During the 16th century when the spanish appeared and conquered subsequently the pueblo indians peaceful cultures and today s the american southwest and new mexico the dines people or navajo.
Navajo indian rugs history.
History of navajo rugs the navajo are one of the largest recognized native american tribes within the united states.
The navajo rugs history begins with the pueblo indians not with the navajo men itself.
Weavers gradually transformed from the weaving of blankets to textiles suitable for use on the floors of anglo homes.
Around 500 years ago they made their home the american southwest.
Navajo textiles are highly regarded and have been sought after as trade items for over 150 years.
This theory is supported by stories passed down from tribal elders as well as examples of navajo rugs dating back to 1700 that are a close parallel to rugs made by the pueblo indians.
Commercial production of handwoven blankets and rugs has been an important element of the navajo economy.
Yarn s changed from natural hand carded hand spun and hand dyed yarns to germantown yarns to native wool spun in small mills to some of the prized navajo churro wool pieces of today.
Diyogí are textiles produced by navajo people of the four corners area of the united states.
The navajos believe that when weaving a rug the weaver entwines part of her being into the cloth.
Because the weavings were now being sold as rugs they had to look like what an anglo thought a rug should look like.
The arrival of the spaniards and their churro sheep in the 16th century led to a change from cotton to wool as weaving material for the pueblo indians as well as the navajos who learned the technique from their neighbors in the late 1600s.
The oldest surviving navajo rug is a so called massacre cave blanket dated to around 1804 when a group of navajo people seeking refuge in the holy cave canyon de chelley were shot and killed by the spanish.
The early navajo rugs of the 1890 1930 differ markedly from most of the weavings that came later.
Navajo weavings during this time were a trader s idea of the anglos perception of how indian rugs should look.
Wool quality was good smooth and silky especially in the 1910 1920 s era although the actual quality could vary depending on the genetic qualities of the sheep and the actual degree of skill and effort employed by the weaver in cleaning combing and carding spinning dying and weaving the homespun single ply yarn.
There they developed a vibrant culture complete with its own language belief system and lifestyle.
The spanish also introduced indigo blue dye and simple stripe patterning.
In navajo culture rug weavers would leave little imperfections along the borders in the shape of a line called ch ihónít i which is translated into english as spirit line or spirit pathway.
Over time the navajo indian rug scene became more beautiful diverse and sought after with each passing year.