Coins and Velveteen and Navajo

Navajo woman adorned circa 1930s
Web photo

Here is a fine example of a Navajo women in full adornment. This southwestern Indigenous adornment was perpetuated by Navajo women of the 1930s and 40s era on the Navajo reservation.

My grandmother has many photographs such as this one. The woman pictured here is wearing a velveteen shirt adorned with silver dimes, or currency. Instead of fashioning silver into buttons, many women chose to use the shiny coins to decorate their clothing. Sometimes they would also use quarters, and later some Navajo women used the coins given by Anglo traders on the reservation.

After the U.S. government learned of such practices they announces that the Navajo could not longer "deface" American property, so this type of fashion faded out.

I adore this photograph.