A New Deal for Navajo Weaving provides a detailed history of early to mid-twentieth-century Diné weaving projects by non-Natives who sought to improve the quality and marketability of Navajo weaving but in so doing failed to understand the cultural significance of weaving and its role in the lives of Diné women. By the 1920s the durability and market value of Diné weavings had declined dramatically. Indian welfare advocates established projects aimed at improving the materials and techniques. Private efforts served as models for federal programs instituted by New Deal administrators. Historian Jennifer McLerran details how federal officials developed programs such as the Southwest Range and Sheep Breeding Laboratory at Fort Wingate in New Mexico and the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild. Other federal efforts included the publication of Native natural dye recipes; the publication of portfolios of weaving designs to guide artisans; and the education of consumers through the exhibition of weavings, aiding them in their purchases and cultivating an upscale market. McLerran details how government officials sought to use these programs to bring the Diné into the national economy; instead, these federal tactics were ineffective because they marginalized Navajo women and ignored the important role weaving plays in the resilience and endurance of wider Diné culture.

The most complete and current history of the largest American Indian nation in the U.S., based on extensive new archival research, traditional histories, interviews, and personal observation.

From the mid-17th century to the present day, herding sheep, carding wool, spinning yarn, dyeing with native plants, and weaving on iconic upright looms have all been steps in the intricate process of Navajo blanket and rug making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1800s, amateur and professional photographers documented the Diné (Navajo) weavers and their artwork, and the images they captured tell the stories of the artists, their homes, and the materials, techniques, and designs they used. Many postcards illustrate popular interest surrounding weaving as an indigenous art form, even as economic, social, and political realities influenced the craft. These historical pictures illuminate perceived traditional weaving practices. The authors' accompanying narratives deepen the perspective and relate imagery to modern life.

"The rugs used in Craftsman interiors are, arguably, the most under-studied of all the decorative arts of the Arts and Crafts movement. These rugs were at once useful and beautiful, and they added subdued color, rugged texture, and understated pattern to the rooms they graced, playing a fundamental role in the visual harmony of the Craftsman domestic interior. Though Stickley was primarily a furniture maker and a publisher and did not manufacture rugs, he did choose them, and his choices completed the elegant simplicity of the Craftsman house. He often considered the art of rug making in The Craftsman, and he also used the magazine to advertise the affordable, well-designed rugs that he sold in his retail stores and mail-order catalogs for at least thirteen years." "Arts and Crafts Rugs for Craftsman Interiors considers both the rugs that The Craftsman recommended and designs by artists who influenced the work and philosophy of Stickley. Among the rugs discussed are works by British Arts and Crafts luminaries William Morris, Gavin Morton, C. F. A. Voysey, and Evelyn Gleeson; druggets imported from India; Navajo blankets and rugs; and rare Crex and Abnakee examples. Presenting an engaging study of an overlooked aspect of the Arts and Crafts movement, this essential publication includes more than 125 color and black-and-white illustrations, many of them featuring rugs drawn primarily from the collection of Crab Tree Farm." --Book Jacket.

A catalog for a traveling exhibition of Native American folk art presents and describes hand-woven textiles from the Pueblo, Navajo, and New Mexico Hispanic village cultures