Anasazi, Kiva Mural in the Kuana Pueblo Bonito c1300-1500 CE
|
|
|
Anasazi, Kiva Mural in the Kuana Pueblo Bonito c1300-1500 CE
|
|
Gestalt Iconography?: Navajo interpretations of
Anasazi Symbols
Botanicals...
 |
Plants, primary foodsources, tools, materials for basket making, healing provide many images. Flowers are usually connected with the sun. Common ones such as corn, symbol of life, squash, beans, beansprouts and seeds are very often found in pottery. The image here, is from a Navajo healing sandpainting, and each plant corresponds here to a compass direction as well. One unusual symbol, the open flower at the end of the "Squash blossoms" on Navajo necklaces, were not originally from squash at all. They were symbolic of the pomengranate, brought in by wealthy Spanish colonial settlers, and symbols of the new prosperity the Spanish introduced. As squash blossoms were already symbols of plenty, the new image took hold easily. Other plant images include trees, weeds (such as Devils Claw or Jimson Weed) and seed shapes. |
 |
Whirling Logs, an ancient symbol from many cultures, the North American symbol depicted the cyclic motion of life, seasons and the four winds. Taken from the image of a tree in a whirlwind, this image is found in Navajo sand paintings frequently. It is considered a powerful medicine. |
 |
Navajo Yeii Spirit, is a depiction of a irit considered by the Navajo to be a go-between between man and the creator. Yeiis control natural forces in and on the earth, such as day and night, rain, wind, sun, etc. A very special kind of yeii is the Yei'bi'chai, grandparent spirit or "talking God" who can speak with man, telling him how to live in harmony with all living things by following a few rules of behavior and using only the basic things he needs to survive. A symbol of the harmony acheived is the "Rainbow Man", a yeii controlling the rainbow, who gives beauty to those in harmony. |
 |
The Hand, represents the presence of man, his work, his acheivements, his legacy. It also represents the direction of the creative spirit through a man, as a vessel for the Creators power. |
 |
Feathers, depicted in many, many ways, are symbols of prayers, marks of honor or sources of ideas. They represent the Creative Force, and are taken from birds connected with the attribute for which they might be utilized: goose flight feathers to fledge an arrow because of the long flights of the geese; Eagle feathers for honor or to connect the user with the Creator, Turkey feathers to decorate a kachina mask. As design elements, they mau appear plain, banded, barred, or decorated. |
 |
Pahos or Prayer Sticks, are carefully notched and painted cottonwood or cedar sticks with specific feathers attached to catch the wind. They are planted in the ground at religious sites, and at springs to carry specific prayers to the Creator or to the Kachinas. Their forms are found in many Pueblo and Navajo designs. |
 |
Circular Feather Arrangements are found on pottery, in masks, prayer fans, dance costumes and on Plains "war bonnets" They are also used in decoration on buffalo hide "counts", or story depictions in paint recounting war honors, times of historic contact and other important periods of time. In a circular arrangement, they are related to the sun, and therefore, to the Creator. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Navajo Sand Paintings and Textiles
Navajo Eye Dazzler Blanket 1880's
The Navajo in the Historic Era circa 1930's to 1950's:
Hosteen Klah
Franc Johnson Newcomb
Old, ca 1930, Whirling Logs Navajo Sandpainting Textile from the Nightway Chant, |
Whirling Logs Navajo Sandpainting Textile Contemporary Navajo Carpet 1990's |
Design of Things
asym.met.ri.cal or asym.met.ric adj [Gk asymmetria lack of proportion, fr. asymmetros ill-proportioned, fr. a- + symmetros symmetrical] (1690) 1: not symmetrical 2 usu asymmetric, of a carbon atom: bonded to four different atoms or groups -- asym.met.ri.cal.ly adv -- asym.me.try n |
sym.me.try n, pl -tries [L symmetria, fr. Gk,
fr. symmetros symmetrical, fr. syn- + metron measure--more at measure]
(1541) 1: balanced proportions; also: beauty of form arising from balanced
proportions 2: the property of being symmetrical; esp: correspondence in
size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing
line or median plane or about a center or axis--compare bilateral symmetry,
radial symmetry 3: a rigid motion of a geometric figure that determines
a one-to-one mapping onto itself 4: the property of remaining invariant
under certain changes (as of orientation in space, of the sign of the electric
charge, of parity, or of the direction of time flow)--used of physical
phenomena and of equations describing them
bilateral symmetry n (1860): symmetry in which similar anatomical parts are arranged on opposite sides of a median axis so that only one plane can divide the individual into essentially identical halves |
|
radial symmetry n (ca. 1890): the condition of having similar parts regularly arranged around a central axis -- radially symmetrical adj |
|
Whirling Logs Navajo Sandpainting Textile Contemporary Navajo Carpet 1990's |
space, picture plane, and overlapping |
Frank Martin
Contemporary Sand Painting 1990's
Little River Simpson Whirling Logs c1999sandpainting |
space, picture plane, and overlapping |
Hopi
|
Hopi Kachina Chief (Eototo.) by Tino Youvella, Chief of all the Kachinas. Controls the seasons, and is the leading figure in the Bean dance. |
Sun Kachina by Tino Youvella, (Tawa.) Represents the spirit of the Sun God, appears in many Kachina dances. |
The Sun, giver of life, warmth, growth, all that is good. This is a style of showing the sun as the face of a kachina mask. Similar styles are seen throughout the Southwestern Indian cultures. May or may not also show "rays" signifying the four directions |
