Why are Navajo Sand Paintings important?

Answer 1

Screamingradical above is actually the closest to the truth. Navajo sand paintings are part of Navajo spiritual and healing ceremonies and were NOT intended as either works of art to be used for decoration and display nor were they used to record the tribe's history as other posters above have implied (they may be getting confused with petroglyphs and other rock art).

Typically a medicine man would use handfuls of colored sand to draw pictures of poweful symbols or images of certain gods and spirits on the floor of the person they were trying to heal. After the picture is complete, various ceremeonies are done over it (sometimes including sprinkling water or corn pollen over the image) and then sand from the image is taken and smeared over the person being healed. The idea is to capture the powerful magic of the symbols or spirits and apply them to healing. Once the ceremony is over, the sand painting is completely destroyed to release the spirits.

In relatively recent times, non-Navajo art collectors have taken an interest in sand paintings. As a result, you can buy sandpaintings that have been permanently laminated to a board or other surface for display. However, for these the medicine man who creates them will always include a certain amount of deliberate errors and defects in the design so as to not invoke and capture the actual spirits and symbols used in the ceremonies. As a result, while they demostrated the skill required to create a sand painting, they are not true sand paintings in the traditional sense (something art dealers are not real quick to point out).

Let me be clear - sandpaintings DO require a great deal of artistic skill to create. The designs are often very large and very detailed and complex - not many people could draw them with a pencil and paper, let alone by sprinkling colored sand by hand. I am just saying that the sandpainting itself is not intended as a work of art for public display (like an oil painting or sculpture) and the images themselves do not depict scenes of Navajo life. They are part of a spiritual ritual similar to a Christian priest performing a baptism or other ritual.

Answer 2

First they are sacred prayers to the Navajo Gods!

Second they are some of the best works of art done today!

Third they are very seldom seen in public because the medicine man who makes the prayer often destroy them once the prayer is over!!!!!!!

Answer 3

aside from the fact they are beautiful yet simple... they are also a part of their tradition and culture that has been maintained and practiced despite the fact that their people have been decimated and still suffer the effects of what has been done to native americans in this country.

Answer 4

they tell storys about the past which are important to us because it teahes us what was goin on back then and how they lived diffrently than we do today. plus some of the paintings are very artistically pretty

Answer 5

You tell me. Sounds like you want confirmation of an answer you already have. Either that or you are trying to get an answer for your homework. If thats the case, go read your book

Answer 6

It shows the Native American art; their culture that was here before the English landed; How they lived, how they ate, and how they hunted and such. Its like a time machine.