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.