Arts and Crafts of the Southwest Indians is a short 1940 film that looks at the work produced by the artisans of the Navajo and Pueblo people. The film is broken up into two parts (Navajo and Pueblo), and shows viewers the production processes of crafting rugs, silver jewelry, woven baskets, and pottery. In the first part of the film, viewers see a Navajo man working on a hogan and herding goats. Women work on vertical looms weaving rugs, and a man walks into the Pine Springs Trading Post. Sam Begay looks for a stone to use as a silver mold (01:45); once he finds it, he cuts the stone and carves the design into the rock. Begay melts the silver over a small fire (02:44) then pours the molten silver into the mold. He removes the mold and files the silver cast. Viewers then see Luke Yazzi help his wife, Irene, set up her vertical loom (03:42). Irene wanders near their home, looking for herbs to use for dyes. She returns and separates the juniper root from the other herbs to create a red dye. She dyes yarn in the dye. Luke saddles his horse while his wife works on a rug (05:10). A woman combs wool for spinning. Another woman creates a spool to be used for creating actual yarn. The Yazzis load the rugs and silver jewelry into a horse-drawn carriage and head out for Pine Springs Trading Post. Irene gives the rug to the trader, Sammie Day, who examines the rug (08:21). They receive their pawned silver belts plus the money from the sale. A group of Navajo watch as a plane lands (09:28), bring a white trader hired by the Tribal Council at Window Rock to be the manager of the Arts and Crafts Guild. The white trader examines the new rugs and silver pieces, then he collects the goods and takes off from the rural airstrip. In “Part 2: Pueblo Indians,” the film gives a panoramic shot of the desert landscape near the New Mexico-Arizona border (10:47). Viewers see the Hopi village Shungopavi (11:11). A woman carries yucca leaves to her home. She prepares them for basket weaving. Another woman starts the weaving by coiling straw around moistened yucca leaves. The woman weaves a basket (13:28). Viewers see the finished basket with its spirit line. The woman shows off a basket modeled after a Kachina doll. Next, the film takes viewers to the Pueblo of Zuni (14:00). Footage shows the ruins of an old adobe church. An old woman works on pottery in her yard as young people watch. The old woman is shown digging for clay near the foot of a mountain (14:44). She works the clay to the right consistency, then she molds it into a ball and begins shaping a bowl (15:17). She scrapes the bowl with a pottery scraper then paints the piece of pottery. She fires the pot in a pile of manure (17:00). She then inspects the finished pottery and carries the piece down the street to the trading post. A man and his wife work at their bench on silver inlay work (17:58). Viewers see silver, seashells, and turquoise. The woman files down a piece for a wing (19:08). A woman shows off a variety of pieces of jewelry. The film concludes with footage at an exhibit, where viewers see Navajo rugs, ancient Zuni pottery, silver belts, and turquoise bracelets and rings.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com