Arthur Johnson Memorial Library

Griffin-Pierce, Trudy

Earth is my mother, sky is my father Space,Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting Trudy Griffin-Pierce - Albuequerque, NM UNM Press 1992 - xxiv, 236 p.

Introduction
The roots of Navajo culture
The Navajo spiritual world
Cosmological order as a model for Navajo philosophy and life
The Navajo heavens in visual image and verbal narrative
The constellations as cultural text
Mother Earth, Father Sky
Conclusion

To the Navajo, sandpaintings are sacred, living entities that reflect the interconnectedness of all living beings--humans, plants, stars, animals, and mountains. This book, now available in paperback, explores the circularity of Navajo thought in sandpaintings, Navajo chantway myths, and stories reflected in the celestial constellations.

Beautifully illustrated by the author, this well-documented book explores the spiritual world of the Navajo, their ceremonial practices, and their conceptions of time and stellar motion. Griffin-Pierce shows how the images of sacred sandpaintings not only communicate the temporal and spatial dimensions of the Navajo universe but also present, in visual form, Navajo ideas about relationships among nature, self, and society.

9780826313898

64070


Navajo Indians Religion
Navajo Mythology
Sandpaintings

299.782 Gri 41