Healing rites
Navajo sandpainting
Diné ceremonial paintings of coloured sand made for a healing way. The sacred ones are destroyed after use, and public art versions are made differently.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Among the Diné, or Navajo, a singer or hataałii conducts a healing ceremony that can last several nights and may include a sandpainting, or iikááh. A painting made of coloured sand, crushed minerals and pollen shows holy people and is made on the floor of a hogan and destroyed by the end of the ceremony. The ceremony is believed to restore harmony, hózhó, to the patient.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Coloured sand and mineralsSubstanceGround stone and pigment.
- Pollen and charcoalSubstanceUsed in the painting.
- Hogan floorSpaceWhere the painting is laid.
- Songs of the singerWordBelong to a particular chant.
- PatientGestureSits on the painting during the rite.
- Substance
- Space
- Word
- Gesture
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The family asks a singer to hold a ceremony and gathers the offerings. Step 2: Cleanse The hogan is prepared. Step 3: Gather Assistants lay the sandpainting by hand, working from memory. Step 4: Speak The singer chants and the patient sits on the painting. Step 5: Read Sand is touched and applied in a set order; the details are held by the community. Step 6: Close The painting is swept up and returned to the earth.
What is public and what is not
Ceremonial sandpaintings are not meant to be kept or photographed. Artists who sell sandpaintings to the public change the design or omit details, so that a sacred image is not reproduced. Visitors should respect this and ask before taking pictures.
Training
A singer trains for years, learning the songs and designs of one ceremony, and is paid in goods and gifts. The details of the ceremonies are not published here because they are held by the community.
Medicine and ceremony
The Indian Health Service and Diné communities have worked together so that patients can have both ceremony and clinical care. A ceremony is seen as a complement to a clinic, not a replacement.
What it is for
- Restoring harmony
- Healing a person
- Seasonal ceremony
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Sandpainting (The art form.), Navajo people (The Diné community.), Navajo medicine (The Diné ideal of balance.).
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.