Book
A study of Navajo symbolism
The Museum • 32 (3) • Published In 1956 • Pages: viii, 100
By: Newcomb, Franc Johnson, Fishler, Stanley A., Wheelwright, Mary C..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on research conducted near Tuba City, Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico, this work explores Navajo sand paintings and picture writing from a ceremonial and symbolic perspective. The sand painting section by Newcomb is the most meticulous, covering many aspects of the ceremonial and curing symbolism as well as ethnometeorology, ethnozoology, and ethnobotany. Fishler's section on picture writing as mnemonic device contains as interesting origin myth about curing sorcery. Finally, Wheelwright's speculations about the origin of and parallels to Navajo symbolism, although highly conjectural, do contain useful information on Navajo art symbolism. The reader should be aware that all art examples are recreations by White researchers.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Shamans and psychotherapists
- Representative art
- Ethnozoology
- Spirits and gods
- Organized ceremonial
- Mnemonic devices
- Ethnophysics
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Foreign Resident
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Richard A. Wagner ; 1985
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1914-1950
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1920-1950
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- vicinity of Tuba City, Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Franc Johnson Newcomb, Stanley Fishler and Mary C. Wheelwright. Line drawings by Lloyd Moylan
- All art examples have been indexed for OCM category 531 or OCM category 532
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80, 99)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- a 57002354
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians