By Joe Ben Wheat; edited by Ann Lane Hedlund, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 2003; 440 pages, $75 clothbound

Reviewed by Debra Utacia Krol (Salinan/Esselen)

Intensively researched, written and illustrated by the late Joe Ben Wheat, one of the preeminent authorities on Southwestern ethnohistory, and completed by Ann Lane Hedlund, a renowned textile expert in her own right, this groundbreaking new book carefully traces the history of blanket weaving among the peoples of the Southwest.

As Native peoples came into contact with Europeans, their ancient techniques, patterns, materials and dyes evolved into ever more dazzling examples of the interplay of texture, color and weaving technique. Wheat and Hedlund painstakingly trace this metamorphosis of blankets from everyday wear to the highly sought-after works of art they are today.

Without a doubt, Blanket Weaving in the Southwest will be accounted as the definitive history of and guide to the blanket weaving traditions of the Southwestern peoples.