Yesterday, I visited my friend, Brenda, who has been an admirer of authentic Navajo arts and crafts and over the years has taught herself to weave beautiful Navajo rugs – twenty-one in all! Thus, the earned nick-name: “White Weaver.” I’m calling her White Weaver Woman of White River Valley. 
After loaning me eight of her books on the topic, I was inspired to write about it and invite others to share their experiences pertaining to Navajo rug weaving.
The art of Navajo weaving has become a fine art over the years. In our society, we often find the quality of an art diminishing over the years but in this instance, it has actually been refined and gained in popularity among artists and buyers.
In Ray Manley’s book, The Fine Art of Navajo Weaving, he observes, “More and more Navajo women, and recently several men, are establishing well deserved reputations for their proficiency at the loom. These weavers continually strive to perfect their skills while experimenting with new ideas and design concepts…The refinements in Navajo weaving today have not gone unnoticed. Serous collectors of these textiles are continually seeking and finding ever finer examples.”
The history of Navajo weaving is rich. Lee and Eric Anderson wrote an extensive article on their website Anderson’s Americana Indian and Western Shows.
And the weaving process is an involved one from the tools used to the technique to the materials.
Tools: The loom is center stage for the tools used and has no mechanical parts. The support poles are either wood or steel pipe. The weaver sits on the floor and works from the bottom up. Once the rug is about two feet high, it is wrapped under the bottom pole and up the back.
Technique and Patterns: The basic techniques I’ve read about so far are plain weave, tapestry weave, twill weave and wedge weave. The Patterns grew out of different areas in the Navajo Nation and also from the traders who ‘commissioned’ certain designs.
One pattern is the Ganado design, from the Ganado area in Arizona and is known for the red color – often called “Ganado Red.” This design combines the unique red background with stylized cross and serrated design. Traditionally, there are three colors of natural gray wools used in combination with the white and black accents – making a beautiful culmination of art.”
Another popular pattern is Two Grey Hills. Through the influence of the area’s traders, the use of the bright analine colors at one time had been eliminated (except for black). So, by 1930, the use of varying shades of gray, brown with white evolved.
Here is a stunning Navajo Two Grey Hills Design rug made by Brenda.
“The map below, showing where different designs of rugs were produced at different communities on the Navajo reservation, was prepared by the late Tom Bahti, in a large-format bookfirst printed in 1966, and reprinted many times thereafter. Bahti was a longtime dealer and collector of Indian art, and a recognized expert. His several books, beautifuly illustrated were among the best of their time.” Taken from Navajo Rugs: Styles on the Reservation.
Materials: One could say that originally, materials began with raising sheep, then shearing, cleaning, carding, spinning and dyeing. A really traditional weaver will card and spin their own yarn or use only hand spun yarn. Spinning a thin and even thread is an art within itself.
Also pictured here are two other patterns woven by Brenda.
If this article peaked your interest in trying to learn this special art, Weaving in Beauty is a website giving information where to learn indigenous weaving techniques today.
One extremely rare pattern that is not restricted to any area is the Two-Faced Pattern. We discussed this in full on another blog article entitled:”Highly exceptional Native American ‘two-faced rug’ weaving!” We also listed one for sale, the only one I’ve found so far in any retail setting, on Grandma’s Treasures Online in the Navajo Arts and Crafts.
