Hoofdband

362-49 Pima woven belt; káywoot (TK), giwud (Saxton, Saxton and Enos 1983); cotton, pigments; l. 207 cm. (incl. fringe: 233 cm.); w. 6.7 cm.; ca. 1870-1880. On the origins of the craft of weaving among the Pimas, little is known with certainty. In ancient times the Pimas spun an unidentified grass species into thread that was used for weaving purposes. They used arrow weed (Pluchea sericea) spindles with stone, ceramic and wooden whorls. Since at least the seventeenth century the Pimas also raised cotton that was spun into thread and then woven into fabric on a horizontal loom, spread between four stakes in the ground. Women did the spinning, but weaving seemed to be a craft in which older men specialized. They produced generally white square or rectangular cloths in plain weave that were used as robes and blankets. Waist belts and headbands were two other items woven with some frequency, reaching a length of two meters, and a width of six to seven centimeters. Some of these were double weaves. The Pimas used mineral pigments to dye their thread, including an ochre with a high iron oxide content bartered with the Papagos. They later raveled Mexican trade cloth to obtain red and blue thread for weaving into their fabrics. The Pimas traded their textiles with the Yumans on the Colorado River and with Mexican Indians (Whittemore 1893:52; Russell 1908:148-153,157; Beals 1934:27-28; Di Peso 1956:385-408; Irving 1981; Ezell 1983:152,158). About this type woven belt Ten Kate wrote: "The káywoot is worn not only around the head but is used as a sash at the same time. Also small children are tightly fastened to the carrying board with the káywoot; and in former times, when the Yumas still wore white blankets, the giwud served as a belt. In the Pima village Komertkewóótsje, by the Sierra de Estrella along Gila Crossing, I managed to see one of these ancient blankets. This was very coarse, woven from cotton, and white in color." The warp and the weft of the Leiden specimen is made of native cotton, mostly two-ply, dyed in various colors. The central patterned area stands in low-relief on both faces of the belt. The design is a series of diamonds with a scroll inside (see also next entry). (Hovens 2009)