Sand Painting

My aunt & uncle traveled to the southwest as they often do and picked up some nice Navajo postcards for me. This one is quite touristy...it shows Navajos making a sand painting in Monument Valley, Arizona (where director John Ford made many John Wayne movies in the 1950s).
"Sand painting" is actually part of a healing ceremony: minerals are ground up and then used to illustrate religious beings who bring blessings to the Earth and the Dine (Navajo). The ceremony is held inside a traditional Navajo home (hogan) with only family members present. The patient sits on the artwork while the healers sing and pray; at the end it is all swept away.
Small versions can be purchased in art galleries and tourist shops; colored sand is applied to a wooden board illustrating many of these spiritual beings called Yei.