Navajo rug
Figure 12a
Source: From the collection of Sophie and David Smith
The Navajo call themselves Dine (dee-NAY), a word that means “the people” in their language. For three centuries, Navajo women have been weaving beautiful blankets and rugs. These weavings, often called the “first American tapestries,” have a well-deserved place in museums. The Navajo learned the technique of weaving from their neighbors, the Pueblo.
At first the women wove blankets to cover their families as they slept, as well as to hang on the walls to protect against cold weather. Later they began to weave rugs for sale to the public. Some rugs have simple geometric designs. Others are complicated (and expensive). It may take a woman several months to weave a small rug.
Navajo weavers don’t work from written patterns or instructions. They memorize the designs and count carefully. Different communities within Navajo reservations have developed their own styles. Contests are held every year to reward the weavers of the most beautiful rugs in each style.
In the past, the wool was dyed in colors made from roots, berries, bark, fruit, and flowers. The most common colors were gray, black, tan, yellow, red, and brown, as well as white. Today the weavers may use factory-made synthetic dyes and more colors. Figure 12a
What do you notice about the rug in Figure 12a? It has several diamond-shaped designs of different sizes. These shapes are similar to one another. It also has several designs composed of similar triangles. The colors of these shapes are gray, black, and yellow, and they are set against a white background. Figure 12b
The rug in Figure 12b has a center design in black on white and four black geometric figures at the ends, on a tan background. There is also a repeated pattern to form a border in light brown on white. You may also see some small yellow and tan geometric figures around the center design.
1. What is the shape of each rug?
2. Look at the rug in Figure 12a. Which designs appear more than once? Are they exactly the same? Handcrafted weavings often have slight flaws or differences in the designs that you don’t see in factory-made rugs and other textiles. Do you think the weaver intended to make them exactly the same?
3. Now look at Figure 12b to see which designs are repeated, and how they are repeated.
4. Look for the similar shapes in each rug.
5. Examine each rug for line (mirror) symmetry and for turn (rotational) symmetry.
6. Analyze the design elements in each rug for symmetry.
• Plain paper or construction paper
• Colored construction paper in Navajo colors (optional)
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Colored crayons or markers in Navajo colors
• Scissors (optional)
• Glue stick or paste (optional)
You can make your own rug of paper. One way is to draw the pattern on a rectangular sheet of paper and color it. Another way is to cut out several geometric designs from colored paper and glue them to a rectangular sheet. Decide which method you prefer. The materials you use will depend on the method. You can combine both methods—cut out and glue the larger design elements and draw a border with crayons or markers.
1. Locate the Navajo reservations on a map. They cover more than 24,000 square miles in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The Navajo are the largest group of Native Americans in the United States. Many Navajo (Dine) speak their own language, as well as English.
2. Find photographs of Navajo rugs and other art objects.
3. Read the book The Goat in the Rug, by Charles Blood and Martin Link. Geraldine, a goat, tells about weaving a Navajo rug (see Bibliography page 156).
4. Look for Navajo Rugs and Blankets: A Coloring Book, by Chuck and Andrea Mobley (see Bibliography page 157) and other books about Navajo culture and history. Their relatives, the Dene (deh-NAY), live in Alaska. You may want to learn about their lives.
Navajo rug
Figure 12b
Source: From the collection of Syrda Schnipper
