Original Untitled Painting of a Skinwalker Event [SOLD]

Many Navajos believe firmly in the existence of skinwalkers and refuse to discuss them publicly for fear of retribution. They believe skinwalkers walk freely among the tribe and secretly transform under the cover of night.

The term yee naaldooshii literally translates to “with it, he goes on all fours.” According to Navajo legend, a skinwalker is a medicine man or witch who has attained the highest level of priesthood in the tribe, but chose to use his or her power for evil by taking the form of an animal to inflict pain and suffering on others.

To become a skinwalker requires the evilest of deeds, the killing of a close family member. They literally become humans who have acquired immense supernatural power, including the ability to transform into animals and other people.

According to the Navajo skinwalker legend, these evil witches are typically seen in the form of a coyote, owl, fox, wolf or crow – although they do have the ability to turn into any animal they choose.

Because it is believed that skinwalkers wear the skins of the animals they transform into, it is considered taboo to wear the pelt of any animal. In fact, the Navajo are only known to wear two hides, sheepskin and buckskin, both of which are only used for ceremonial purposes.

Those who have talked of their encounters with these evil beings describe a number of ways in which a skinwalker will try to inflict harm. Some describe hearing knocks on the window or banging on the walls.

Others have spotted an animal-like figure peering in through a window. According to Navajo skinwalker legend, they are seldom caught. Those who do track a skinwalker and learn of their true identity must pronounce the name of the evil one in full. Once this happens, the skinwalker will get sick or die for the wrongs they have inflicted against others. 

-From Navajo Legends website

This painting by Ha So De shows a Skinwalker as a wolf possibly attempting to claim the body of the female who has passed away.  The young boy is attempting to keep him from doing so.  Tony Abeyta said the painting was finished by his dad in 1981.  He remembers this because he was 14 years old and his dad asked him to paint the faces of the young boy and the Skinwalker because Ha So De said he was not good with painting faces.

There is an excellent article entitled HA-SO-DE One of the First Individualists by Guy and Doris Monthan in American Indian Art Magazine, Summer 1976, in which a painting very similar to this one is presented and described.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

References: 
Southwestern Indian Painting, a Changing Art, by Clara Lee Tanner. University of Arizona Press, 1957.
American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, by Dorothy Dunn. The University of New Mexico Press, 1968.

Provenance:  from the collection of a Santa Fe family who purchased it from Doris Littrel Gallery in Oklahoma decades ago.