Long Walk Baskets (2000-2002)

In a story depicted across three baskets, Peggy Black portrays one of the most difficult periods in Diné (Navajo) history. Between 1864 and 1866, the United States forced thousands of Diné families to leave their homes and walk hundreds of miles to the Bosque Redondo internment camp in New Mexico.  Many hundreds perished from hardship. In Long Walk In, Peggy portrays this bleak and painful experience against a black background with Diné figures descending into the abyss at the center. The walk home in 1868 was filled with difficulty and loss, but also the joy of returning home. The second basket, Long Walk Out, portrays this emergence as Diné figures ascend out of the center of the basket into the light. Long Walk (Beauty Way Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí) is filled with rainbow colors surrounding Diné figures in a depiction of the restoration of hózhǫ́ (balance and harmony).