Well-known anthropologist Lamphere highlights the voices of three generations of Navajo women who are weaving their traditional beliefs with modern American culture to create a new blueprint for their lives and the next generations.

According to the Navajos, the holy people Spider Man and Spider Woman first brought the tools for weaving to the People. Over the centuries Navajo artists have used those tools to weave a web of beauty—a rich tradition that continues to the present day. In testimony to this living art form, this book presents 74 dazzling color plates of Navajo rugs and wall hangings woven between 1971 and 1996. Drawn from a private southwestern collection, they represent the work of sixty of the finest native weavers in the American Southwest. The creations depicted here reflect a number of styles—revival, sandpainting, pictorial, miniature, sampler—and a number of major regional variations, from Ganado to Teec Nos Pos. Textile authority Ann Hedlund provides an introductory narrative about the development of Navajo textile collecting—including the shift of attention from artifacts to art—and a brief review of the history of Navajo weaving. She then comments on the shaping of the particular collection represented in the book, offering a rich source of knowledge and insight for other collectors. Explaining themes in Navajo weaving over the quarter-century represented by the Santa Fe Collection, Hedlund focuses on the development of modern rug designs and the influence on weavers of family, community, artistic identity, and the marketplace. She also introduces each section of plates with a description of the representative style, its significance, and the weavers who perpetuate and deviate from it. In addition to the textile plates, Hedlund’s color photographs show the families, landscapes, livestock, hogans, and looms that surround today’s Navajo weavers. Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century explores many of the important connections that exist today among weavers through their families and neighbors, and the significant role that collectors play in perpetuating this dynamic art form. For all who appreciate American Indian art and culture, this book provides invaluable guidance to the fine points of collecting and a rich visual feast.

Jaclyn Roessel live in Kayenta, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation. Like most young girls, Jaclyn has many interests. She likes her math class, she plays basketball and volleyball, and she loves in-line skating. She is also interested in rug weaving, and

From the mid-17th century to the present day, herding sheep, carding wool, spinning yarn, dyeing with native plants, and weaving on iconic upright looms have all been steps in the intricate process of Navajo blanket and rug making in the American Southwest. Beginning in the late 1800s, amateur and professional photographers documented the Diné (Navajo) weavers and their artwork, and the images they captured tell the stories of the artists, their homes, and the materials, techniques, and designs they used. Many postcards illustrate popular interest surrounding weaving as an indigenous art form, even as economic, social, and political realities influenced the craft. These historical pictures illuminate perceived traditional weaving practices. The authors' accompanying narratives deepen the perspective and relate imagery to modern life.

Weaving Is Life features multiple generations of Navajo weavers. Exquisitely crafted artworks and compelling first-hand narratives demonstrate how Navajo weaving functions as an important carrier of cultural values. Those with expertise in weaving practice are valued repositories of traditional cultural knowledge. Navajo weaving reinforces and allows the artist to participate in values of hard work, thrift, and creativity. It facilitates knowledge of and the proper care and nurturing of the environment. Weavers are depended upon to convey insight and expertise to subsequent generations, which has served to further important mother-daughter and grandmother-granddaughter bonds. Featured artists include D. Y. Begay, Grace Henderson Nez, Mary Henderson Begay, Gloria Jean Begay, Glenabah Hardy, Irene Clark, Teresa Clark, Lillie Taylor, Rosie Taylor, and Diane Taylor-Beall. D. Y. Begay also contributes an insightful essay on her experience as co-curator of the exhibition that accompanies this publication. Essays by Janet Catherine Berlo and Jennifer McLerran focus on the transcultural development of Navajo weaving, exploring the influence of varied markets and audiences-including indigenous, tourist, and fine arts-on traditional forms and practices. Museum educator Sally Delgado addresses the educational value of Navajo weaving practices for non-Native students.