Silver and Turquoise: A Story of Navajo Jewelry

Navajo bowguard.

       A Navajo native silversmith sat in the shade of a gnarled juniper tree, fashioning a bowguard for his son. He had bought silver and a fine piece of sky blue turquoise from the white man at the trader's store. For many days he had thought about the shape and design of the ''gato."

       With his chisel and awl the smith carved the design in a flat piece of sandstone. He took another flat piece and made a hole in the middle of it, and, after greasing the stones with some mutton fat, tied them firmly together.

       He melted the silver in an old tomato can over a hot fire of juniper charcoal and, grasping the edge of the can with a pair of tongs, slowly poured the liquid into the hole at the top of the mold. After several hours, when the metal had hardened, he carefully separated the two stones and lifted out the bowguard. The work was well done. Now he had only to file the rough edges and polish the silver to satiny smoothness with sand and ashes. With a tiny strip of silver he fastened the turquoise in the center of the bowguard. The father smiled. His son would be proud to wear such a fine gato when he went rabbit hunting on the desert. The boy would wear it on his left wrist, strapped on with a piece of leather, so that when he shot an arrow from his bow the bowstring would twang against the hard metal and not cut his arm.

       The man's own bowguard was worn thin from many years of use but it still gleamed against his brown skin. He had watched his father make it long ago, and he had learned how to use the tools and work the silver.

       He had made beautiful bracelets and rings and earrings for his wife and children and for himself, and little flat buttons to decorate the bright-colored velveteen shirts that they wore. He had also made belts with round flat pieces of silver, called ''conchas," fastened to them, and fine necklaces of hollow round beads with a crescent-shaped pendant, the ''naja," hanging from the bottom. Between the beads hung silver ornaments shaped like tiny flowers.

       He did not often cast the silver in molds as he had done in making the bowguard. Usually he hammered the soft metal into the shapes he wanted and carved or stamped designs on them. In some of the jewelry he set pieces of turquoise. Turquoise was a sacred stone and every Navajo wore a piece for protection from evil. Their ancestors had made necklaces and earrings and other ornaments from turquoise hundreds of years ago.

       The man's grandfather used to tell him stories of the time when the Navajos did not wear silver jewelry. That was before the year 1850 when Atsidi sani, ''The Old Smith,'' had learned how to forge iron and silver from a Mexican metalworker. After he had mastered the craft he had taught others.

       Many Mexican people lived in the southwestern United States at that time and the Navajos copied the silver ornaments that the Mexicans wore, the buttons and tiny ornaments shaped like pomegranate fruits worn on the outsides of the trouser legs, and the flashing bridles on the horses. The Navajos did not wear trousers, so they strung the buttons and pomegranate fruits on strings and wore them as necklaces.

       From their neighbors the Plains peoples, who lived on the grasslands farther east, the Navajos got bracelets and rings and belts made of silver, copper, or brass. The Plains Indians did not know how to make these things themselves, but got them from the American traders in exchange for furs. The white men knew that the natives liked these shiny ornaments, and in the big cities of the eastern United States there were metalworkers who made them especially for trade with them. At first the Navajo silversmiths copied the white man's jewelry, but soon they began to create their own shapes and designs.

       Besides being lovely ornaments the jewelry was useful as money. In fact, most of the early pieces were made from Mexican and American silver dollars, melted or hammered into the desired shapes. The traders would accept a ring or a bracelet in exchange for food. And if sometime later a Navajo wanted his ring back, he would bring a sheep or a fine blanket woven by his wife and exchange it for his piece of jewelry. Even nowadays the Navajos pawn their jewelry this way when they are poor and buy it back when they can afford to.  Hambleton 

• Who are the Navajo?
• See another the bow guard at the Nelson Atkins Museum and even another at Utah State University here
  

The Weaving of Native Americans

Vintage albumen print. Original caption "Aboriginal life among
 the Navajoe Indians. Near old Fort Defiance, N.M. / T. H."

         One of the chief arts of the North American Natives is that of weaving blankets. When the Spaniards came to our country they found beautiful blankets and fine weaving among the Pueblo and Navaho people of the southwest. Perhaps these people learned this art from their neighbors to the south; or they may have originated it themselves because they needed and sought something better than mere skins for clothing.

       In the early days, the Hopi Indians wove principally their own cotton to which they added some fibers of the yucca plants and animal hairs. When sheep were introduced by the Spaniards, they began to use a little wool. Their weaving is more complicated than that of other tribes. They not only produce a plain weave, but a checked one, and another which shows a repeated figure, usually a diamond.

       Among the Hopis it is the men who do most of the weaving of the blankets, shawls, sashes, and clothing. A lovely custom is still followed in weaving the bride's clothing. After the most important of the wedding ceremonies, the bridegroom's father distributes cotton to all his men relatives and friends. They spin and weave this cotton for the bride, working for several days or weeks. During that time, the bride stays with her husband and his family helping to cook and feed the weavers. Very carefully and beautifully the men weave a large white robe, a small white robe, and a wide, white belt with long fringe.

       When all are finished the bride wraps the small robe about herself, puts on white buck-skin boots and prepares to go to her mother's house where the young couple make their home for a while. She carries the large robe and belt in a rolled mat made of reeds bound together. After the wedding she uses the robes on ceremonial occasions and finally, the small one is wrapped around her body when death takes the little native woman to ''Maski,'' the Home of Hopi Souls.

       The indigenous people of the northwest coast seem to delight in color and movement. Perhaps their main thought is of the clan or family symbol which is expressed in totem poles, house fronts, house interiors, canoes, boxes and blankets. The Chilkats weave the most beautiful, fantastic blankets full of myths, and made in three colors: black, yellow, and greenish-blue. Although the women weave the blankets they are not supposed to be familiar with the designs and so copy them from patterns which have been drawn on boards by the men. The design contains the clan emblem and is usually of one or several animals so highly conventionalized that some natives themselves can hardly explain them.

       Not only the designs, but the materials used are different from those of other native blankets. The Chilkat woman takes the soft wool of the wild mountain goat and twists it around fibers of the inner bark of the cedar tree. These very strong threads of natural color are hung on the loom for the warp. The other threads, colored and containing no cedar fibers, are worked in and out of the strong warp threads. It takes about a year for a Chilkat woman to prepare the wool and weave one blanket, but it lasts for several generations.

       The weaving of Chilkat blankets is almost a thing of the past. The younger girls are not interested in spending so much time on robes whose ceremonial uses are almost forgotten. Only a very few old women are left who understand the art of weaving. Soon, even they will weave no more.

       Perhaps the best known of indigenous blankets are those made by the wandering Navahos. They practically live out-of-doors and the beauty of this is worked into their blankets. The women make these blankets, spinning the sheep's wool, dyeing it, and weaving it on hand looms. They often weave in crosses for good luck and symbols of the sun, moon, stars and lightning to bring the much needed rain.

       The colors worked into the blankets by the older Navahos were symbolic. They were considered sacred, ''gift of the best of their gods.'' Take for instance red - it means the blessed sunshine in which they move and live. No wonder these weavers love red and put the glorious warmth of it into their blankets. White stands for the early morning light which comes from the east and carries with it the hope of a new day. Blue stands for the cloudless afternoon sky in the south. The western sunset brings the yellows. Black comes from the far north where dark clouds gather and will, perhaps, bring the rain.

       Thus the Navaho woman of yesterday and today weaves her very life into her blankets. Often she sings the night chant as she works, ''With all around me beautiful, may I walk.''  Wood

• Weaving the path by Explore Canada
• Marie Begay Weaving
• Master Navajo Weavers: Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete
• Dream Weaver: Navajo designer Naiomi Glasses

Turquoise, Symbol of Prosperity

       Turquoise, its cold blue aptly suggesting the snows of December, is one of the most ancient gems of which we have record. It has been highly prized throughout the ages, and indeed, is the only opaque semi-precious stone of today which can aspire to rank as a precious gem.

       Turquoise is not of a crystalline structure. It is found in small masses, generally surrounded by a brown, flinty matrix. As pieces of the gem suitable for cutting are seldom procured in large size, big turquoises are almost unknown.

       ''Turquoise matrix'' is often used in medium-priced modern jewelry. The gem and the matrix being cut together, form a very happy color combination which harmonizes perfectly with gold settings.

       The name turquoise, meaning Turkish stone, was derived from the fact that the gem was first introduced into Europe through Turkey. The stone is, however, of Persian origin. Today it is found in Asia Minor, Turkestan, Egypt, Arabia, Australia, and western United States, but Persia still produces the finest gems.

       Turquoise of an azure or robin's egg blue is most highly prized, but the gem is also found in apple-green and green-gray tints. It is almost invariably cut without facets, round, oval, pear-shape, or en cabochon (dome-shape) for use in rings. Occasionally it is cut with figures or designs.

A fine turquoise specimen from Los Cerrillos, New Mexico, US,
 at the  Smithsonian Museum. Cerrillos turquoise was widely used
by Native Americans prior to the Spanish conquest.

A GEM OF HIGHEST VALUE

       Centuries before the dawn of the Christian Era, the turquoise was regarded as a gem of the highest value in Persia and Egypt. It was the gift of kings, and, because its color suggested the blue of the heavens, it was the holy gem, the gem of the gods. For the same reason it was also the religious gem of the Aztecs, ranking in importance with the emerald, the gem dedicated to their rain-goddess.

RELIGIOUS USES

       In the tombs and sarcophagi of old Egypt, turquoise is often found in the forms of amulets and talismans. It was used extensively by the Aztecs for the same purpose and for the decoration of objects of religious veneration. While the methods of gem-cutting which were employed by the Aztecs were crude, some of the examples of workmanship by these natives ably attest their skill and their keen artistic perception.

• Ceremonial Colors of The Navajos
• Silver and Turquoise: A Story of Navajo Jewelry
  

KNOWN TO GREEKS

       The turquoise became known to the Greeks by its occurence in spoils brought home by Macedonian soldiers from the Persian campaigns. Goblets, dishes, and armor were commonly inlaid with precious stones in that age. The extent to which such decoration was resorted to is shown by one example from antiquity - The sheath of the sword of Mithridates (when his corpse in its royal attire was sent to Sylla (63 B. C.) was valued at 400 talents ($400,000).

VALUE UNKNOWN TO SPANIARDS

 

       While the turquoise was well-known and highly esteemed throughout Europe during the middle ages, knowledge of its value does not seem to have been current in Spain at as late a date as the sixteenth century. Had the Spanish been familiar with the gem, it would have been as much of an object for exploration during the Conquests as were the emerald and gold.

LORE AND TRADITION

       Few gems were invested with more wonderful properties than the turquoise by the credulity of the medieval naturalists. Like most of the blue stones, it was supposed to cure blindness and other infirmities of the eyes, and it was thought to possess many other virtues that were peculiar to it alone. To render its wearer happy and optimistic, to protect him from broken bones that might be incurred in falls, taking the damage unto itself, were qualities that were attributed to this gem. If mounted in the trappings of a horse, it was believed to make the animal surefooted and immune to distempers. It was said that the stone would prophesy the illness or death of its wearer by growing pale or losing its color.

       Such superstitions in regard to the various gems were widely believed. To quote Dr. George Frederick Kunz, (The Curious Lore of Precious Stones). From the Middle Ages and even down to the seventeenth century, the talismanic virtues of precious stones were believed in by high and low, by princes and peasants, by the learned as well as by the ignorant. Here and there, however, a note of scepticism was sometimes apparent, as in the famous reply of the court jester of Emperor Charles V, to the question, "What is the property of the turquoise?" "Why," replied he, "if you should happen to fall from a high tower whilst you were wearing a turquoise on your finger, the turquoise would remain unbroken."

Turquoise of Madan-e Olya of Nishapur

USE IN THE ENGAGEMENT RING

       During the Middle Ages the turquoise was the gem most widely used in bethrothal rings, for the permanency of its color was thought to be dependent upon the steadfastness of the wearer's affection. We may believe, however, that the gem was by no means limited to this use, for one medieval writer states that no gentleman in his day (ladies for obvious reasons eschewing its use) thought his hand becomingly decorated or his elegance complete without the adjunct of a handsome turquoise. The practice of using this gem in the engagement ring still prevails in certain parts of Germany, and it is evident that the custom was known in Shakespeare's time for Shylock had a turquoise which he would not have lost "for a whole wilderness of monkeys'' for he ''had it of Leah when he was a bachelor.''

       Today, fine turquoise of pure color and waxy luster is in popular demand, and is found in many of the most beautiful modern rings and gem-pieces. The owner of a turquoise of first quality will derive no little pleasure from the gem's distinctive beauty.

• Back to "What Are Birthstones?" 

Navajo Rag Dolls

Navajo dolls - rag dolls from the 1940s

        Navajo Dolls describe a style of clothing that Navajo women copied from east coast American society in the 1860s. Women of that era wore full dresses made out of satin. President Lincoln's wife and friends wore full dresses made of satin. Navajo women copied the patterns but substituted velvet for the satin and made buttons out of nickels and dimes. These stylish skirts are still fashionable today, for Navajos and non-Navajos alike.

       The dolls shown right, also wear simpler copies of Navajo jewelry. Their silver colored belts mimic their native silversmithing.  

       Atsidi Sani is considered to be the first Navajo silversmith. He learned silversmithing from a Mexican man called Nakai Tsosi, "Thin Mexican", around 1878 and began teaching other Navajos how to work with silver. By 1880, Navajo silversmiths were creating handmade jewelry including bracelets, tobacco flasks, necklaces and bracers. Later, they added silver earrings, buckles, bolos, hair ornaments, pins and squash blossom necklaces for tribal use, and to sell to tourists as a way to supplement their income.

       Tiny seed beed necklaces in turquoise colors mimic "squash blossom' jewelry. This necklace first appeared in the 1880s. The term "squash blossom" was apparently attached to the name of the Navajo necklace at an early date, although its bud-shaped beads are thought to derive from Spanish-Mexican pomegranate designs. 

• Navajo Dolls Owned by Sandra James
• Sample Navajo Rag Doll at J. Compton Gallery
• A Vintage Pair of Navajo Dolls in Traditional Dress

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Shepherds in The Desert Country

        Among the Navajos, the clan is extremely important. Children belong to the mother and are said to be members of her clan. A man's clan is his mother's and one of the strictest social rules is that a man must never marry into his mother's clan, lest he become insane. When a man marries, he goes to live with his wife's family, who thank his parents for giving him to them. Even the younger Navajos who have been away to school and have grown away from some of the old teachings still follow the tribal custom of never marrying into the mother's clan.
       The house in which a Navajo family lives is called a hogan. It is located on a part of the range where the wife's clan lives. The Navajos have several kinds of houses besides their summer shelter of boughs. But they have no real villages‚ never more than three or four hogans are clustered together. In this respect, the Navajos are quite different from most of the other natives of North America. There can be no Navajo villages because most of the Navajos are shepherds and, in the desert region where feed is always scarce, they must move their sheep frequently to new pastures.
       The Navajo summer home is moved often from one grazing site to another but the winter home may be used for several years. However, should a death occur in a Navajo hogan, their people will not live there and they either abandon the hogan or burn it. The new home will be located somewhere near the old one.
       Navajo families usually have more than one building on their homesites. There is often an extra house for storage purposes. Sometimes there is a house where the women can weave or sew. A short distance from the main dwelling there may be one or two small houses in which the Indians can take sweat baths. There are also storage dugouts and a corral for the animals.
       Most of the Navajo dwellings have a smoke hole in the roof and a blanket-covered doorway facing east. A traditional Navajo house is usually made of pinyon logs, boughs, and cedar bark. After the logs have been laid, the cracks are chinked with mud. The floor is dirt. The house is a crude affair and can be built in a day. It is said to be comfortable - warm in winter and cool in summer. Usually the neighbors help to build the house and so the cost of the new home is only the expense of feeding the helpers. But to find enough wood in the desert country to build the house takes considerable time and work. by Roberta Caldwell.

A blanket-covered doorway faces east.

Stetson Stories: Navajo-Churro Shepherds.

Navajo Designs

        The Navajos say that they learned the art of blanket making from the Spider Woman but that she had learned it from the Spider who was a fine spinner. In gratitude to the Spider, Navajo weavers used to leave a tiny hole somewhere in each blanket, perhaps in the center or in some part of the design or along the edge, to symbolize the hole in the center of a spider's web. But the native traders tried to discourage the practice because people did not like to buy blankets with a hole in them. So the weavers learned to conceal the hole very carefully.
       The origin of the designs used by Navajo weavers is not certainly known. Navajo designs may represent ideas borrowed from the Pueblos, from the Spaniards, and from other sources. The earliest Navajo blankets have broad, horizontal stripes. Later many geometric figures, either alone or in combination with horizontal or vertical stripes, came to be used. The more common designs are triangles, squares, parallelograms, and diamonds. Often the outlines of the figures are broken in a stepped or terraced effect.
       The ordinary diamond pattern is sometimes called Large Star, after the morning star. Massed triangles may represent clouds and a zigzag line suggests lightning. The swastika, the oldest symbolic Navajo design, also is used. Many people attribute symbolic meanings to all designs used in Navajo weaving but, unless they also occur in Navajo ceremonial sand paintings, Navajo rug designs probably have no special tribal significance.
       In the Navajo Rain Chant, a legend is told that mentions the origin of a traditional blanket pattern known as Beautiful Design. According to the story, the rain god who lived at Rainbow Bridge on Navajo mountain was displeased with his wives and imprisoned them. During their imprisonment, they entertained themselves by devising Beautiful Design, a pattern of butterfly wings. The pattern was suggested to their minds when The great gambler, who was considered in Navajo religion to be an evil force, appeared before them in the form of a beautiful butterfly.
       These indigenous people have a belief that a blanket design, because it takes form in the weaver's mind, has the thoughts of the weaver woven into it. They say that if many blankets are made, the weaver will lose her mind. They call this "blanket sickness."
       Sometimes a weaver uses a lightning pattern for many blankets. The Navajos say that later she may develop sharp, lightning-like pains in her body because - she has woven too many blankets of this design. When this happens, the only cure, they say, is to call upon a medicine man. He prays over the weaver and massages her. Then he "winds" the pain into a string to "draw it out of the body" - that is the way the Indians describe the gestures of the medicine man. But the most important part of the treatment is to make a lightning sandpainting for the weaver. A sandpainting is a ceremonial picture made with sands of different colors. The patient will get well if his gods are pleased with the sandpainting. by Roberta Caldwell.

Navajo quilter Susan Hudson, Quilts episode.

Navajo Blankets and Rugs

       Navajo blankets were woven for use as wearing apparel until about 1880. They are known as shoulder blankets because they were worn about the shoulders. The old shoulder blankets were woven so tightly that they were almost waterproof. Navajo rugs are of later origin. They were not woven before 1880.
       Historic blankets and rugs can be grouped into four periods. The first period dates from the early part of the nineteenth century. Most of the few blankets remaining from this period are preserved in museums and private collections. They are woven in broad, horizontal stripes of natural-colored wool or native-dyed yarn on a white background.
 

Navajo weaving at the Hubbel trading post in 1972

       The second period is from 1850 to about 1870. Many blankets of this period were obtained by army officers, private collectors, and Navajo traders. Later they gave, sold, or loaned the blankets to museums. Blankets of the second period are of outstanding texture. They fall into two distinct types: the Classic blanket and the Chief blanket.
       The design of the Classic blanket consists of simple stripes and stepped zigzags or terraces. The Chief blanket bears a design of alternating broad bands of brown or black and white. Sometimes there is a stripe of indigo blue. Rows of rectangular figures often are incorporated into the pattern. Another characteristic of the blankets of this period is the use of bayeta yarn.
       The third period, from about 1870 to 1890, saw the transformation of the blanket into a rug for commercial use. Diamond patterns in a great variety of sizes and combinations are characteristic of the third period. After 1890, very few blankets were woven.
       The fourth period covers about twenty-five or thirty years, from 1890 to 1915 or 1920. One of the distinguishing features of rugs of this period is the use of a central design with a border around it.
       So we see that within the space of about a century there have been four distinct styles in Navajo weaving. These styles reflect the changes in culture that took place in Navajo life. Perhaps the most important change in Navajo life and in their weaving commenced in 1880, when these natives were able to buy from the early settlers manufactured blankets for their own use and at the same time find a market for their hand-woven articles among the settlers.
       The change from weaving for tribal use to the production of woven articles for sale resulted in a rapid growth of the craft. It was about this time that the Navajos first obtained the bright-colored Saxony and Germantown yarns and aniline dyes. The novelty of ready-dyed yarns and easy-to-use aniline dyes captivated their interests and for several years they stopped using native colors almost entirely. The new materials sped up the work so that the weavers could turn out great numbers of hand-woven articles for the fast-growing trade with the outside world. But careless workmanship often was the result. And, also, the products were characterized by gaudy colors in unpleasing combinations because the weavers used  new dyes and yarns verses those materials made by home industry.
       But the weavers continue to improve the quality of their work through perseverance and integrity, no longer sacrificing the good color, pleasing design, and careful workmanship of earlier Navajo weaving.  by Roberta Caldwell.

        Woman's fancy manta, circa 1865. "Navajo people believe in beauty all around and, here, this weaver is weaving her version of beauty." —Sierra Ornelas, Navajo weaver

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.

Ceremonial Colors Of The Navajos

        The five ceremonial colors of the Navajos are blue, white, yellow, black, and red. They are found in nearly all sandpaintings and sandpainting blankets. Red, which is used less often than the other colors, represents rainbows and sun rays. White symbolizes Early Dawn, yellow the Yellow Twilight, blue the Blue Twilight, and black the Darkness of the North. These colors are also associated with certain sacred things: red for the sun, white for white shell, yellow for abalone shell, black for cannel coal, and blue for turquoise.
       The turquoise is especially sacred to the Navajos because it is associated with the story of their origin. The Navajos say that their clans were created by Turquoise Woman after she became the bride of the Sun and went to live with him in the Western Ocean. He laid a rainbow across a sunbeam and took her through the sky to her new home. Turquoise Woman was lonesome there and so she created people, who became the founders of the various Navajo clans and tribes.
       There never was a time that the Navajos did not have white shells (clam shells), abalone shells, turquoise beads, and cannel coal, they say. These objects were used in all tribal ceremonies and were offered to the gods as sacrifices. They were brought up from the Underworld at the time of creation, Navajo legends tell us.
       The Navajos taught that after their people came to this world, they found turquoise and coal in the ground. When this tribe lived near the Big Waters of the West, they also had white shells and yellow abalone shells. After they moved to the desert country they traded the shells from Jemez, where they had been resettled by the early Spaniards from the western coast of Mexico. Today the Navajos obtain the shells through the wholesale market but they used to trade for these. They find the cannel coal on La Plata Mountain and elsewhere in their land.
       The Navajos get their turquoise in many ways. A mine at Los Cerillos, near Santa Fe, is one of the sources. Formerly the mine was worked by the Pueblos, who sold the turquoise to the Navajos. The mine was taken away from the Pueblos by the Spaniards long ago, but even today the Pueblos still are able to obtain turquoise there in some way and they still find a ready market for it among the Navajos.
       Near the Los Cerillos mine there is a hot-spring geyser, called by the Navajos "Bead Spring." When the Navajos visit Bead Spring, they drop small chips of turquoise into it and then pray to their gods. The natives of the past believed that this would bring good luck in their trading.
       The making of silver and turquoise jewelry provided the Navajos with a good income in the past. Formerly the stones were used unmounted for religious purposes. The silversmith's art had its beginnings around the middle of the nineteenth century when the natives began to learn how to work metal from the Mexican silversmiths who lived along the upper Rio Grande valley. Their first sources of silver probably were Mexican pesos and United States silver coins but they now use bar silver. Some of the young Navajo people today still work in silver and make many beautiful pieces of jewelry in which they also set turquoise stones. Caldwell.

The meaning of the color turquoise from 

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

The Colors In Navajo Weaving

       The colors of natural wool are white, brown, and black and a gray that is a combination of white wool and black wool. The colors of native dyes included black, blue, and green and several shades of yellow and red. Native dyes were made by early Navajo weavers in many different ways.
       Black dye was made from the twigs and leaves of aromatic sumac mixed with the gum of pinyon and a native yellow ocher ground to a powder and roasted. It was used for darkening black wool, which in its natural state is not a true black. In the early days a blue was made from a native blue clay, but this blue was displaced later by indigo blue brought from Mexico. Green dye was a mixture of blue and yellow dyes.
       Yellow dyes, in shades from greenish yellow through lemon to orange, were made from the yellow flowers of the rabbit weed. An orange-red, sometimes called old gold, came from crushed sorrel roots to which alum may have been added. The recipe for making red dye is not always the same, but the roots or bark of the mountain mahogany seem to have been in common use. The native reds were not true reds. They were pale, dull shades that were brownish or orange in hue.
       It was not until the Navajo devised a new kind of yarn that they could have a clear, brilliant red in their blankets. To make the new yarn, they unraveled bright-colored woolen cloth of Spanish and English origin and retwisted the ravelings for handweaving. This yarn was called bayeta yarn and the blankets made from it were called bayeta blankets. "Bayeta" is the Spanish word for the English baize.
       Red was the predominating color of blankets made of bayeta yarn. The color varied from scarlet to a reddish brown that when mellowed by time often became a strong rose. Navajo weavers of bayeta blankets used other colors of bayeta yarn, too - vivid greens and yellows and blues, but many people refer of the brilliant red as the bayeta color.
       A great change in the colors used in Navajo weaving came when aniline dyes began to make their appearance. In comparison with native colors, the colors produced by aniline dyes seem harsh and lifeless. But the native weavers regarded the new dyes with delight and used them with more enthusiasm. This is the reason that brilliant color combinations were produced in some of the weaving of that time. In recent years, however, Navajo weavers have given up their use of certain gaudy commercial dyes and yarns and are commencing to use more traditional pleasing colors again. Caldwell.

Jeffrey Jamon talks about natural wool dyeing.

The Navajos Since The Coming of The Spaniards

        The Navajos once had been a powerful people. Then the Spaniards came to the Navajo country and their coming marked the beginning of a period of trouble for the Indians. The Navajos, their numbers reduced by warfare with the Spaniards, retreated westward to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "canyon de sha") in Arizona, which was so hard to reach that the Indians felt safe there. When the tribe, protected by the canyon from enemies, had become larger and stronger, the Navajos returned to their former lands. In the course of time they grew to be a powerful people once more. 

       But the Navajos again were threatened with destruction when they came into contact with the advance of the westward-moving pioneer settlers. For several years the natives fought bitterly against the pioneers and against the United States Government. Colonel Kit Carson, one of the toughest fighters in the West, was sent by the Government to subdue the Navajos. War and disease took many lives and at last the tribe accepted a treaty. 

       Under the terms of the treaty, most of the Navajos were removed to eastern New Mexico, where they were held in captivity for four years. They were fed by the Government, but they did not know how to use the strange foods. Some of the food made them sick because they prepared it in the wrong way or because it had spoiled. Then to make things worse, the corn crop failed for several seasons. The indigenous people weakened by not having enough food to eat, fell easy prey to disease and many of them died. 

       Finally a new treaty was drawn up. The Navajos were sent back to their own part of the country, where rations, blankets, a yoke of oxen, and a plow were given to each family and, in addition, two sheep to each adult and each child. After the Navajos returned to their home, they became healthy again. The tribe increased in numbers until by 1942 there were about fifty thousand Navajos living in the Southwest. 

       The Navajos took good care of the sheep that the Government had given them and built up large flocks until sheep raising came to be one of their main occupations. But after years of continued use, the land began to show the effects of overgrazing. Agents of the United States Government knew that this overgrazing eventually would wear out the land so that enough sheep could not be raised to support the constantly growing Navajo population. For this reason they urged the Navajos to reduce the size of their flocks. 

       To make up for the decreased number of sheep on the range, the Government has tried to help the Navajos to raise an improved type of sheep that would give the Navajos a greater annual income from the sale of mutton and wool than they had received from their former huge flocks of native sheep. Approximately one-fourth of the total annual production of wool on the Reservation was woven by the Navahos into blankets and rugs. by Roberta Caldwell.

• Read more about the Navajo today
• The Navajo housing crises  
• The History of Uranium Mining and the Navajo People
• For The Navajo Nation, Uranium Mining's Deadly Legacy Lingers
  
• A female-led energy company is bringing green power to the Navajo Nation and pdf. about Navajo Generation Station and Clean-Energy Alternatives

Who are the Navajo?

        The Navajo Indians live in the southwestern part of our country but this is not their original home. It is still doubtful when, how, and from what place the Navajos came to their present homeland. However, from documents of Navajo legends certain bits of information can be worked together to tell a part of the story.
       An unknown number of years ago, possibly several thousand, the ancestors of the Navajos lived somewhere in northern Asia. Perhaps it was the search for better hunting grounds that led them across Bering Strait and into the New World. For many hundreds of years they lived as wandering hunters in northwestern Canada. Finally, a thousand or more years ago, they migrated southward and came to Arizona and New Mexico where the Pueblo Indians were living.
       Until they reached the Southwest, the Navajos lived by hunting game and gathering wild seeds and fruits. They knew nothing of farming or the weaving of blankets. Gradually they learned from their Pueblo neighbors how to grow corn, beans, and squashes, and their life became more settled. Later, after the coming of the Spaniards, the Navajos began to herd sheep and to weave woolen blankets. Evidently the Pueblo Indians taught them many things, for Navajo legends are full of references to their powerful Pueblo neighbors.
       The Navajos do not refer to themselves by the name "Navajo" but call themselves "Dineh, the People" or simply "The People." The origin of the name "Navajo" is uncertain. It is likely that the name is derived from the Tewa (Pueblo) word "Navahu," which means "large tracts of cultivated lands." The Navajos and their neighbors, the Apaches, belong to the family of tribes that speak the Dineh or Athabascan language and their nearest relatives today outside of the Southwest are the Indians of northwestern Canada. 

Monument Valley - Panoramio.

       The present home of the Navajos is on a reservation area of about sixteen million acres in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southern Utah. Several million acres near the Reservation also are used by the Navajos, who lease the land or own allotments. This Navajo land is mainly a high plateau region that has an elevation of from five thousand to eight thousand feet. It is a sandy, arid country covered with sage brush, small groups of juniper trees, and pinyon, with fir trees replacing the sage in the higher elevations.
       It is a country of great variety and beauty. There are brightly colored mesas and deep canyons. There are deserts that are either brilliant with wild flowers or gray and bleak, according to the season. But it is a country where a living is hard to make. Farming is difficult where water is scarce and unpredictable, where soil is thin or worn out, and where fields are cut by canyons and unexpected torrents of rain water. In spite of all this, the Navajos have thrived and their numbers have tripled since the earliest days. The old, traditional ways that the Navajo have earned their living have been by farming, herding sheep, weaving blankets and rugs, and making silver jewelry. by Roberta Caldwell.

• About Our People by Navajo Historian 
• Visit The Navajo Nation Government

More About Traditional Navajo Artists for Young Readers:

• The Navajos Since The Coming of The Spaniards
• Navajo Weaving
• The Colors in Navajo Weaving
• Navajo Blankets and Rugs
• Navajo Designs
• Ceremonial Colors of The Navajos
• Shepherds in The Desert Country
  
• Navajo Rag Dolls

Thanksgiving Doll Crafts

Far left, a mixed media pumpkin pie. Left center, Ma Ingall's warm new shawl, Center Right,
 a cornucopia full of a bountiful harvest. Far right, scrap fabric slices of pie.

         The first Thanksgiving in the North American colonies was instituted by William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth, and first observed by the Puritans, who suffering from hunger and privation and who were truly thankful when the first harvest brought them the means of support for the approaching winter. 

       This holiday has come to us as "the religious and social festival that converts every family mansion into a family meeting-house." From far and near our family members come, filling the cars, planes and trains with merry chatter and anticipated pleasures of this popular holiday. How near and dear all the bright faces are as they gather around large tables for Thanksgiving feasts!

       Below are some amusements and crafts, as well as history surrounding this popular holiday that will add to the merriment of this holiday as you spend time relaxing in your home with your dolls.

• Visit our Thanksgiving Index at Thrifty Scissors
• Visit our Thanksgiving Coloring Pages at Crayon Palace
• Plan a Thanksgiving Day Party for Your Dolls and Friends - party invitations printable and many games

I'm happy on Thanksgiving.
I've eaten till I'm sore. But
I wish I was an elephant, then
I could hold lots more!

Make Simple Thanksgiving Crafts for Your Dolls: You can help grow our listing by making requests for particular Thanksgiving crafts in the comment box below:

1. Craft a Foam Pumpkin Pie - You can make a pumpkin pie out of any materials...even foam sheets!
2. Sculpt Paper Mache Pumpkins - These adorable faux pumpkins are handcrafted for our 18" dollhouse decor for Fall.
3. Papier-mâché Two Delicious Pretend Pies! - make pretend pies for any occasion for your child sized kitchen using paper pulp, newsprint, and paint.
4. Craft a Cornucopia for A Doll's Harvest - an old-fashioned way to display harvest bounty at your doll's kitchen table.
5. Scrap Fabric Pumpkin Pie - these pretend pies are made from silk and lace fabric scraps...
6. Craft a Pistachio Nut Wreath - simple and elegant, this nut shell wreath is the perfect size for an American Girl Doll room display.
7. Craft A Horno Oven for Josefina or Kaya - any historical doll will appreciate this outdoor oven made to look like real clay.
8. Oven Bake Clay Pumpkin Pie - make pumpkin pies the easy way with oven-bake clay this year; even the whipped cream topping is shaped by hand!
9. DIY a Gas Stove Top and Oven for Barbie's Family - Every little doll needs her own oven to bake for her friends and family; this one is simple to make using a recycled box and tin foil.
10. Ma Ingall's New Shawl - use a wooly scarf or woven wool scraps to cut and shape a shawl for your pioneer dolls.
11. Sew Four Reversible Pumpkin Placemats - placemats come in handy whenever you need to decorate a doll dinner display!
12. DIY Doll Sized Clay Crescent Rolls... - warm, comforting clay crescents for your doll's Thanksgiving meal.
13. Cut and Assemble The Puritan (Pilgrim) Twins Paper Dolls - paper dolls for a fun Thanksgiving craft!
14. Sculpt a Holiday Turkey Using Paper Pulp  - This version of our doll's main course, the turkey, is challenging to craft.
15. Autumn Printable Paintings for Your Dollhouse - change over the dollhouse decor for the cool weather this year... Lovely fall foliage to dress up the dollhouse walls.
16. Mail Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Cards to Your Dolls - help your dolls keep in touch with their friends and family through the mail with these charming old greetings.
17. 6 Old-Fashioned Side Dishes for Dolly's Thanksgiving Feast! - Is your doll in need of a feast? We have plenty of ideas for the doll's festive buffet here.
18. 3 Comforting Casseroles for A Doll's Thanksgiving Dinner - DIY comfort food your any doll Thanksgiving meal...
19. Native American paper dolls to color - two paper dolls, one mother, one son, two changes of clothing, there is a small baby included in the mother's second outfit
20. Color Thanksgiving Favor Boxes for A Doll's Party - Make these for a special tea party during the fall and invite all of your doll friends.
    
21. Decorate the Dollhouse With Pumpkins, Mums and Toadstools - Hot glue easy Autumn displays to decorate the dollhouse...
22. Make a pumpkin with a web shaped vine 
23. Craft a Pow-wow drum and mallet - Your Native American Dolls can celebrate their own way for a feast of their making using Pow-wow drums...

The Pilgrims Searching for A New Land: History, Legend and Poems. Be Thankful for Pilgrims Searching and God's Protection . . .

• The Mayflower - Methinks, I see it now, that one solitary, adventurous vessel, the "Mayflower" of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea...
• Song of The Pilgrims - a poem "THE breeze has swelled the whitening sail..."
• Historic Plymouth Monuments and Locations - photos of old and new, records from the past...
• Song of The Pilgrims - a hymn by T C. Upham "The breeze has swelled the whitening sail..."
  
• Ode by Rufus Dawes - "Sons of New England sires!"
  
• Forefather's Day - a hymn by M. W. Chapman "The memory of the faithful dead..." 
• The Child's Thanksgiving Song - by Gieselman and Tooke "For everything that's great and good..." and Widdy-Widdy-Wurky here.
• Thanksgiving Prayer by Mary Caroline Merrick - "Dear God, I thank you for each lovely tree..."
  

Be Thankful for Gifts From Native People:

1. Gifts From The Native Americans  - Plants that were cultivated by the Indians for thousands of years before the Europeans discovered the New World...
2. Cultivated Plants  - The indigenous people of the Chicago region and of the eastern woodlands were farmers, or at least they were during the summer months.
3. Wild Plants - The natives used a great many wild plants, of which wild rice was the most important.
4. Nuts and Berries - Nuts and berries were found in large quantities in the northern and eastern woodlands of the United States.
5. Beverages - Water was, of course, the most common Native American drink.
6. Maple Sugar - The eastern woodland natives used maple sugar in almost all of their foods.
7. Seasoning - One important plant used as a flavoring was a kind of wild onion that grew in great numbers many years ago in the rich moist soil of the areas around Chicago.
8. Bark and Bast - To make their houses as well as their canoes and a great many of their household articles these indigenous peoples who lived in the north, used the bark of the paper birch that grew along rivers and the shores of lakes.
9. Medicine - Many different plants and plant parts were used to make medicines.
10. Gourds and Pumpkins and Their Uses - Children of our country often become acquainted with pumpkins and their relatives in the fall of the year‚ particularly during October and November.
11. Nuts - How native Americans used nuts and preserved them.
12. The Weaving of Native Americans

Remember The Indigenous People:

• The Navajo Tribe - Like other Apacheans, the Navajos were semi-nomadic from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Their extended kinship groups had seasonal dwelling areas to accommodate livestock, agriculture, and gathering practices. As part of their traditional economy, Navajo groups may have formed trading or raiding parties, traveling relatively long distances.
• The Powhatan Tribe - The Powhatans have also been known as Virginia Algonquians, as the Powhatan language is an eastern-Algonquian language, also known as Virginia Algonquian. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 Powhatan people in eastern Virginia, when the English colonized Jamestown in 1607.
• The Blackfoot Tribe - Today, three Blackfoot First Nation band governments (the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations) reside in the Canadian province of Alberta, while the Blackfeet Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Southern Piikani in Montana, United States. Additionally, the Gros Ventre are members of the federally recognized Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana in the United States and the Tsuutʼina Nation is a First Nation band government in Alberta, Canada.
• The Nez Perce Tribe -  Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest a region for at least 11,500 years.
• The Indigenous People of Peru - Native Peruvians, comprise a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit territory in present-day Peru. Indigenous cultures developed here for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish in 1532.

Our Favorite Doll Fan Video from YouTube for Thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving Turkey for Dolls from OMaG
2. The Worst Thanksgiving - AGSM (mini movie)
3. DIY American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Food + Decor by SewCraftyAG
4. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving from americangirlashlyn
5. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Room Set UP
6. DIY An American Girl Doll Thanksgiving
7. American Girl Doll Thanksgiving Food
8. No Food on Thanksgiving?
9. Thanksgiving Lunch
10. Thanksgiving Cooking from mixiepixie
11. What the Dolls Are Thankful For . . .

How People Celebrated Thanksgiving Long Ago...

1. Ezra's Thanksgivin' Out West - Ezra had written a letter to the home folks, and in it he had complained that never before had he spent such a weary, lonesome day as this Thanksgiving Day had been.
2. A Pioneer Thanksgiving  - The first ''Thanksgiving" of which I have any recollection was many years ago, "away down in Maine," in the old farmhouse that was located upon the banks of the St. Croix river at Calais, Washington county. (from O'Brien's Pioneer Memories)
3. Dress Like a Pilgrim - Contrary to popular belief, Pilgrims did not dress in all black. by GSMD (Mayflower descendants)
4. The Other National Bird - How the turkey was once considered to be the U.S. national bird...
5. Lincoln's Timeless Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1863 - from the National Archives
6. wigwam timelapse - Funding for the wigwam generously provided by the Vernon D. and Florence E. Roosa Family Foundation Memorial Fund of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and by the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
7. Origin Of Thanksgiving Food - The surprising origins of Thanksgiving foods by PBS
8. The Wild Turkey, A Vanishing Game Bird - In the pioneer period of American life, wild turkeys roamed over wide areas from New England to Texas...
9. The Powhatan Natives - One of the most famous stories in our American history centers about a fun-loving Indian girl known as Pocahontas.

Harvest Here and Now: Recipes, Inspiration and Growing Things!

1. Harvesting Cranberries in Cape Cod
2. Thanksgiving Features Native American Foods
3. Three Sister Soup from Bertha Skye
4. How to Deep Fry a Turkey and Family Traditions from allofdestiny
5. Growing Ancient Grains In Your Garden
6. Making Fresh Pumpkin for Pies The Fast & Easy Way
7. How to Make Navajo Fry Bread
8. The Farmer Growing 400 Different Kinds of Potatoes
9. Native Grains - Lets make bread!
10. Sweet Team Cook Thanksgiving Dinner!
11. Soft & Fluffy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
12. Why Leaves Change Color
13. Turkey Farm Prepares for Thanksgiving
14. How Native Americans Are Saving Vegetables from Extinction
15. How to Cook An Entire Thanksgiving Dinner: Step by Step Instructions
16. How To Make Pumpkin Cakes for Desert
17. Making The Ultimate Thanksgiving Holiday Feast with Rita

Poems About: Autumn, Thanksgiving, Fall Months:

1. The Night Before Thanksgiving - 'Twas the night before Thanksgiving...'
2. A Thanksgiving Dinner - 'Young Turkey Gobbler, with highly arched head...'
3. A Thanksgiving Acrostic - 'T is for turkey the biggest in town,'
4. Merry Autumn Days  - 'I Hail the merry autumn days...'
5. Five Kernels of Corn - 'Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old...'
6. September  - 'Again has come the sweet September...'
7. Thanksgiving On The Farm  - 'Oh, it surely seems years since the dear children's voices...'
8. Cat's Thanksgiving Day - 'Give me turkey for my dinner...'
9. The Feast-Time of the Year - 'This is the feast-time of the year...'
10. Miss Maple Tree's Party - 'Miss Maple Tree a party gave...'
11. Harvest Time by Clara R. Bete - 'Jack Frost is dressing up the trees...' 
12. My Apple Tree - 'I had a lovely apple..."
    
13. Indian Children - 'Where we walk to school each day...'
14. The Flower-Fed Buffaloes -'The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring...'
15. In The Indian Summer - 'The squirrels chattered in the leaves...'

Kids Talk About Thanksgiving:

1. Pilgrim Life with Scholastic News
2. The Wampanoag Way (for kids)
3. Kids Picking Cranberries the Old Fashioned Way
4. 100 Years of Thanksgiving
5. Thankful for Edmunds School

Poems About Giving in General:

• Giving by John Martin

Films for A Kid Friendly Thanksgiving:

The Indian in the Cupboard
 movie poster.

• Indian In The Cupboard: Trailer,  1995 American family fantasy drama film directed by Frank Oz and written by Melissa Mathison, based on the children's book of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. The story is about a boy who receives a cupboard as a gift on his ninth birthday. He later discovers that putting toy figures in the cupboard, after locking and unlocking it, brings the toys to life. Read more...
• Pocahontas: Trailer, 1995 American animated musical romantic drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. Read more...
• Dances With Wolves for older teens: Trailer, 1990 American epic Western film starring, directed and produced by Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake that tells the story of Union Army lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Costner) who travels to the American frontier to find a military post and of his dealings with a group of Lakota. Read more...

"Diving over haystacks!" silhouette.

Season Ambience Video:

• Pumpkin Farm and Falling Leaves
• Autumn Bossa Nova Cafe
• Sunny Autumn Morning in Tree Tops