River

The Cherokee acknowledged the spiritual significance of their local rivers, streams, and ponds with a ritual called “going to water.” Each morning at daybreak, a party of Cherokee would be led by a healer down to a running stream. There the group would face the rising sun and immerse themselves completely in the flowing water, enacting a kind of rebirth. This ceremony of communion touched on nearly all spheres of social life. Going to water was “a part of the ritual for obtaining long life, for winning the affections of a woman, for recovering from a wasting sickness, and for calling down prosperity upon the family at each return of the new moon. The soft curvature of our Uweyv sofa replicates some of the movement and winding rivers that played an important role with the Cherokee people. The Blackfeet could not kill or eat anything living in water; they also could not disturb or pollute water. The Blackfeet viewed water as a distinct place – a sacred place. It was the home of divine beings and divine animals who taught the Blackfeet religious rituals and moral restrictions on human behavior.

Our Uweyv sofa collection represents the natural curves, the soft rotation of lines, and the transition of a river as it flows to its final destination.