Earth is My Mother Sky: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting

Earth is My Mother Sky: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting

by Griffinpi (Author)

Synopsis

To the Navajo, sandpaintings are sacred, living entities that reflect the interconnectedness of all living beings - humans, plants, stars, animals, and mountains. This book explores the circularity of Navajo thought in analyses of sandpaintings, Navajo chantway myths, and stories reflected in the celestial constellations. Beginning with an introduction to Navajo history and ethnography, the author explores the spiritual world of the Navajo, their ceremonial practices, and their conceptions of time and stellar motion. The Navajo depict the heavens in a group of sacred sandpaintings, and Griffin-Pierce shows how these images 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. Beautifully illustrated by the author, this well-documented book is based on six years of fieldwork with Navajo chanters and on the author's twenty-year friendship with a Navajo family. Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father is an engaging study for anyone who wants to better understand modern Navajo philosophy and sacred practices.

$46.18

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 269
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 15 Mar 1995

ISBN 10: 0826316344
ISBN 13: 9780826316349

Media Reviews
A valuable introduction to the Navajo regard for the unchanging order of the sky.
Author Bio
Trudy Griffin-Pierce (1949-2009) was an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. She was the author of several books on American Indian cosmology.