Restoring Navajo-Churro Sheep: Acculturation and Adaptation of a Traditional Fiber Resource

Factors that contribute to artisan sustainability are of critical importance to the world’s artisans who depend on hand-produced textiles for income and livelihood, and for whom textile production is closely intertwined with cultural identity. For Navajo (Diné) weavers, outside influences on their traditional fiber resource, Navajo- Churro sheep, have proven one critical factor in the quality, characteristics, and sustainability of Navajo handwoven textiles. The Diné acculturated a pastoral lifestyle and adapted wool for weaving from the desert sheep introduced into the American Southwest by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Sheep proved critical to Diné weaving, cultural identity, and independence. As the American policy pendulum swung between assimilation and neglect toward native peoples during the past 150 years, Navajo-Churro flocks were repeatedly destroyed or interbred with ‘improved’ breeds. The subsequent near-extinction of Navajo-Churro sheep transformed Navajo handweaving from textiles woven with hand-processed sustainable fiber to textiles dependent on outside fiber sources. Informed by the historical context, this paper discusses an interpretive study on ways Diné be’ íína’ (DBI), a contemporary community-based Navajo organization, is working to restore Navajo-Churro sheep to Navajo lands and weaving. In-depth interviews and participant observation has revealed the depth of commitment to cultural identity and to Navajo-Churro wool as a cultural product

Hand Spinning and Cotton in the Aztec Empire, as Revealed by the \u3ci\u3eCodex Mendoza\u3c/i\u3e

At a lecture titled Growing Up Aztec, art historian Jill Furst illustrated Aztec childhood with images from the Codex Mendoza, an extraordinary, post- Hispanic pictorial manuscript from central Mexico. The Mendoza specified the lessons, punishments, and even the number of tortillas appropriate for boys and girls during each year of childhood. Interestingly, the Codex Mendoza showed spinning as the only instruction given to Aztec girls between the ages of four and thirteen years. In 1992, the University of California Press published a full color facsimile of the Codex Mendoza with a translation into English and with extensive interpretation in four volumes edited by Frances F. Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt. Following the editors\u27 dedication to those interested in studying MesoAmerica ( May you find a good road ). I read the Codex Mendoza for references and images specific to spinning, spinners, and cotton fiber. The work of Berdan and Anawalt made it possible to look at Aztec history from within the craft of hand spinning. Questions about the Aztecs and spinning included: Why did the Codex Mendoza show that learning to spin was the only instruction given to little girls aged four to thirteen? Little boys learned a variety of skills. Preparing enough fiber and spinning enough yam for a garment using a spindle takes considerable time, but did it require educating presumably half the Aztec population only in spinning? What else might the Codex Mendoza reveal about the place of hand spinning in everyday Aztec life? What roles the spinner play and what fibers did they spin? After a brief description of the original Codex Mendoza and the facsimile edition, this paper describes spinning, spinners, and cotton as revealed by the Codex Mendoza and suggests one connection between quantities of handspun cotton and female childhoods devoted to learning hand spinning. The Codex Mendoza The original Codex Mendoza has a colorful history. Anthropologist H. B. Nicholson has studied the Mendoza, the complex and ambiguous circumstances of its preparation, and the history of its travels among subsequent owners before it came to reside at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England. Evidence indicates the Mendoza was prepared at the request of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in Mexico City in the 1540s, some 20 years after Spanish conquest

Restoring Navajo-Churro Sheep: Acculturation and Adaptation of a Traditional Fiber Resource

Factors that contribute to artisan sustainability are of critical importance to the world’s artisans who depend on hand-produced textiles for income and livelihood, and for whom textile production is closely intertwined with cultural identity. For Navajo (Diné) weavers, outside influences on their traditional fiber resource, Navajo- Churro sheep, have proven one critical factor in the quality, characteristics, and sustainability of Navajo handwoven textiles. The Diné acculturated a pastoral lifestyle and adapted wool for weaving from the desert sheep introduced into the American Southwest by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Sheep proved critical to Diné weaving, cultural identity, and independence. As the American policy pendulum swung between assimilation and neglect toward native peoples during the past 150 years, Navajo-Churro flocks were repeatedly destroyed or interbred with ‘improved’ breeds. The subsequent near-extinction of Navajo-Churro sheep transformed Navajo handweaving from textiles woven with hand-processed sustainable fiber to textiles dependent on outside fiber sources. Informed by the historical context, this paper discusses an interpretive study on ways Diné be’ íína’ (DBI), a contemporary community-based Navajo organization, is working to restore Navajo-Churro sheep to Navajo lands and weaving. In-depth interviews and participant observation has revealed the depth of commitment to cultural identity and to Navajo-Churro wool as a cultural product

Normalization of the Lymph Node T Cell Stromal Microenvironment in lpr/lpr Mice Is Associated with SU5416-Induced Reduction in Autoantibodies

The vascular-stromal elements of lymph nodes can play important roles in regulating the activities of the lymphocytes within. During model immune responses, the vascular-stromal compartment has been shown to undergo proliferative expansion and functional alterations. The state of the vascular-stromal compartment and the potential importance of this compartment in a spontaneous, chronic model of autoimmunity have not been well studied. Here, we characterize the vascular expansion in MRL-lpr/lpr lymph nodes and attempt to ask whether inhibiting this expansion can interfere with autoantibody generation. We show that characteristics of vascular expansion in enlarging MRL-lpr/lpr lymph nodes resemble that of the VEGF-dependent expansion that occurs in wild-type mice after model immunization. Surprisingly, treatment with SU5416, an inhibitor of VEGF and other receptor tyrosine kinases, did not have sustained effects in inhibiting vascular growth, but attenuated the anti-dsDNA response and altered the phenotype of the double negative T cells that are expanded in these mice. In examining for anatomic correlates of these immunologic changes, we found that the double negative T cells are localized within ectopic follicles around a central B cell patch and that these T cell-rich areas lack the T zone stromal protein ER-TR7 as well as other elements of a normal T zone microenvironment. SU5416 treatment disrupted these follicles and normalized the association between T zone microenvironmental elements and T cell-rich areas. Recent studies have shown a regulatory role for T zone stromal elements. Thus, our findings of the association of anti-dsDNA responses, double negative T cell phenotype, and altered lymphocyte microenvironment suggest the possibility that lymphocyte localization in ectopic follicles protects them from regulation by T zone stromal elements and functions to maintain autoimmune responses. Potentially, altering the lymphocyte microenvironment that is set up by the vascular-stromal compartment can be a means by which to control undesired autoimmune responses

Knitting as Scholarship

Knitting is ubiquitous, an unremarkable part of everyday life that tends to fade into the historical background. Unfortunately, the craft of knitting has also suffered from sad associations with impoverishment and from its reputation as frivolous, Victorian-era women\u27s work. Women have in fact written much of their personal and social history in textiles, including knitting. Making textiles is the key to the inner story of the existence of women, wrote textile scholar Candace Wheeler. The scholarly study of certain hand-produced textiles?especially quilting and weaving?was overlooked in the past. Such study has now been acknowledged as a valuable way to understand cross-cultural artistic, social, and historical experiences, for women in particular. Knitting, however, remains largely neglected by scholars and curators despite the extraordinary popular interest shown within contemporary society. Therefore, a review of literature was conducted, which revealed the contributions of a relatively small but significant number of scholarly works focused on knitting. In this paper for the panel, I present an overview of refereed publications, dissertations, and exhibitions to date. In addition, I summarize the range of disciplines for which knitting has proven a valuable topic of study and elaborate on the specific contributions to these disciplines. Knitting may follow the same trajectory as quilting, which in the past was overlooked and undervalued and now is appreciated in collections, exhibitions, and a designated study center. Knitting offers a similar potential for valuable contributions to future research, scholarship, collections, and exhibitions

Preserving Provenance: Collaborative Conversation with a Textile Collector

Introduction Donations of textile collections are essential for universities and museums that rely on historical and ethnographic textiles for research, teaching, and exhibitions. In turn, collectors who have amassed substantial numbers of textiles seek appropriate donation venues. Provenance related to collecting individual textiles may be lost, however, before a donor selects an institution, or before the donation has been accessioned into a university or museum collection. A donation received after the demise of a donor who did not document individual pieces limits the provenance—the history of the source and ownership—of individual textiles. Without provenance, it is tempting to see even the most intriguing textiles as inanimate objects. In addition, limited provenance restricts the story-telling ability of textiles. In this paper, we describe a method intended to capture provenance for each textile in a living donation bequeathed as a planned gift. Judi Arndt Central Asian Collection Judith (Judi) Arndt, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, is a textile artisan and collector. She established a career as a professional interior designer and lived abroad for many years with her husband and children. As time permitted, she studied and developed skills in dyeing and weaving. Informed by her understanding of the patience and time required for handproduced textiles, she collected pieces that were specific to her interest in natural dyes and complex weaving techniques. When did she realize that she had a collection? . . . when I realized that my passion for travel and textiles came together as a single focus, and the textiles were starting to take over my home. While traveling to various underdeveloped areas I also wanted to support what women in these countries were doing to support their families. They were making a living from producing the same crafts that I had been doing since the late 1950s. Judi grew to love Asian textiles, Central Asian textiles in particular. Aware that the strength of her collection lay in dye and weaving techniques, she sought an appropriate educational venue that would use her collection for teaching and research. Her network of textile enthusiasts acquainted her with the strong ethnic focus of the textile program at Colorado State University, where faculty members have strong roots in socially responsible production and marketing of artisan textiles. Based on these factors, she decided on the Museum of Design and Merchandising, a facility housed within the Department of Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University

Erratum

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38010/1/820290317_ftp.pd

Two Isoforms of Npap60 (Nup50) Differentially Regulate Nuclear Protein Import

Npap60 (Nup50) is a nucleoporin that binds directly to importin α. In humans, there are two Npap60 isoforms: the long (Npap60L) and short (Npap60S) forms. Our results demonstrate that Npap60S stabilizes the binding of importin α to classical NLS-cargo, whereas Npap60L promotes the release of NLS-cargo from importin α