Star Liana York - Lessons of Spider Woman

Last one available in the edition. Measurements include the base. "Wintertime was storytelling time for the Navajo. In the evenings, the children would eagerly gather around the fire in the hogan to listen to their grandparents relate tribal legends. Frequently, the elders would illustrate figures in the tales with designs made from a piece of string. In this sculpture, a grandmother is telling the tale of how the Navajo gods of creation made the stars as she begins to shape a star design out of a cat's cradle. According to Navajo mythology, when the other gods asked Black God to fill the dark night sky with stars to make it beautiful, he took a single bright crystal from a fawn-skin pouch and placed it precisely in the north. It became North Fire, the star that never moves, which guides the nighttime traveler. Next, he placed other stars in patterns that formed the constellations. It was left to the supernatural spirit Spider Woman to teach the Dineh (Navajo for The People) the relationship of the stellar constellations to nature. From her, they learned that by observing how the positions of the stars changed through the seasons they would know when to plant and when to harvest. Spring games were a popular form of amusement for the Navajo - but only in the months between October and April ("when the Spider People are at rest," says Navajo lore). Many a winter evening was pleasantly passed with a grandmother teaching her grandchildren the lessons of Spider Woman." - Stay Liana York.