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Professor (mate)
   All right...so last time we discussed the Navajo migration to the American Southwest, which probably occurred between 1300 and 1500 AD. Today we’ll be addressing that theme again, but Q12 I’d like to go into a little more depth about one aspect of Navajo culture: their textiles.
   According to anthropologists, Navajo weavers likely picked up their skills after arriving in the Southwest...probably from neighboring Pueblo peoples, who’d been creating cotton textiles for several hundred years. In turn, these Pueblo weavers were probably influenced by Spanish weavers, who first brought wool to North America.
   Q13 Now...there’s an important event in Pueblo history that I want to mention here, because it explains why there was so much, urn, cultural interchange between them and the Navajo. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680. That’s when many Pueblo people started a rebellion against their Spanish occupiers. But the Spanish weren’t driven out completely and ended up re-conquering the territory. Q16 After this, some Pueblo people fled to Navajo territory...um, bringing their weaving traditions with them. And this is what led to the development of Navajo weaving.
   Ok. Getting back to what I was saying...we know the Navajo have been weaving for at least the past 300 years, but we don’t really know too much about the history of Navajo weavers before that time. And, unfortunately, there aren’t many surviving examples of Navajo weavings from before the nineteenth century. But despite that, experts have managed to define some, uh, general characteristics of early Navajo textiles...which were mostly blankets.They refer to the years between about 1680 and 1865 as the Classical Period. The earliest Navajo textiles from the Q12 Classical Period are extremely close in style to Pueblo weavings of the same era. Q14(B) Patterns generally featured, urn, plain stripes or terraces-simpler versions of patterns they developed later. Q14(C) In terms of color, the earliest Classical Period textiles made use of the natural colors of different wools, You’d see a range from white to brown. Gradually, Navajo weavers began using dyes, some of which they obtained through trade--like indigo--and some they made from local plants. At first, dyes were mainly blue, yellow, and green. But, urn, by the eighteenth century, Navajo weavers were using a vibrant red they got by unraveling imported cloth.
   In the nineteenth century, two important factors influenced Navajo textiles and started making them different from Pueblo textiles. Both of these influences were imported: Hispanic weaving motifs and factory-dyed yarns.Textiles from this period are considered to be a style of their own. So, urn, weavings created between about 1865 and 1880 are part of the Q12 Late Classical Period. This period is characterized by a movement toward brighter colors and more complex geometric patterns that included diamonds and zigzags. In addition, weavers began producing small, decorative blankets that could be used as saddle blankets, which they traded with soldiers.
   The next period in Navajo textiles is called the Q12 Transitional Period, and it covers the years between, urn, 1880 and 1895. Well, it probably started a little earlier...a gradual shift...but that’s not important. Q15 During this era, the U.S. government tried to seize control of Navajo lands and move the people to a reservation. They killed thousands of people and destroyed crops and livestock, Without their sheep, the Navajo had no wool to make their textiles. Eventually, as reparation, the government ended up providing Navajo weavers with factory-produced yarns. So, uh, as a result, textiles made during the Transitional Period showed a lot of chemically produced colors, like bright reds, oranges, and yellows.
   Between 1895 and 1950, Navajo textiles passed through a phase known as the Q12 Rug Period. During this period, Navajo textiles took on a new purpose. While previously they were mainly used for blankets and clothing, tourism opened up a new market...um, for decorative rugs. Traders recognized the opportunity and encouraged Navajo weavers to develop original styles that could be sold to the rest of the nation. As the traders made special requests for certain, urn, styles and colors they thought their customers would appreciate, traditional Navajo textile styles branched off into regional styles...named for the trading posts where they developed.
   OK, finally...textiles produced after 1950 are part of the Q12 Contemporary Period, which is still going today. Q17 Contemporary Period textiles are mainly used as wall hangings, not floor coverings. So they’ve taken on a bigger role as art...rather than something that people use. I don’t need to explain that distinction, do I? Good. Well...and today, works of art created by Navajo weavers can be seen in art museums all over the country.