Evening star., 1936-08-23
VII.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
at.A - r.rr.s,onAspt ~ The 9tar

BY THOMAS n. HENhx,
stan Correspondent Of The Star.
FORT WINGATE, N. Mex, August
| 22.-Two generations ago this was
a frontier fort bristling with bayonet-
ed rifles.
It has been turned into college
this Summer-the university Of
Nava joland." Dusky maids, piles OF
books under their arms. walk the
old barracks corridors which once
echoed to the tramp Of Army boots,
and brown old women are conducting
experiments in ceramics in the dusty
old drill field.
During the Winter 1t is a boarding
school for Indian children, but this
Summer it is the scene Of a unique
educational experiment where white
men and women sit at the feet OF
Indian instructors to learn the an
cient craft lore of the mountain
forests and Indians learn something
of twentieth century techniques from
white instructors.
The experiment Is having some
noteworthy results. After all, the
| Navajos, Pueblos and Papagos-tht
tribes represented here-have lived
rather successfully for a long time
without the benefit of the white man,
science. The reason Is that they have
a science of their own, an empirical
medicine. agriculture. cookery. ma.
sonry and ceramics. which has beer
developed over scores Of generation.
OF success and failure.
Dyes Show Their Art.
Take, for example. dye-stufis. One
OF the real discomforts suffered by
American industry in the World Wal
was the lack of fast dyes. nearly al
of which had been imported from
Germany, and chemists we're put or
their mettle to produce substitutes
But up in the Navajo mountains. the
old women in the hoguns were pro
ducing the most delicate shading.
of dyes for their intricate weaving
with woolen yarn. There we're un.
applicable pinks, greens, yelluvs anc
blues brewed or distilled out of vel.
low blooming Navajo tea. the pitch
OF pinon trees, the leaves Of the ber.
ries of sumac and other native growth.
all of which we're set" so that they
would not dissolve out of the fabric
upon washing by mordant of juniper
ashes.
For the first time at Fort Wingate
this Summer the Navajos are reveal.
ing some OF this native chemistry
For example. fast black dye is made
from a concoction Of the leaves Of
twigs of the sumac mixed with ochre
from the earth and pinon pitch. But
when sagebrush leaves are added t
this black it turns green-the softesi
sort of green imaginable. like that o.
trees just beginning to leaf out II
early Spring. If sumac berries are
crushed and allowed to ferment, the
result is an unduplicable orange
brown. When the juice is unfermentec
the dye is black A score or more Of
these vegetable dyes have been worked
out in cooperative project between
one of the chemistry teachers at Fort
Wingate and old Navajo weavers.
Exactness Required.
The point is, says Miss Stells
Young. who Is conducting the ex.
pertinent. the formulas are far from
simple. One doesn't merely take the
Juice Of yellow berry or yellow
flowers and produce a fast yellow
All sorts of processes must be gone
through with an exactness which
would satisfy any chemist in order
to obtain the desired material. The
Navajo woman, of course, knows
nothing of chemistry. but she and
her grandmothers have experimental
for 500 years and there has been op-
portunity for lots Of accidental dis
coveries. Time is essential for for
tuitous accidents-and time is one
ingredient which the modern chemist
can't pour into his test tubes in any
quantities he pleases.
Equally significant are some OF the
methods in ceramics or pottery max
ing. which are being brought out into
the light of science at the Fort Win
gate College. Some of the most
celebrated pottery makers of the
Pueblos and Hopis have been brought
here to demonstrate their individual
arts. These consist largely of baking
In fast colors. or producing undupli-
cable colors by baking. The old
women themselves know exactly how
to do it, but can't explain it, espe-
cially in terms Of the chemistry Of
clays.
Rusty Tin Oven Essential.
To produce one particular kind Of
Pueblo pottery, for example. 1t is nee
essary to make the oven out Of rusty
tin, and the rust must have progressed
to just the right stage. The potters
will hunt for weeks to pick up such
tin. Then this oven must be covered
over with cottonwood bark from trees
at just the right stage of growth. If
any other ingredients are used the
effects will not be forthcoming. Pre-
sumably minute amounts Of certain