The author spent four summers (1930–33) living and working among the Navajo, during which time she learned the principles of weaving. In this book she takes readers through the same process, introducing the careful details, the personalities she encountered, and the materials and methods of weaving in the Navajo style. The spinning of the yarn, the dyes, the equipment, the weaving processes, the designs and colors, even the tensions and textures of the final product are all part of weaving a Navajo blanket. The author guides readers through each step, from choosing the wool through carding and spinning warp and weft yarns, building and setting up a loom, creating a design, and carrying out the actual weaving. Although the emphasis is on typical blanket weaving, the author also covers the related arts of saddleblanket weaving, warp weaving, scalloped edge weaving, double-faced weaving, and sandpainting tapestries. She also comments on history, patterns, symbolism, the effect of the market, and other matters that affect the Navajo weaving style. In five appendixes she reviews the implements and materials of weaving, Navajo materials for natural dyes, weaving terms, and simple lessons in learning to weave a Navajo blanket. Nearly 100 photographs and line drawings illustrate the processes and finished work. Crafters, whether they want to start from scratch or gradually add Navajo elements to their other weaving skills, will learn from this book the authentic steps of Navajo weaving. Collectors, ethnologists, and others will learn more about materials, techniques, and related matters that will help them in judging, appraising, and enjoying the processes that go into weaving a Navajo blanket.

Weaving a Navajo Blanket

History

Reichard, Gladys A.

Americas

Dover Publications

A classic of ethnology, reproducing in full color 35 sandpaintings from this important Navajo healing ceremony and analyzing their composition and artistic devices. The rites are described and explained and the symbolism and myth they express thoroughly explored.

Sandpaintings of the Navajo Shooting Chant

Arts & Photography

Newcomb, Franc J.

History & Criticism

Reproduces the Navajo Bead Chant and Shooting Chant sandpaintings done by a revered medicine man in addition to explaining these healing rites and the legends connected with them

Navajo Medicine Man: Sandpaintings

Painting

Dover Pubns

This lively account of a pioneering anthropologist's experiences with a Navajo family grew out of the author's desire to learn to weave as a way of participating in Navajo culture rather than observing it from the outside. In 1930, when Gladys Reichard came to stay with the family of Red-Point, a well-known Navajo singer, it was unusual for an anthropologist to live with a family and become intimately connected with women's activities. First published in 1934 for a popular audience, Spider Woman is valued today not just for its information on Navajo culture but as an early example of the kind of personal, honest ethnography that presents actual experiences and conversations rather than generalizing the beliefs and behaviors of a whole culture. Readers interested in Navajo weaving will find it especially useful, but Spider Woman's picture of daily life goes far beyond rugs to describe trips to the trading post, tribal council meetings, curing ceremonies, and the deaths of family members.

Spider Woman: A Story of Navajo Weavers and Chanters

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Crafts & Hobbies

University of New Mexico Press

Navajo Medicine Man Sandpaintings

Religion & Spirituality

Peter Smith Pub Inc

Rio Grande Pr Inc

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Navajo Shepherd and Weaver

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Spider Woman: A Story Of Navajo Weavers And Chanters

Almost 90 years have passed since Gladys Reichard moved into a dug out which was built like a hogan, but without a smokehole. It was located 6 miles south of the Hubbel Trading Post in the Ganado area. A well–known Navajo singer's place, Red Point, is where Reichard spent eight summers and parts of two winters. On the Navaho reservation she learned the language and participated in daily and ceremonial life. She witnessed performances of many chants including the 'Male Shooting Chant Holy' given by Red Point. Two of these were sung over her. Reichard was considered a relative of her host family and became part of their kinship and clan relationship system, expressed in the Navajo way as a concept: k’é. Having placed herself in such a unique position and being taught to weave by 'relatives', enabled her to record in an openly biographical manner. She recorded her progress as well as trials and frustrations in becoming proficient in the art of traditional Navajo weaving. We witness and learn about daily life and ceremonial occurrences in Navajoland: the desert climate and its effect on people and animals, the growing importance of the role of trading posts for Navajo economy, the influence the railway had on the People, the early beginnings of a tribal government, a wedding ceremony, the conflicts that a new health care system brings and how it is clashing with traditional healing ceremonies. We also learn about the food being consumed, at a time when self sufficiency was still the order of the day, and the white man’s food was mostly a welcome change in the daily diet rather than a diabetes creating curse, brought upon by drastic lifestyle changes. Reichard’s book is a historical time capsule, an eyewitness report of the fast changing culture and society of the Diné in the thirties of the 20th century.

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Native Child Dinétah

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Navajo Shepherd And Weaver

Kessinger Publishing

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Reichard, Gladys A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Reichard, Gladys A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Reichard, Gladys A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Weaving a Navajo Blanket

Sandpaintings of the Navajo Shooting Chant

Navajo Medicine Man: Sandpaintings

Spider Woman: A Story of Navajo Weavers and Chanters

Navajo Medicine Man Sandpaintings

Spider Woman: A Story of Navajo Weavers and Chanters

Navajo Shepherd and Weaver

Spider Woman: A Story of Navajo Weavers and Chanters

Navajo Shepherd And Weaver

Navajo Shepherd And Weaver