For over two thousand years at this point, the Pueblo people of the American Southwest have been highly skilled weavers of traditional textiles. A highly recognized textile is the female-worn manta, or blanket dress, as well as the male-worn kilt. Depending on the weaver, the Pueblo people’s mantas and kilts are able to depict nature, the cosmos, their families, villages, and beliefs. Some mantas and kilts are simple in design and pattern, but the use of the plain mantas and kilts are still invaluable.
Traditional Mantas and Kilts
The manta and kilt are styles of clothing that have changed little over time. The first mantas and kilts were made from native plants to the traditional homelands of the Pueblo people. These plants were native hemp and yucca. The plants were then stripped, cleaned, and twisted with feathers, or fur and hair to make the mantas and kilts soft. Not only were mantas and kilts made with these items, but also sandals, sashes, shawls, blankets, and nets as well. All of these items were made by hand. Early mantas and kilts were painted or embroidered using geometric patterns, figures, or dyeing the whole piece a solid color.
The looms used originally have evolved over the centuries, the first kind used isn’t known. But the wide, vertical style used today has been used for hundreds of years. According to the University of Miami, archaeologists have hypothesized that the style was used as early as 800 A.C.E. or 1100 A.C.E. to the present. At some point, it is not use of exactly when, cotton was introduced and it took over as the main material for textiles. There are still cotton pieces made during the Spanish conquests that are still used for certain Pueblo ceremonies. By the late Sixteenth Century, wool was introduced to the American Southwest, and it quickly replaced cotton. At some point prior to the Pueblo Revolt of the 1690’s, Pueblos took refuge with Navajos and taught them weaving.
Contemporary Embroidery
Modern mantas and kilts are still made from cotton or wool, and many of them in the western part of the Pueblo territory are made by the Hopi. Although less known, there are textile artists from the eastern part of the Pueblo territory, around Rio Grande and Jémez, New Mexico. The mantas and kilts can either be hand spun or machine made. Old patterns and colors are still used for specific symbolic reasons, and can be seen as both a religious item/living artifact and an exquisite piece of art. The mantas and kilts can be worn, or placed in an honored area on top, or around items for special religious times of the year. The textiles that are being made today are making a resurgence as cultural revitalization projects are being done.
For ceremonial times of the year, women still wear an appropriate manta, and men wear kilts. Each ceremony uses different colors and patterns in the manta to represent what the ceremony is focused on. In an interview done by Lucy Fowler Williams in Expedition Magazine, a couple of highly skilled Eastern Pueblo artists today are Isabel Gonzales (Walatowa Village), and Shawn Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo). Each dance for the many ceremonies that are held per year, are strengthened, focused and revitalized when they wear their mantas or kilts. They know that by wearing them, they are wearing symbols and representations of power from their culture, history, religion, and world.
Sources
- Bahti, Tom & March Bahti. (1997). Southwest Indian Ceremonials. Wickenburg, AZ: KC Publications, Inc.
- University of Miami. (1988). The North American Indian Collection of the Lowe Art Museum. Coral Gables, Florida: The Lowe Art Museum.
- Williams, Lucy Fowler & Isabel C. Gonzales & Shawn Tafoya. (2007). “Waha(-belash adi Kwantsáawä: Butterflies and Blue Rain; The Language of Contemporary Eastern Pueblo Embroidery.” Expedition, Winter 2007, Volumen 49. Number 3. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Maureen Zieber - I currently hold a Bachelor's Degree in World History, and Women's Studies, with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Delaware, ...
