Shawl (manta)

1870

362-186\nWoman's blanket or manta; wool; 98 x 86 cm.; ca. 1870-1880; \nMantas were woven in various types by the Hopis: the white cotton wedding manta, the white cotton manta with embroidered borders, and the white manta with blue and red borders. The type of manta with colored borders in Ten Kate's collection is often referred to as maiden's shawl, suggesting that it was worn only by unmarried women. However, such a manta was part of the wedding garments of Hopi women and could be worn over daily dress and on ceremonial occasions. Women wear this type of blanket or shawl at the occasion of the Maraw, Owaqol and Lakon ceremonies, but male chiefs and kachina dancers can don these garments too on ceremonial occasions, also when representing male kachinas (Hough 1915:84; 1919:249-250; Bartlett 1949:2; Fox 1978:50-52; Wright 1979:17; Kent 1983:61-62; Whitaker 2002:370).\The Hopis call these mantas atü'ü, "white blanket". (Stephen 1936:272,515,1204). These are of two types: woven from white wool with a broad blue or red woolen border at the long sides, or woven from white cotton with a border of dark indigo blue or red wool at the long sides, often with two or three narrow red stripes adjacent on the white background. About the manta collected by Ten Kate, Marian Rodee (1992) noted: \"warps are of handspun white, and the wefts of handspun natural white and natural dark brown wool, the latter probably overdyed to enhance the color; three-ply aniline or perhaps cochineal yarn; edge cords are two two-ply Z-S spun dark brown handspun wool" (cf. Rodee 1977:120).\n362-186, 187; 674-3, 6 Hopi textilesDuring the Pueblo I period (900-1100), the Anasazi ancestors of the Hopis, Zunis, and Rio Grande Pueblos began cultivating a native species of cotton, Gossypium hopi, that was well adapted to the altitude and semi-arid climate of the Colorado Plateau. It was used to weave garments, varying from breechcloths, shirts, and sashes to kilts, shawls, dresses, and belts, and especially the Hopis developed into accomplished cotton growers and weavers, trading their textiles with neighboring tribes (Kent 1957, 1983a; Teague 1998). After the Spanish introduced sheep into the Southwest in the early 17th century, textiles of wool were woven by Pueblo men and increasingly replaced clothing from animal skin. Typical woven items dress included mantas (shoulder and dress blankets), shirts, kilts, belts, sashes, breechcloths, leggings, garters, and headbands. Cotton garments became increasingly associated with ceremonial occasions, except for white cotton pants that were commonly worn by the men. Hopi men did the spinning and worked the traditional upright looms in the kivas. The Hopis went to great lengths to assure the quality of their textiles. Thorough carding and spinning resulted in a strong yarn that was twisted evenly with a spindle. The yarn was sometimes finished by smoothing it with a corncob. Different types of weaving and cording were mastered, and could occur in the same textile (Stevenson 1884:plate 44; Hough 1915:84-86; Colton 1931:4-5; Bartlett 1949; Kent 1983:9-13,33-38). To assure the effective connection between the fabric and dye, and render the yarns color proof, a variety of mordents were used, including alum, limonite, rock salt, copper carbonate, tannic acid, human urine, sheep manure, and smoke (Hough 1919:235,252-255; Colton 1965; Kent 1983:31-34). The Spanish introduced indigo and lac dyes, and commercial cloth, the bayeta variety of which was often raveled for the red yarn to be reused in Hopi textiles (Kent 1983:29-30).In 1848 the United States wrested control of the Southwest from Mexico, and from 1875 the amount of industrially produced textiles, commercial wool (Germantown) yarns, cotton string, and aniline dyes arriving by way of the Santa Fe Trail steadily increased. The arrival of the railroad accelerated the import of such western trade goods, and traditional weaving among the Hopis, Zunis, and Rio Grande Pueblos declined as a result (Kent 1983:14-19).（Hovens 2008-09）Ceremonial shoulder blanket of white wool with dark blue borders along the longitudinal side and three red stripes next to it. The blanket was worn around the shoulders, especially during ceremonial events, by women, chiefs and kachina dancers. The blanket is often referred to as a "maiden shawl". (maiden shawl) because remarried Hopi girls wore it until marriage. In the 1930's this custom fell into disuse. The Hopi call the blanket "atü.ü" (white blanket). It is a Blue Flower textile. Textile weaving has a long history in the Southwest. In the early years of the Christian era, cotton was introduced from Mexico. The threads spun from it were woven by hand (finger-weave). Around 800 AD, the vertical loom was adopted, after which larger pieces of textile could be produced. Since 1100 fabrics were provided with embroidery. In the sixteenth century, Pueblo weavers and Zuni weavers produced cotton shirts, shawls, loincloths, kilts and belts. The cotton garments were often dyed in a bath of mineral or vegetable dye. Embellishments were also applied by embroidery.‖ In the seventeenth century, the Spanish introduced sheep, wool spinning, western looms, and new natural dyes, including indigo and cochineal. Blankets and Òser-apesÓ (shawls) were new products brought by the whites and served as examples for Indian weavers to emulate. Among the Pueblos, it was the men who worked at the loom, with the exception of the Zunis where the women did so. Both cotton and wool textiles were woven.‖ Sheep farming, wool spinning, and blanket weaving by Navajos date back to the seventeenth century and were learned both through intertribal trade contacts and through the incorporation of Pueblo slaves and refugees. By the eighteenth century, the distinction between Navajo and Pueblo weaving was blurred. In addition to blankets, serapes (shouldered cloaks based on the Spanish model) and mantas (traditional wide shawls or shrugs), shirts, loincloths and belts were also woven.With the introduction of Western trade goods, the Pueblo weaving tradition fell into decline. Production was limited to a few pieces of ceremonial clothing and accessories. The Hopis continued to weave on a modest scale, trading their products with their Pueblo neighbors to the east and south.\Some of the distinctive Pueblo textiles are:\Òthe plain manta; this is a rectangular dark-colored cloth worn as a shawl or shawl, but sewn together also serves as outerwear and undergarments (shirt and skirt); other mantas were predominantly white and featured a red, dark blue, or black border at the top and bottom;Ó the bridal manta; also a rectangular but white shawl offered by the groom to the bride, wrapped in a reed mat; later, the top and bottom edges were embroidered;‖ serapes or blankets, usually provided with colored bands, a Spanish introduction, and used as clothing and bedding;‖ kilts; sashes; their characteristic is that they are woven on such a surface as to make the surface appear embroidered; in fact, this is a weaving technique called "Hopi brocade"; the pattern predominating therein is possibly a stylized Breedge face-kachina in which the two diamonds represent the eyes and the row of toothed figures below the mouth the teeth; these were usually worn by the men suspended from a belt along the right hip; sometimes they were worn across the torso as a sash; in other cases as hip cloth;-belts worn around the hip or around the knees.