Unknown Maker, Hopi

Sometimes called a “maiden shawl” by collectors, this style of blanket has a ceremonial as well as a practical role. It was worn by Hopi women in the Basket Dance and by men playing female roles in kachina ceremonies and was also used for these purposes at the Rio Grande pueblos. It is said to be the garment worn by Kachina Maiden, a religious figure depicted on two baskets in the adjacent case. Kachinas are deified ancestral spirits among the Pueblo. The donor, Mrs. Jesse H. Metcalf, was the mother of Eliza Metcalf Radeke: both were founders of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Gift of Mrs. Jesse H. Metcalf 13.1466

One of six types of women's manta, this white manta with red and blue stripes was often called a "maiden's shawl." It was given to a Hopi girl between the ages of 8 and 12 after her Kachina ceremony, a coming of age ritual for all Hopi children, and was most often made by her grandfather. It was also numbered among a bride's wedding garments although it was not worn during the marriage but later for dress and ceremonial occassions.

This manta which wraps around the shoulders and ties in the front (two green ties remain at the upper edge) is an descendant of the earlier mantas of striped cotton twill, fragments of cloth were excavated from prehistoric Pueblo sites. Cotton was the traditional fiber used by the Pueblo Indians until the Spanish introduced sheep and wool in the sixteenth century. Until 1850 "maiden shawls" were woven entirely of wool at which time white cotton replaced the white wool.

The Pueblo Indians had developed a sophisticated weaving culture before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. This early knowledge of weaving lead to clothing styles based on the rectangular or square shape of the textile as it was taken off the loom. These styles of mantas, breechcloths, and shirts did away with the necessity to cut into the textiles which took much time and skill to produce.