Navajo Picture Writing On Muslin, Two Humpback Yeis with Two Bat Guardians

Unknown Navajo picture writing on muslin Six Yeis With Two Water Creature Guardians Muslin, mineral pigments, sand. Navajo Medicine Man active 1947 - 1...

Tasaf Katsina Hopi 1940s 10 inches H. x 4.50 inches W. x 3.75 inches D. Cottonwood root, mineral pigments, dyed horsehair, feathers. Very good original condition overall. An wonderful example of the Hopi Tasaf Katsina circa early to mid 1940s. Katsina dolls...

Raspberry Alabaster feather bundled bear Fetish with distinct heart line Amos Pino 1998 Ramah Navajo Band, Navajo Reservation, El Morro, New Mexico M...

Feather storage basket Rikbaktsa Tribe, Jurene River, Mato Grosso, Brazil 1990 Plaited fiber, wood, feathers, twined natural fiber, and cotton. 5 inche...

A Yei Navajo Figural double-sided flat woven wall hanging - circa 1930. Displaying five standing figures on an deep speckled grey ground, framed by a red border. The Yei iconography is related to Navajo religious sandpaintings. Navajo religion has a reverence for nature and is based on maintaining a balance in the universe. It was believed that there was a sense of harmony needed to maintain a healthy life. Should an individual do something to upset this balance, then it was believed that an illness might befall them. Much like in the modern-day, a medicine man was hired to help regain this harmony. The remedy involved a combination of chanting, herbal medicines and a sandpainting ritual. Various coloured sands were sprinkled on the ground until they formed a specific Yei (holy person), based on the god he was trying to summon. When the sandpainting was completed, it was sanctified by spreading corn pollen over it. Once the sacred sandpainting had served its purpose, it was erased. To save it or reproduce its imagery was dangerous and could bring serious grief to anyone who retained the image. During the 1890s, the Navajos phased out blanket weaving in favour of rugs. There was strong demand from the vast migration of settlers, building homes by the thousands, who needed something to cover their floors. The first Navajo rug depicting holy people...

The woolen rug has a white background color on which are three stylized figures on each side of a center cornstalk, forming a striking and symbolic composition rooted in Navajo tradi...

Navajo Yei Handwoven Wool Rug, American Southwest, 20th Century Description: A vibrant and finely handwoven Navajo Yei rug, originating from the American Southwest, likely mid-20th ...

A beautifully composed and colored (the burnt orange is quite amazing), intricately woven Navajo Yei pictorial rug/blanket/wall hanging featuring three Navajo dancers portraying a Yei (Yeibichai) characters. Yei is the Navajo name for benevolent, holy beings who possess supernatural healing powers. From a Los Angeles, Southern California Native American...