North American Indian Figures

==Explanation by James R. Murphy ==

I developed my own approach for learning string figures and teaching them to others, a systematic approach in which the method of manufacture is broken down into distinct phases, each of which can be altered to create new designs.

I also present present two other closely related string figures: the ‘Dine’ (Navajo) Net’ and the ‘Klamath Net.’ A great deal of time should be devoted to learning the three basic nets — as if memorizing multiplication tables — so that each becomes indelibly fixed in their minds. During this time students need to correlate what their eyes see with what their hands feel and what their mouths say as they recite the key words of the weaving sequence aloud. All these mind and hand activities need to become automatic and fully integrated for an unconscious ease of thinking to occur.

To help my students assimilate and comprehend the interrelatedness of the three North American Net figures I examine, I divide each of their construction sequences into four distinct phases:

Loom Phase

Weaving Phase (‘First Weave’ and ‘Second Weave’)

Loop Shifting Phase

Finishing Phase (‘Fixing the Bottom’ and ‘Cleaning the Top’)


 * In the Loom Phase (a building phase), three loops are established on each hand. This is followed by two distinct sets of weaves in which strings are drawn through loops, thus forming the heart or center of the evolving design.


 * In the Loop Shifting Phase that follows, various loops are either released and/or transferred to different fingers so that they can be further manipulated.


 * In the first half of the Finishing Phase (which i call ‘Fixing the Bottom’), the string destined to become the lower frame string of the design is drawn through various loops in a complex manner, thus creating a more stable configuration in the lower regions of the design.


 * In the second half of the Finishing Phase (which i call ‘Cleaning the Top’) the string destined to become the upper frame string is drawn through a loop which is subsequently released, thus leaving two loops on each hand, each of which has a transverse string. When drawn taut, an intricate net appears.

After mastering any one, but preferably all these three figures, one is prepared to tackle the ensuing lessons to make many very interesting and beautiful figures.