Cultures, not costumes: Navajo is no generic term

Photo: Pixabay, January 20, 2017

By: Kaila Ford

With spring festival season quickly approaching, the Navajo “trend” is bound to make its seasonal comeback. Native Americans, especially the Navajo, were fine weavers. It is believed that they learned to weave from the Pueblo Indians but soon learned more about weaving and differentiated themselves by perfecting their technique over the years. They used their designs, and even materials used, to depict the economic and social history of the Navajo people. They constructed tunic-like dresses, belts, garters, hair ties, men’s shirts, breechcloths, and blankets which they also used for trade.

In the past decade, many companies and brands have copied Navajo designs or used the name “Navajo” to describe their products and tried to capitalize off of them, causing legal issues.

Urban Outfitters was called out for having their products made cheaply overseas then calling their products “Navajo” designs. Appropriating the original designs and cultural significance, the billion dollar retail chain sold the word Navajo as a trend, profiting from it without any collaboration with its true owners.

The Navajo nation actually holds trademarks on certain terms including the word “Navajo” and certain retail clothing items. Urban Outfitters used “Navajo” as an aesthetic movement, completely ignoring the fact the it is a nation of people who base their economy off of these designs. Four years later, the Urban Outfitters case has not yet been settled.