Navajo Weavings with Ceremonial Themes

Navajo Weavings with Ceremonial Themes PDF Author: Rebecca M. Valette
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
ISBN: 9780764353741
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Featuring more than 500 photos and maps, this is the first comprehensive, research-based history of Navajo weavings with imagery inspired by tribal sacred practices. These Yei, Yeibichai, and sandpainting textiles have been the most sought after by collectors and the least studied by scholars. In spite of their iconography, they never served a ceremonial function. They were created by Navajo women at the instigation of Anglo traders, for sale to wealthy collectors willing to pay premium prices for their perceived spiritual symbolism. This book describes the historical and artistic development of the genre from its controversial emergence around 1900, to the 1920-1940 period of intense creativity, and concluding with the contemporary search for innovative patterns. Never-before-published weavings, detailed annotations, and an extensive bibliography make this an invaluable reference for scholars and collectors, and a fascinating exploration for all who are interested in the Southwest and its native cultures.

Navajo Weavings with Ceremonial Themes

Navajo Weavings with Ceremonial Themes PDF Author: Rebecca M. Valette
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
ISBN: 9780764353741
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book

Book Description
Featuring more than 500 photos and maps, this is the first comprehensive, research-based history of Navajo weavings with imagery inspired by tribal sacred practices. These Yei, Yeibichai, and sandpainting textiles have been the most sought after by collectors and the least studied by scholars. In spite of their iconography, they never served a ceremonial function. They were created by Navajo women at the instigation of Anglo traders, for sale to wealthy collectors willing to pay premium prices for their perceived spiritual symbolism. This book describes the historical and artistic development of the genre from its controversial emergence around 1900, to the 1920-1940 period of intense creativity, and concluding with the contemporary search for innovative patterns. Never-before-published weavings, detailed annotations, and an extensive bibliography make this an invaluable reference for scholars and collectors, and a fascinating exploration for all who are interested in the Southwest and its native cultures.

Weaving the Dance

Weaving the Dance PDF Author: Rebecca M. Valette
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
"Weaving the Dance is the first book to focus on the early development of a special category of twentieth-century Navajo textiles known as Yeibichai weavings. These weavings are artistic interpretations of the Yeibichai dance, a sacred rite that provides a spectacular conclusion to the nine-day Navajo ceremony known as the Nightway. In spite of their theme, Yeibichai textiles were never intended for ceremonial use, but were produced exclusively for sale to an Anglo clientele willing to pay premium prices for them. Like other textiles featuring ceremonial figures, their appearance in the first decade of the twentieth century nevertheless created controversy among Navajos since traditional beliefs strongly prohibit the reproduction of sacred figures outside a ceremonal context. By the 1930s, scholars were dismissing these novel weavings as bad examples of tourist art and writing them off as a "passing fad." Despite this dire prediction, weaving with ceremonial figures continued to be produced and now constitute a recognized and well-established category of Navajo textiles." "Because of their rarity and their intriguing theme, the first Navajo weavings to feature stylized ceremonal figures in their designs captured the imagination of wealthy collectors. William Randolph Hearst, for example, purchased two such rugs to complement his extensive collection of classic (pre-1870) Navajo blankets. Collectors of Yeibichai weavings include personalities as diverse as Marjorie Merriwether Post, the cereal businesswoman and philanthropist, and Chee Dodge, the Navajo leader who became the first chairman of the Tribal Council in 1923." "Today, early Yeibichai weavings are appreciated not for their ceremonial themes, but for their originality, beauty and relative scarcity. This book traces the stylistic evolution of the genre from the highly original and complex designs created in the 1910-1935 period, to the more standarized patterns which emerged in the late 1930s and 1940s."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Weaving is Life

Weaving is Life PDF Author: Jennifer McLerran
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN:
Category : Navajo blankets
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
Weaving Is Life features multiple generations of Navajo weavers. Exquisitely crafted artworks and compelling first-hand narratives demonstrate how Navajo weaving functions as an important carrier of cultural values. Those with expertise in weaving practice are valued repositories of traditional cultural knowledge. Navajo weaving reinforces and allows the artist to participate in values of hard work, thrift, and creativity. It facilitates knowledge of and the proper care and nurturing of the environment. Weavers are depended upon to convey insight and expertise to subsequent generations, which has served to further important mother-daughter and grandmother-granddaughter bonds. Featured artists include D. Y. Begay, Grace Henderson Nez, Mary Henderson Begay, Gloria Jean Begay, Glenabah Hardy, Irene Clark, Teresa Clark, Lillie Taylor, Rosie Taylor, and Diane Taylor-Beall. D. Y. Begay also contributes an insightful essay on her experience as co-curator of the exhibition that accompanies this publication. Essays by Janet Catherine Berlo and Jennifer McLerran focus on the transcultural development of Navajo weaving, exploring the influence of varied markets and audiences-including indigenous, tourist, and fine arts-on traditional forms and practices. Museum educator Sally Delgado addresses the educational value of Navajo weaving practices for non-Native students.

Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century

Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century PDF Author: Ann Lane Hedlund
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816549141
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
According to the Navajos, the holy people Spider Man and Spider Woman first brought the tools for weaving to the People. Over the centuries Navajo artists have used those tools to weave a web of beauty—a rich tradition that continues to the present day. In testimony to this living art form, this book presents 74 dazzling color plates of Navajo rugs and wall hangings woven between 1971 and 1996. Drawn from a private southwestern collection, they represent the work of sixty of the finest native weavers in the American Southwest. The creations depicted here reflect a number of styles—revival, sandpainting, pictorial, miniature, sampler—and a number of major regional variations, from Ganado to Teec Nos Pos. Textile authority Ann Hedlund provides an introductory narrative about the development of Navajo textile collecting—including the shift of attention from artifacts to art—and a brief review of the history of Navajo weaving. She then comments on the shaping of the particular collection represented in the book, offering a rich source of knowledge and insight for other collectors. Explaining themes in Navajo weaving over the quarter-century represented by the Santa Fe Collection, Hedlund focuses on the development of modern rug designs and the influence on weavers of family, community, artistic identity, and the marketplace. She also introduces each section of plates with a description of the representative style, its significance, and the weavers who perpetuate and deviate from it. In addition to the textile plates, Hedlund’s color photographs show the families, landscapes, livestock, hogans, and looms that surround today’s Navajo weavers. Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century explores many of the important connections that exist today among weavers through their families and neighbors, and the significant role that collectors play in perpetuating this dynamic art form. For all who appreciate American Indian art and culture, this book provides invaluable guidance to the fine points of collecting and a rich visual feast.

Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver

Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver PDF Author: Rebecca M. Valette
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496237447
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Rebecca Valette’s Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver is the first biography of artist Clitso Dedman (1876–1953), one of the most important but overlooked Diné (Navajo) artists of his generation. Dedman was born to a traditional Navajo family in Chinle, Arizona, and herded sheep as a child. He was educated in the late 1880s and early 1890s at the Fort Defiance Indian School, then at the Teller Institute in Grand Junction, Colorado. After graduation Dedman moved to Gallup, New Mexico, where he worked in the machine shop of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway before opening his first of three Navajo trading posts in Rough Rock, Arizona. After tragedy struck his life in 1915, he moved back to Chinle and abruptly changed careers to become a blacksmith and builder. At age sixty, suffering from arthritis, Dedman turned his creative talent to wood carving, thus initiating a new Navajo art form. Although the neighboring Hopis had been carving Kachina dolls for generations, the Navajos traditionally avoided any permanent reproduction of their Holy People, and even of human figures. Dedman was the first to ignore this proscription, and for the rest of his life he focused on creating wooden sculptures of the various participants in the Yeibichai dance, which closed the Navajo Nightway ceremony. These secular carvings were immediately purchased and sold to tourists by regional Indian traders. Today Dedman’s distinctive and highly regarded work can be found in private collections, galleries, and museums, such as the Navajo Nation Museum at Window Rock, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and the Arizona State Museum in Tucson. Clitso Dedman, Navajo Carver, with its extensive illustrations, is the story of a remarkable and underrecognized figure of twentieth-century Navajo artistic creation and innovation.

Navajo Textiles

Navajo Textiles PDF Author: Nancy J. Blomberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
William Randolph Hearst's collection of Navajo textiles is one of the most complete gatherings of nineteenth-century Navajo weaving in the world. Comprising dozens of Classic Period serapes, chief blankets, Germantown eyedazzlers, and turn-of-the-century rugs, the 185-piece collection was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History in 1942 but for the next forty years was known only to a handful of scholars. Hearst began acquiring textiles from the Fred Harvey Company after viewing an exhibit of Indian artifacts. Over four decades he amassed a collection spanning more than a century of Navajo weaving and including nearly every major type produced from 1800 to 1920. Hearst's passion for American Indian artifacts was so strong that he had originally visualized his now-famous castle in San Simeon as a showplace for his Navajo textile collection. At a time when the Harvey Company was itself influencing the development of Indian handcrafts by opening up the tourist market, Hearst contributed to this influence by expressing his own artistic preference for rare and unusual pieces. This catalogue raisonné, featuring nearly 200 illustrations, provides the general public with the first look at this important collection. Nancy Blomberg's narrative introduces the reader to the history of Navajo weaving and documents Hearst's role in its development. The heart of the book provides a detailed analysis of each textile: fibers, yarn types, dyes, and designs. Navajo Textiles thus constitutes an invaluable reference for scholars and collectors and will be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates these beautiful creations from the Navajo loom.

Navajo Weavers of the American Southwest

Navajo Weavers of the American Southwest PDF Author: Peter Hiller
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439665494
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
From the mid-17th century to the present day, herding sheep, carding wool, spinning yarn, dyeing with native plants, and weaving on iconic upright looms have all been steps in the intricate process of Navajo blanket and rug making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1800s, amateur and professional photographers documented the Diné (Navajo) weavers and their artwork, and the images they captured tell the stories of the artists, their homes, and the materials, techniques, and designs they used. Many postcards illustrate popular interest surrounding weaving as an indigenous art form, even as economic, social, and political realities influenced the craft. These historical pictures illuminate perceived traditional weaving practices. The authors' accompanying narratives deepen the perspective and relate imagery to modern life.

Spider Woman

Spider Woman PDF Author: Gladys Amanda Reichard
Publisher: UNM Press
ISBN: 9780826317933
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This lively account of a pioneering anthropologist's experiences with a Navajo family grew out of the author's desire to learn to weave as a way of participating in Navajo culture rather than observing it from the outside. In 1930, when Gladys Reichard came to stay with the family of Red-Point, a well-known Navajo singer, it was unusual for an anthropologist to live with a family and become intimately connected with women's activities. First published in 1934 for a popular audience, Spider Woman is valued today not just for its information on Navajo culture but as an early example of the kind of personal, honest ethnography that presents actual experiences and conversations rather than generalizing the beliefs and behaviors of a whole culture. Readers interested in Navajo weaving will find it especially useful, but Spider Woman's picture of daily life goes far beyond rugs to describe trips to the trading post, tribal council meetings, curing ceremonies, and the deaths of family members.

Walls of Empowerment

Walls of Empowerment PDF Author: Guisela Latorre
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 029277799X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Exploring three major hubs of muralist activity in California, where indigenist imagery is prevalent, Walls of Empowerment celebrates an aesthetic that seeks to firmly establish Chicana/o sociopolitical identity in U.S. territory. Providing readers with a history and genealogy of key muralists' productions, Guisela Latorre also showcases new material and original research on works and artists never before examined in print. An art form often associated with male creative endeavors, muralism in fact reflects significant contributions by Chicana artists. Encompassing these and other aspects of contemporary dialogues, including the often tense relationship between graffiti and muralism, Walls of Empowerment is a comprehensive study that, unlike many previous endeavors, does not privilege non-public Latina/o art. In addition, Latorre introduces readers to the role of new media, including performance, sculpture, and digital technology, in shaping the muralist's "canvas." Drawing on nearly a decade of fieldwork, this timely endeavor highlights the ways in which California's Mexican American communities have used images of indigenous peoples to raise awareness of the region's original citizens. Latorre also casts murals as a radical force for decolonization and liberation, and she provides a stirring description of the decades, particularly the late 1960s through 1980s, that saw California's rise as the epicenter of mural production. Blending the perspectives of art history and sociology with firsthand accounts drawn from artists' interviews, Walls of Empowerment represents a crucial turning point in the study of these iconographic artifacts.

A Guide to Navajo Weavings

A Guide to Navajo Weavings PDF Author: Kent McManis
Publisher: Rio Nuevo Pub
ISBN: 9781887896078
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description
Kent McManis and Robert Jeffries provide the definitive introduction to one of the most popular American Indian arts -- Navajo rug weaving. Drawing on decades of study of this tradition, the authors cover its development from the seventeenth century. They include everything from classic Chief's blankets, to the famous Two Grey Hills designs, to the latest in pictorial rugs. Of great help is a list of standards for judging the quality of a rug, along with advice on proper care. Illustrated in color with over fifty rug types available today.