Why do native people place a high monetary value on Pendleton
blankets? In this day in age, many of us [native people] stress the importance
of supporting or buying companies that are “native-owned,” or “native-made,” instead
of “native-inspired.” Yet, Pendleton blankets are still viewed as a highly valuable
items that are used ceremonially, in regalia, and for trading purposes.
The Pendleton Woolen Mills was created in 1909, by the
Bishop family, who used the geography of eastern Oregon and it’s major railhead
in the Columbia Plateau, to begin sourcing wool from sheep farmers. The mill
was originally built in 1893, as a “wool scouring plant,” and in 1895, it was transformed
into making blankets and robes for native people, this eventually failed as
native people were unable to purchase these blankets because they were not able
to easily leave the confines of the reservations, to the city of Pendleton. At
this point in time, the tribes in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington,
Idaho) had signed treaties approximately 20-30 years before this around 1850s-1860s.
In September of 1909, the Bishops had reopened the Woolen Mills and released “Indian
Trading Blankets,” which then became what is the now tradition of the Pendleton
Blankets.
These “Indian Trading Blankets” were created based upon a “study
of the color and design preferences of local and Southwest Native Americans
that resulted in vivid colors and intricate patterns.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t
always true. On the website, you can find many blankets under the “Native American-Inspired
Blankets,” tab and one of the first blankets that pops up is the “Chief Joseph
Blanket.” Chief Joseph was from the Nez Perce tribe in what is now the state of
Idaho, who was relatively close with my tribe (Cayuse). This design and color
scheme has no significance to the Nez Perce tribe, nor does it have
significance with Chief Joseph. The Pendleton Woolen Mills have profited from created
a design and named it after Chief Joseph, without permission or given a portion
of the profit to Chief Joseph’s descendants or the Nez Perce tribe.
Unfortunately, this is only one example of how the Pendleton
Woolen Mills is using native people’s designs, names, colors, and cultures
(some that aren’t even used by tribes – just makes the items more desirable) to
profit off of. None of the proceeds from the Pendleton Woolen Mills go to
tribes in the Northwest or Southwest that they continually borrow names and
designs from, but why do we continue to support Pendleton blankets?
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