SEASON 3 // EPISODE 7: THE TRADE OF TEXTILES
Fancy sandals and specialization.
Hundreds of years ago, the Ancestral Pueblo people were pouring immense time and energy into weaving intricate items, such as clothing and sandals. And while people all across the region seem to have utilized these items, recent studies suggest that a particular group may have been responsible for most of the manufacturing.
This specialization has been part of the fabric of society for Hopi, Pueblo, and Zuni people for thousands of years.
“Our oral histories, our languages, our ceremonies, and dances, all serve as a cultural record of these migrations in the different places that people settled and lived, and then moved on.”
In this episode of Season 3, we hear from Louie Garcia, (Tiwa and Piro Pueblo) traditional Pueblo weaver, about the important role specialization has played in the cultures descending from Mesa Verde; and we hear from Laurie Webster, archaeologist specializing in textiles, about how particular materials and weave structures can indicate if items were traded or made locally.
Looking for more?
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Cedar Mesa Perishables Project
Beginning in 2011, the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project was established to document the 4,000 prehistoric textiles, baskets, wooden implements, hides, and feather artifacts excavated from alcoves in southeastern Utah in the 1890s. The team’s goal is “to survey, photograph, and interpret these collections and make them more widely known to archaeologists, native communities, and the general public for research and educational use.”
The team consists of archaeologist Laurie Webster and textile artist and weaver Louie Garcia - whose voices you heard in Episode 7 - as well as other indigenous team members whose specialities and cultural knowledge in areas such as stone tools and basketry help shed a light on the use of ancient artifacts in ways that non-native archaeologists cannot.
Louie garcia & laurie webster examining artifacts at edge of the cedars museum
TWINEd SANDALS // EDGE OF THE CEDARS STATE PARK MUSEUM (photo: kayla woodward)
See Textiles on Display
Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum [Blanding, Utah]
Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum [Cortez, Colorado]
Mesa Verde National Park Visitor and Research Center
Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum [Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado]
NOTE: Some of these museums and exhibits may be temporarily closed due to COVID-19.
Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum
Edge of the Cedars State Park is located in Blanding, Utah on the site of a Chacoan Great House. The museum offers exhibits showcasing textiles, jewelry, pottery, and other representations of daily and ceremonial life for the Ancestral Pueblo people.
Edge of the cedars great house and the abajo mountains (photo: kayla woodward)
