Generally speaking, Pictorial
weavings are a reflection of the world as the weaver sees it,
usually depicting her immediate environment. But as the world
around the weavers has changed, so have the Pictorials. Evolving
from scenes of traditional reservation life, to trains, trading
posts, and trucks, the subject matter of Pictorials could almost
be interpreted as a visual history of life on the reservation
over the past Century.
Sandpainting rugs, first woven
by Navajo Medicine Man Hosteen Klah in the 1920's, are woven
representations of traditional Navajo healing designs. They are
most certainly the rarest of all Navajo rug styles, as many weavers
today will not weave them.
A yellow bar going north to
south and ending in white crosses intersects a white bar extending
from east to west with yellow crosses on the ends. In this set
of paintings these bars ending in crosses occur often. They probably
typify a spiritual condition, as the cross symbol stands for
the spirit element in other sandpaintings. There is a white circle
in the center, and in all of these paintings yellow seems to
denote the state of initiation of the patient, while the white
denotes the higher initiation of the priest. The black figure
lying near a round, many-colored house, with the fire symbol
beside him, is Hashjeshjin, the Fire God, who possessed the first
fire.
The zig-zag crossing his shoulders
is the Milky Way. He holds the fire stick in one hand, and his
food and a big red medicine pouch in the other. From the fire
symbol, a red line leads to Coyote, who is shown bringing to
Estsay-Hasteen and Estsa-Assun, First Man and First Woman, the
fire which he stole from the sleeping Hashjeshjin. First Man
is sitting near his round black house, dressed in checked garments.
First Woman is dressed in brown - the color of the earth. The
fire is shown in the door of their hogan. In the section with
Coyote, the white moon is shown, with a rainbow and constellation
of stars. In the fourth part of the painting is an eagle over
a rainbow and the blue symbol of the sun. Stars and constellations
occur in all four quarters of the painting.
From Navajo Creation Myth; 1942,
Hasteen Klah, Recorded by Mary C. Wheelwright.
