SPAIN IN THE AMERICAS 57TEXTILES OF SPANISH NEW MEXICO
The fine art of Hispanic weaving is one of the oldest tra-
ditional crafts still practiced in present-day New Mexico,
dating back as early as the 16th-century exploratory mis-
sion of Francisco de Coronado, who counted about
5,000 sheep in his entourage. (Weaving by Native
Americans in the region predates this but they did not
weave wool until Spanish sheep arrived.) Although Juan
de Oñate established the first permanent European set-
tlment in 1598 at San Juan de los Caballeros, it was not
until after the territorial capital was founded at Santa Fe
in 1610 that traditional Spanish arts and crafts became
established in New Mexico. Before long, Santa Fe crafts-
people began building enormous treadle looms, looms
so large that they were too heavy to transport from
Mexico. Most of the weaving was done by men in talleres,
or workshops. Prior to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, most of
these workers were enslaved Apache, Ute, and Pueblo.
Not until after the Spanish recaptured New Mexico in
1692 did weaving become common in individual Spanish
homes. Because New Mexico’s governor Diego de Vargas
rewarded his former soldiers with large land grants per-
fectly suited for sheep farming—and thus for producing
wool—the New Mexico textile industry started to thrive,
and weavers became the most common kind of craftsper-
sons to be found in New Mexico during the period, work-
ing alongside other textile workers such as shearers,
carders, spinners, and tailors. Textiles from New Mexico
were sent south along El Camino Real (or “The King’s
Road,” the name given to all major Spanish highways in
North America that led to Mexico City) to El Paso del
Norte and then on to Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, and
Durango in Mexico. The styles included the jerga, a
checker-pattered woolen rug; the serape (at left, top), a
garment worn as a protective outer coat; and the frazada,
or blanket, which often included manitas (little hands) or
palmas (palms) motifs. Each November a caravan of ox-
drawn carts was loaded with textiles and sent south on a
dangerous journey, under the watchful protection of as
many as 500 soldiers. Usually, several thousand sheep
were driven by caravan to Mexican markets. In exchange
for wool and textiles, New Mexican merchants received
many of the provisions that were otherwise unavailable in
the colony, including other kinds of cloth, metal tools and
utensils, sugar, chocolate, horses, and mules.
Partly because many of the early textile weavers were
genizaro—Indians who had assimilated into Hispanic
society, usually as household servants—the New Mexican
textile industry has also played an important role in the
interplay between Hispanic and Native American cultures.
It was Spaniards who introduced the Pueblo and Navajo
to sheep and wool. In fact, the Navajo became such mas-
ters at the art of weaving that their blankets soon gar-
nered higher prices on the market than those made by
Spaniards. Hispanic weavers responded by adding
Navajo motifs in the corners of their blankets.Wool from sheep brought to the Americas by the Spanish, combined
with Native American weaving techniques, led to a flourishing textile
industry in Mexico’s northern territories. Above is a woolen serape,
or “wearing blanket,” dating from the 19th century. Serapes were
especially prized by horsemen.(courtesy of Mark Winter)
The very fine handiwork in this 19th-
century New Mexican rebozo, or
shawl, suggests that it was reserved
for special occasions. The rows of
dancing figures (see detail) are
thought to represent celebrants at a
wedding. (courtesy of Mark Winter)