Finger Weaving

• Before the loom became a common tool, finger weaving was practiced by native peoples all over North and South America; most examples of finger weaving surviving today are from American Indians from the eastern part of North America --- what is now New England and eastern Canada.
  
  The most common items to be woven in this way were straps and sashes, but bags and netted pieces could also be made in this manner. Traditionally, materials including moose hide and pliable plant fibers were used, but later wool yarn --- after contact with Europeans --- also become popular.
  
  The basic finger weaving technique is to secure several lengths of material around a base --- such as a tree, so that the weaver can keep the lengths tense. The lengths are then woven over and under each other to create various designs.
  
  

Navajo Blankets and Rugs

• The Navajo, who lived in what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, made rugs and blankets on vertical wooden looms. These textiles were most often made of wool or cotton --- after cotton cultivation and sheep domestication became common around the 13th century; but in earlier eras, American Indians in the Southwest wove blankets from materials as unusual as turkey feathers.
  
  Blankets were used for warmth, worn over the shoulders like a cape. They were also used as slings by women to carry infants. Finally, they were considered pieces of art and items of great value, sometimes used in trade agreements and bartering.
  
  Navajo blankets and rugs were woven in many different patterns, but what makes their style unique is the customary technique called "wedge weaving," where weft yarns are woven diagonally across warp yarns in the loom, pulling the warp yarns at unexpected angles and creating the characteristic zigzag motifs so often seen in Navajo pieces.
  
  

Basket Weaving

• Basket weaving is an ancient craft practiced by tribes native to North America for thousands of years. Each tribe has a unique style and method of basket weaving, but some of the most well-known groups and their styles are:
  
  American Indians of the Northeast United States mainly worked with sweet grass. The grass was braided through splits of pounded ash wood in order to achieve the desired shape and thickness.
  
  The Cherokee, who mainly settled in what are now the states of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, used bundles of pine needles or rivercane wicker as their main weaving materials. The Cherokee made both single and double weave baskets, depending on the vessel's intended purpose. Double weave baskets contain two layers of woven material, one directly inside the other, and the layers are woven together at the rim, making a seamless and seemingly endless end product.
  
  American Indians in the Southwest often used woods and branches, such as sumac and willow, as their medium. The type of basket most frequently seen from this area is called a "petaca," which is a round --- and often double weave --- basket.
  
  

Cordage

• American Indians of all regions were also skilled at creating cords, ropes and other useful materials by weaving; their same basic technique is still used today. At least two --- but sometimes more --- lengths of fiber are twisted together by hand to form one stronger length. Tribes used this woven cordage for everything from fishing lines and nets to sandals. Cordage was most often made from plant fibers including Indian hemp and swamp milkweed, but could also be made from animal sinew and rawhide.