One foot in the future and one foot in the past, Native people walk in two worlds. Sixth-generation Navajo weaver Michael Teller Ornelas walks the line between tradition and technology with his Digital Phase Wool Blanket, which combines ancient weaving symbols with contemporary digital design.
"I take inspiration from both traditional Navajo designs as well as pop culture references like video games," shares Michael. "This blanket combines and synthesizes traditional Navajo designs and modern video game pixel philosophy." Michaels' design is reminiscent of the low-poly video game graphics of the 80s and 90s, with blocks of color crisscrossing the blanket. The name—Digital Phase—is a nod to the categories of Navajo chief blankets and our modern era. "This blanket is a riff on the first, second, and third phases of Navajo blankets," shares Michael, who also honors the global digital era we currently inhabit.
The Teller-Pete-Ornelas family is known the world over for their incredible wool textiles. Michael is a sixth-generation weaver, taught to weave by his mother, Master Navajo Weaver Barbara Teller Ornelas, and his aunt, Master Navajo Weaver Lynda Teller Ornelas. The family's one-of-a-kind works are typically purchased off the loom before they are even finished; thanks to Lynda's Spider Woman Wool Blanket and Michael's Digital Phase Wool Blanket with Eighth Generation, their family's designs are available to a much wider audience. "We're honored to be part of the Teller-Pete-Ornelas family's weaving tradition with these special blankets," says Eighth Generation CEO Colleen Echohawk (Pawnee, Athabascan). "Native art belongs in every home in America, and Eighth Generation makes that possible with every blanket we make."
North Winds Series
The North Wind brings cold air from the Arctic, and on its wings come tales of green lights that dance across the night sky and snowflakes that sparkle like diamonds. The North Wind is also a trade wind, influencing migration and the exchange of goods for people across the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. We’ve combined the poetic and the practical of the North Winds to create our North Winds Series—a collection of Native designed 100% wool blankets produced at a heritage mill in Norway.
The land of glacial fjords and snowy mountains, Norway has a long history of wool textile production. For our North Winds Series, we have partnered with a Norwegian mill specializing in sustainable practices and heritage techniques to produce this special series of Native designed, 100% wool blankets, fusing traditional wool textile knowledge from two ancient traditions with two modern companies working to keep cultural art thriving. This unique partnership allows us to work with a small mill that, like Eighth Generation, values sustainability and cultural practices, while sharing Indigenous art and excellence with Nordic partners. As a vertical mill, all parts of the wool blanket production takes place in the same area—the sheep are raised and tended, the wool sheered, processed, and spun into yarn, and the blankets woven in one sustainable operation. These luxurious, 100% wool blankets are of a thick, heavy weight, perfect cuddling under while you watch the snow fall outside your window.
- Made in a vertical mill in Norway
- Fabric content: 100% Norwegian wool
- Designed by Navajo weaver Michael Teller Ornelas
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Blanket size: 53.15 in x 78.74 in / 135 cm x 200 cm
- Colors include turquoise and creams
- Blanket-stitch edge
Thank you for supporting Inspired Natives™, not "Native-inspired."
Product Care:
- Spot clean only; if needed, hand wash and air dry; lay flat to dry away from direct sunlight
- Clean liquid stains immediately with warm water and mild detergent
- Never use harsh chemicals or scrub wool
- Steam to de-wrinkle
- Store blanket away from direct sunlight
