This week, Navajo Nation, based across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, surpassed the highest rates of COVID-19 infections in the United States. As of Tuesday, the Native American territory reported a rate of 2,304.41 per 100,000 people had been infected, a staggering ratio for a population under 200,000 people. The situation is dire, and two local New Mexico businesses are stepping up to help. Santa Fe Vintage, known to fashion insiders and vintage junkies alike for its by-appointment showroom, donated its stock of 1970s-era red bandanas (a signature of the showroom) to the Albuquerque-based label Orenda Tribe that will embellish the kerchiefs and add them to its online auction benefiting the Navajo Reservation. Together with the sales of original artwork up for auction, 100% of the funds raised will go towards providing critical supplies to the Navajo Reservation.
Amy Yeung, founder of the upcycled label Orenda Tribe, commissioned Native American artist Alexandra Barton to create a special design that was printed on each of the bandanas. (The printed was done by another local business, Endemik Exchange.) The symbol reflects the “Dzil Asdzaan (Mountain Woman) Command Center,” a moniker used by Yeung and her team to denote their now-full time work providing financial aid to the Navajo communities. It “refers to our feminine energy mountain,” Yeung explains. “Rather than saying ‘moving mountains,’ this is the journey to and from the mountain. It’s a healing journey with the strength it takes to travel up a mountain and the restorative strength descending and feeling renewed.”