Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0044Description
Black & white stereograph. Image is of Native American individual sitting in front of a loom and weaving a rug. Above the image "60" is printed. Below the image "V23188 - Blanket Waving - a Hopi Indian at Work, Wolpi, Arizona." is printed. To the left of the image Keystone View Company Manufacturers Publishers UNIT - (Copyright symbol) MADE IN U.S.A." is printed. To the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse "V23188 HOPI INDIAN WEAVING A BLANKET, WOLPI, ARI. The Hopi (pronunciation guide) Indians occupy a government reservation of over two million acres in the northeastern part of Arizona. They live in rough adbobe houses containing furniture which they make themselves. The people are rather small of stature, but very muscular and agile. They have reddish brown skin. Their hair is usually straight and black. The clothing of the Hopi men consists of a calico shirt and short pantaloons, breechcloth, mosccasins and hair bands. Thei picture shows a man intypical Hopi dress at work on his loom.
The people of this triabe are highly artistic and are very skilled in pottery, basketry and weaving. They make wonderful belts and blankets. Their work is very durable and shows a great variety of weaves. The loom is set up in the manner shown here. Colored wool, dyed with native vegetabel stuffs, is used as "filling" over the close, vertical, white threads of the warp. (New paragraph) Notice the long rods hanging to the warp above the finished work and fastened to it by loose loops of string. Thoseare "heddles (proununciation guide)" and are used to separate a certain particular set of wrap threads from the rest when passing the wool across the web. These "heddles" are, from a mechanical point of view, a forerunner of the endlessly complicated machinery in modern looms, for they are a step ahead of the mere back and forth darning with a needle.
These tribes raise their own sheep, and their wool blankets are all wool. The vegetable dyes used give bright colors, which are often most beautifully combined.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection