Every fabric
carries some distinct variation or suggestion of the occasion of its
making.
Among the Navahos the women invariably do the weaving though in the past a
few men were experts in the art. Among the Pueblo Indians the men perform
this work. The products of the Pueblo looms are readily distinguishable
from those of the Navahos, the latter having far out-distanced the Pueblos
in the excellence of their work. Only among the Hopi, are blankets made
that in any way resemble the work of the Navahos. Generally a Hopi man
weaver can be found at work in the Hopi House, as well as Navaho women
weavers.
The Hopi to this day preserve the custom of wearing a bridal costume
completely woven out of cotton. After the wedding breakfast the groom's
father "takes some native cotton and, running through the village,
distributes it among the relations and friends of the family. They pick the
seeds from the cotton and return it. A few days later a crier announces
from the roof of a house that on a certain day the cotton for the bridal
costume will be spun in the kivas." Here the friends assemble and "the
rasping of the carding combs and the buzzing of the primitive spindles"
are heard accompanied by singing, joking and laughing of the crowd. This
cotton is then woven either by the bridegroom or his father or other male
relation, into square blankets, one measuring about 60 by 72 inches, the
other about 50 by 60 inches, also a sash with long knotted fringes at each
end. When woven they are given a coating of wet kaolin, which adds to their
whiteness.
This preparation of garments often takes several weeks, during which time
the young married couple reside at the home of the groom's parents. Now the
bride, with considerable simple ceremony, walks with one of the robes on,
and the other in a reed wrapper, to her mother's house where, unless her
husband has prepared a separate home for them, they continue to reside. In
the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, is a fine model showing the young
bride wearing her new garment, going to her mother's home.
In their ceremonial dances, the Hopi women wear cotton blankets, highly
embroidered at the sides and edges with red, green, and black wool. Fine
specimens may be found in the Hopi House. Similar to these in style, though
long and narrow in shape, are the ceremonial kilts or sashes of the men. In
pictures showing the march of the Antelope Priests during the Hopi Snake
Dance these beautiful sashes are well depicted.
In addition to the products of the vertical loom, the Navaho and Pueblo
women weave a variety of smaller articles all of which are remarkable for
their strength, durability and striking designs.
In weaving sashes, belts, hair bands, garters, etc., the weaver uses a
"heddle frame" similar to those found in Europe and New England. None of
these have been found in places that assure us of their use before the
Spanish occupation, so we conclude that they were introduced by the
conquistadores or the early colonists about 350 years ago.
The Thlinkets of Alaska, also, are good weavers. In the Fred Harvey
collection in the Hopi House, El Tovar, and Albuquerque, the United States
National Museum and the Museum of Princeton University, fine collections of
their work are to be seen. These collections generally consist of cape and
body blankets made of the wool of the white mountain-goat. The colors are
white, black, blue and yellow. The black is a rich sepia, obtained from the
devil-fish; the blue and yellow colors coming from two barks grown in the
Alexandrian archipelago. The white is the native color and the fringe of
both cape and blanket is undyed. To strengthen and give solidity to the
garment, the fibrous bark of the yellow root is twisted into the warp.
CHAPTER XVIII. Pueblo And Navaho Pottery And Silverware
Primitive Processes. The primitive industries of a primitive people are
always interesting to the student. They are more; they often reveal more
than appears at first sight. We, with our present knowledge of improved
mechanical methods, stand and watch an Indian silversmith or potter, and we
laugh at the crudity of the methods employed, naturally comparing them with
our own. But this is not the proper way to look upon the work of the
aborigine. Rather let the gazer imagine himself without any of his advanced
knowledge. Let him project himself into past ages, and find himself groping
his way out of the darkness of primitive ignorance. He will find himself
seeking for many centuries, ere he invents and discovers even the rude
processes used today by the Indian. As an inventor, the aborigine has laid
us under great obligation, for he discovered the first steps of mechanical
progress, without which all later steps would have been impossible.
Hopi Pottery. In the Hopi House, the processes of making pottery
and silverware by primitive methods may be seen in active operation, though
in the manufacture of silver, some modern appliances have taken the place
of the ancient ones. In the pottery, however, everything is exactly as it
used to be before the white race appeared on the American continent. The
Hopi woman brings her clay with her from some pit or quarry in Hopiland,
where experience has demonstrated a good pottery clay is found.
After thoroughly washing, pulverizing and crushing, it is ready to be
worked up into domestic and other utensils. Squatted upon the ground, the
potter places in her lap a small basket, wood, or pottery base, upon which
she places a "dab" of clay.
