Navajo Weaving Art Analysis - Essay Example

THE NAVAJO WEAVING ART: INSPIRED BY SPIRITUALITY OR NECESSITY Relaying the story of the Navajo art of weaving which triumphed and transcended over the wear and tear of time evokes two distinct narratives on how it started and progressed. Navajo weaving could be told of both spiritual and temporal manner. The spiritual side tells that the Navajo people, like they believe, learned the art of weaving from the infamous Spider Woman, who weaved with the looms of "sky and earth cords with the weaving tools of sunlight, lightning, white shell and crystal" (Bernstein) by the command of the Spider Man (Explore the Navajo Nation), both Navajo deities while they were still in the underworld where weaving governs their activities. The underworld is just one of the many worlds where the Navajo community was believed to transcend; the others were mentioned as: The first world, where Navajos originated, was inhabited by Insect People of twelve types. For their sins of adultery and constant quarreling, the gods expelled them by sending a wall of water from all directions. The Insect People flew up into the second world, guided through a hole in the sky by a cliff swallow. The second world was a barren world inhabited by Swallow People. They decided to stay anyway, but after 24 days, one of the Insect People made love to the wife of the Swallow People's chief. They were expelled to the third world; the white face of the wind told them of an opening. The third world was a barren world of Grasshopper People. Again, the Insect People were expelled for philandering after 24 days. The red face of the wind guided them to the hole to the fourth world. This world was inhabited by animals and Pueblos, with whom the Insect People coexisted peacefully. The gods made people in human form from ears of corn, different colors of corn becoming different tribes. The Insect People intermarried with them, and their descendants eventually looked fully human. In time, the men and women argued and decided to live apart. But both groups engaged in unnatural sex acts, and eventually the women were starving, so they got back together. The gods were displeased by their sins, though, and sent a wall of water upon them. The people noticed animals running and sent cicadas to investigate. They escaped the floodwaters by climbing into a fast-growing reed. Cicada dug an entrance into the fifth world, which was inhabited by grebes. The grebes said that people could have that world if they could survive plunging arrows into their heart. The cicadas met this challenge (they bear the scars on their sides still), and people live in the fifth world today. (Terzoulin) The Holy People marked their territories through the found mountains the put four sacred mountains in four different directions: Mt. Hesperus in the north, Mt. Blanca in the east, Mt. Taylor in the south, San Francisco Peaks in the west, which through their interaction with the Navajo people, shared with them the means and ways of doing everday activities in life, "in harmony" with Mother Earth. "The Dineh believe there are two classes of beings: the Earth People and the Holy People. The earth People are ordinary mortals, while the Holy People are spiritual beings that cannot be seen. Holy People are believed to aid or harm Earth People." (Explore the Navajo Nation) On the contrary, the temporal side, which is supported by several anthropologists, historians and artists proposes that the weaving was a skill acquired by the Navajo Didine (people) from their interraction with the Pueblo weavers during the mid-17th century. (Bernstein) Economic situations during the Navajo's transfer to Bosque Redondo at Fort Summer after Colonel Kit Carson induced an adoption of General Sherman of the US' "scorched death", which was then later called "The Navajo Threat", and their exposure to trade and tourists while having problems in earning salaries all contributed to the eventual change in their weaving culture and style. (Anderson) When the Navajo got rugged under the US, they experienced sudden changes in economic, cultural and social interaction. Canyon de Chelly turned down, peach trees and Navajo homes were burnt, their flocks of sheeps and animals burnt, ensuring their starvation. Eight thousand Navajo natives were compelled to walk and travel to Fort Summer, New Mexico. Subsequently, the US' intention to convert them to an agricultural society failed as it had not suited their way of living. Recorded deaths have also followed due to the vulnerability of the tribe. As the scheme did not work, US thought something should be changed, thus, the Navajo community was commanded to return to their previous land. This act, particularly the issuance of sheep as part of an annuity sparked once again, the emergence of the Navajo community. (Anderson) "During the forced imprisonment at Bosque Redondo, the army issued wool and cotton thread to the Navajos. They were able to continue weaving". (Navajo Weaving: A Study Cultural Change and Adaptability) Weaving patterns and quality of the rugs and apparels were dictated by how the Navajo weavers adapted to the change in their economic, social and cultural environments. The 1600s to the mid 1800s, the Navajos weaved to suit their own needs in clothing like wearing blankets and belts. The first patterns were linear with huge black and white stripes, which were characteristics of the Pueblo and Mexican weavings. The Navajos produced these textiles through their own sheeps from which they get their wools. Contact with the traders and the opening of the Sta. Fe Trail and after the contact with settlers of the 19th century and its circumstances, Navajo weavers had a revolution in their use of yarns, color, patterns and weaving techniques. "They...began selling their woven goods to white, which also began selling their woven goods to whites, which meant producing patterns pleasing to Anglo tastes."Starting from the 1800s onwards, weavings were characterize more as rugs rather than clothing. "Looms were adapted to produce hallway rugsand wall hangings rather than the traditional blankets. (Navajo Weavings) Navajo weavings have gained popularity among artists and collectors of the 20th century. Manufacturing of these genuine articles consists much of the earnings of the Navajo community. Museums like the Navajo Nation Museum and the Arizona State Museum boasts of the many collection of Navajo rugs and blankets to represent the different influences, timeframes and techniques the Navajo weavers have learned to develop. Influences or decisions as to whethere the narratives were to be considered as historical facts have both been decided by the Navajo Nation and the non-Indian communities of historians, ethnographers, researchers, artists and similar people involved in critiquing the art. A sense of pride prevails when Navajo weaving, more than being as an art, is seen as a manner of preserving the memories of the community's affairs and milestones. What could be derived from it are stories within stories-with the art of the rug conveying a sense of artistry and aesthetics and within the artwork, a mystery, another story waiting to be decoded. Still, in the academe, both the spiritual and temporal aspects of telling the Navajo weaving history is considered and both is seen as vital in promoting the Navajo weaving art. Some scholars, in their profound understanding and interest in the culture and art of Navajo weaving, have resorted to many different studies and inerpretation of the art. These attitudes towards proliferating, teaching or informing abou the art have been through the critique and development of Navajo folk art, and other specific studies conducted to further unearth the logic behind the art of Navajo weaving. Some of these afficionados as Kathy M'Closkey state their skepticism: ...the majority of ethnographic, historic, and aesthetic studies propose that weaving is a skill the Navajo acquired after they arrived in the American Southwest. Much of these latter studies are inundated with recycled romantic stereotypes about Navajo weaving and weavers, and the relations between weavers and traders. Still, since such studies received broad circulation they inevitably influenced the formation of ideas and standards about Navajo weaving and culture. With few exceptions, these ideas have been Euro-American-centered. Kathy M'Closkey's Swept under the Rug sets out to deconstruct the cultural history of Navajo weaving; provide a more emic information about the aesthetic and cultural context of Navajo weaving; and critique the art world that functions within confines that span between trading posts, auction houses, museums, art dealers, ethnographers, and historians, but overlooks the weavers and their cultural milieu. ...The book subsequently provides a fresh look at previously uncontested, and often recycled, idealistic stereotypes of the relation between weavers and traders that have dominated the literature. M'Closkey also breaks away from the mold by providing a voice to Navajo weavers, whose views on weaving and its cultural meanings have gone almost unnoticed by scholars (and thus unknown in the general public). Swept under the Rug writes weavers into the pages of history and gives them a forum, albeit limited, to influence readers' views on weaving and its place in Navajo cultural context. ...Much of the exploitation of Navajo weavers that M'Closkey alludes to has been justified by academic publications that furthered the view that Navajo rugs are secular craft products, not religious art. Academic scholars tend to use the prevailing Euro-American standards of cultural history. (Orit) Agents of the art have different intentions in collecting or patronizing the arts, and these interests define their attitude toward the art, given a proposed change in the perspective of viewing the artforms. Appreciation of art is relative and appreciation comes with knowing the history of the artform. In the case of Navajo weavings, the rich plethora of the history that it surpassed-be it spiritual or temporal helped in making the art more interesting, more sellable and worthy of being studied. The room for developing the artform will cause the incorporation of the influences of modern art (or modern Navajo art) into weaving and creating a piece of history. To represent the Navajo art in furthering the development of the discourse is to appreciate and utilize the art as it should be. As an art student, the possibility of incorporating the influences and styles of the Navajo art in one's own artforms and design activities, leading discussions and debates about its significance (given the profound knowledge about it) and personally witnessing the actual materials to gain more understanding about it would surely aid furthering the development of the learning process involved in studying the craft. Works Cited Bernstein, Bruce. A Brief Social History of Navajo Weaving. Cruz Bay Publishing Inc. September 24, 2007. < http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa064.shtml>. Explore the Navajo Nation. Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Navajoland Tourism. Anderson, Lee and Anderson, Erick. A History of Navajo Weaving. Anderson's Americana Indian and Western Shows. < http://www.americana.net/rugs_article.html- history of navajo weavings> Terzoulin, Gaz. Navajo Weaving to World War II True Story. Newsfinder. March 3, 2009. < http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/navajo_stories_from_weaving_to_world_war_ii_ true_story/> Navajo Weaving: A Study Cultural Change and Adaptability. Cultures and Histories of the American Southwest. Navajo weavings. University of Missouri-Columbia. . Tamir, Orit. The More They Weave the Poorer They Become. Humanities and Social Science Online. 2006. < http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.phpid=12475>. Read More