928 



WEAVING 



lli. A. E. 



and he became dignified, industrious, 

 and sober. Consult Red Eagle, by G. C. 

 Eggle^ton, 1878. (c. t.) 



Weaving. Among the Indians N. of 

 Mexico weaving was done generally by 



NAVAHO BELT WEAVER. (matthews) 



hand ; baskets, bags, and mats were made 

 without the aid of apparatus. But in the 

 Atlantic states, the Aleutian ids., and 

 doubtless else- 

 where, the warp 

 of wallets was 

 suspended from 

 liml)s of trees or 

 some other sup- 

 port, this con- 

 stituting the 

 first step toward 

 the loom. The 

 Chilkat of s. e. 

 Alaska, in set- 

 ting up the warp 

 for their elabo- 

 rate ])lankets , 

 drove two 

 forked stakes 

 into the ground 

 as far ajjart as 

 the width of 

 the blanket and 

 laid a stout bar 

 or pole across for 

 a warp beam. 

 From this was 

 s u s p e n (1 e d a 

 thong or stout 

 cord stretched 

 from side to side, 

 which held the 

 warj) of goats' 

 hair and cedar bark. The woman, sitting 

 in front, wrought her intricate patterns 

 with her fingers alone, as does the basket 

 maker, using neither shuttle, heddle, 



NAVAHO SPINNING AND WEAVING 



batten, or other device. The technic in 

 many varieties of twined weaving in- 

 volved two or more weft strands. The 

 designs were in black, white, yellow, 

 blue, and green, first sketched out in 

 black on a pattern board. Farther 

 s., in the Columbia drainage basin, fine 

 blankets were woven after the same tech- 

 nic, but they were rectangular in form, 

 lacking the elaborate fringes and borders 

 of the Chilkat, and the decorations were 

 geometrical. 



In the E. at the time of the discovery 

 and later in the Pacific states the Indians 

 were found weaving into blankets feath- 

 ers and down of birds as well as rabbit 

 skins cut into narrow strips. The strips 

 of skin were twisted into rolls as thick as 

 a finger, and the shafts of feathers were 

 caught between the strands of twine in 

 twisting. These fluffy rolls constituted 

 a kind of warp, held in place by rows of 

 twined weaving of stout cord or babiche. 

 In the S. W. the Spaniards introduced 

 sheep and probably taught the Indians 

 the use of European hand looms. With 

 these the Pueblo tribes and the Navaho 

 developed a genuine native art, producing 

 narrow garters, belts, girths, and sashes, 

 and, by different processes, larger fabrics, 

 such as dresses and blankets. In these 

 fabrics, as well as in all others produced 

 in this area, the length of the web was that 



of the article to 



be produced; no 

 cloth was made 

 in the piece to 

 be afterward 

 cut up. Cotton, 

 yucca, mulberry 

 bark, and other 

 fibers, hair of 

 quadrupeds, and 

 the down of 

 birds formerly 

 furnished the 

 materials for 

 purely native 

 fabrics. A slen- 

 der rod with a 

 circular block 

 for a fly-wheel 

 served for spin- 

 dle. Variety in 

 color was given 

 by the native 

 hue of the mate- 

 rials and with 

 dyes. The set- 

 ting up of the 

 warp was a com- 

 bination of the 

 Chilkat process 

 and that of the 

 conquerors. The Zuni even adopted the 

 western European hand heddle. In the 

 S. the woman in weaving also sat on the 

 ground in front of her work, using little 



