The Navajo, also known as the Diné, are the largest remaining group of Native Americans in the United States; there are over 300,000 individuals counting themselves as Navajo. Arizona and New Mexico are hosts to the largest population centers. They are noted for their remarkable adaption to the desert regions of the American southwest and their skills in silver-smithing and weaving. Incorporating turquoise with silver-smithing in fashioning jewelry has become iconic of Diné culture. The Diné refined their weaving skills when they adapted themselves to the upright looms used by the Pueblo people. The finely woven blankets of the Diné have three basic design patterns referred to as phases. Blankets woven in first phase patterns are limited to horizontal stripes, second phase patterns use red rectangular designs, and the third phase patterns make use of red diamond shapes.
