"The first appointed Navaho to the National Park Service staff, serving as a ranger at Navajo National Monument, was Hubert Laughter. Today he is a member of the Tribal Council."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A picture of Navajo Jake Calletano (seated)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library

Navajo Costume 1930's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the book The Enduring Navaho: 

"Once, when we were visiting under a summer shelter, our friend Paulina was making ready to wash a few dishes. I asked her if I might make a picture showing how the Navaho can wash dishes in a tea cup full of water. She took me quite literally and, measuring out a cup, proceeded to wash the few dishes. And they were clean. It is surprising how cool it can be under one of these shelters on a hot summer day, for there is always a breeze—all one needs is shade."

 

 

 

 

 

From the book The Enduring Navaho:

 

"At Navaho Mountain we found a distinct difference in costume from that of other parts of the reservation, such as a broader collar on the women's blouses, different stitching, different use of silver buttons. Later, we were to learn that many areas have distinctive identifying stitching on the sleeves of the women's blouses. Before the days of American Occupation, the old apparel consisted (for the women) of two hand-woven mantas (rectangular pieces of cloth) secured at each shoulder and tied about the waist with a woven belt. When the women saw the pioneer white women's long cotton dresses of the 1870-1880 period, such as those worn by the Army officers' wives at Bosque Redondo, they copied them, though they quickly made adaptations to suit their own needs, eliminating the tight bodices and substituting loose, comfortable blouses. At present there is a change from the cotton skirt, worn for so long a time, to one of rayon and similar material, and shorter in length. When C. N. Cotton introduced Pendleton blankets around the 1890s, their use as wearing apparel was quickly adopted, the men wearing the full I blankets, the women the large fringed shawls."

 

 

 

"Fastened to the bow of the cradleboard there is always a charm to ward off evil—a piece of turquoise or shell. In some localities there are "lucky" cradleboards. When a mother has raised a particularly strong and healthy baby, other expectant mothers want to borrow the cradleboard, so that their children, too, may be strong and healthy. The Navaho themselves believe that the use of the cradleboard produces strong and straight backs in their children, and that the security of being bound onto the board tends to produce a calm and poised personality."

 

 

 

 

"Ever since the Navaho obtained their first sheep and horses from the Spaniards sometime in the seventeenth century, sheep and wool have become an ever increasing resource for the People. Between that time and the year 1846, when the United States took possession of the Southwest following the Mexican War, Navaho sheep had increased to 500,000 head. Later, when Kit Carson defeated the Navaho through his scorched-earth policy, much of this livestock was captured or killed. Only some 5,000 head were moved to Fort Sumner with the Navaho People; many of these died along the way, for they had not sufficient time to graze, and more died later.

When at last the Navaho were freed to return their old land in 1868, they had nothing but the hope of the promised new start that the government would send them-seed, tools, and three sheep per family. It was more than a year, a time of near starvation, before this promise was fulfilled. Before the exile there had been some small groups who, with their flocks, had hidden in the remote wild canyons of northern Arizona, while Colonel Carson was rounding up the Tribe. There is a legend that one leader of the hidden groups urged the People to conserve their sheep so that they might help their fellow tribesmen when the day of liberation came."

 

 

"The Navaho have been farmers since the beginning of their known history. Evidence of their produce was found in archaeological excavations in old Navaho-land where corn, squash, and beans were found—seeds more than four hundred years old. As the Navaho moved westward down the San Juan Valley, they planted fields wherever they settled, but these were subsistence farms of small acreage. During the past seventy-five years, this picture has been changing, until today there are some Navaho who do practice commercial farming, and there are more who wish to do so."

 

 

 

 

"Spinning. The Navaho spindle differs from that of the Pueblo spinners, and its method of use also differs greatly. The spindle consists of a round stick about twenty-five to thirty inches long, pointed at both ends. The whorl is a flat disk, four or five inches in diameter, with a hole in the center into which the stick fits. The whorl, which acts as a balance, is securely fastened to the stick about five inches from the butt end. The spinner first attaches a roving to the upper end of the spindle, and, with the butt end resting on the ground, she starts a roving onto the spindle with a spinning motion of the stick. Then, resting the upper part of the spindle on her thigh, she rolls the spindle with the palm of her right hand in a drawing motion toward her body. With the free end of the roving held in her left hand out from the top of the stick, she stretches the wool as it slips off the top of the twirling spindle (as shown in the picture of Old Lady Long Salt). The skill lies in the steady motion of the spindle as she twirls it with her right hand, while at the same time she uses just the right amount of pull to stretch the twisting strands. As a given length of roving is twisted and stretched into yarn, the spinner winds it onto the spindle just above the whorl, where it is stored until she has a sufficient amount to wind off into a ball. Each successive spinning makes the yarn finer and stronger. All Navaho yarn is spun at least twice until it is smooth and fine, and all yarn is one ply with the exception of the two-ply cords made for the selvages, so characteristic of Navaho weaving."

 

 

 

"A silversmith at work in 1934. In the winter Navaho men often wear headbands made of fur—there is no top."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Navajo weaver spinning wool into yarn; full length, seated with a loom behind her, Torre'on, New Mexico Territory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographed by Milton Snow