what did the navajo wear?
Originally, Navajo men wore breechcloths and the women wore skirts made of woven yucca fiberShirts were not necessary in Navajo culture, but both men and women wore deerskin ponchos or cloaks of rabbit fur in cool weather, and moccasins on their feetAfter sheep were introduced and Navajo women could weave larger woolen items, men began to wear poncho-style wool shirts, women began to wear wool dresses with shoulder straps, and heavy wool blankets began to replace fur cloaksIn the late 1800's and early 1900's, long velveteen shirts and blouses came into fashion and Mexican-style full cotton skirts became popular with Navajo womenThese styles are still popular todayHere is a site with sketches of 19th-century Apache and Navajo clothing styles, and some photos and links about Indian clothes in general The Navajos did not traditionally wear feather warbonnetsNavajo men usually wore cloth headbands tied around their foreheads insteadBoth men and women wore their hair gathered into a figure-eight shaped bun called a tsiyeel, though some Navajo men did begin cutting their hair to shoulder-length in the Pueblo style during the early 1900'sExcept for certain religious ceremonies, the Navajos didn't paint their faces or bodiesBut they are famous for their beautiful silver and turquoise ornaments, particularly concha belts (made of interconnected silver medallions), brooches, and jewelry Today, many Navajo people still have moccasins or a velveteen blouse, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of breechclothsand they only wear traditional regalia on special occasions like a wedding or a dance.
In NC there are a lot of spinning shopsSearch out spinning wheel and wool sales shopsThey have the dyes that work very well and each of the dyes has what mordant to use with itYou might even get addicted to the idea of making your own yarns and join the crowd!! NOte: you can use a red koolaide but it usually doesn't get as red as you wishYou can also use food coloring, which I haven't done yet, but do have the recipes forFruits and stuff in the house don't work too well for dying yarnsThe only other dye stuff found in nature that gets a good red is a little bug, cochineal, found on prickly pear cactus and it is really very expensive.
Kool-aid or food coloring will dye cotton, but not all that stronglyRit fabric dye should workI'd really advise you to try and get some red yarn, because it won't be much more expensive than the rit.
