Rare and Unique

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life pattern consists of a tree or a cornstalk growing from a Navajo wedding basket. Tradition has it that the colorful birds perched on and around the tree of life represent the offspring of a marriage reflected by the Navajo wedding basket. Most Tree of Life rugs appear to be woven on the Cedar Ridge area of the reservation.

Sandpainting

Navajo religion is an integral part of life on the reservation. Sandpainting weavings are pictorial rugs based on ceremonial sandpaintings. This style is considered by traditional Navajos as taboo, and by Navajos in general as somewhat controversial, since ceremonial sandpaintings are to be destroyed after the rite has been performed. Weavers of sandpainting rugs may have a ceremony performed allowing them to weave the rug and to keep in harmony, the price of the rug would reflect the charge paid to the medicine man for the ceremony.

Sandpainting rugs are square in shape and include common elements such as sacred plants, snakes, lizards, and feathers. The colors in a sandpainting rug have a definite significance. The area around Shiprock, New Mexico is known for sandpainting weaving.

Yei

Yei (pronounced yay) rugs depict yeis, the supernatural "Holy People" who communicate between Navajos and their gods. Like sandpainting rugs, Yei rugs are strongly representative of healing--not just physical, but emotional, spiritual, and mental healing. The deities portrayed in Yei rugs are believed to restore health when petitioned in an appropriately conducted ceremony. It is commonly accepted that weavers in the Shiprock region of the reservation were induced to portray these holy beings just after the turn of the century.