Pictorial Weaving, Tree of Life

Dateca. 1930

MediumHandspun wool and commercial dyes Warp: undyed yarn z-spun, no ply; 8 warps per inch Weft: multicolored yarns, z-spun, no ply

DimensionsOH 58 7/8" x OW 36 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Rex and Pat Lucke

Object number2019.609.7

DescriptionThis is a rectangular woven textile (rug) of native handspun wool and commercial dyes. The colors are grey, brown, dark brown/black, red, orange, and natural white/cream. The brown and grey wool is undyed. The design consists of a stylized flowering tree with ten birds. At the bottom of the weaving on either side of a stylized root are heads of steer. The weaving is bordered in geometric patterns.
Label TextNavajo weavers acquired the fundamental elements of their weaving skills from the Pueblo people who fled to Navajo territory in the wake of their revolt against the Spanish in 1680. Navajo women learned to weave using upright looms by observing Pueblo men and soon became masters in their own right. By the early eighteenth century, the Spanish sought out Navajo weavings as they considered them to be superior to those made in Mexico.

In 1848, the United States annexed the lands occupied by the Navajo. After a series of violent conflicts that eventually led to the forced removal of over 9,000 Navajo to Fort Sumner, the United States relocated the Navajo to a reservation located on borders between the territories of Arizona and New Mexico.

Economic changes accompanied the forced resettlement of the Navajo people. Beginning in the 1870s, the United States government established trading posts within the reservation, encouraging the Navajo to abandon their subsistence-based economy in favor of a market-oriented one. This trend accelerated with the arrival of the Santa Fe railroad in the 1880s, which connected the Navajo to the broader Anglo-American marketplace for the first time.

With the arrival of American traders, Navajo women were able to acquire chemical dyes and machine-made yarns for their weavings. The style of Navajo weavings changed as well; in addition to traditional, geometric patterns, weavers began to produce pictorial designs.

The availability of new, machine-made goods such as Pendleton blankets caused a sharp decline in demand for Navajo weavings during the late nineteenth century. Seeking to adapt to the American market, Navajo weavers began to produce floor rugs, mimicking the “Oriental” designs that were popular in the eastern United States.

This weaving demonstrates how Navajo weavers incorporated “Oriental” and traditional motifs into their designs. The tree of life is a popular design that frequently appeared on carpets produced for the American market. In this rendering, the tree of life is represented as a corn stalk, one of the four sacred plants given to the Navajo by the Holy People. Other traditional meanings are embedded into this picture; the corn silk represents prayers and the sacredness of life, the birds perched on the corn stalk are spiritual messengers, and the roots represent the connection between the living and the lower worlds as well as the ancestral knowledge passed from generation to generation.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Rex and Pat Lucke