Navajo
The Navajo reservation sprawls across northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southeastern Utah to cover 25,000 square miles. The Navajo nation is the second largest federally recognized tribe in the United States. As of 2015, there are 300,460 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation is a sovereign nation, meaning that they constitute an independent government. Navajo and English are the languages used on the reservation. Today, Navajos are all over the world, whether going to college, traveling, serving in the military or serving as ambassador for Native cultures through their expressions of artistic pieces.
To celebrate Native American artists is to understand that these individuals work to preserve, reaffirm, and pass on cultural knowledge and practices through their artistic presentations. These artists have to have knowledge of materials in their local environment, traditional practices, the stories, and symbols that were passed on to them. Key cultural knowledge gives their artistic creations meaning and cultural identity. Despite their difficult historical circumstances due to American Colonization, artists have persevered through adaptations and incorporations of art from other cultures. The reason for their success is their ability to make the art they adopted and adapted their own.
There are several museums in surrounding areas whose specialty is in promoting Native American art. These museums include the Heard Museum of Phoenix, Arizona, Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona, and Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona. These museums welcome visitors, especially school-sponsored trips. The students get to explore the multiple displays of Native American Artists.
Art in Navajo culture is very important and visible in our community. Many Navajo artists use their culture as an inspiration. The students are exposed to the culture every day but often do not see it as inspiration to create an art form or to tell a story. It’s important for students to recognize that artists tell a story through their artwork.
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