THE NAVAJO

This textile is an example of a Third Phase Chief Blanket. It boasts a red, possibly cochineal-dyed, nine-spot pattern with a central terraced diamond, quarter-diamonds at the corners, and half-diamonds at the center of the sides and top and bottom edges. There are three principal blue bands with narrow red stripes divided by two sections of alternating three cream and two blue stripes. The blue is derived from indigo.

Historically, the term ‘Chief Blanket’ is a misnomer for a type of blanket that was never intended to denote rank or gender (Wheat 1976: 44). First Phase Chief Blankets consist of brown natural churro wool, indigo blue, and white, forming bands and stripes. During the 1800s, the Navajo began to outline the blue stripes at the ends and center with a narrow edging of crimson “bayeta” (Wheat 1976: 47). These blankets were especially prized by the neighboring Ute, Cheyenne, and other Plains tribes to the north Indians and the Sioux (Penney 2004: 98; Wheat 1976: 50). By the 1850s, the style was evolving into the Second Phase. Rather than paralleling the blue stripes, the raveled crimson threads were “concentrated into rectangular blocks which interrupted each blue stripe at the ends and in the center, thus creating twelve ‘spots’ of color” (Wheat 1976: 50). By 1870, when the Navajo had returned to their homeland, the twelve-spot pattern had become a nine-spot pattern with a central terraced diamond, quarter-diamonds at the corners, and half-diamonds at the center of the sides and top and bottom edges.

Although the Third Phase Chief Blanket featured here fits the standard design, the Navajo wove many variations on this theme. Variations such as serrated and terraced patterns, zigzag designs, meanders, and cross motifs can be seen throughout the AAHC’s collection of Navajo textiles. For more on Chief Blankets, we recommend the following readings, Wheat c2003, Wheat 1976, Penney 2004, and Mera 1938.