A place name or surname, most notably associated with Pendleton Woolen Mills, famous for Native American-inspired blankets and clothing.
English surname and place name from Old English, meaning 'hill settlement' or 'enclosed hill', from 'pen' (hill) + 'dūn' (hill) + 'tūn' (settlement). The redundant 'hill hill' construction reflects different linguistic layers in English place names.
Pendleton blankets became deeply intertwined with Native American culture despite being made by a non-Native company, creating complex cultural relationships around authenticity and appropriation. The patterns, originally designed to appeal to Native customers, became so valued that they're now collected as both functional textiles and cultural artifacts.
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