Navajo Yei Textile with Knifewing Design [SOLD]

Yei are the Holy People of the Diné who are represented in sand paintings. They are both female and male and they are pictured with masks. Female Yei are represented with square or rectangular frontal masks and male are represented with a rounded mask that covers the whole head.

There has always been a strict rule that sand paintings be destroyed before sunset and never produced in permanent form. It is not surprising, then, that there was an uproar among the Diné when the first rugs were made depicting Yei Holy People. It is believed that the first ones were woven around 1880 although they were not generally seen until after 1900. By 1920, they were being woven throughout the Navajo Reservation.

This textile features seven Yei as Knifewing personages.  The textile has an all-natural dark brown wool outer border and an all-natural white wool inner border.  The background field of lighter brown was achieved by carding the dark brown wool and white wool.  The Knifewing figures alternate in color and outlining.

Condition: very good condition

Recommended Reading: Woven Holy People: Navajo Sandpainting Textiles from the Permanent Collection, 45th Anniversary Exhibition, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

Provenance: from the collection of a prominent Santa Fe family