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Show W'M Krffnti Aft mm POPULAR I " A fetfe'A H l!! if ' o Ai 7 Ard -r- ---i i h i Hi V' .".I HVICE PRESIDENT MAR- . ; ..: A:;v? ; VlSHALL"Started Something" A ; A ..A A, rl'U! " when he gave Mrs. Wood row rVvv " " M Wilson a fine specimen for her gi; wedding present Strange Amer- 7 C-ZT'il ican Industry is flourishing. A'"'.' By MALCOLM M'DOWELL. f MjT' 11KN Vlc0 rresldont JLl Marshall selected a Navajo Indian blan-yV blan-yV 'r kct as a wt'dding pres ly J Wilson, ho unwitting- ly started a novel voguo In hymeneal 7 fashions. The gor geous products of Navajo looms promise to figure extensively among the wedding gifts of many of this season's sea-son's brides. The war has almost stopped the Importation of Turkish and Persian rugs, and It is predicted that Navajo Indian blankets, w hich are used for rugs and couch covers, will become a fad with connoisseurs who, heretofore, only had eyes for oriental floor coverings. The particular kind of a blanket which the vice president secured la known only to himself, but it Is said to be one of the rarest of Its kind. The gift was unique In Its genuine Americanism, for it was woven by an original American, on an original American loom, from wool sheared from Navajo sheep, bred and reared on the Navajo reservation, and colored with the vegetable dyes which only Navajo squaws know how to make a Singularly appropriate gift for the bride of an American president. Navajo blankets range In value from a few dollars for the common kind usually purchased from traders, to jr00 and upwards for the stunning fabrics woven by expert and famous weavers only for head chiefs. Tho latter are hard to find, and their value Is constantly on the Increase. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells is bending his energies to the development and encouragement of Income-producing Industries among his Indian wards, and In his last annual report he lays strong emphasis upon the Navajo blanket Industry, which, he shows, continues to be the most Important Im-portant and remunerative of the native Indian Industries, giving the Navajos an annual revenue of over $700,000. Nearly seven hundred blankets were displayed; many of them were packed overland for a distance of 125 miles, through the rough, arid country which Is characteristic of the Navajo reservation. reserva-tion. Mrs. Yabblny Degay, an unedu cated squaw, but famous for her fine weaves, captured the first prize of $100; the second prize of $90 went to Miss Susie Balnbridge of Crozler, N. M., an Indian school graduate. No-no-bah Gorman, a seventeen-year miss of Fort Defiance, N. M., and Annie Klade of the same place, also were prize winners. Over $10,000 worth of blankets were sold at this fair, and the exhibit, selected from blankets displayed at Shlprock, which was sent to the Panama-Pacific exposition at San Francisco, attracted much attention atten-tion and gave a decided Impetus to the Navajo blanket vogue. The Navajos, the largest trlbo of Indians In the United States, are a pastoral people, tending their numerous fAA : A- , miM cAis" . A3 ' A' ;AVA AXZS-i.. i At : flocks of sheep and goats on their reservation res-ervation of more than eighteen million acres in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The last census counted over twenty-seven thousand Navajos, and the tribe Is steadily Increasing In numbers. num-bers. They aro regarded as the least spoiled of the Indians, for not only is it government policy to Interfere as little as possible with their civil life, but their remoteness and tho generally uninviting character of their lands have had a tendency to keep white men away from them. Becnuse they havo retained, to a greater degree tha-n havo somo other tribes, their primitive nature, the Navajos are eagerly ea-gerly studied by ethnologists and other students of America's native peoples. Oscar 11. Lipps, supervisor In chargo of the Indian school at Carlisle. Pa., regarded as one of the best-Informed men on Indians in the service made a study of the history and weaving of Navajo blankets. In an article written for the Red Man, a monthly magazine produced and printed by the Indian students of Carlisle, Mr. Llpps describes de-scribes the manner of weaving Navajo blankets. "While many people," he writes, "believe "be-lieve these blankets nre made in enst-ern enst-ern factories by 'Yankees,' and shipped to western traders to deceive 'tenderfoot' 'tender-foot' tourists, this Is a mistake. The Indian buys the factory-made blankets for his own use. The macklnaw robes are worn by all 'blanket' Indians. They are usually of bright colors and elaborate elab-orate pattern, the designs being often taken from Navajo blankets and othor Indian handicraft. "It may not be generally known, but It is a fact, nevertheless, that the Navajo Na-vajo does not wear his own make of blankets. They are too valuable, for one reason, since one Navajo blanket of good weave nnd pattern is worth half a dozen ordinary Indian robes sold by tho trader. A genuine Navajo blanket Is hand-made from start to finish. The Indian grows his own wool, cards It, spins It, dyes It and weaves it, all by hand In the most primitive manner. Ho formerly pulled the wool from the sheep with his hands, but. with tho advent of the trader came the common sheep-shears, and he at once began the uso of them. Were you to visit a Navajo weaver's hogan or lodge, you would expect to see a large, old- fashioned loom and spinning wheel, but you would find different appliances used In carrying on this textile Industry. Indus-try. By comparison the loom and spinning spin-ning wheel of our colonial ancestors were as Intricate and complicated as the machinery of a modern woolen mill. "The Navajo spinning wheel consists of a small wooden spindle made of hard wood and about eighteen inches In length, on which Is fastened a wood en disk three or four inches In diameter. diame-ter. This spindle is twirled with the fingers, while the soft wool, which has been carded with a pair of old-fashioned hand-cards Into small rolls. Is twisted Into smooth, strong thread. "After the spinning the yarn Is dyed. Formerly nativo dyes were used exclu sively. Theso vegetable dyes never faded, but grew more mellow and beautiful with age. It is to be deplored that the ordinary dyes of commerce have largely taken the place of the vegetable dyes In the manufacture of Navajo blankets. In their native dyes they never had many different colors. They had a beautiful yellow, which they made from the yellow flower that grows in their country. They also had a very beautiful dark red, but they had no bright red such as they now get with tho dyes of commerce, except when they purchased the bayetta cloth 'from the Spanish traders. This was their first bright red. "Tho inventive genius of the white man has never yet been able to reproduce repro-duce tho Navajo eftect In a blanket. In the white man's loom, when a color starts across the beam It must be carried all the way across and appear on one side or tho other in the finished product. Not so with tho Navajo loom. Their loom is, if possible, even more primitive than the spinning spindle. "The Navajo weaver does not have a pattern to go by but makes up her design as she goes along. These designs de-signs reflect, largely, the 6tRte of her mind at the time and the power of her imagination. Many sacred emblems em-blems of the great religious ceremonies ceremo-nies are woven into her blankets. Oftentimes they are very intricate, and If they could be read would unfold many a sacred rite or legend and reveal re-veal the thoughts of the Imaginative soul who so silently aud patiently weaves." |