A New Deal for Navajo Weaving: Reform and Revival of Diné Textiles

289 Pages·2022·6.619 MB·English

by  Jennifer McLerran

A NEW DEAL FOR NAVAJO WEAVING

JENNIFER McLERRAN
A NEW DEAL FOR NAVAJO WEAVING
Reform and Revival of Diné Textiles
The University of Arizona Press
www.uapress.arizona.edu
We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
Today, Arizona is home to twenty-two federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham
and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships
with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and
community service.
© 2022 by The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved. Published 2022
ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-4324-3 (hardcover)
Cover design by Nicole Hayward
Cover photo of weavers from Navajo Arts & Crafts Guild Booklet, courtesy of Museum of Northern Arizona;
Weaving design details from Ruth Connely, Twelve Examples of Navajo Weaving. Thirteenth Regional Commit-
tee of the Public Works of Art Project and the New Mexico Relief Administration, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1935.
Courtesy of Buffalo Public Library.
Typeset by Leigh McDonald in 10.5/14 Arno Pro with Good Headline Pro and Filosofia
Publication of this book is made possible in part by the proceeds of a permanent endowment created with the
assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McLerran, Jennifer, author.
Title: A New Deal for Navajo weaving : reform and revival of Diné textiles / Jennifer McLerran.
Description: Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021053046 | ISBN 9780816543243 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Navajo textile fabrics—United States—History—20th century. | Navajo arts—United
States—History—20th century. | Indian handicraft industries—United States—History—20th century. |
Navajo women weavers—Social conditions—20th century. | Navajo Indians—Social life and customs.
Classification: LCC E99.N3 M314 2022 | DDC 746.1/40899726—dc23/eng/20211122
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053046
Printed in the United States of America
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
♾
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: The Problem 3
1. Reformers and Revivalists 22
2. Indian Traders’ and Government Agents’ Early Twentieth-Century Weaving Improvement Projects 77
3. Federal Programs to Improve Navajo Weaving 113
4. The Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory, Wingate Vocational High School,
and the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild 156
Conclusion 199
Notes 209
Bibliography 241
Index 255
Color plates follow page 112

ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
1. A. C. Cooley and John Collier examine a Navajo weaving 5
2. Mattie Kelly, pictorial weaving, 1932 65
3. Norma Lee Browning, “Navajo Trading Post” 73
4. Staples with troupe 90
5. El Navajo Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico 101
6. El Navajo Hotel interior 102
7. El Navajo Hotel interior 102
8. “White Men Help Navajo Women” 117
9. Navajo weaving display 152
10. Navajo weaving display 152
11. San Ildefonso pot, Navajo chief blanket, and Seminole patchwork 153
12. Headquarters, Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory 157
13. Southwestern Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory 157
14. “Navajo Weavers at Work in the Laboratory” 159
15. Measuring and Recording the Projected Cross Sections 160
16. Bryan and Young, Navajo Native Dyes 160
17. “Laboratory Room at the Southwestern Sheep Laboratory” 178
18. “Navajo Homespun Fabrics” 179
19. Poster for the 1942 Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild exhibition 186
VIII ILLUSTRATIONS
20. Marie Martin Instructing Weavers in Spinning, Carding, Weaving 188
21. Marie Martin Instructing Weavers in the Craft 188
22. Marie Martin Instructing Weavers in the Craft 188
23. Marie Martin Instructing Weavers in Design and Pattern 189
24. Marie Martin Instructing Weavers in Patterns and Designs 189
25. Navajo Tribal Arts and Crafts Guild exhibit 189
26. Henry Chee Dodge, Chairman, Navajo Tribal Council 190
27. Navajo Arts and Craft Guild’s trademark 191
PLATES
1. Unknown Navajo weaver, Chinle Revival–Style Weaving
2. Old Navajo Diamond Dyes chart
3. Weaving design cards
4. Connely, Twelve Examples of Navajo Weaving
5. Ewing, Portfolio of Navajo Blankets
6. Bessie George, Wide Ruins weaving
7. Unknown Navajo weaver, Chinle Early Revival
8. Navajo weaving display
PREFACE
In our family, we regard weaving as our life’s work; weaving represents our con-
nection to the universe. It is our stories, our prayers, and our songs, told, changed,
sung, and preserved in the weaving motions. All Navajo weavers have stories to
tell about their weaving, and every weaving has stories to tell about the weaver.
—BARBARA TELLER ORNELAS AND LYNDA TE LLER PETE, SPIDER WOMAN’S CHILDREN
N
AVAJO WEAVINGS ARE VITAL RESERVOIRS of Diné cultural knowledge. They con-
vey important beliefs that are complexly intertwined with both spiritual
and mundane aspects of Diné life.1 When a Navajo weaver teaches some-
one her craft, she not only conveys technical knowledge; she also communi-
cates important cultural values and beliefs that work to maintain Diné ways of
life. And when she creates a weaving, she shows her own commitment to living
a life that demonstrates the efficacy of Diné lifeways. Furthermore, Navajo cul-
ture is matrilineal and affords women a position of high esteem and individual
agency. Diné weaving, which gives women a central role in the communication
of traditional knowledge, reinforces this status. As Diné educator and writer Ruth
Roessel notes, “The Navajo have always been matrilineal, with women holding a
position of prestige in Navajo culture. . . . Weaving helps ensure the continuation
of this position for women.”2 Weaving secures women’s status in Navajo culture.
It teaches lessons that are applicable to other aspects of Diné life and belief and
provides the weaver the opportunity to live a life that conforms to the teachings
of the Diyin Diné or the Holy People.3 It also endows her with the capacity to
convey those lessons to others.
While weaving secures women a central role in Navajo culture and allows
those who practice it to live in accordance with their spiritual beliefs, the lessons
it teaches are generalizable to other aspects of Diné life.4 Teachings and stories
communicated via Navajo weaving serve as life lessons and ethical examples.