Mary Lois Kissell

“ Here the loom work is at a more advanced stage of development than that of the northern area, the weavers making use of a loom frame, sheds, healds, batten and an improvised shuttle. The Navajo Indians are the most skilled weavers north of Mexico and a description of their weaving is fairly typical of this area. ”

“ In technic the blanket is related to the last one described for it is a twine weaving, but a twilled twine as the two strand weft encloses two warps at a move and with each succeeding line of weft advances one warp giving the surface a twilled effect. ”

“ Then the hairs are plucked out and thrown away and the wool is ready to be spun. During the spinning the woman also sits upon the ground with legs outstretched, with the crude wool by her left side within easy reach. ”

“ She [6] finishes the edge by turning up the warp ends below the last line of weft and binds them with a row of twining just above this last weft.
FIGURE 2.—MAT WITH CHECKED DESIGN.
In their industries, primitive people always utilize the materials found in their environment, because no means is afforded them, as in modern life, for the transportation of materials from a distance. British Columbia is rich in cedar trees, so it is not strange that material from this tree enters so largely into the weaving of this region. ”

“ They make constant use of the diagonal or twilled technic, a weave which requires that the warps be divided into four sheds, the [17] upper supplied with a shed stick, the three lower with healds. The sheds are shifted in a variety of orders for the construction of different patterns. ”