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Navajo Blankets







So.  Just what do I know

of the Navajo?

Nothing much that I can truly see.

It's just that this title came to me

I don't know what I'm meant to say.

But here is what I learned today....







Back in the history of many a tribe

comes assorted stories of their spiritual side.

Tales that tell about the Indian way,

explaining their beginings and the day to day.







The Spider Man showed them how to build a loom

with batten & heddles and harness & combs.

But it was Spider Woman who came to the Navajo

and taught all the women the way it should go.







So with battens a flying and warp threads a jumpin'

These women made blankets that really were somethin'

Gathering plants to make dye, like scrub oak for light gold

prickly pear creates rose, a joy to behold.







The blankets were prized for being so warm,

and nearly water-proof--- if caught in a storm.

A cowboy would gladly give up a month's pay

to buy him a blanket made the Navajo way.