• Navajo rug styles vary according to the time period in which they were woven.monument valley navajo tribal park image by Gary from Fotolia.com
  
  Pueblo Indians, who lived among the Navajos during and after the Pueblo Rebellion against the Spanish in the late 1600s, introduced sheep and weaving to the Navajo. Written records from as early as 1706 have been recovered, documenting the introduction. Navajo rug fragments from as early as 1805 have been recovered. The fragments, according to Indian Territory, a gallery of Antique American Indian Art, "show simple, conservative Pueblo Indian-influenced designs of narrow banding in alternating colors of natural sheep wool tones...and some vegetal dyes."
  
  

Chinle

• The Chinle is a banded rug, named for the town of Chinle, Arizona. However, it is now woven across the Navajo reservation and is known for its simplistic pattern. Usually, this is a borderless rug that alternates stripes with geometric designs like diamonds, squash blossoms and chevrons. Although Chinle patterns are always "railroad" track in style, they are less distinctive now than they once were, as their patterns are more similar to Wide Ruins and Crystal styles. The Crystal style, in particular, is very similar to the Chinle style and differs only in that the geometric shapes between striping also run in bands, rather than singularly in the center of the rug.
  
  

Ganado

• The Ganado style of rug is one of the most well-known. Ganado rugs always have a red background and a design element like diamonds or a cross in the center. Geometric shapes adorn the corners and a dark-colored border surrounds a lighter inner border. Juan Lorenzo Hubbell traded with the Navajos in the 1870s and encouraged the weavers to use wool warp and subdued colors, instead of bright colors.
  
  

Teec Nos Pos

• Meaning "Circle of Cottonwoods," the Teec Nos Pos trading post was established in 1905 by H. B. Noel. These rugs are known for having a large Persian influence and feature a wide outer border with elaborate center designs. Often, the rugs have bold colors outlined with a contrasting color. The designs are intricate and feature prayer feathers, arrows and double central diamonds.