Photograph

Museum number:

13-6848

Permalink:

ark:/21549/hm21130006848

Alternate number:

13-5983

Accession number:

Acc.4704

Description:

woman and man making sandpainting, close up. Night Chant (Yeibichai). Totso Trading Post, Lukachukai, AZ; December 13-21, 1963. Per Door Book/Accession Record: woman and man making a sand painting, close up, Yeibichai, Arizona 1963.

Donor:

William R. Heick

Collection place:

Arizona

Verbatim coll. place:

Arizona

Culture or time period:

Navajo

Collector:

William R. Heick

Collection date:

1963

Object type:

ethnography

Object class:

Black-and-white prints (photographs)

Accession date:

March 22, 2000

Department:

Still and motion photography

Comment:

Per labels provided by Ira Jacknis: Woman and man making a sandpainting, Night Chant (Yeibichai). Totso Trading Post, Lukachukai, Arizona; December 13-21, 1963. Commonly called "sandpaintings," these ritual designs are more properly called drypaintings, as they are made of charcoal, cornmeal, pollen, flowers and other plants, and ground shells and minerals as well as colored sand. Made by the singer or his assistants, the drypainting may take four to six people working three to five hours to complete, depending on its complexity. The average size is about six feet in diameter. They depict the Yeis or Holy People involved in the myth relevant to the ceremony. In the photo of the entire painting, the Night Chant singer sits in a chair. (related: 13-5982)