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Navajo Yei Bi Chei Dancer Carved Sculptures

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 300.00 USD
Navajo Yei Bi Chei Dancer Carved Sculptures
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Navajo Yei Bi Chei Dancer Carved Sculptures. This is a depiction of one of the major ceremonies of the Navajo - the nine-day Night Chant or Yei'bi'chei dance. These are the 6 male dancers and the leader and final dancer. The carved wood figures are mounted on a wood base (1.5''x5.5''x30''). The lead dancer is 12'' from bottom of base to tip of feather. Two of the dancers are missing the feathers on their heads and two of the dancers are missing one of the feathers. Once dancer is missing his gourd rattle. Others may have repairs. The dance is only held during the winter months and is usually attended by everyone from miles around. It is during this ceremony that boys and girls receive their initiation into the rituals of Navajo religion. The boys are stripped to a loincloth, and with heads bowed, are approaced by the masked Yei'bi'chei who sprinkles pollen over various parts of the boy's body then ''whips'' him with yucca leaves. During ceremony, a team will be composed of fourteen dancers: the leader Yeibichai - the Talking God, six male dancers, six women dancers, and finally, the Water Sprinkler - the God of Precipitated Waters. The leader of the dance, Yeibichai or the Talking God, wears a white mask with a fan of twelve eagle feathers attached at the top of the mask. The Male Yeis wear masks which are blue in the front and white in the back with two eagle feathers attached at the top. A gourd is fitted into the front of the mask so that the dancer can breathe.