Yucca Sandal

This sandal was excavated in the 1930s from Room 79 of Keet Seel Pueblo, the largest pre-contact cliff dwelling in Arizona. It was made from the leaves of a yucca plant and constructed using a plaiting technique. The structure was manipulated to mold the toe and heel sections into a foot shape and the heel has been built up using supplementary braiding. Remains of a toe loop are faintly visible, as are possible strap remnants at the back of the sandal. This mostly intact sandal was chosen to represent Navajo National Monument because of the exceptional preservation organic pre-contact items were afforded by the dry cave sites from this NPS unit. Close to one hundred pre-contact sandals have been recovered from Navajo National Monument.