Weaving as American Art

(above: image from An Introduction to the Study of Textile Design, A. Barker, Methuen & Co, London,1903)

 


Articles from Resource Library in chronological order:

 

From other web sites:

 

this online audio show:

Boston College partnered with the Forum Network for:

Religious Imagery in Navajo Textiles (1 hour, 11 minutes) a lecture by Rebecca Valette, professor, french, Boston College, who explains that seemingly abstract Navajo designs are, in fact, religious symbols imbued with specific meanings. [November 7, 2002]

these online videos:

Navajo Weaving from Current.tv. Evangeline Succo teaches her son Ian about Navajo Weaving.

Navajo weaver Stella Edwards displays her handspun saddle blankets. from Twin Rocks Trading Post [03:42]

Smithsonian TV is a central index of multimedia content and a multimedia hosting service of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. On March 16, 2005 The National Museum of the American Indian hosted a lecture titled "Two Grey Hills Navajo Tapestry Traditions," presented by master weavers Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete. On May 6 and 7, 2005 The National Museum of the American Indian presented the two-day symposium Native Modernism. featuring the art of George Morrison and Allan Houser. The 45 minute Keynote Address: Native Modernism, by Mr. Truman Lowe (Ho-Chunk), National Museum of the American Indian is presented online.

The University of Arizona Library presents 21 QuickTime video clips from the production Navajo Weaving originally produced in 1990 by KUAT-TV, Tucson, Arizona.

The WGBH/Boston Forum Network includes a number of videos on Art and Architecture. Partners include a number of Boston-area museums, colleges, universities and other cultural organizations. Boston College partnered with the Forum Network for Religious Imagery in Navajo Textiles (1 hour, 11 minutes) a lecture by Rebecca Valette, professor, french, Boston College, who explains that seemingly abstract Navajo designs are, in fact, religious symbols imbued with specific meanings. [November 7, 2002]

Dr. Mark Sublette, owner of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson and Santa Fe, has created a channel of YouTube online videos on topics relating to Native American baskets, weavings, pottery and carvings. Titles regarding authentication include:

Characteristics of Navajo Blankets
Five Factors To Value Navajo Rugs and Blankets
How to identify a Germantown Navajo Blanket
How to identify a Navajo Chiefs Blanket
How to identify Navajo Child's Blankets
How to Identify a Navajo Rug
How To Value Navajo Rugs and Blankets
Navajo Blanket Yarn Analysis and Identification
Navajo Rug vs Blanket
Navajo weavings: the Spirit Line
Pricing and Identification: Navajo Saddle Blankets
Storm Patterns Navajo rugs from the Crystal trading post
Tips on Navajo Classic Blankets
Transitional Versus Classic Navajo Blankets who to tell the difference
Two Grey Hills Navajo weavings: how to identify and their history

 

TFAO suggests these books:

The Basket Weavers: Artisans of the Southwest, By Museum of Northern Arizona, Museum of Northern Arizona, Laura Graves Allen. Published by Museum of Northern Arizona, 1982. 32 pages

The Basket Weavers of Arizona, by Bert Robinson. 164 pages. Univ of New Mexico Pr (September 1991). ISBN-10: 0826312632. 13: 978-0826312631

Contemporary Navajo Weaving: Thoughts That Count, by Ann Lane Hedlund. Flagstaff, AZ: Museum of Northern Arizona Press, 1994

The Fine Art of Navajo Weaving, by Steve Getzwiller. Publisher: Ray Manley Publication (1984). ASIN: B000KSDX6K

Hold Everything!: Masterworks of Basketry and Pottery from the Heard Museum Collection, By Heard Museum, Jody Folwell. Published by Distributed by Museum of New Mexico Press, 2001. ISBN 0934351678, 9780934351676. 72 pages. Google Books says: "Catalog of a travelling exhibition which was first displayed at the Heard Museum between Nov. 3, 2001 and Mar. 10, 2002."

Jewels of the Navajo Loom: The Rugs of Teec Nos Pos, by Ruth K. Belikov. 38 pages. Museum of New Mexico Press (June 2003). ISBN-10: 0890134553. ISBN-13: 978-0890134559. Product Description: "Legend has it that a traveling missionary brought an Oriental rug to the Four Corners area of the Navajo Reservation before 1995. Teec Nos Pos weavers quick to adopt some of the distinctive motifs from these rugs, creating large, intricate and colorful designs. Teec Nos Pos geometric patterns and color were considered aberrant to the mainstream of Navajo design in the early twentieth century. Today these magnificient rugs are considered a classic twentieth century weaving and are highly collectible. This catalogue accompanies an exhibition (March 16 2003--January 11 2004) at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Sante Fe." text courtesy of Amazon.com

The Navajo and His Blanket, by U. S. Hollister. 1903. Reprint. Chicago: Rio Grande Press, 1937.

Navajo and Hopi Weaving Techniques, by Mary Pendleton. New York: Collier Books, 1974.

Navajo Saddle Blankets: Textiles to Ride in the American West, by Lane Coulter. 144 pages. Museum of New Mexico Press (October 2002). ISBN-10: 0890134073. ISBN-13: 978-0890134078. Product Description: "Navajo saddle blankets are among the most under-appreciated art forms in the American Southwest, the Cinderella of Navajo textiles. Saddle blankets have played a key role in Navajo life both as utilitarian objects and as a force in the economic sustainability of modern Navajo life. They represent a material link between Navajo weavers and traders. This modest textile has found a context in the cattle industry, inside rural cabins, on the floors of eastern bungalows, on the walls of art museums, and even on horseback. It has served countless cultural and utilitarian demands placed on it over the last century and a half, with no sunset in sight." text courtesy of Amazon.com

The Navajo Textile Collection at the Museum of Northern Arizona: Final Report with an Analysis of the Collection, By Laurie D Webster, Museum of Northern Arizona. Published by Museum of Northern Arizona, 1989

Navajo Textiles: The William Randolph Hearst Collection, by Nancy Blomberg. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988.

Navajo Weaving: Art in Its Cultural Context, By Gary Witherspoon, Museum of Northern Arizona. Published by Museum of Northern Arizona, 1987

Navajo Weaving: Its Technic and Its History, by Charles Avery Amsden. The Fine Arts Press, 1934. Reprint. Chicago: Rio Grande Press, 1964.

Navajo Weaving: Three Centuries of Change, by Kate Peck Kent. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 1985.

Navajo Weaving Tradition: 1650 to Present, by Alice Kaufman and Christopher Selser. New York, NY: NAL/Dutton, 1985.

Reflections of the Weaver's World: The Gloria F. Ross Collection of Contemporary Navajo Weaving. Denver: Denver Art Museum. 1992

The Story of Navajo Weaving, By Kate Peck Kent. Edition: 9. Published by Heard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive Arts sic, 1974

The Story of Navaho Weaving: Illustrated with Photos of Blankets in the Collection of the Heard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive Art, By Kate Peck Kent. Published by Heard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive Arts, 1963. 48 pages

Weaving a World: Textiles and the Navajo Way of Seeing, by Roseann S. Willink (Author), Paul G. Zolbrod (Author), John Vavruska (Photographer). 96 pages. Museum of New Mexico Press (November 1996). ISBN-10: 0890133077. ISBN-13: 978-0890133071.

Woven by the Grandmothers: Nineteenth Century Navajo Textiles from the National Museum of the American Indian by Eulalie H. Bonar, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996.

 

TFAO suggests these DVD or VHS videos:

Art of Navajo Weaving and The Durango Collection of Southwest Textiles, The is a 56 minute dual-film video distributed by Interpark, Cortez, CO. The Art of Navajo Weaving beautifully documents the state of Navajo weaving, looking at it's origins and, through a visit with a contemporary Navajo weaving family, it's current state. It features Isabel and Geanita John, award winning pictorial weavers. The Durango Collection, an interesting and educational film, is a tour through the Durango Collection, the most complete collection of Navajo and Southwestern weaving in the world. The Collection is a part of The Southwest Center at Fort Lewis College The film is narrated by Jackson Clark and Mark Winter. (text courtesy of petroglyphtrail.com)
 
On The Border: Native American Weaving Traditions of The Great Lakes and Prairie. Featuring three Minnesota artists (Francis Keahna, splitash basketry; Melvin Losh, porcupine quillworking on birchbark; and Josephine Ryan, finger weaving), this video documents the continuity of traditional American Indian arts, as well as the artists' innovations. 28 minutes. (quote courtesy Plains Art Msueum)
 
Weavers: Contemporary Navajo Weaving is a 15 minute 1992 video produced by the Denver Art Museum.

TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format

 

As of 5/9/07 TFAO Digital Library contained 99 pages referencing the word "weaving."

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