Navajo eyes: iris color, shape and epicanthic fold in 41 observed portraits
Navajo: iris color Very dark brown / black-appearing in 53% of 30; eye shape Almond in 66% of 41; upper eyelid crease type Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line) in 48% of 40; epicanthic fold Tarsalis in 45% of 40; palpebral fissure slant Slight upslant in 63% of 41; eyebrow shape Soft arch in 49% of 41.
Catalog portraits for Navajo are AI-generated adult subjects; the measurements on this page come from documented photographs of real people, not from these images.
Iris color
n = 30 assessable · 11 not assessablePredominant color of the iris. Heterochromia is captured as its own value; mixed colors (e.g. hazel, blue-green) get distinct buckets.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very dark brown / black-appearingIris appears nearly black under typical lighting; high melanin content. Common in East Asian, South Asian, Sub-Saharan African, and indigenous populations. | 53% | 16 | |
| dark brown | 23% | 7 | |
| BrownMedium to dark brown iris; visible iris detail. | 17% | 5 | |
| Light brownLighter brown with visible warmth; sometimes called amber when more golden. | 3% | 1 | |
| HazelMixed brown and green/gold; central iris differs in color from peripheral iris (central heterochromia). | 3% | 1 |
Vocabulary: Iris color (iris_color_qualitative)
Eye shape
n = 41 assessableOverall shape of the visible eye, considering the silhouette of the upper and lower lid margins together. Independent dimension from eyelid_crease_type and epicanthic_fold, which capture finer morphological variation.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmondSlightly elongated horizontal axis; mild taper at lateral and medial canthi. Considered the aesthetic reference shape. | 66% | 27 | |
| HoodedUpper lid skin descends over the lid crease, partially or fully covering the upper lid platform. Often associated with periorbital aging but can be constitutional. | 29% | 12 | |
| Deep-setEye sits deep within the orbital socket; pronounced shadow above the upper lid. Brow ridge typically prominent. | 5% | 2 |
Vocabulary: Eye shape (eye_shape_qualitative)
Upper eyelid crease type
n = 40 assessableMorphology of the upper eyelid supratarsal crease. The single most ethnically-variant periocular dimension. The Asian-ophthalmology / Asian-blepharoplasty literature provides the canonical classification system, distinguishing several functional and aesthetic patterns.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line)Crease present but sits low on the lid, close to the lash line. Common in East Asian populations with double lids. | 48% | 19 | |
| Single eyelid (monolid, no crease)No visible supratarsal crease; smooth upper lid skin. Approximately 50% of East Asian populations. | 40% | 16 | |
| Double, medium (~6-9mm)Mid-position crease; common reference range for European-population eyelids. | 13% | 5 |
Vocabulary: Upper eyelid crease type (mccurdy_chen_eyelid_crease)
Epicanthic fold
n = 40 assessablePresence and morphology of the epicanthic fold — the skin fold of the upper eyelid that may cover the medial canthus. Significant ethnic variation; high prevalence in East Asian, Central Asian, and indigenous American populations.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TarsalisFold begins at the upper lid skin and inserts on the lower lid, covering the medial canthus. The most common epicanthic-fold variant in East Asian populations. | 45% | 18 | |
| Partial / residualSubtle fold residue; medial canthus partially obscured but not fully covered. Can be developmental remnant or post-blepharoplasty result. | 35% | 14 | |
| AbsentNo epicanthic fold; medial canthus clearly visible. | 20% | 8 |
Vocabulary: Epicanthic fold (duke_elder_epicanthus_classification)
Palpebral fissure slant
n = 41 assessableAngle of the palpebral fissure axis (line from medial to lateral canthus) relative to horizontal. Significant ethnic variation; East Asian populations average steeper upslant than European populations.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slight upslantLateral canthus slightly higher than medial; ~5-10° above horizontal. Within the European aesthetic reference range. | 63% | 26 | |
| Slight downslantLateral canthus slightly below medial; visible fatigue or aging appearance. | 29% | 12 | |
| HorizontalLateral canthus at the same level as medial canthus; axis approximately 0°. | 7% | 3 |
Vocabulary: Palpebral fissure slant (fissure_axis_qualitative)
Eyebrow shape
n = 41 assessableOverall arch and shape of the eyebrow as visible in the photograph.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft archGentle, gradual arch; arch peak in the lateral two-thirds. | 49% | 20 | |
| Flat / descendingNo arch; brow descends laterally toward the temple. | 27% | 11 | |
| StraightMinimal arch; nearly horizontal brow line. | 24% | 10 |
Vocabulary: Eyebrow shape (eyebrow_shape_qualitative)
Where these numbers come from
41 publicly documented portraits of notable Navajo people were assessed by a vision model against the full 22-vocabulary schema, one value per dimension. Values are what the photographs show, read by a model, not population measurements. Each table counts only portraits where the value could be assessed; covered, obscured and unclear portraits are reported separately.
Notable-people corpora skew older, so hair color over-represents gray and white, and image quality varies. Treat shares as a description of this sample.
These rows are not yet in the published catalog dataset, which currently carries the earlier single-row analysis; see the methodology. A family page exists only when at least 10 portraits carry an assessable value.