Large Woven Blanket
date: label: Accession Date
content: 19 Sep 1923
name: label: Collector
content: Mr. Chee Dodge
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "On it is woven an elaborate representation of the yeibichi dance of the Navajo Indians. By the time this was presented by the donor, the opposition to representing the religious symbols had lessened, so that it was no longer a serious offense. 12/1965 returned. Worn from years of being on the floor of the Director's office. Will be vacuumed and fumigated before storage. Illus.: Hndbk. of N. Amer. Indians, Vol. 10, Southwest, Fig. 5, pg. 597." Information from "Textiles of the American Southwest" webpage entry on this artifact: Rug, Navajo. Maker unknown. Donated in 1923 to the Smithsonian Institution by Chee Dodge of the Crystal, New Mexico, area. Dimensions: 101 in. (warp) x 54 in. (weft). Technique: Plain tapestry weave. Thread count: Warp = 7/in.; Weft = 13/in. Fibers: Warp = 1-ply, handspun wool yarn, natural white, Z-spin. Weft = 1-ply handspun wool yarn, vegetal-dyed brown, tan, off-white, dark yellow, and red, and green (synthetic dye?); Z-spin. Design: Pictorial yeibichai. Across the center are ten human figures on a light brown background. A red and brown fret pattern frames the figures. Every other figure has a round head and a two-feather head adornment. The other figures have square heads without feather adornments. The figure on the far left is unique with a head adornment of six feathers, a white face (the other nine figures have gray faces), and different clothing. NATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHIVES BLACK & WHITE NEG. #2436 IS A PHOTO OF THIS BLANKET
label: Notes
content: Illus. Fig. 3.2.17, p. 111 in Valette, Rebecca M. 2017. Navajo Weavings With Ceremonial Themes: a historical overview of a secular art form. [S.l.]: Schiffer Publishing. Caption: "Yeibichai weaving, c. 1923, Handspun, 54" x 101" ... Unusual for its size - more than eight feet long - the weaving features a row of alternating male and female dancers. Its weaver has correctly represented their blue headgear - rectangular face masks for the women and round headmasks for the men - and then added a profusion of feathers to their kilts and dresses. Weavers of this period often included eagle feathers in their designs at the suggestion of traders who felt this would make the blankets more "Indian-looking.""
label: Notes
content: The donation of this blanket is mentioned in a Smithsonian internal staff publication "Local Notes", date August 30, 1923: "Mr. Chee Dodge of St. Michael's, Arizona has presented to the United States National Museum through the Bureau of American Ethnology, a blanket into which are woven in a very realistic manner the gods that are personified in the famous Night Chant or Yei bichai dance of the Navajo. There are ten of these gods, six of which are male gods and four female. Usage prescribes 14 figures in all, one male figure, a clown and two female figures are missing. The first figure [far left] represents the Talking God, or the Grandfather of all other gods; he is shown wearing a white mask, topped with eagle feathers, and having a pendant of spruce twigs; he wears a necklace of beads around his neck and an ornament of beaver skin over his shoulders; a yellow shirt and brown leggings of buckskin; a velvet sash, covered by a silver belt, from which hang eagle feathers; in his right hand he holds a bag made of the skin of a fawn containing meal with which he sprinkles the other dancers; in his left hand is a tuft of spruce twigs. The second figure represents the leader of the other dancers. He wears a blue mask topped with only two eagle feathers. He is characteristically dressed. The third figure represents a female god; she wears a blue mask over the front of the face, whereas the mask of the male gods cover also the back of the head. This permits the turquoise earrings to show. The weaving of these mythical figures is remarkably well done, making one of the most unique blankets that has come to the Museum in a long time."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Jul 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, Arizona, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Navajo (Diné)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 070553
label: USNM Number
content: E325883-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Blanket
physicalDescription: label: Width - Object
content: 257 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 137 cm