N E W M E X I C O H I S T O R I C A L T E X T I L E R E S O U R C E S
Under Construction
A HISTORIC OVERVIEW
Read this article by Molly Elkind:
Wednesday, October 3, 2018: Pueblo textiles: a weaver’s education continues mollyelkindtalkingtextiles.blogspot.com/2018/10/pueblo-textiles-weavers-education
Wednesday, October 3, 2018: Pueblo textiles: a weaver’s education continues mollyelkindtalkingtextiles.blogspot.com/2018/10/pueblo-textiles-weavers-education
Fiber has a long history in New Mexico. From early times natural fibers, from the immediate environment, were used to fulfill many daily utilitarian needs from sandals to baskets to rugs and blankets. Natural dyes were experimented with and used with growing success. Early fibers were yucca and willow. Early dyes came from plants, berries, bark, roots and flowers and leaves. These plants produced a range of color from browns and yellows while minerals provided reds, yellows, and black.
The people of early New Mexico were not isolated, but traveled and traded with their surrounding geography, borrowing and sharing resources, plant and other materials, techniques and culture. Cotton was introduced around 1000 and spread along the Rio Grande Valley. The portable, upright Pueblo loom and the back strap loom were invented and widely used.
The arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s brought tremendous change – soldiers, settlers, priests, and servants, and thousands of animals. They brought the sturdy Churro sheep, a highly adaptable animal with two distinct layers or coats of wool. The outer coat produces a long, coarse fiber, while the under coat is shorter, soft and flexible. Thru raiding and barter, the Navajo acquired sheep for themselves and became a herding society. They acquired Spanish looms thru the settlers.
For nearly 300 years, until the coming of traders over the Santa Fe Trail in the 19th century, Churro sheep wool was the foundation of many Native, Spanish, and Mexican textiles. Spanish colonists also brought the horizontal European treadle or floor loom. In 1638 the Spanish set up a textile workshop in Santa Fe weaving on Spanish treadle looms. They produced the Serape or wearing blanket under the direction of the Spanish. The Pueblo weavers who had taken refuge with the Navajo (Diné) brought the techniques to the women who cared for the sheep
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 virtually halted the growing textile industry. By 1694 the Spanish Reconquest reestablished the Colonial enforced labor textile industry. By 1790 large sheep herds existed around the Albuquerque area accompanied with a substantial population of weavers. In 1807 the Spanish government sent master weavers, Juan and Ignacio Bazán, to Santa Fe to teach technical skills and improve the industry. They bring the magnificent Saltillo serape designs. Rio Grande design elements still today reflect the legacy of the Bazån brothers. In 1821 Mexico became independent from Spain. Trade flourished along the Santa Fe Trail. The arrival of the railroad in 1879 brought in goods, yarn and synthetic dyes. The Navajo established Trading Posts to fill the ever increasing demand for their weavings.
At Bosque Redondo - the imprisonment of much of the Navajo in the 1860's resulted in a decimated population when they returned to their land five years later and were provided with yarns and synthetic dies. The Spanish blankets have influenced Navajo designs, resulting in experimental pieces such as eye-dazzlers--distinctive textiles with complex serrated patterns and vibrating color schemes.
Only small Spanish communities in the north, such as Chimayó continue the Rio Grande weaving tradition. Pueblo weavings are used only for ceremonial purposes.
The people of early New Mexico were not isolated, but traveled and traded with their surrounding geography, borrowing and sharing resources, plant and other materials, techniques and culture. Cotton was introduced around 1000 and spread along the Rio Grande Valley. The portable, upright Pueblo loom and the back strap loom were invented and widely used.
The arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s brought tremendous change – soldiers, settlers, priests, and servants, and thousands of animals. They brought the sturdy Churro sheep, a highly adaptable animal with two distinct layers or coats of wool. The outer coat produces a long, coarse fiber, while the under coat is shorter, soft and flexible. Thru raiding and barter, the Navajo acquired sheep for themselves and became a herding society. They acquired Spanish looms thru the settlers.
For nearly 300 years, until the coming of traders over the Santa Fe Trail in the 19th century, Churro sheep wool was the foundation of many Native, Spanish, and Mexican textiles. Spanish colonists also brought the horizontal European treadle or floor loom. In 1638 the Spanish set up a textile workshop in Santa Fe weaving on Spanish treadle looms. They produced the Serape or wearing blanket under the direction of the Spanish. The Pueblo weavers who had taken refuge with the Navajo (Diné) brought the techniques to the women who cared for the sheep
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 virtually halted the growing textile industry. By 1694 the Spanish Reconquest reestablished the Colonial enforced labor textile industry. By 1790 large sheep herds existed around the Albuquerque area accompanied with a substantial population of weavers. In 1807 the Spanish government sent master weavers, Juan and Ignacio Bazán, to Santa Fe to teach technical skills and improve the industry. They bring the magnificent Saltillo serape designs. Rio Grande design elements still today reflect the legacy of the Bazån brothers. In 1821 Mexico became independent from Spain. Trade flourished along the Santa Fe Trail. The arrival of the railroad in 1879 brought in goods, yarn and synthetic dyes. The Navajo established Trading Posts to fill the ever increasing demand for their weavings.
At Bosque Redondo - the imprisonment of much of the Navajo in the 1860's resulted in a decimated population when they returned to their land five years later and were provided with yarns and synthetic dies. The Spanish blankets have influenced Navajo designs, resulting in experimental pieces such as eye-dazzlers--distinctive textiles with complex serrated patterns and vibrating color schemes.
Only small Spanish communities in the north, such as Chimayó continue the Rio Grande weaving tradition. Pueblo weavings are used only for ceremonial purposes.
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IRVIN & LISA TRUJILLO Centinela Traditional Arts - Chimayo Weavers Chimayo www.chimayoweavers.com "Eight Generations" Located in Chimayo, New Mexico, on the "High Road to Taos" Address: Centinela Traditional Arts, 946 State Road 76, Chimayo, NM 87522 Phone: (505)351-2180 Email: centinela@newmexico.com 
Irvin Trujillo
Visit The Trujillo's on
the New Mexico Fiber Arts Directory |
A 1987 picture of Irvin's parents Jake & Belle Trujillo
Lisa Trujillo at the Loom
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"Prayer for Peace"
2005 by Irvin Trujillo - all natural-dye
"Devotion" is our last pre-Market "old favorite" - a classic 1987 Saltillo woven by Lisa Trujillo in two matching panels w/natural dyed, finely handspun churro yarn
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COLCHA EMBROIDERY - A REVIVAL
During the early 20th century, women in communities surrounding Taos took an interest in reviving Colcha embroidery, forming a Colcha Club that for decades involved the last elderly practitioners of an art form limited to northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
Visit the NMFAD Video Page for a Current Film on Colcha Embroidery.
Visit the NMFAD Video Page for a Current Film on Colcha Embroidery.
