Navajo Wedding Basket

This wedding basket made by Elouise Greymountain of Tonalea, Arizona encodes a structured narrative that is retold during ceremonies. The transitional designs created by the color scheme describe the Navajo people's emergence from a prior world, birth, struggle and pain, marriage, enlightenment , and a spirit world. During the Navajo wedding ceremony, the basket is used to hold cornmeal mush (taa'niil) that is consumed by the married couple and guests. The baskets are also used to hold ritual objects during ceremonies such as the kinaalda, the coming of age ceremony for young women, and during healing prayers. Traditional Navajo wedding baskets continue to be made and used by local canyon residents.