CENTENNIAL MUSEUM - CHIHUAHUAN DESERT GARDENS—THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO
CENTENNIAL MUSEUM - CHIHUAHUAN DESERT GARDENS—THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO
Two wood boards form the backboard, and rawhide lashings form body loops and ties. The head loop may be covered with fawn skin.
Measures: Approx. 24" long x 14" wide.
Navajo cradleboards are made either by men or women. After the child's birth, the wood is chosen from the eastern side of a secluded cedar or juniper tree that has not been struck by lightning, rubbed against by a bear, or broken by the wind. Cradleboards are thought of as a gift from the Holy People. The backboards represent mother earth and father sky. The head loop is bent like a rainbow to keep the child safe.
The shredded bark of the Cliff-rose (Purshia stansburiana) is often used to pad the cradleboard, form a pillow, and keep it smelling sweet.
The Cliff-rose is a medium sized, freely branched, evergreen shrub/small tree that primarily grows in pine/juniper forests on dry rocky slopes and canyons at 4000-8000 feet elevation. The bitter-tasting foliage has caused it to sometimes be called Quininebush.
The baby is swaddled in cloth and held secure with rawhide ties. Parents use the cradleboard to keep their babies safe until the child is ready to crawl. Cradleboards enable mothers to carry their babies on their backs or to take them along on horseback. Cradleboards can also be hung from the branches of a tree or propped against the trunk.
Navajo child on a cradleboard with lamb approaching, Window Rock, Arizona. Photographed by H. Armstrong Roberts, ca. 1936, courtesy of the U.S. National Archives.
Visit the Centennial Museum
website at http://museum.utep.edu/educate/learninglinks/LLintroduction.htm for Learning Links: Hupa Cradle Basket
(PDF) and "Unknown Affiliation" Cradleboard and Coloring Pages: Apache Cradleboard (PDF); Apache Twins (PDF); Navajo Cradleboard (PDF); Navajo Woman and
Baby (PDF); Navajo Baby and Lamb (PDF); Hupa Cradle Basket (PDF); Hupa Mother and Child (PDF); and "Unknown Affiliation" Cradleboard (PDF). ©Centennial Museum. fes 06