Spider Woman (Na’ashjéii Asdzáá) brought the gift of weaving to Diné (Navajo) people. Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Diné, provided the materials.

Woven history: During a recent visit to the National Gallery of Art, computer historian Ken Shirriff stumbled across a Navajo weaving with a strangely familiar pattern. Upon closer inspection, he ...

Two Navajo artists living in New Mexico who have broken away from that slice of weaving history reach backward and forward in time, through pre-European-contact patterns and across centuries ...

When designs are stolen, it’s a slap in the face to Navajo weavers, who toil for months or even years on each piece, often spinning their own yarn and dyeing it using natural coloring collected from ...

Howardena Pindell: Melissa uses the techniques of traditional Navajo weaving, but then she does something that I can’t even imagine being able to do: She weaves intuitively, so the pattern is ...

CLAREMORE, Okla. — Shepherd’s Cross in Claremore is handing down the art of Navajo weaving. As students learn how to weave a Navajo rug, they also learn the history behind it.

"Depending on the pattern you use and of course how big the rug is, it can take up to two to three years to make a rug sometimes," said Dana Shouse, a wool mill worker at Shepherd's Cross.

The patterns range from bold, straight lines to complex geometric shapes. They were made for mostly practical reasons. And the names of the women who made them are lost to history.

They're too traditional," said Slick, who also works as a caregiver. "But I don't mind sharing." Born in Houck, Ariz., Slick starting weaving at age 16 while learning from her mother.