Symbols Lost Birds: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel Anne Hillerman

The Diyogí Rug: Family Heirloom, Fateful Motive, and Symbol of Identity in Lost Birds

What Is the Diyogí Rug?

In Lost Birds, the diyogí rug is a handwoven Navajo textile from the Two Grey Hills region, passed down to sisters Bethany Bowlegs and Olivia Benally from their grandmother. The rug is described as a prize-winning piece—it took a blue ribbon at the Santa Fe Indian Market—and was offered $20,000 by a collector. Bethany recalls that the rug was meant to be shared between the sisters. The term “diyogí” refers to a style of weaving characterized by fine wool, geometric patterns, and natural earth tones, often featuring a Storm Pattern design with a central hogan, sacred mountains, and zigzag lightning.

Throughout the novel, the rug remains physically offstage: it stays hidden under a classroom floor in Bethany’s office at Eagle Roost School, where she used it to level an uneven surface. Despite its absence, the rug drives the plot’s central misunderstanding and murder.

Where the Rug Recurs and How Its Meaning Changes

The rug first appears in memory during Chapter 29, when Bethany recalls promising to bring it to her sister Olivia in Tucson. She left it behind in her rush to escape her troubles, disappointing Olivia. At this point, the rug represents a broken promise and Bethany’s inability to address her problems—gambling debt, embezzlement, and a failing marriage.

Later, the rug’s value becomes a motive for theft. Olivia borrows Bethany’s car to drive from Tucson to Eagle Roost to retrieve the rug herself. The rug’s reputation as a valuable collectible (worth $20,000) makes it a target for Big Rex, the violent loan shark to whom Bethany owes money. When Olivia is killed in the garage explosion, it is because the killers mistook her for Bethany—a case of mistaken identity made possible by the sisters’ close resemblance. The rug thus transforms from a symbol of familial connection into a fatal lure.

In the resolution, the rug is never recovered or discussed again; its fate is left ambiguous. This absence underscores how material objects can become entangled with violence and loss, especially when they represent unresolved family obligations.

Character and Theme Connections

Bethany Bowlegs

Bethany’s attachment to the rug is guilt-ridden. She promised it to Olivia, then forgot it. The rug symbolizes her evasion of responsibility—for her gambling, her theft from the school, and her marriage. Her eventual journey back to Gallup carrying cash for Big Rex shows her attempt to atone, but the rug remains a lingering reminder of the harm she caused.

Olivia Benally

Olivia is the innocent victim drawn into danger by her desire for the rug. She borrows Bethany’s car to retrieve it, a decision that costs her life. Olivia’s fate echoes the theme of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: she is killed because of her resemblance to Bethany and because of a debt-driven conspiracy.

Joe Leaphorn

Leaphorn never directly investigates the rug itself, but his parallel case—searching for the weavers of a Storm Pattern rug for Stella Brown—mirrors the rug’s role as a link between families. His examination of rugs at the Red Lake Trading Post in Chapter 16 leads him to the Singer family of weavers, connecting the rug’s design to themes of Adoption and Identity.

Stella Brown

Stella’s adoption case involves a photograph of a rug identical in pattern to the diyogí. Leaphorn buys her a small Singer family rug as a gift. This rug, like the Bowlegs heirloom, represents a lost connection to Navajo heritage. Stella’s search for her biological family parallels Bethany’s struggle to reclaim her own integrity.

Themes

  • Corruption and Gambling: The rug’s value makes it a target for Big Rex, who uses Bethany’s debt to pressure her. The rug becomes a commodity in a criminal economy.
  • Family and Caregiving: The rug was meant to be shared by sisters; its absence reflects the breakdown of trust and care within the Bowlegs family.
  • Mental Health Crisis: Bethany’s psychological turmoil—shame, fear, and avoidance—manifests in her failure to protect the rug, symbolizing her larger failure to seek help.

4 Study Questions with Answers

1. Why does Bethany leave the diyogí rug behind at Eagle Roost School, and what does this decision reveal about her character?
Bethany forgets the rug in her office because she is fleeing her life in panic—she has stolen money, quit her job, and is avoiding her husband’s gambling debts. Leaving the rug shows her tendency to avoid hard truths and disappoints her sister Olivia. The rug becomes a physical symbol of Bethany’s emotional baggage: she cannot carry it because she is not yet ready to face the consequences of her actions.

2. How does the rug contribute to the novel’s case of mistaken identity?
Olivia is killed in the explosion at Eagle Roost School because she drives Bethany’s car to retrieve the rug. The killers, working for Big Rex, assume Olivia is Bethany. The rug acts as a lure that draws Olivia into danger. This mistaken identity is possible because the sisters look alike, but the rug is the specific motive that brings Olivia to the scene. The rug thus transforms from a passive heirloom into an active agent of fatal misrecognition.

3. In what ways does the rug connect the Bowlegs mystery to Stella Brown’s adoption case?
Both storylines involve a valuable Two Grey Hills rug. Stella’s photograph shows a Storm Pattern rug woven by the Singer family, the same style as the Bowlegs heirloom. Leaphorn’s investigation into rugs at Red Lake Trading Post links the two plots through the art of Navajo weaving. The rug motif underscores the novel’s theme of identity: just as Bethany’s rug ties her to her grandmother, Stella’s photo ties her to a lost family of weavers. Both women seek to reclaim something precious that was taken or forgotten.

4. The rug is never physically seen in the present-day action—only remembered. What effect does this have on the story?
The rug’s absence makes it a mythical object, more powerful in memory than in reality. By never showing the rug directly, Hillerman emphasizes that desire and expectation can be more potent than material possession. The rug represents what characters think they need—for Bethany it is forgiveness, for Olivia it is a shared inheritance, for Big Rex it is cash. The rug exists mostly as an idea, and that idea drives the plot more than the object itself would.