Show NAVAJO BLANKETS the be navajo indians are more intelligent m a some of the other tribes and are very od lod citizens they have large flocks of beep ep and raise something like a million nods of wool every year some orthis of this ey sell but the larger part they make into ankers the making of these blankets is a ra crt with the navajos cavajos Nava jos no other tribe ikes akes anything like so aih fine e blankets although alt houg i e alifornia and mexican blankets are good here the navajo blankets bring from nine i fifteen dollars apiece which is a low price usi dering that it takes several month a to alee ake one in the east E ast they th ey bring from i r to fifty dollars apiece the wool Ls is cleaned cle aried carded and dyed after a process known only to all these indians find and kept by them a legious secret the looms are arc built by the squaws squads ami are very primitive affairs the weavers are arc very important individuals and are never allowed to per porforio forio any other labor sometimes the looms are built out of doors under a tree but usually they are under a hut called a hogaj the hogaj is made by driving into the ground six or eight roughly hewn poles at regular intervals to form a small square and across the top green boughs are laid to shelter the weaver from the hot sun run to the middle poles are fastened cross poles about a foot from the top and bottom with holes bored in them for the warp the latter is made from the yucca tree and treated by a process known only to the navajos cavajos Nava jos which renders it well nigh indestructible it is this strong c a durable warp that makes make the navajo blanket so much superior to the more common california blanket formerly the navajos cavajos only made blankets for their own use but they have been reduced to making them for support now and depend largely on them for their subsistence the weaver whose picture we obtained had his loom fastened tu to glicr the walls wa of i his idoly doby this moqui 3 was regarded ns almost a sacred personage age on account of his skill t is the men of the tribe who adorn themselves in the gayest blankets while the squaws squads wear the plain ones we clip the above from Dem orests magazine agazine 31 for the benefit of those of our readers who have the blanket mania and who hits has not had it that has been among the indians for more than a week one year we spent allour all our pin money for blankets every one we saw vre e coveted and after we had no more dollars we thought in an evil moment I 1 that we might a possibly make an addition to our blanket store through the magic of elchuck chuck or monte amonte however thre there is no great loss without some small gain we lost our blankets aud and as we saw our wooly rainbows folding enfolding en our friends we gained a deep rooted hatred for gambling that is our gain and we are truly thankful for that much bui we never see it a big red navajo with its brilliant zig diamonds and that we do not sigh over our loss we have given the matter much thought and have decided not to let our hard earned light on gambling be hid bid dundei a bushel ak game is in our opinion tho the indian who most needs to see tile the error of hi his 1 s trot three of ol 01 oar i lr blankets arid and if lie eee ever corner our ny ax ve intend for the sake of blotting light shine on his conscience to put up tip against our blank ta an indian pouy pony covered with all tho the pot hooks in the ute branding books and claimed by every indian on both reservations and for whose tiny carcass calems we paid if he loses the blankets he will ivill have gained an idea of the vanity of gambling 0 and we ae will have our blankets blanket ana our deep rooted aversion if he gets the pony polly wall w fal we cannot say its like ike taking medicine mcd cinc it does not always have the same effect on one but for that Indians good we will take the risk |