Natural dyes and hand-spun wool were used by Navajo weavers until the 1870s. At that time, aniline dyes were introduced, replacing the natural dyes. As commercial traders began the serious marketing of the Navajo weavings both in California and the...
Fetish amulets were used by Native American peoples from the coast, mountain, desert and plains regions. Most animal fetishes were umbilical cord containers, while others were talismans worn as personal protection. The fetishes were usually made by the mother or...
A boot jack is a handy contraption for hands-free removal of boots. It consists of a V or U-shaped mouth that grips the heel of the boot and a flat tang on which the other foot is placed for weight and...
It is unknown exactly when the Iroquois began beading. In one account recorded in 1852, Tereesa Pulscky was visiting the Tuscarora Reservation near Niagara Falls and wrote that they “visited the home of a man of note…his daughter-in-law was diligently...
The Anasazi " Ancient Ones" are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians that inhabited the Four Corners country, Southern Utah, Southwestern Colorado, Northwestern New Mexico and Northern Arizona. At least from the time of Jesus and possibly before, the...
Back in the 1930's, when shoppers swarmed downtown Chicago each Christmas season, a trip to visit Santa Claus was every child’s delight. Each department store would set up a giant holiday display with Santa on a big throne at the...
