ART AND SCIENCE
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
Native American,
Navajo Textile sampler of vegetal dyes used in Navajo Weaving, by Betty Myers,
Description: Tribe/Region of Origin: Navajo
Description: Tribe/Region of Origin: Navajo
Artist: Betty Myers,
Type of Item: Dye chart, sampler
Navajo Native dye Chart-Vintage Signed by artist on the back (Betty Myers or Mayers) Navajo loom rug in the center, surrounded by 26 native plants
29" x 35"
The Navajo Dye Chart was invented by the late Mable Burnside-Myers of Pine Springs, AZ. Her children assisted in creating the dye chart: Melvin Myers, Isabel Myers-Deschinny, Wilbur Myers, late Vera Myers and late James Myers, Jr. Currently, only Isabel Myers-Deschinny, Judith Myers and Mellisa Myers officially make the Navajo Dye Chart. (Source: Mark H. Deschinny)
Source: The University of Arizona https://share.google/DTS45D6ceiFNYKvLO
ACTINEA
ALDER
BEE PLANT
BITTERBALL
BUCKWHEAT, WILD
Wild buckwheat
CACTUS, PRICKLY PEAR
CANYAIGRE
CELERY, WILD
CHAMIZO
CHOKECHERRY
CLAW, OWL'S
CLEOMELLA, PURPLE BEE PLANT
CLEOMELLA, YELLOW BEE PLANT
GRAPE, OREGON
ILEX, WILD HOLLY ROOT
IRONWOOD
JUNIPER, ONE-SEEDED
LARKSPUR, WILD PURPLE
LICHEN, WOOD
Wood lichen
LUPINE, BLUE FLOWER
MAHOGANY, MOUNTAIN
Mt. Mahogany (or Mountain Mahogany, a shrub from the Cercocarpus genus, not true mahogany) is used by various Native American tribes, including the Navajo and Keres, to create a reddish-brown dye. The roots and bark are processed to extract the color, which is then used to dye woolen yarns, baskets, and leather. The dyeing process often involves grinding the roots and mixing them with ingredients like juniper ashes and alder bark to achieve the desired color..
OAK BARK, GAMBEL 
OAK, SCRUB
ONION, BROWN SKIN
PAINTBRUSH, INDIAN
INDIAN PAINTBRUSH
PHORADENDRON, JUNIPER MISTLETOE
Juniper Mistletoe, Phoradendron juniperinum,
Sandalwood Family (Santalaceae)
Found in piñon-juniper woodlands
Seen blooming in April in Abiquiu.
The first bloom of this season is tiny and greenish so not easy to see. Mistletoe is a parasite of Junipers. It grows in 8 to 14 inch balls and looks very similar to the juniper leaves with smooth, branched, yellow-green stems. The leaves are tiny and scale-like. The female flowers are followed by small, round white to light pink berries. It has been used traditionally to make a tea to treat stomach problems and as “bad medicine for wizards”, the berries were used as a famine food, the branches were used to make a textile dye and for treating warts, and an infusion of the plant was used as a childbirth aid.
PINEDROP
PLUM, WILD
RABBITBRUSH
ROSE, ROSE HIPS
RUBBERPLANT
SAGEBRUSH
SNAKE WEED
SUMAC BERRIES
SUMAC, THREE LEAVED
Some background on the use and types of dyes used in Navajo rugs:
WEAVING PREPARATION AND TECHNIQUES
"Traditionally the Navajo loom was set up between two young trees or sturdy posts were secured in holes. A lower and upper beam was attached to these side supports. A smooth straight stick or dowel was suspended from the upper beam while another was lashed to the lower beam. Since the upper bar is adjustable it can be use to adjust the tension. The warp thread was strung back and forth in a figure 8 between these two inner sticks or beams. Modern day Navajo looms are made from frames rather than logs and saplings so many are portable. Others are attached to door'frames or to the ceiling and floor.
Although some Navajo men weave, traditionally it has been the Navajo women who have been responsible for weaving from caring for the sheep to the final weaving of the wool yarns. Today many weavers buy their yarn for weaving though there is a trend to going back to the old ways. Some are raising improved breeds of sheep then sending the wool to be commercially produced into yarn. The dying may or may not be done commercially.
There were only a few dyes used in the early Navajo blankets. Indigo dye was used some but was expensive and hard to make into a usable form. Natural yellow dyes were produced from the flowers of rabbit brush. Occasionally indigo and yellow dye was combined to make green dye.
Although the cochineal beetle was used to make red dye in the southwest for unknown reasons this capability was not known to the Navajo. Because red dye wasn't available to the them until the late 1800's weavers unraveled red yarns from pre-dyed trade cloth to use in their weaving.
In the late 19th century, synthetic dyes became available at the trading posts. Initially they tended to fade but later better quality dyes became available. The availability of these dyes encourages the Navajo to experiment with more varying colors. Synthetic dyes continue to be used in some Navajo weaving.
In the first half of the 1900's traders began to encourage weavers to use plant based dyes again. The theory behind this was that Anglo-Americans would be more interested in rugs made with natural dyes. They also resulted in a softer look than is seen with the harsher synthetic dyes. This revival of use of vegetable dye was far different from early yarn dying. An effort was made to find a multiple plant sources resulting in a wide variety colors that are now used in Navajo rugs. Over 200 vegetal dyes are used today from a great variety of native plant sources including walnut hulls, rose hips, alder bark, onion skin, and many more. Leaves, stems, flowers, berries, roots and nuts were all considered possibilities for dye.
We cannot be certain when the first Pueblo weaver taught a Navajo to weave. We know some Pueblo people fled to hide with the Navajo when the Spanish were attacking the Pueblo villages during the 16th and 17th centuries. The mixing of the two cultures included sharing of weaving techniques. Pueblo people used a plain basket type weave, one over and one under with equal both warp and weft threads showing on each side. They continue to use it this plain weave today in making their ceremonial garments.
Over the years the Navajo developed a tapestry weave which has been their dominant weaving technique for over 200 years. In this form of weaving the weft is loosely placed then packed down tightly with the fork resulting in a textile in which the warp is not visible. The fork functions like a weaving comb but has a long handle. The fineness of the weave can vary dramatically from course to extremely fine. The weaving is done in sections measured by the weavers reach. This means the color of the yarn used must be changed frequently. On a large rug you might be able to discern where the weaver ended each section."
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© 2025 Hyden Photography for
Grassroots Horticulture
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SUMAC, THREE LEAVED
BLACK. Crushed sumac twigs and leaves, when mixed with an ocher mineral and pinyon pine resin, were used by the Navajo to create a black dye. Ocher is a natural earth pigment consisting of clay, sand, and hydrated iron oxide, which is the mineral limonite.
SUNFLOWERS, WILD
SUNFLOWERS, WILD
TEA, BRIGHAM 
TEA, NAVAJO
THISTLE, RUSSIAN
WALNUT, WILD
YUCCA
Some background on the use and types of dyes used in Navajo rugs:
WEAVING PREPARATION AND TECHNIQUES
"Traditionally the Navajo loom was set up between two young trees or sturdy posts were secured in holes. A lower and upper beam was attached to these side supports. A smooth straight stick or dowel was suspended from the upper beam while another was lashed to the lower beam. Since the upper bar is adjustable it can be use to adjust the tension. The warp thread was strung back and forth in a figure 8 between these two inner sticks or beams. Modern day Navajo looms are made from frames rather than logs and saplings so many are portable. Others are attached to door'frames or to the ceiling and floor.
Although some Navajo men weave, traditionally it has been the Navajo women who have been responsible for weaving from caring for the sheep to the final weaving of the wool yarns. Today many weavers buy their yarn for weaving though there is a trend to going back to the old ways. Some are raising improved breeds of sheep then sending the wool to be commercially produced into yarn. The dying may or may not be done commercially.
There were only a few dyes used in the early Navajo blankets. Indigo dye was used some but was expensive and hard to make into a usable form. Natural yellow dyes were produced from the flowers of rabbit brush. Occasionally indigo and yellow dye was combined to make green dye.
Although the cochineal beetle was used to make red dye in the southwest for unknown reasons this capability was not known to the Navajo. Because red dye wasn't available to the them until the late 1800's weavers unraveled red yarns from pre-dyed trade cloth to use in their weaving.
In the late 19th century, synthetic dyes became available at the trading posts. Initially they tended to fade but later better quality dyes became available. The availability of these dyes encourages the Navajo to experiment with more varying colors. Synthetic dyes continue to be used in some Navajo weaving.
In the first half of the 1900's traders began to encourage weavers to use plant based dyes again. The theory behind this was that Anglo-Americans would be more interested in rugs made with natural dyes. They also resulted in a softer look than is seen with the harsher synthetic dyes. This revival of use of vegetable dye was far different from early yarn dying. An effort was made to find a multiple plant sources resulting in a wide variety colors that are now used in Navajo rugs. Over 200 vegetal dyes are used today from a great variety of native plant sources including walnut hulls, rose hips, alder bark, onion skin, and many more. Leaves, stems, flowers, berries, roots and nuts were all considered possibilities for dye.
We cannot be certain when the first Pueblo weaver taught a Navajo to weave. We know some Pueblo people fled to hide with the Navajo when the Spanish were attacking the Pueblo villages during the 16th and 17th centuries. The mixing of the two cultures included sharing of weaving techniques. Pueblo people used a plain basket type weave, one over and one under with equal both warp and weft threads showing on each side. They continue to use it this plain weave today in making their ceremonial garments.
Over the years the Navajo developed a tapestry weave which has been their dominant weaving technique for over 200 years. In this form of weaving the weft is loosely placed then packed down tightly with the fork resulting in a textile in which the warp is not visible. The fork functions like a weaving comb but has a long handle. The fineness of the weave can vary dramatically from course to extremely fine. The weaving is done in sections measured by the weavers reach. This means the color of the yarn used must be changed frequently. On a large rug you might be able to discern where the weaver ended each section."
Source: Navajo Weaving: Yesterday and Today
by Judy Breneman.
by Judy Breneman.
Exhibition: Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest, 2023.
When “Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest” opened at the Bard Graduate Center in mid-February, visitors gained access to an exhibition showcasing highlights from the American Museum of Natural History’s (AMNH) extensive collection of Diné (Navajo) weavings, many acquired more than 100 years ago and never before exhibited. Complementing the textiles are themed sections on weaving practices and design and photography of the landscape where they were created.
Even more expansive – rather than a print catalog – there is an interactive online exhibition with scholarly essays, which opens access to more of AMNH’s vast collection of related textiles. One essay – “Knowing, Making, Naming” – is by the show’s curator, Hadley Jensen. Another, “My Journey with the Loom,” is by Lynda Teller Pete, a master weaver who was a consultant on the exhibition.
Jensen is a postdoctoral fellow in Museum Anthropology, Bard Graduate Center/American Museum of Natural History. Talking with Antiques and The Arts Weekly, she said, “The theme of the fellowship was ‘Indigenous Textiles of the American Southwest,’ and then the focus of that was on this specific collection at the American Museum of Natural History, which had rarely been seen by the public.”
“The Navajo textiles came in to the museum in three major accessions, in 1910 and 1911. A lot of collectors know about this historic collection because AMNH has the Hollister Collection, which is 66 Dine and Navajo textiles. Uriah S. Hollister (1838-1929) published his own catalog with color plates in 1903 – The Navajo and His Blanket. He was an Army officer, stationed for a time on the Navajo reservation. His collection was one that AMNH definitely wanted to have, and they were able to acquire it in its entirety.”
The museum also has the J.P. Martin Collection and then a collection that was split between the Met and AMNH, which came from a private collector and donor named Margaret Olivia Sage. So, in total, they have almost 300 Navajo textiles, which have mostly been in museum storage. Through Bard Graduate Center, we were able to create this exhibition. And an important part of it has been my collaboration with sixth generation Diné (Navajo) weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas.”
“Together, we’ve created this exhibition that includes a selection of items from the AMNH collection as well as some contemporary works and photography. We commissioned a soundscape for the gallery via a Navajo composer and pianist named Connor Chee. He will present an evening of music at the end of April, part of the multiple-event schedule connected to the show.”
The exhibition was organized around six distinct themes – “Homeland and Cosmology,” “Ecology,” “Dyeing and Coloring,” “Techniques and Technologies,” “Design Elements” and “Value and Exchange.” These help the curator fulfill specific goals: “I want visitors to understand Navajo weaving certainly as an art form but also as a cultural practice and a lived experience.”
Exhibition of historic museum collections in the past have often followed a common path, so Jensen decided: “And so, with this exhibition, I was interested in providing new interpretations of these incredible weavings. We have labels that are actually written by the artists, which is not always the case in exhibitions.”
https://statemuseum.arizona.edu/online-exhibit/19-century-navajo-weaving-asm
https://youtu.be/VIW_ECkKj2I?si=J6lUjjq2SQRT2UF4
For Conservation in art
https://www.facebook.com/groups/objectconservation/permalink/3971454456518604/?app=fbl
https://material-matters.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/pigment/in-conversation-pigment/
https://yarnadventuretruck.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22557703887&gclid=CjwKCAjwx-zHBhBhEiwA7Kjq63Sj4cbkxEnCnrb5l3TerV1CuFH84sVsYusrEpOO7RhKlOSPKnQ8DBoCCAYQAvD_BwE
The Gobelins Manufactory (French: Manufacture des Gobelins) is a historic tapestry factory in Paris, France. It is located at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near Les Gobelins métro station in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally established on the site as a medieval dyeing business by the family Gobelin.
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