The American Navajo Indians are famous for their evocative, timeless weavings which accurately mirror the social and economic history of the Navajo people.
According to legend, the Navajo people were taught to weave by Spider Woman, and the first loom was of sky and earth cords, with weaving tools of sunlight, lightning, white shell, and crystal.
The Navajos learnt their weaving skills from the Pueblo people by the mid 1600s, who in turn had been influenced by the Spanish. The Spanish influence includes the substitution of wool for cotton, the use of indigo dye, and simple stripe patterning.
Besides the "manta" (a wider-than-long wearing blanket), Navajo weavers also made a tunic-like dress, belts, garters, hair ties, men's shirts, breechcloths, and a "serape-style" wearing blanket. These blankets were longer-than-wide and were patterned in brown, blue and white stripes and terraced lines.
By the end of the 1700s Navajo weaving began its divergence. Navajo weavers learned that wefts did not need to be passed through all the warps each time, but rather, by stopping at whatever point they wished they could create patterning other than horizontal bands. These "pauses" in Navajo weaving are often seen as "lazy-lines" (diagonal lines across the horizontal wefts) in finished pieces. By 1800, weavers were using this technique to create terraced lines and discrete design elements. Navajo weavers also demonstrated more willingness to use color than their Pueblo teachers.
The history of Navajo weaving continues; over the past century, Navajo weaving has flourished, maintaining its importance as a vital native art to the present day. Virtually all the nineteenth and twentieth-century styles of blankets and rugs are still woven, and new styles continue to appear.
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