Navajo rugs, blankets and weavings
Sandpaintings religion and Native American art - page 2 of 2

The sandpainting can be quite small or as large as 20 feet, which means that several men and women would be needed to finish it in the allotted day. Most sandpaintings are between 6 and 8 feet. The medicine man is the director responsible for accuracy of color and design. For practical reasons, work begins in the center and works outward in a “sun-wise” pattern for religious reasons, east to south to west to north and back to east. Most sandpaintings have a protective garland around three sides to prevent evil from infusing the work from the north, west, or south. This is often a rainbow. The painting must face east for the Holy People’s entrance. In order to prevent evil from entering before the work is complete, spiritual guardians may be positioned to the east.

The relationship between the legend portrayed in a sandpainting and the actual need of the patient is difficult to understand unless viewed from the Navajo viewpoint. Although the relationship may be impossible to document in terms of Western medicine, it nevertheless does exist according to Navajo belief, and it helps account for one ceremony being chosen over another.

A ceremonial sandpainting is customarily destroyed before sundown of the day the ceremony is performed in order to dispose with it the harmful forces which previously afflicted the patient. Not all sandpaintings are destroyed immediately or in the same manner. When the ritual is completed, the patient leaves the sandpainting and all the sands are swept away in a reverse order. The sand is then either buried outside or scattered to the four directions. Failure to destroy a sandpainting or attempting to reverse any part may bring blindness or death to the transgressor. Some are simply buried in place; others are covered with a blanket and the patient may sleep on it for several days before it is actually destroyed. There is, at best, only a very brief period of time when the painting may be seen intact in all its beauty, presenting the complete design as seen in paintings of the accompanying exhibition.

he second type of sandpainting as an art, is created on a piece of particle board or plywood. Sandpainting as an art was first seen in tapestries or Navajo rugs, and later in paintings and drawings. Elements of the sacred ceremonies, some very nearly complete, are presented as a unique and lasting art form. Finely crushed stone, some natural, some permanently dyed, is applied to the glue base. Another item, the air brush, has become popular with sand painters. It allows for the rapid creation of a multi-hued background. This technique does not lessen the amount of work required for the background; it simply adds an artistic dimension. The overall design is intended to be an art presentation that uses the sacred Navajo symbols in the manner that would not be considered disrespectful. Artists hope that the beauty of this work, coupled with the traditional Navajo beliefs, will please the public and will provide a meaningful income. The Navajo accept this art form as quite legitimate.

• Navajo Creation
• Navajo ceremonies
• Navajo medicine men
• Navajo ceremonial sandpaintings
• Navajo sacred lands

Navajo sandpaintings religion and Native American art - page 1

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