Chapter 2

When the web is so nearly finished that the batten can no longer be inserted in the warp, slender rods are placed in the shed, while the weft is passed with increased difficulty on the end of a delicate splinter and the reed-fork alone presses the warp home. Later it becomes necessary to remove even the rod and the shed; then the alternate threads are separated by a slender stick worked in tediously between them, and two threads of woof are inserted--one above and the other below the stick. The very last thread is sometimes put in with a darning needle. The weaving of the last three inches requires more labor than any foot of the previous work.

In Figs. 49, 50, 51, 52, and 53 it will be seen that there are small fringes or tassels at the corners of the blankets; these are made of the redundant ends of the four border-cords (_i.e._, the portions of the cord by which they were tied to the beams), either simply tied together or secured in the web with a few stitches.

The above is a description of the simplest mechanism by which the Navajos make their blankets; but in manufacturing diagonals, sashes, garters, and hair-bands the mechanism is much more complicated.

§ VII. For making diagonals the warp is divided into four sheds; the uppermost one of these is provided with a shed-rod, the others are supplied with healds. I will number the healds and sheds from below upwards. The following diagram shows how the threads of the warp are arranged in the healds and on the rod.

When the weaver wishes the diagonal ridges to run upwards from right to left, she opens the sheds in regular order from below upwards thus: First, second, third, fourth, first, second, third, fourth, &c. When she wishes the ridges to trend in the contrary direction she opens the sheds in the inverse order. I found it convenient to take my illustrations of this mode of weaving from a girth. In Figs. 44 and 46 the mechanism is plainly shown. The lowest (first) shed is opened and the first set of healds drawn forward. The rings of the girth take the place of the beams of the loom.

There is a variety of diagonal weaving practiced by the Navajos which produces diamond figures; for this the mechanism is the same as that just described, except that the healds are arranged differently on the warp. The following diagram will explain this arrangement.

To make the most approved series of diamonds the sheds are opened twice in the direct order (_i.e._, from below upwards) and twice in the inverse order, thus: First, second, third, fourth, first, second, third, fourth, third, second, first, fourth, third, second, first, fourth, and so on. If this order is departed from the figures become irregular. If the weaver continues more than twice consecutively in either order, a row of V-shaped figures is formed, thus: VVVV. Plate XXXV represents a woman weaving a blanket of this pattern, and Fig. 48 shows a portion of a blanket which is part plain diagonal and part diamond.

§ VIII. I have heretofore spoken of the Navajo weavers always as of the feminine gender because the large majority of them are women. There are, however, a few men who practice the textile art, and among them are to found the best artisans in the tribe.

§ IX. Navajo blankets represent a wide range in quality and finish and an endless variety in design, notwithstanding that all their figures consist of straight lines and angles, no curves being used. As illustrating the great fertility of this people in design I have to relate that in the finer blankets of intricate pattern out of thousands which I have examined, I do not remember to have ever seen two exactly alike. Among the coarse striped blankets there is great uniformity.

The accompanying pictures of blankets represent some in my private collection. Fig. 49 depicts a blanket measuring 6 feet 9 inches by 5 feet 6 inches, and weighing nearly 6 pounds. It is made entirely of Germantown yarn in seven strongly contrasting colors, and is the work of a man who is generally conceded to be the best weaver in the tribe. A month was spent in its manufacture. Its figures are mostly in serrated stripes, which are the most difficult to execute with regularity. I have heard that the man who wove this often draws his designs on sand before he begins to work them on the loom. Fig. 50 _a_ shows a blanket of more antique design and material. It is 6 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 3 inches, and is made of native yarn and _bayeta_. Its colors are black, white, dark-blue, red (_bayeta_) and--in a portion of the stair-like figures--a pale blue. Fig. 50 _b_ depicts a tufted blanket or rug, of a kind not common, having much the appearance of an Oriental rug; it is made of shredded red flannel, with a few simple figures in yellow, dark blue, and green. Fig. 51 represents a gaudy blanket of smaller size (5 feet 4 inches by 3 feet 7 inches) worn by a woman. Its colors are yellow, green, dark blue, gray, and red, all but the latter color being in native yarn. Figs. 52 and 53 illustrate small or half-size blankets made for children's wear. Such articles are often used for saddle blankets (although the saddle-cloth is usually of coarser material) and are in great demand among the Americans for rugs. Fig. 53 has a regular border of uniform device all the way around--a very rare thing in Navajo blankets. Figs. 54 and 55 show portions of coarse blankets made more for use use than ornament. Fig. 55 is made of loosely-twilled yarn, and is very warm but not water-proof. Such blankets make excellent bedding for troops in the field. Fig. 54 is a water-proof _serape_ of well-twilled native wool.

The aboriginal woman's dress is made of two small blankets, equal in size and similar in design, sewed together at the sides, with apertures left for the arms and no sleeves. It is invariably woven in black or dark-blue native wool with a broad variegated stripe in red imported yarn or red _bayeta_ at each end, the designs being of countless variety. Plates XXXIV and XXXV represent women wearing such dresses.

§ X. Their way of weaving long ribbon-like articles, such as sashes or belts, garters, and hair-bands, which we will next consider, presents many interesting variations from, the method pursued in making blankets. To form, a sash the weaver proceeds as follows: She drives into the ground four sticks and on them she winds her warp as a continuous string (however, as the warp usually consists of threads of three different colors it is not always _one_ continuous string) from, below upwards in such a way as to secure two sheds, as shown in the diagram, Fig. 56.

Every turn of the warp passes over the sticks _a_, and _b_; but it is alternate turns that pass over _c_ and _d_. When the warp is laid she ties a string around the intersection of the sheds at _e_, so as to keep the sheds separate while she is mounting the warp on the beams. She then places the upper beam of the loom in the place of the stick _b_ and the lower beam in the place of the stick _a_. Sometimes the upper and lower beams are secured to the two side rails forming a frame such as the warp of a blanket is wound on (§ IV), but more commonly the loom is arranged in the manner shown in Plate XXXVI; that is, the upper beam is secured to a rafter, post, or tree, while to the lower beam is attached a loop of rope that passes under the thighs of the weaver, and the warp is rendered tense by her weight. Next, the upper shed is supplied with a shed-rod, and the lower shed with a set of healds. Then the stick at _f_ (upper stick in Plate XXXVI) is put in; this is simply a round stick, about which one loop of each thread of the warp is thrown. (Although the warp may consist of only one thread I must now speak of each turn as a separate thread.) Its use is to keep the different threads in place and prevent them from crossing and straggling; for it must be remembered that the warp in this case is not secured at two points between three stranded cords as is the blanket warp.

When this is all ready the insertion of the weft begins. The reed-fork is rarely needed and the batten used is much shorter than that employed in making blankets. Fig. 57 represents a section of a belt. It will be seen that the center is ornamented with peculiar raised figures; these are made by inserting a slender stick into the warp, so as to hold up certain of the threads while the weft is passed twice or oftener underneath them. It is practically a variety of damask or two-ply weaving; the figures on the opposite side of the belt being different. There is a limited variety of these figures. I think I have seen about a dozen different kinds. The experienced weaver is so well acquainted with the "count" or arrangements of the raised threads appropriate to each pattern that she goes on inserting and withdrawing the slender stick referred to without a moment's hesitation, making the web at the rate of 10 or 12 inches an hour. When the web has grown to the point at which she cannot weave it further without bringing the unfilled warp nearer to her, she is not obliged to resort to the clumsy method used with blankets. She merely seizes the anterior layer of the warp and pulls it down towards her; for the warp is not attached to the beams, but is movable on them; in other words, while still on the loom the belt is endless. When all the warp has been filled except about one foot, the weaving is completed; for then the unfilled warp is cut in the center and becomes the terminal fringes of the now finished belt.

The only marked difference that I have observed between the mechanical appliances of the Navajo weaver and those of her Pueblo neighbor is to be seen in the belt loom. The Zuñi woman lays out her warp, not as a continuous thread around two beams, but as several disunited threads. She attaches one end of these to a fixed object, usually a rafter in her dwelling, and the other to the belt she wears around her body. She has a set of wooden healds by which she actuates the alternate threads of the warp. Instead of using the slender stick of the Navajos to elevate the threads of the warp in forming her figures, she lifts these threads with her fingers. This is an easy matter with her style of loom; but it would be a very difficult task with that of the Navajos. Plate XXXVII represents a Zuñi woman weaving a belt. The wooden healds are shown, and again, enlarged, in Fig. 58. The Zuñi women weave all their long, narrow webs according to the same system; but Mr. Bandelier has informed me that the Indians of the Pueblo of Cochiti make the narrow garters and hair-bands after the manner of the Zuñis, and the broad belts after the manner of the Navajos.

§ XI. I will close by inviting the reader to compare Plate XXXVI and Fig. 59. The former shows a Navajo woman weaving a belt; the latter a girl of ancient Mexico weaving a web of some other description. The one is from a photograph, taken from life; the other I have copied from Tylor's "Anthropology" (p. 248); but it appears earlier in the copy of Codex Vaticana in Lord Kingsborough's "Antiquities of Mexico." The way in which the warp is held down and made tense, by a rope or band secured to the lower beam and sat upon by the weaver, is the same in both cases. And it seems that the artist who drew the original rude sketch, sought to represent the girl, not as working "the cross-thread of the woof in and out on a stick," but as manipulating the reed-fork with one hand and grasping the heald-rod and shed-rod in the other.

NOTE.--The engravings were prepared while the author was in New Mexico and could not be submitted for his inspection until the paper was ready for the press. Some alterations were made from the original pictures. The following are the most important to be noted: In Plate XXXVIII the batten should appear held horizontally, not obliquely. Fig. 5 is reduced and cannot fairly delineate the gradations in color and regular sharp outlines of the finely-serrated figures. Fig. 53 does not convey the fact that the stripes are of uniform width and all the right-angles accurately made.

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INDEX

Blankets, Navajo 380-388

Codex, The Vatican; Illustrating Mexican weaving 391 Colors prepared for Navajo fabrics 376 Cotton woven in Pueblos, Native 375

Dyeing among Navajoes 377 Dyes used by Navajoes 377

Fabrics; Prehistoric textiles of the United States 393-425

Healds of Navajo loom 378 Mode of applying the 380, 384 Zuñi 389

Looms, Navajo 377

Mathews, Dr. W., Navajo weavers 371-391

Navajo blankets, Varieties of 385-388 Mode of weaving 383 diagonal 383 diamond 384 dyeing 377 dyes 376 healds in loom used 380 looms 377 position in weaving 380 warp of blankets 378-379 sash 388 weavers 371-391 wool 375

Taylor, E.B., Anthropology cited 391

Warp, Construction of Navajo blanket 378 Warp, Construction of Navajo sash 388 Weavers, Navajo, by Dr. Washington Mathews 371-391 Weaving, Navajo position in 380 wool by Navajoes 375

Zuñi, healds 389

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