Butterfly Basket (c. 1985)

“I was outside my brother’s door and I saw a butterfly like that. It makes me happy, and I got the picture of it [in my mind]. I went back inside and I started that basket. I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to make that color, it’s so beautiful,’” explains Bonnie Bitsinnie of her inspiration for Butterfly. Ute and Paiute basket makers living near the Diné (Navajo) in Utah first pioneered the k’aalógii (butterfly) design and it is easy to see why the Diné weavers adopted it. In addition to their beauty, butterflies play an important role in sacred stories. The plants of Dinétah (the Diné homeland) attract brightly colored butterflies similar to those seen here. Against the warm natural color of the sumac, five bright orange butterflies appear to emerge from the center of the basket. Notice the black overstitching around the edge.