Surrounded by Beauty

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Key Ideas
This bracelet design expresses the Diné (Navajo) concept of beauty.

The design of this bracelet is related to the Diné (Navajo) story of creation.

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Diné Bracelet
Introduction --
Balance and Harmony
Diné Hogans
Diné Bracelet Label: Walter Henry, Diné (Navajo), Southwestern region (United States), Bracelet, about 1935, Silver, Bequest of Virginia Doneghy, 90.58.77
Dine woman wearing silver jewelry
Diné (Navajo) woman wearing her silver jewelry. Copyright © 1995-2001, The Denver Public Library.

The Diné (Navajo) are relative newcomers to the Southwest. They are believed to have migrated from Northwestern Canada to the Southwest around 1400. In their own language, they call themselves Diné (DEE-nay), which means "the people."

The underlying principle of the Diné people is the term hozho (HO-jzho), which means beauty. Walter Henry, a Diné (Navajo) man, created this bracelet according to the principle of hozho. In order to make an object of beauty, the maker had to be in a state of beauty himself. The Diné (Navajo) concept of beauty is expressed in an object by its sense of harmony, balance, and order. In the Diné story of creation, the earth was brought to order by a four-part division. The bracelet has a center symbolizing the place where the first Diné entered this world. The center rectangular bar and the leaves to either side point to the four directions of the sacred mountains of Diné (Navajo) lands.

Navajo tribal web site: http://www.navajo.org/

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