“We can make ’em if the fellows want to,” Brad agreed. “Just to be different though, why not try a big sand painting?”
“What’s that?” demanded Chips, whose knowledge of Indian tradition and ceremony was limited.
“Dan will tell you,” Brad said. “He’s been reading up about it at the library.”
Urged to share his information, Dan began by explaining that the art of making sand paintings had been adopted from the Pueblo Indians and made into a high art by the Navajos.
“Twenty years ago, few persons were allowed to witness the making of a sand painting,” he told the Cubs. “Even today, the Indians seldom allow anyone to sketch the pictures or take photographs.”
“Then how are we going to make one?” Midge demanded.
“Oh, the ordinary designs and patterns are available. I was just giving you the background. Among the Navajos, sand painting is a sacred ceremony, held in connection with healing of the sick or initiation of a member into the tribe.”
“Most sand paintings are started at daybreak, aren’t they?” prompted Brad.
Dan nodded, warming to his subject. “That’s so they’ll be completed before sunset. It’s supposed to bring bad luck, if a painting isn’t done in one day. Several persons work on the larger pictures, but a medicine man or high priest always is in charge of the work.”
Fred asked what type of scenes were used in the paintings.
“No two are alike,” Dan explained. “The designs are all abstract, symbolic in meaning. Colored sand is used, of course. Each color has a special significance. For instance, browns and grays are for fulfillment. White represents the morning. Blue is for goodness or happiness.”
“That sounds too hard,” complained Mack. “Can’t we make something easy like a house or a sunset?”
“It wouldn’t be according to the Navajo tradition. I’m in favor of trying to do it right or not at all.”
“That’s so,” chimed in Red. “Let’s stick to the Cub motto: ‘Do Your Best.’”
“I’m for that,” Mack agreed. “But how are we going to get colored sand?”
He told the Cubs they might use powdered paints, ground-up flower pots for the red color, table salt for white, and cornmeal for yellow. From library books he already had compiled several drawings from which they might make a selection of design.