures are Indian villages. Red
lines arc sunbeams and zigzag lines
are lightning.
Can Not Copy Their Work
Connoisseurs have shown weaver
a particularly admired pattern anc
p asked for a Duplicate The Navah,
agrees wonderingly. and sits down q
work. But at some stage the ide;
, that tho white man can really want
mechanical copy grows too inpos
l sible for her 10 understand. or els
she Ia carried away by her art A
any rate the reproduction is rarely Jus
r like the original.
The work OF the Navajo sduav 1
! slowly, conscientiously done. She ma,
spend six months or more on -
blanket that appeals to her fancy
Yet--again tho paradox OF tho Navah
the master weavers do not attemp
. to turn out perfect work. It may b
= that the race holds 10 the Oriental he
. lief that only Allah can achieve per
q fection. and that It Is fitting for me
to acknowledge their human estate
: deliberately falling a little shor
> Whatever the theory, the Navah
weaver, with all her slciIl, does not tr
= 10 make her strip OF tsItile perfec
y She may have three tr;angies IN
design in one corner and four IN IN
other, Such a defect is obviously Ia
: territorial because the veavers achtev
: fine patterns and can repeat a tn
motif exactly all around a blank,
" when desired
The Navahos arc the only peopl
who can thoroughly understand III
= symbolism of the blanket designs, y.
: comparatively few Of their fir
:. blankets are kept for home use.
a squaw weaves the story Of n,
:, life or some dramatic incident
:, tribal history into a blanket and go.
!, out to sell II to a trader. Often II
70 story Is never read because u
Navahos are FAR from loquacious
explaining their symbolism 20 Il
white man. But apparently u
n Navajo weaver does not expect q
h understanding audience for her tai
She satisfies some creative instinct I
II producing the blanket. and then 81