_From Copyright Photograph 1906 by E.S. Curtis_
Owing to its lowness and its earth covering, the Navaho house, or _hogan_,
is the most inconspicuous of habitations. One might ride from morning till
night across the reservation and not observe either a hogan or an Indian,
although he has no doubt passed within a stone's throw of many of these
houses and been peered at by many more dark eyes from brush concealments.
At the end of a long day in the saddle the traveller may wonder where the
many thousands of Navaho reside; but his inquiry may be answered if he
will but climb to the summit of one of the many low mountains and view the
panorama as the long shadows of evening are creeping on. Here and there in
every direction the thin blue smoke of the campfire may be seen curling
upward as these desert people prepare their evening meal. In this clear,
rare atmosphere the far distant horizon is the only limit to his vision.
Just below, a mile or so away, may perhaps be seen the smoke from a group
of half a dozen hogans. Miles beyond is another group, and still beyond
another, and so throughout the sweep of vision. These people and their
life are delightfully Indian, but slightly influenced by the white man's
ways. As the chief human touch of the great southwestern desert the Navaho
are the artist's joy, and as a subject for the ethnologist their
ceremonial life furnishes limitless material for study.
The handicraft of the Navaho is seen at its best in their blanketry, which
is one of the most important industries of any Indians within our domain.
The greater portion of the wool from their hundreds of thousands of sheep
is used in weaving, and in addition a considerable quantity of commercial
yarn is employed for the same purpose. The origin of the textile art among
the Navaho is an open question. It is probable that they did not learn it
from anyone, but that it developed as a part of their domestic culture. It
is contended by some that the early Spanish missionaries taught the Navaho
to weave; but why should the white man be accredited with this art? The
mummies found in the prehistoric cliff-ruins of the Navaho country are
wrapped in cloth finer than any ever produced with a Navaho loom, and no
doubt now remains that Pueblo people were incorporated by the Navaho in
ancient times.
The blankets made in earlier days, say from fifty to a hundred and fifty
years ago, are beautiful examples of primitive handicraft. The body of a
so-called bayeta blanket was woven of close-spun native wool, dyed dark
blue, while the red pattern was from the ravellings of Spanish bayeta.
Much of the beauty of the old blankets is due to the mellowing of the
native colors by age, but practically none of these rare examples are to
be found among the Navaho at the present time. The blankets of to-day may
be roughly divided into three classes: 1. Those made from the close-spun
native yarn dyed in the old colors and woven in the simple old patterns;
when aged they closely resemble the old bayeta blankets. 2. Blankets woven
in a great variety of designs from coarse, loose-spun yarn dyed with
commercial dyes of many shades; these are the Navaho blankets of commerce.
3. Those woven from commercial or "Germantown" yarn; they are of fine
texture and sometimes beautiful, but lack interest in that their material
is not of Indian production. Fortunately the decrease in the demand for
blankets woven of commercial yarn is discouraging their manufacture.
The Navaho woman weaves her blanket not so much for profit as for love of
the work. It is her recreation, her means of expressing imagination and
her skill in execution. Civilized women may write books, paint pictures,
or deliver ringing addresses; these are unknown worlds to the Navaho
woman: but when after months of labor she finishes a blanket, her pride in
her work of art is indeed well justified.
Because of their pastoral life the Navaho are not villagers. Their
dome-shaped, earth-covered hogans are usually grouped two or three in the
same locality. The summer house is a rude brush shelter, usually made with
four corner posts, a flat top of brush, and a windbreak of the same
material as a protection against the hot desert siroccos. The hogan
proper, used for storage during the summer, affords a warm and comfortable
shelter to its occupants through the cold winters of their high altitude.
When a hogan is built it is ceremonially consecrated, and if an occupant
should die in it, it is forever deserted and is called _tsi{~COMBINING BREVE~}ndi hogan_,
"evil house." No Navaho will go near such a house or touch anything taken
from it. If a meal were cooked with decayed wood from a hogan a hundred
years deserted, a Navaho, even if starving, could not be induced to
partake of it. Thus strong are the religious beliefs of this primitive
people.
[Illustration: The Blanket Maker - Navaho]