Since the Navajo have a sheep based economy which belong to the women, the wool is employed as a source of income and a means of artistic expression. To be a Navajo woman means to be a weaver.

Now days, many Navajo live in cities far from sheep, so to keep weaving they can buy wool, already dyed, at the Trading Posts. Some ladies buy native wool from women on the Reservation or get it from a family member. But weaving continues!

Tradition is slow to change, but each generation of weavers will add something new. The fineness of the warp and weft count continues to increase, sides are perfectly even and designs appear to be created by computer, but it is just the competition among the artists and new stimulation from the world around.

In our Textile Category you will find decorative wool rugs woven by the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. Descendants of the Mayans, these indiginous Native Americans were highly skilled weavers of native cotton and other fibers when the Spanish arrived with sheep. They were enslaved and put to work weaving on the European style loom to produce textiles for the Spanish Crown.