Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Brooklyn Museum Collection

This belt is a fine example of what is known as the Navajo style of weaving. It had probably been passed down through several generations before it was collected. The belt would have been wrapped around the waist, the woman drawing it tightly, fastening it on the left side with a tuck in, allowing the fringe to hang. Photogrpah number two shows the belt wrapped around dress 04.197.5315.

This back strap loom has a hole-and-slot heddle, a European invention that was used by Pueblo weavers around the turn of the 20th century but was discarded later in favor of the indigenous shed rod and string hoop heddle. The haft rope on one end would have been attached to a stationary object, while the woven red garter on the other end would have gone around the weaver's waist. On the loom, the Hopi style belt, with a red, green, and black warps and a black weft, is in progress.

Mask with red felt and a metal strip around the eye holes. This carved wooden mask has a wide forehead and pointed chin, and it is topped by two curved hornlike protrusions. The eye area is covered by a rectangle of red felt, surrounded by a silver-coloured metal border held in place with nails. The eye holes are also outlined with the silver metal. The protruding lips are covered with the same red felt, with a piece of plant fibre nailed to the top. Four teeth of an unknown material can be seen in the mouth. Long straight hair attached to hide surrounds the lower portion of the mask. Small holes have been bored regularly around the edge of the mask. A paper postage stamp is taped to the back inside of the mask, picturing a figure with the same red decoration at eyes and mouth, and inscribed with "040" at top, and “Republique De Guinee” at bottom.

This belt has been designed with a geometric pattern. Dark yellow and green horizontal stripes run along the top and bottom, while the stripe in the centre is green and light pink. The ends of the belt are finished with a fringe, consisting of eight braids.

A hat made from stiff, felted, undyed white wool. It has a rounded crown and a medium-sized brim. The edge of the brim has been lined with a narrow layer of yellow-white seam tape that has been stitched on in red thread using an interlocking serpentine pattern. This layer of seam tape has also been bordered with lines of straight red stitching, and a thin layer of blue material has been sewn on top of the seam tape. The base of the crown has been wrapped with a wide orange ribbon. This orange ribbon has been folded and sewn to the hat at a point, and it then crosses over the crown of the hat and continues on to form two long streamers. On the streamer side of the hat, a flower made of yellow ribbon has been sewn onto the orange ribbon. The centre of the flower is black.

There is a green and red geometric pattern running in a horizontal stripe down the centre of the belt. The top and bottom of the belt contain a purple and yellow geometric pattern running in a horizontal stripe, which parallels the green and red stripe. There is a fringe on either end of the belt.