Deer Moon Basket

Apache people (N'de) did not believe in the 30-day calendar system. We went by the phases of our grandmother, the Moon. Every 14- days she changes face, and the lunation shifts from New Moon to Full Moon. Each face of the Moon brings healing, and the two phases are 28 days.

This sacred pattern can be found in a variety of plant people and other species, such as the most commonly known Red-Eared Slider shell. This basket shows another 28-part pattern in the cactus blossom.

Deer, or bįįh, are sacred medicine keepers and very important to the community. When hunting them, all parts of the body were used for food, clothing, tools, and jewelry. The sacrifice was honored and appreciated by the people. That meant that Deer were not hunted on all days, but allowed for balance and time to live in peace. 

This basket shows the days of the month that you hunt deer by showing the man with the deer in each petal and the days that you let the deer rest by showing the deer alone.

Another story related to this basket is the story of a Healer. A man who had a sick wife in the village went to the Goddess of the Deer to ask her to save his wife. She asked for a gift of equal value in return and he promised her his life in exchange for his wife's. The Deer Goddess was so moved by his love for his wife that she granted him the healing powers she carried. The man ran back to the village to heal his dying wife and did so successfully. She carried their child and when the baby was born, this baby lived to have children, and it is said that every seven generations the medicine of the Deer is carried on through these descendants.