CCHS ART CLASS

NAVAJO WEAVING

    On November 12, art classes I and II viewed authentic Navajo rugs and other woven items that were on loan from Mr. Rod Fuller, owner of The Class Act, and from the collection owned by Mrs. Mary Murphy.  Also loaned by Mr. Fuller were books that detail the Navajo weaving process.  Mrs. Murphy has a small collection of Navajo rugs that she acquired in the three years she and her family lived in Window Rock, a Navajo Reservation.

    Mrs. Murphy gave tips on how to identify the authenticity of weavings.  Most Navajo rugs are made from goat hair that are dyed by using plants and rocks which make natural colors of cream, gray, red, and black.   The tighter the weave in a rug the more expensive the cost.  Navajo rugs are very resilient and last for years.  When a Navajo weaver make a rug, they make one mistake in the design of the rug.  The Navajo people believe that if they would make a weaving perfect, there would be no meaning to their life and they would die.  The students then tried to find the flaws in four of the rugs.                      "There's one," Amanda J. said while pointing to one red and gray rug.  "The design is wider at the top than on the bottom."

    Mrs. Hackman said, "The weavings are to inspire geometric designs for miniature rugs that the students will be hand-weaving this quarter."