Bayeta

Navajo dress
MFA# 02.71

Description

A coarse wool flannel woven by the Navajo from recycled yarns. Dyed fabrics and clothing brought to the American southwest via Mexico by European colonists in the 1880s were often traded to the Navajo Indians; colorful fibers from these cloths were unraveled and rewoven into colorful blankets (Tortora and Merkel 1996).

Synonyms and Related Terms

baeta; bayeta(Esp.)

Resources and Citations

• Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles, Phyllis G.Tortora, Robert S. Merkel (eds.), Fairchild Publications, New York City, 7th edition, 1996

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• Museum of our National Heritage-Lexington: Indian blanket exhibit label- uniforms from dead soldiers were also stripped and reused