Chief's Blanket Item Number: 50.67.45 from the Brooklyn Museum
Label
The Navajo wove waterproof, striped wool blankets that became known as Chief Blankets and traded them to other tribes. In 1863 the U.S. Army forcibly removed the Navajo from Arizona to Bosque Redondo detention camp in New Mexico and killed the tribe’s churro sheep. Ingenious weavers combined commercial wool with unraveled army blankets to create new designs with colorful details, as seen here. During captivity, weavings became the primary source of income.
In 1868 the Navajo returned to their homelands, and weaving flourished with the advent of the railroad and the establishment of trading posts.
Credit Line
Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund
Item History
- Made between 1875 and 1880
What
Who
- Culture
- Navajo
Where
- Holding Institution
- Brooklyn Museum
When
- Creation Date
- between 1875 and 1880
Other
- Location
- American Identities: A New Look, American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, The United States on the World Stage, 1865–1930, 5th Floor
- Classification
- Furnishing