navajoculture_dp

=Creation and Art=


 * Creation**

The Navajo, or Dine, people have deep respect and honor nature. They believe that there is balance and interconnectedness that must be maintained in the natural world. The Navajo story of origin begins with the Creator. "...only the Creator knows where the beginning is. The Creator had a thought that created Light in the East. Then the thought went South to create Water, West to create Air, and North to create Pollen from emptiness" (Utah American Indian Digital Archive). From the pollen came earth; earth, along with light, water and air, constitute everything in the natural world. From these basic materials were borne the Holy People. The natural world was a collaboration between the Holy People and the Creator. Their construction was in perfect balance. The Holy People created humans and the Earth. "[Centuries ago] t he Navajo emerged from the underworld into this world at Xajiinai, a hole in the La Plata Mountains of southwestern Colorado[;] ...the Holy People, who were already here, taught the Dine how to live in harmony with Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the other elements: man, animals, plants, and insects. [The Dine were also] taught ...important ceremonies to maintain this balance; when the ceremonies cease, the world will cease" (UAIDA)


 * Art**

Weaving, metalworking, sand painting. All just a few of the fine arts created by the Navajo. The intricate sand paintings were originally used in sacred healing ceremonies. The colors white, blue, yellow and black, are the principle colors and are always present. " These colors are symbolically associated with the directions: white with the dawn and the east, blue with the midday sky and the south, yellow with evening twilight and the west, and black with the night sky and the north" (Kluckhohn, Leighton, and Griffin-Pierce). The sand paintings are constructed carefully and precisely. If not constructed properly, the efficacy and balance is lost. Before"painting," a layer of sand is leveled out as the base. Assistants and a chanter sprinkle sand between their thumb and first finger as the chanter sings. "The patient sits on the sandpainting, in direct contact with the images of the Holy People during the ceremony. They enter his body and thus help to heal him in this way" (Kluckhohn, Leighton, and Griffin-Pierce). Afterwards, the sand is swept up and carefully disposed of.


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"Early Peoples: The Navajo." //Utah American Indian Digital Archive//. Web. 24 Nov 2009. .

Kluckhohn, Clyde, Dorothea Leighton, and Trudy Griffin-Pierce. "Sandpaintings." Web. 24 Nov 2009. . 