Male Lightningway Rehearsal for Upcoming Mountainway Ceremonial [SOLD]

As a college student, Myron Deneclaw has very little time to pursue his interest in art, but we do occasionally receive a painting from him. We recently received this one and had it framed using all archival materials. Myron regularly provides us with a complete description of the painting. We are including his write up below.

Description: The painting depicts the rehearsal scene of the Dził'Kí'Jíh Hatáál (Mountainway), a nine-day winter healing ceremony. Since the ceremony continues as traditionally conducted, rehearsal of dancing and singing from invited singers/practitioners (medicine men/women who practice different chant ways, i.e., lightningway, nightway, red antway, windway, waterway, etc.) perform the vital role of healing the mountainway ceremonial patient. This painting represents the rehearsal scene of the na'at'oee bakᾴjí (Male Lightningway) branch group performing the shootingway dance for the Mountainway ceremony conducted on the last 6th, 7th, and 8th nights. On the final 9th night, the dancers would appear in elaborate ceremonial regalia. The painting showcases two dancers holding áliil (wands) about the male lightningway ceremonial (the home branch of the shootingway ceremonial). The standing individual on the right is the practitioner's assistant; he holds a reed whistle, only used as a sign of approach/warning. Above him is the guardian sun; its rays, in the form of a rainbow, extend above the participants. Its end touches the storm cloud, signifying the separation between the holistic Navajo world and the real-life setting. The sitting individual near the center is the leading practitioner of the male lightningway/shootingway ceremony, whose dance group is invited to an ongoing mountianway ceremony. Rehearsals like these are only conducted to refresh the memory of songs, dance procedures, attire/regalia conditions, and, most importantly, learning.

Condition: new

Provenance: this original painting of a Male Lightningway Rehearsal for Upcoming Mountainway Ceremonial is from the artist

Recommended Reading: NAVAJO PAINTING by Katherin Chase

TAGS: Native American Painting, Diné of the Navajo Nation, Dorothy Dunn, Harrison Begay, Beatien Yazz, San Ildefonso, Myron Denetclaw, Diné Painter