Pictorial Navajo Rug “Skinwalker”

ONE-OF-A-KIND . . . likely no other.

1982 was a year filled with fear for the Pinon area of Arizona. Navajo gathered around the Pinon Trading post, whispering words of “sightings.”
Navajo shepherd lifestyle requires large spaces. This means loneliness and superstition, of which the Navajo have plenty. Central to loneliness is the grappling with fear, nightly born of remoteness and fireside stories. The Navajo elders delight in storytelling. What is true and what is not seeps deeply into the Navajo culture.

ONE ominous figure is Skinwaker, a creature who is frightful and night bound. He prowls in the darkness of night. So Navajo use silence of remoteness as a guard against the Skinwalker. The Navajo ear is always aware.

In the summer of 1982 that sense was triggered on a nightly basis. Skinwalker was everywhere. Secret murmuring was rampant. . In the Navajo culture, a skinwalker is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. And to flee, reappear, and suddenly shape shift into animals. Witchcraft!

In the early eighties there was a spat of Skin Walker sightings. All witnesses reported the skulking and dangerous manimal had witchy eyes and could appear and reappear with uncanny swiftness. And that he left death in his wake, of which the Navajo are greatly fearful. Many domestic animals were strangely eviscerated and reports of “sightings” were frequent.

THIS RUG by notable weaver Sally Barker features a multitude of animals, insects and a strange figure resembling Skinwalker. The rug was woven in that tumultuous year, 1982. Coincidence?

About 40×50 size. Strong yarn, in heavy weight hand spun Native sheep wool. Suitable for both floor and wall. One-of-a-Kind.

COLLECTOR ALERT!