Dora Peshlakai Navajo Textile Depicting the Na'akai' Yeibicheii Dance [SOLD]

This Navajo rug by Diné of the Navajo Nation weaver Dora Peshlakai depicts the Na'akai', the Yeibicheii dance, on the final night of the Nightway ceremony.  It was awarded First Prize at the Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial in 1960.  

The textile was woven using commercial wool, a carryover from the days when the Diné were incarcerated at Bosque Redondo in southern New Mexico in the mid-1800s.  Many weavers who got accustomed to commercial yarns at Bosque Redondo, preferred their use after returning home to their ancestral lands.  Part of the reason was that the government provided Merino sheep to the Diné to replace the Churro sheep with which they were familiar.  The Merino wool was inferior to the Churro wool.  Additionally, commercial wool eliminated the laborious tasks of preparing native wool for use in weaving.

Pictorial textiles had their beginning in the Four Corners area of New Mexico around 1910, particularly from Shiprock and Lukachukai regions.  Earlier Yeibicheii pictorial textiles featured single large front-facing figures.  The Yeibicheii textiles being woven today feature Navajo impersonating the Yeibicheii in the dance, not of the Holy People themselves.  The dancers are pictured in profile, not front facing, as illustrated in this textile.

The previous owner of this textile added yarn loops at the top of the textile so that it could be displayed hanging on a rod.  The yarn is easily removed, without damage to the textile, should it be desired.  We are using the spelling for Yeicicheii as provided to us by our Diné friend who is a scholar of the ceremonials of his people. 

Dora Peshlakai (*1895-1965) lived to be about 70 years old.  She was still winning awards in her latter years and was a role model for other artists to follow in her footsteps and history of textile weaving.

Condition: appears to be in good condition with minor soiling

Provenance: this Dora Peshlakai Navajo Textile Depicting the Na'akai' Yeibicheii Dance is from the collection of a gentleman from Illinois

Reference: The Navajo Weaving Tradition 1650 to the Present by Alice Kaufman and Christopher Selser

*According to: Navaho Death Records, Special Presentation:  Northwest New Mexico Death records compiled by Gary Tietjen.

Relative Links: textiles, Navajo Nation, Dora Peshlakai, Diné Textile Weaver