Pueblo Textile Timeline

Cotton threads were discovered in a cave and dated back to 300 B.C. in Tularosa, New Mexico. 

Basket Maker II: Characterized by weaving in baste fibers such as yucca and Apocynum (Indian hemp) fibers, animal hair, fur, turkey feathers, and human hair. Non-loom textiles were the most common. 

Basket Maker III: Cotton became available but not in large quantities as would be needed to further develop loom weaving until about 700. 

Pueblo I: Earliest reliably dated cotton fabrics in plain weave, weft face, solid white, and natural brown. 

Pueblo II: Belt loom certain by 1100. Cotton becomes predominant. 

Pueblo III: Vertical loom becomes a basic Ancestral Puebloan form of weaving. Weaving becomes highly divresified and included in both loomed and non-loomed techniques. Including but not limited to plain weave, twill weave, brocade, warp-face, open work/gauze weave, twining, braiding. (Textile Arts dispersed to Rio Grande and Hopi areas towards the end of this period. Techniques influenced by various cultures of the south, including the Hohokam and Mogollan groups which were influenced by cultures within Mexico). 

Hopi becomes the textile center of the Southwest. Rio Grande Pueblos were producing some plain weave cloth, including breech clothes, kilts, mantas, belts, shoulder blankets, and painted or embroidered cloth. 

Spanish Influence on Pueblo Weaving 

Historic Pueblo

Weaving in cotton in addition to flax and sheep wool introduced by the Spanish. Crochet and knitting introduced by the Spanish replaced earlier open-work techniques. 

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They forced fiber labor and demands for tributes to the Spanish strained Spanish/Pueblo relations leading to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. A sharp decline in Pueblo Weaving along the Rio Grande resulted from Spanish labor demands on Pueblo people, drought, and Navajo/Apache raids on Pueblos. Many Rio Grande Pueblos are abandoned. 

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Embroidery proliferates as a means of decoration as wool, metal needles, and dyes such as indigo and cochineal are introduced by the Spanish and Indigenous Mexican groups accompanying the Spanish. 

Classic Period Textiles

Traditional spinning and weaving techniques changed little, if at all, from the historic period. 

Textiles produced in this period set the standard for collections and defined Traditional Pueblo Weaving today. 

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Hopi continue to be the primary producer of traditional textiles to the Rio Grande Pueblos and other groups, including Navajo, White Mountain Apache, and Havasupai. 

Anglo-American Influence

The advent railroad in New Mexico. 

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Introduction of aniline dyes, commercial Germantown woolen yarns, commercial fabrics, cotton string (1890), sewing machines became available to many Eastern Pueblos. 

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Introduction of the Indian Education System, along with effort to assimilate Pueblo Children into Anglo-American society; cultural preservation became a constant struggle. 

Artistic Revivals and Contemporary Textiles 

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Anglo's interest in Indian arts and crafts stems from the general curiosity about "Indian Culture."

Wage work virtually diminishes the number of Pueblo Weavers. 

Santa Fe Indian School was converted into the Institute of American Indian Art, which trained Native American youth in Euro-American and Traditional Pueblo art forms, including Pueblo Embroidery (Pueblo Stitching) Warp-Face belts. 

Renewed interest in Pueblo Textiles among the Pueblos. Museums and Indian School Service schools get involved in teaching embroidery and weaving in cotton in Arizona and Mexico. The proliferation of Indian Craft Sales/Exhibits sponsored by Indian and Non-Indian organizations. Programs to teach weaving at Rio Grande Pueblos. 

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Due to Anglo views on modern gender roles, Pueblo girls were taught needlework, including sewing, knitting, crocheting, and weaving. 

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Commercial monks cloth (balanced weave) became available and slowly replaced the hand-woven Mantas and Kilts in the Rio Grande Pueblos.

Current State of Pueblo Textiles Arts Production

.An estimated 20 active weavers at Hopi. An estimated 100 in 1998

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Today there is little to no economic incentive for Pueblo Weavers as the Work in preparation, weaving and finishing a piece is extremely time consuming. Few are willing to pay a weaver fairly for their work. As a result, most woven pieces are for ceremonial use and are mostly sold or traded among the Pueblo People themselves. 

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The current market is flooded with less expensive copies of finer pueblo belts. Many, both Native and non-native, are content with paying ($30-$90) for a Navajo woven belt than a ($100-$200+) finely spun and woven double-faced Pueblo Belt.

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Many of today's Pueblo Weavers weave for reasons grounded in Indigenous thought, belief and cultural expression. Most Pueblo Weavers do not make a living from their work.