Navajo Rugs How to Find, Evaluate, Buy and Care for Them

Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing. Near Fine. 1991. 2nd Edition; 2nd Printing. Paperback. 0873585038 . Color Illustrations; This is a larger than trade sized paperback book. The book is in Near Fine condition and was issued without a dust jacket. The text pages are clean and bright. "The Pueblo people of Northern New Mexico were cultivating cotton around 1300 AD, which they used for weaving. They practiced finger weaving, and had also learned the use of the backstrap loom from Mexican Indian tribes. Weaving was a man's activity in most pueblos. They wove in the kiva, or ceremonial room, a cramped space that inspired the invention of the upright loom. The arrival of the Spaniards and their Churro sheep in the 16th century led to a change from cotton to wool as weaving material for the Pueblo Indians as well as the Navajos, who learned the technique from their neighbors in the late 1600s. The Spanish also introduced indigo (blue) dye and simple stripe patterning. Even before the influx of tourists, the railroads had had a major impact on the Indians of the Southwest by supplying goods to newly created trading posts; for groups such as the Navajo, who lived in scattered family settlements, this was particularly important." (from Navajo Rugs Website) .