Navajo Basket Weaving Arts
Common among Navajo baskets is the fact
that, many are woven so tight they will hold water.
Are you aware that the Navajo culture had no written form of their language until the 1960s? To this day, many of the Navajo ancestral songs and legends have never been written into words. Is it any wonder that Navajo baskets were traditionally used to ensure that these stories are remembered and to preserved from generation to generation? The patterns and symbols that skilled Navajo basket weavers incorporate into their stunningly beautiful baskets are there to preserve "hózhó" - the Navajo word that defines the essence of their philosophy and culture. Hózhó determines a basket's meaning, its purpose, and governs its creation. Hózhó is related to the natural world and to preserving balance between man and nature. Perhaps it is "hózhó" that makes today's Navajo baskets among the most desirable and sought after baskets in the world.
The Navajo have plenty of experience with weaving museum caliber baskets. In Southwestern parts of the U.S., researchers have found baskets that date as far back as 6,000 B.C. Many of the techniques from then are still being employed by today's Navajo basket weavers. Indigenous plants like yucca, devil's claw, and bear grass, are gathered by Navajo women and woven in "split stitch" styles, which are identical to those used by their ancient ancestors. 
Perhaps the reason that these techniques have changed so little is because basket making is an essential part of every young Navajo girl's training for passage into womanhood. Mothers pass along their creativity and love of basket making to their daughters, who learn that by incorporating Navajo stories and legends into their basket designs they are able to both record and preserve their ancestral history. In this way, children are taught "to walk in beauty" or "hózhó", which is the closest word the Navajo have for "religion" or "art".
Around the 1870s with the arrival of the trading post system, Navajo basket production declined in favor of more profitable Navajo rugs. For several generations traditional Navajo baskets were made only for decorative and ceremonial uses, as other containers such as western pots and pans, replaced the Navajo basket's utilitarian role in tribal life. Somewhere around the mid-twentieth century Navajo baskets were "rediscovered" by the tourist, decorating and art collecting trades. Seemingly overnight the demand for authentic Navajo baskets mushroomed. However, this clamor for anything Native 
American created new problems for Navajo basket weavers. This was due to the strict set of taboos that governed the creation of ceremonial baskets and their role in preserving Navajo culture and traditions. Fortunately for the rest of us, Navajo weavers have been able to redefine "hózhó", with respect to Navajo baskets. Eventually their purpose was altered to suit a modern world. For today's Navajo artisans, the sale of their beautiful baskets provides for many of the necessities of life, such as food and money to pay bills. Therefore it is now considered acceptable to produce Navajo basket simply for their artistic value, as long as compliance with Navajo traditions and beliefs are observed.
Authentic Navajo baskets are acknowledged to be as collectible as Navajo textiles, jewelry, kachina dolls, pottery and the multitude other art works they make. You can get the lowest prices and biggest selection of Navajo baskets in the shops and trading posts on or near their reservation in the four corners region of Arizona and New Mexico. However, if you are not fortunate enough to reside in that part of the U.S., the next best place to buy Navajo baskets at discount prices is at internet auctions.
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