650 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 8 



the old bayeta cloth. A yellow-green dye was formerly made from 

 the flowering tops of the rabbit weed by boiling it for several hours 

 and adding to it a mordant in the form of alumn. This gives a 

 number of different shades from a canary yellow to an olive green. 

 The old Spanish bayeta " baize " yarns have a deep-red, old-rose, 

 and various other colors toward the violet end of the spectrum. 

 These colors are in part due to aging as far as concerns the original 

 bayeta colors characterizing the cloth of which the Spanish army 

 uniforms were fashioned and from which bayeta yarn is raveled. 



The weaving in soft materials is done on a rude loom, the warp 

 being attached to a primitive sort of frame, and the weft thrown 

 across the warp by means of a shuttle, which is merely a stick on 

 which the weft is wrapped. The ornamental motives are the same as 

 those found on Navaho basketry and pottery, being derived for the 

 most part from the native religious symbolism. The patterns of 

 Navaho rugs and blankets of recent 3'ears have departed far from 

 the older dignity and simplicity. The decline in weaving which set 

 in with the introduction of European and American cloth has again 

 given way to a revived interest in native Navaho weaves, although 

 the weaving of the Hopi has narrowed down to the making of gar- 

 ments needed in the tribal ceremonies. Early examples of Navaho 

 weaving showed broad stripes (pi. 18) and geometrical figures either 

 singly or in combination witli other figures followed. Common 

 designs are diamonds, squares, and triangles. The practice of intro- 

 ducing designs extending only a short distance across the blanket may 

 have originated with the Navaho, as the Hopi weave only continuous 

 stripes and add embroidered designs later. The common supposition 

 is that Navaho zigzag, triangular, rectangular, and other geometrical 

 designs were incorporated into their blanket weaving after the 

 fashion of their basketry designs. The woof strand of a desired 

 color is carried onl}^ as far as that color is needed to complete the 

 design, and is then dropped. 



In weaving, the warp threads are separated into two divisions, 

 called sheds or sets of warp strands. Alternate threads are caught 

 up in yarn loops attached to two small sticks. The two sets of 

 threads are separated by pushing down a rod between them and are 

 crossed by pulling up on the stick to which the loops are attached. 



Dress of the Plains tribes. — The so-called Plains Indians lived for 

 the most part in the area covered by the open grasslands of the 

 western plains west of the Mississippi and east of the Kocky Moun- 

 tains. Their hunting ranges were the lands grazed by the bison, or 

 American buffalo, and the most typical of the Plains tribes occupied 

 the regions where the bison was most readily hunted. As the bison 

 moved from one grazing area to another the Indian of the Plains 

 followed. This nomadic hunter's life was not conducive to the prac- 



