Common Threads

Currently on exhibit at the Southwest Museum's new satellite space in Los Angeles, is an extravaganza of Pueblo and Navajo loom-woven textiles.

Common Threads brings together 93 of the most culturally significant and aesthetically captivating weavings - a collection that spans a 150-year period.

Rare ponchos, pictorial tapestries, chief-style blankets and mantas (many of which have never been publicly displayed before) adorn the museum's walls, creating a visually stunning mosaic of color and design.

"The weaver was always creating in beauty. She wove with songs and prayers, and adhered to the philosophy of Spider Woman, the spiritual entity that gave the Navajo and Pueblo the knowledge of weaving. All these Native cultural nuances were intact when she wove, and it's really the spiritual essence of these artists that we want visitors to appreciate," said Dr. Kathleen Whitaker, the museum's chief curator.

The show is an eclectic collection of textiles and historical anecdotes, one that gives insight into the separate and collective worlds of Navajo and Pueblo weavers. It also gives insight into the lives of some of the most colorful, and often eccentric, personalities of the collectors and "Indian traders" of the old West.

What makes this exhibition so compelling, and even haunting, is that the textiles serve as the storytellers. Some of the stories are full of honor, humor and celebration, while others painfully reflect the social and political realities of the times.

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With the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1822 and European expansion into the Indian territories, Native peoples in the southwest experienced an unparalleled assault upon their way of life that is poignantly articulated in some of these weavings.

"The first documented time we see a resemblance of the cross in a textile is 1862, but we know Navajos were using the cross, painting them on hides, as early as 1706," said Dr. Whitaker. "There are Spanish documents in Washington D.C. that tell us the Navajo affiliated the cross as a sign of peace or goodwill between the Spanish culture and their own.

"There's an incredible document in the archives where Juan Anaya, a Zuni/Spanish guide, tells the story of when he was taking one of the early military men out through Canyon de Chelly and crosses were lined up all along the inside of the canyon. The Navajos were trying to tell these military men 'We are peaceful people, don't kill us and slaughter our sheep!' Of course the military did slaughter the sheep and round up the Navajos and so The Long Walk began," recounts Dr. Whitaker.

Common Threads: Pueblo and Navajo Textiles paints an intimate portrait of the Rio Grande and Four Corners territories. It leaves a lasting impression on its visitors as it weaves generations of Native American artists into the fabric of America's southwest. The exhibit is located in the Southwest Museum's satellite space at Los Angeles County Museum Annex West on Los Angeles' Museum Row and is due to run until Sept. 26.