Excerpt from Museum Stories for Children, Vol. 21: September-December, 1933 One of the chief arts of the North American Indians is that of weaving blankets. When the Spaniards came to our country they found beautiful blankets and fine weaving among the Pueblo and Navaho Indians of the southwest. Perhaps these Indians learned this art from their neighbors to the south; or they may have originated it themselves because they needed and sought something better than mere skins for clothing. In the early days, the Hopi Indians wove principally their own cotton to which they added some fibers of the yucca plants and animal hairs. When sheep were introduced by the Spaniards, they began to use a little wool. Their weaving is more complicated than that of other tribes. They not only produce a plain weave, but a checked one, and another which shows a repeated figure, usually a diamond. Among the Hopis it is the men who do most of the weaving of the blankets, shawls, sashes, and clothing. A lovely custom is still followed in weaving the bride's clothing. After the most important of the wedding ceremonies, the bridegroom' s father distributes cotton to all his men relatives and friends. They spin and weave this cotton for the bride, working for several days or weeks. During that time, the bride stays with her husband and his family helping to cook and feed the weavers. Very carefully and beautifully the men weave a large White robe, a small white robe, and a wide, white belt with long fringe. When all are finished the bride wraps the small robe about herself, puts on white buck-skin boots and prepares to go to her mother's house where the young couple make their home for a while. She carries the large robe and belt in a rolled mat made of reeds bound together. After the wedding she uses the robes on ceremonial occasions and finally, the small one is wrapped around her body when death takes the little Indian woman to Maski, the Home of Hopi Souls. The Indians of the northwest coast seem to delight in color and movement. Perhaps their main thought is of the clan or family symbol which is expressed 1n totem poles, house fronts, house interiors, canoes, boxes and blankets. The Chilkats weave the most beautiful, fantastic blankets full of myths, and made in three colors - black, yellow and greenish blue. Although the women weave the blankets they are not supposed to be familiar with the designs and so copy them from patterns which have been drawn on boards by the men. The design containsthe clan emblem and is usually of one or several animals so highly conventionalized that the Indians themselves can hardly explain them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.