Reichard, Gladys Amanda

The Navajo religion is based on a central core of doctrine and philosophy which the author sketched understandingly in her introduction. This embodies broad ideas that one recognizes immediately as part of the reservoir of universal religious thinking. The Navaho, largest and most colorful Indian tribe in the United States, is superficially the best known. ?Navajo Religion; a Study of Symbolism? tries to demonstrate that there is much more to the dance, song, and sand-painting than the primitiveness that meets the casual eye; that there is a religious system which has for years enabled the Navajo to retain their identity in a rapidly changing world.

An ethnographic study of the Navajo covers kin terms, dyadic relationships, descent groups, marriage rules, and ceremonies.

This Dover edition, first published in 1974, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the work originally published by J.J. Augustin, Publishers, New York in 1936 under the title ‘Navajo Shepherd and Weaver’. The author spent four summers (1930-1933) living and working among the Navajos, during which time she learned among other things the principles of weaving. In this book she takes the reader through the same process, introducing the careful details, the personalities she worked with, and the materials and methods of weaving in the Navajo style. The spinning of the yrar, the dyes, the equipment, the weaving processes, the designs and colors, even the tensions and textures of the final product are all part of weaving a Navajo blanket. In this book, the author takes you through each step, from the choosing of the wool, through carding an dspinning warp and weft yarns, building and setting up a loom, creating a design and carrying out the actual weaving. While the emphasis is on typical blanket weaving, the author also covers the related arts of saddleblanket weaving, warp weaving, scalloped edge weaving, double-faced weaving and sandpainting tapestries. She also comments on history, pattrens, symbolism, the effect of the market, and other matters that affact the Navajo weaving style. In five appendices she reviews the implements and materials of weaving, Navajo materials for natural dyes, weaving, terms, and simple lessons in learing to weave a navajo blanket. 97 photographs and line drawings illustrate the processes and finished work. Craftsmen, whether they want to start from scratch or gradually add Navajo elements to their other weaving skills, will learn from this book the authentic steps of Navajo weaving. Collectors, ethnologists, and others will learn more about materials, techniques and related matters that will ehlp them in judging, appraising, and enjoying the processes that go into weaving a Navajo blanket.