The Navajo, a Native American people living in the southwestern United States, live in small scattered settlements. In many respects, such as education, occupation, and leisure activities, their life is like that of other groups that contribute to the diverse social fabric of North American culture in the twenty-first century. At the same time, they have retained some traditional cultural practices that are associated with particular art forms. For example, the most important traditional Navajo rituals include the production of large floor paintings. These are actually made by pouring thin, finely controlled streams of colored sands or pulverized vegetable and mineral substances, pollen, and flowers in precise patterns on the ground. The largest of these paintings may be up to 5.5 meters in diameter and cover the entire floor of a room. Working from the inside of the design outward, the Navajo artist and his assistants will sift the black, white, bluish-gray, orange, and red materials through their fingers to create the finely detailed imagery. ■ The paintings and chants used in the ceremonies are directed by well-trained artists and singers who enlist the aid of spirits who are impersonated by masked performers. ■ The twenty-four known Navajo chants can be represented by up to 500 sand paintings. ■These complex paintings serve as memory aids to guide the singers during the performance of the ritual songs, which can last up to nine days.■

The purpose and meaning of the sand paintings can be explained by examining one of the most basic ideals of Navajo society, embodied in their word hozho (beauty or harmony, goodness, and happiness). It coexists with hochxo ("ugliness," or "evil," and "disorder") in a world where opposing forces of dynamism and stability create constant change. When the world, which was created in beauty, becomes ugly and disorderly, the Navajo gather to perform rituals with songs and make sand paintings to restore beauty and harmony to the world. Some illness is itself regarded as a type of disharmony. Thus, the restoration of harmony through a ceremony can be part of a curing process.

Men make sand paintings that are accurate copies of paintings from the past. The songs sung over the paintings are also faithful renditions of songs from the past. By recreating these arts, which reflect the original beauty of creation, the Navajo bring beauty to the present world. As relative newcomers to the Southwest, a place where their climate, neighbors, and rulers could be equally inhospitable, the Navajo created these art forms to affect the world around them, not just through the recounting of the actions symbolized, but through the beauty and harmony of the artworks themselves. The paintings generally illustrate ideas and events from the life of a mythical hero, who, after being healed by the gods, gave gifts of songs and paintings. Working from memory, the artists re-create the traditional form of the image as accurately as possible.

The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider, woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world.

Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

纳瓦霍人是生活在美国西南部的美洲土著人，以小规模的散居为生活方式。在许多方面，如教育、职业和休闲活动，他们的生活就像其他群体一样，是二十一世纪北美文化的多元化的社会结构的一部分。同时，他们还保留了一些与特定艺术形式相关的传统文化习俗。例如，最重要的传统纳瓦霍仪式包括大型地板画创作。这些画实际上是把精心控制的细彩沙、蔬菜粉、矿物粉、花粉或花倒在地上的精确模型中制作而成。这些画中直径最大的可能有5.5米，可以覆盖整个房间的地板。面对设计模型，纳瓦霍艺术家和助手们用自己的手指由内向外撒下黑、白、蓝灰、橙、红色的材料来制作细致入微的图像。仪式所用的图画和圣歌由训练有素的艺术家和歌手们指定，他们借助了戴面具的表演者所扮演的圣灵。我们所知的二十四首纳瓦霍圣歌可由多达500幅的沙画来表现。这些复杂的绘画作为辅助记忆的手段，指导歌手在仪式中的演唱，这些演唱可以持续九天。 沙画的目的和意义可以通过审视纳瓦霍社会的其中一个最基本的理想来说明，这个理想体现在他们的“hozho”一词（“美”、“和谐”，“善良”、和“幸福”）。在一个活力和稳定的对立力量创造不断变化的世界里，它与“hochxo”（“丑”或“邪恶”和“无序”）并存。当初创时美丽的世界变得丑陋和无序时，纳瓦霍人便聚集到一起，举行仪式，通过唱圣歌和画沙画来恢复世界的美丽和谐。有些疾病本身就被认为是一种不和谐。因此，通过仪式恢复和谐也可以作为治疗的一部分。 男人做沙画，是准确地复制过去的画作。对着沙画演唱的歌曲也是过去歌曲的忠实再现。通过再现这些反映了创作的原始之美的艺术，纳瓦霍人将美丽带到现实世界来。作为美国西南部相对较新的人，面对西部荒凉的气候、冷漠的邻居和无情的统治，纳瓦霍人不只是通过重复这些象征性的行为，更是通过美和艺术品自身的和谐创造了这些艺术形式来影响他们周围的世界。这些沙画通常讲述神话英雄一生的思想和事迹，这些英雄在被神治愈后，将歌曲和绘画赠与人类。艺术家根据记忆尽可能准确地重新创造了画像的传统艺术形式。 纳瓦霍人设计编织的毛毯也是世界闻名。纳瓦霍妇女掌管着自家的羊群，控制羊毛的剪取、梳理、纺纱和染色、以及面料织造的全过程。男性忠实复制过去的沙画代表着纳瓦霍思想的稳定性，而女性为每个编织做新的设计，体现的则是活力。编织是一种创造力的一种形式，是由一个叫蜘蛛女的神话人物将宇宙编织成一个联合天地的宇宙网而来。传说是她教纳瓦霍妇女编织的。妇女们准备材料和编织的过程，就是最初创造了世界的改变的模仿。 纳瓦霍织工在织布机上创造图像，体会人与自然的和谐。这是她们创造美，从而促进世界的美、和谐和治愈的方式。因此，编织是一种看世界的方式，也是世界的一部分。