Nineteenth Century Diné Very Large and Deep Basket [SOLD]

It has become common knowledge that members of the Paiute Tribe have made ceremonial baskets for the Navajo for over a hundred years.  There are several reasons the Navajo turned to their northern neighbors for this favor. When the Diné were released from imprisonment by the government, they were poor and broken in spirit.  From the depths of poverty and humiliation, they turned to spirituality for salvation. They developed serious ceremonial functions that required strict adherence to ritual and rules.

One of the items developed in conjunction with this spirituality was a “ceremonial” basket needed by the medicine man to hold sacred corn meal, prayer feathers, medicines, stirring rods, flints, claws, colored earth, and other things as part of his ceremonial bundle.  Because of the importance to the ceremony of the basket, it was considered special. It was not allowed to touch the ground. The woman who made one had many restrictions placed on her. She was forbidden to have intercourse while making a basket, not allowed to be touched by anyone, kept in isolation to observe  dietary restriction, could not work while menstruating, and had to undergo ceremonial cleansing before and after making a basket. Her weaving materials had to be placed so nobody would step over them. It was then that the Navajo invited the Paiutes to make ceremonial baskets for their use, as they had no such restrictions.  Whiteford 1988:32

Before their incarceration at Bosque Redondo, the Navajo women made many baskets and there were no restrictions at the time.  They made baskets for everyday use and put on a design of their choice. This basket is one of the early ones where the design was determined by the weaver.  The design chosen for this one consists of five small diamonds in the lower portion and five larger ones on the upper wall. Each diamond has a line extension from the four points.  This was certainly a utilitarian basket and not one for ceremonial use.

Condition: the Nineteenth Century Diné Very Large and Deep Basket clearly displays its extensive use.  A significant portion of the rim is missing and there are stitches missing on the basket wall and on the underside.

Provenance: from the personal collection of Santa Fe dealer and collector Marti Struever, who purchased it in 2000 from Santa Fe dealer Jay Evetts.  She displayed it in her private quarters.

Reference: Southwestern Indian Baskets - Their History and Their Makers by Andrew Hunter Whiteford, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe. 1988.

Note: when we say Diné, as opposed to Navaho or Navajo, we are referring to the people and not the government.  Since 1969, their government refers to itself as the Navajo Nation.