Pictorial Weaving

Weaving for the market or for trade has always been a part of the Navajo economy. As soon as they learned to weave, Navajo women began to trade their weavings back to their original teachers, the Pueblos. Their well-made blankets were also part of the inventory taken to Mexico every fall by the Spanish settlers as part of their annual trade caravan. With the arrival of the Americans, and particularly the army, they had new clients-many of who commissioned these fine blankets and paid well for them. The arrival of the railroad and the establishment of trading posts brought a much wider market hat had particular tastes and needs. The Navajo adapted by ceasing to weave blankets and instead made their weavings sturdier so that they can be put on the floor as rugs.