Blanket

Artist Diné (Navajo)

Datec. 1870

Mediumnatural handspun wool and bayeta (unraveled wool cloth); vegetal dyes

Dimensions54 1/4 × 45 inches (137.8 × 114.3 cm)
Other (velcro): 41 1/4 inches (104.8 cm)

Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965

Object number82.900.177

ClassificationsTextiles

DescriptionYarn colors are navy, brown, pink and white. Narrow alternating stripes and terraced bands.

Label TextResearchers date this blanket to around 1870. That places the work of art in the early days of the reservation, after the Long Walk of 1864. The United States government forced the Diné (Navajo) people from their traditional lands. They were in what is now Arizona and western New Mexico. The Diné walked to Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. The journey and poor conditions at settlement had devastating effects. In 1868, the Diné were finally able to return to a portion of their homelands. The treaty of Bosque Redondo created the reservation. In the early reservation period, the resilient people developed new patterns for their weavings. The maker of this blanket combined design elements. She used thin stripes, an influence from Pueblo weavings. She combined those with broader bands accented with a terraced motif for a bold effect.

ProvenanceMaisel's Indian Trading Post, Albuquerque, New Mexico; purchased April 6, 1961 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

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