NEW YORK.- The art of sandpainting will be demonstrated in New York by Walking Thunder (Diné), one of the few women now practicing this art. From April 11–April 21, 2002, the general public will have a unique opportunity to observe Walking Thunder create her vibrant sandpaintings as she speaks about her life and culture at the National Museum of the American Indian’s George Gustav Heye Center, Lower Manhattan. All demonstrations take place in the 2nd floor Rotunda and are free; no tickets or reservations are required.
As a special tribute to Walking Thunder’s work, the world-renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre will debut a new piece inspired by, and in honor of, Walking Thunder. Performances take place from April 11–14 in the museum’s Rotunda and are free. The complete schedule of sandpainting demonstrations and dance performances appears at the end of this release.
These extraordinary programs have been developed in a unique collaboration between the National Museum of the American Indian and Ringing Rocks Foundation, which supports the survival and future development of global healing wisdom through education, research, and special projects.
Additionally, the schedule of programs coincides with the publication of the 178-page book Walking Thunder: Diné Medicine Woman, a first person account of a traditional Diné medicine woman. In it, Walking Thunder speaks poignantly and candidly of her life as a woman on the Diné, or Navajo, reservation in northwest New Mexico, and discusses her heritage, art, and native traditions. This book (which includes an audio CD) is the sixth volume in a series entitled Profiles of Healing, published by the Ringing Rocks Foundation in association with Leete’s Island Press.
Walking Thunder was born in Shiprock, New Mexico in 1951 on the Navajo reservation and grew up near the Two Grey Hills area where she lives today. Her visit to New York promises to provide a fascinating glimpse into Walking Thunder’s culture and heritage.
The colorful and highly detailed designs in sandpainting are created by using crushed stone, flowers, gypsum, pollen, and other natural elements to make symbolic designs. Sandpaintings are created in one day and then erased, and the sand is returned to the earth. The technique involved uses a small amount of sand in the palm of her hand below the second finger. The sand is then allowed to trickle off the index finger, guided and regulated by the thumb.
While sandpainting originated as an integral part of some Diné ceremonies, it is also practiced purely as an art form. Walking Thunder will create these types of paintings on a bed of New Mexico riverbed sand brought especially for this purpose from New Mexico to New York. The colored sand used to craft the intricate paintings was also shipped directly from Walking Thunder’s home
