Navajo Weaving

        Most of the Navajo women and some of the men have a knowledge of weaving. Weaving is more than a source of income for the Navajos. It is a tribal art that has been a strong influence in Navajo life for at least a century and a half.
             Navajo methods of preparing wool for spinning and weaving are simple but they take time and are tedious work. First the wool is sorted. Then it is spread out on a sloping stone and cleaned by pouring over it hot water containing an extract of yucca root. When the wool is dry, it is combed (carded) with a pair of ordinary hand cards. The weaver holds one of the cards in each hand and combs out a small bunch of wool until the fibers are loose and fluffy. The wool is then ready to be spun. Spinning twists the wool until it becomes a firm yarn. To make the yarn more compact it may be respun once or even twice. The spindle is held in the hand. It consists of a small stick with a wooden disk at the base to give momentum and to make the spinning process easier.
       Rigging the loom is the next step. The loom is a simple upright frame made of poles. To the top pole is attached the yarn beam from which the lengthwise threads (warp) are stretched to the bottom pole. The weaver sits in front of the loom. She works upward from the bottom of the loom and weaves strands of yarn back and forth through the warp. She inserts the crosswise strands (weft) with her fingers or with the aid of a twig and then forces them down into place by the blow of a batten stick. As she progresses with her weaving she lowers the yarn beam now and then so that the finished work can be rolled on the bottom pole, out of her way.
       The question is sometimes asked why the Navajos never have adopted either a spinning wheel or a more complex type of loom. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that the Navajos were a wandering people and their own kind of spindle and loom is easy to carry with them. by Roberta Caldwell.

Navajo weavers Barbara Teller Ornelas & Lynda Teller Pete.

The Navaho weaver sits in front of her loom. She works upward from the bottom o fthe loom and weaves the strands of yarn back and forth through the warp with her fingers.