TPO-41

Navajo Art

The Navajo, a Native American people living in the southwestern United States, live in small
scattered settlements. In many respects, such as education, occupation, and leisure activities, their
life is like that of other groups that contribute to the diverse social fabric of North American culture
in the twenty-first century. At the same time, they have retained some traditional cultural practices
that are associated with particular art forms. For example, the most important traditional Navajo
rituals include the production of large floor paintings. These are actually made by pouring thin,
finely controlled streams of colored sands or pulverized vegetable and mineral substances, pollen,
and flowers in precise patterns on the ground. The largest of these paintings may be up to 5.5 meters
in diameter and cover the entire floor of a room. Working from the inside of the design outward, the
Navajo artist and his assistants will sift the black, white, bluish-gray, orange, and red materials
through their fingers to create the finely detailed imagery. ■ The paintings and chants used in the
ceremonies are directed by well-trained artists and singers who enlist the aid of spirits who are
impersonated by masked performers. ■ The twenty-four known Navajo chants can be represented
by up to 500 sand paintings. ■These complex paintings serve as memory aids to guide the singers
during the performance of the ritual songs, which can last up to nine days.■

The purpose and meaning of the sand paintings can be explained by examining one of the most
basic ideals of Navajo society, embodied in their word hozho (beauty or harmony, goodness, and
happiness). It coexists with hochxo ("ugliness," or "evil," and "disorder") in a world where
opposing forces of dynamism and stability create constant change. When the world, which was
created in beauty, becomes ugly and disorderly, the Navajo gather to perform rituals with songs and
make sand paintings to restore beauty and harmony to the world. Some illness is itself regarded as a
type of disharmony. Thus, the restoration of harmony through a ceremony can be part of a curing
process.

Men make sand paintings that are accurate copies of paintings from the past. The songs sung
over the paintings are also faithful renditions of songs from the past. By recreating these arts, which
reflect the original beauty of creation, the Navajo bring beauty to the present world. As relative
newcomers to the Southwest, a place where their climate, neighbors, and rulers could be equally
inhospitable, the Navajo created these art forms to affect the world around them, not just through
the recounting of the actions symbolized, but through the beauty and harmony of the artworks
themselves. The paintings generally illustrate ideas and events from the life of a mythical hero, who,
after being healed by the gods, gave gifts of songs and paintings. Working from memory, the artists
re-create the traditional form of the image as accurately as possible.

The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women
own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the
thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings
from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and
create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a
mythic ancestor named Spider, woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth
and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare
their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the
world.
 Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience
harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty,
harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

1. The word “precise” is closest in meaning to

A. colorful
B. exact
C. delicate
D. complex

2. The word “enlist" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. assist
B. require
C. describe
D. recruit

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 1 about the Navajo ritual chants?
A. There is a large number of them.
B. Each of them corresponds to a particular sand painting.
C. They are difficult to remember.
D. They do not take long to perform.

4. According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true of many important Navajo rituals
EXCEPT:
A. They involve the creation of large, detailed images.
B. They include performers whose faces are covered.
C. They take place indoors.
D. They are performed without elaborate planning.

5. It can be inferred from the discussion of illness and curing in paragraph 2 that
A. the Navajo consider illness to always have a supernatural cause
B. rituals involving songs and sand paintings may be used to treat an illness
C. when a Navajo is ill, ugly and disorderly sand paintings are made
D. after a serious illness, a Navajo will take part in a ceremony

6. The word “faithful” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. modern
B. accurate
C. wonderful
D. simplified

7. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence
in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
A. The Navajo used the symbolism and beauty of their works of art to improve their life in an often
inhospitable environment.
B. The ideas the Navajo hold about symbolism and beauty were influenced by their inhospitable
climate, neighbors, and rulers.
C. When they first arrived in the Southwest, the Navajo produced symbolic art forms that promoted
harmony.
D. In their works of art, the Navajo emphasized beauty and harmony that can be found even under
the most inhospitable circumstances.
8. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is often the subject of Navajo sand paintings?
A. The landscape of the Southwest
B. Traditional Navajo practices
C. Historical events that occurred in the Southwest
D. The lives of heroes in traditional Navajo stories

9. Paragraph 4 supports which of the following statements about Navajo weavers and weaving?
A. Navajo women oversee all aspects of wool production and weaving.
B. The wool used for blankets comes from different sheep than does the wool used for other
purposes.
C. Navajo weavers have used some of the same designs for hundreds of years.
D. Weaving is done primarily for use in rituals.

10. The word “ancestor” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. relative from an earlier generation
B. person who established a particular tradition in a society
C. hero from ancient times
D. person who once made important contributions to a social group or culture

11. Why does the author discuss “a mythic ancestor”?

A. To show how Navajo ideas of weaving have changed over time.
B. To explain why the Navajo principle of stability is more clearly represented in their weavings
than in their sand paintings.
C. To emphasize the role of naturally occurring weaving materials in the creative weavings of the
Navajo.
D. To help explain the significance of weaving in Navajo culture.

12. According to paragraph 4, Navajo weavers imitate

A. traditional weaving patterns
B. patterns used in sand paintings
C. the activities through which the world was created
D. images from nature

13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the
passage.
Since this purpose is limited to the context of the ritual, the paintings are destroyed when the
ritual is completed.

Where would the sentence best fit?

14. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.
Complete the summary by selected THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in
the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not
presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Navajo art is fundamentally connected to aspects of Navajo ritual and belief.

●
●
●

Answer Choices
A. Navajo sand paintings are an expression of the close relationship between nature and the spiritual
world in Navajo culture
B. Sand paintings, which help participants in rituals recall traditional chants, are part of ceremonies
designed to restore beauty and harmony.
C. Whereas Navajo sand paintings are associated with male deities. Navajo weaving involves
representations of female figures such as Spider Woman.
D. Individual Navajo sand paintings typically embody the principles of harmony and disorder.
E. Sand paintings, which are created by Navajo men, are faithful re-creations of earlier works and
as such represent the principle of stability.
F. In Navajo culture, weaving is a female art and is associated with creativity and change.

参考答案:1-5.B D C D B 6-10.B A D A C 11-13.D C D 14.BEF

 参考译文：纳瓦霍人的艺术

纳瓦霍人是生活在美国西南部的美洲土著人，以小规模的散居为生活方式。在许多方面，
如教育、职业和休闲活动，他们的生活就像其他群体一样，是二十一世纪北美文化的多元化
的社会结构的一部分。同时，他们还保留了一些与特定艺术形式相关的传统文化习俗。例如，
最重要的传统纳瓦霍仪式包括大型地板画创作。这些画实际上是把精心控制的细彩沙、蔬菜
粉、矿物粉、花粉或花倒在地上的精确模型中制作而成。这些画中直径最大的可能有 5.5 米，
可以覆盖整个房间的地板。面对设计模型，纳瓦霍艺术家和助手们用自己的手指由内向外撒
下黑、白、蓝灰、橙、红色的材料来制作细致入微的图像。仪式所用的图画和圣歌由训练有
素的艺术家和歌手们指定，他们借助了戴面具的表演者所扮演的圣灵。我们所知的二十四首
纳瓦霍圣歌可由多达 500 幅的沙画来表现。这些复杂的绘画作为辅助记忆的手段，指导歌手
在仪式中的演唱，这些演唱可以持续九天。

沙画的目的和意义可以通过审视纳瓦霍社会的其中一个最基本的理想来说明，这个理想
体现在他们的“hozho”一词（“美”、“和谐”，“善良”、和“幸福”）。在一个活力和稳定的对立
力量创造不断变化的世界里，它与“hochxo”（“丑”或“邪恶”和“无序”）并存。当初创时美丽
的世界变得丑陋和无序时，纳瓦霍人便聚集到一起，举行仪式，通过唱圣歌和画沙画来恢复
世界的美丽和谐。有些疾病本身就被认为是一种不和谐。因此，通过仪式恢复和谐也可以作
为治疗的一部分。

男人做沙画，是准确地复制过去的画作。对着沙画演唱的歌曲也是过去歌曲的忠实再现。
通过再现这些反映了创作的原始之美的艺术，纳瓦霍人将美丽带到现实世界来。作为美国西
南部相对较新的人，面对西部荒凉的气候、冷漠的邻居和无情的统治，纳瓦霍人不只是通过
重复这些象征性的行为，更是通过美和艺术品自身的和谐创造了这些艺术形式来影响他们周
围的世界。这些沙画通常讲述神话英雄一生的思想和事迹，这些英雄在被神治愈后，将歌曲
和绘画赠与人类。艺术家根据记忆尽可能准确地重新创造了画像的传统艺术形式。

纳瓦霍人设计编织的毛毯也是世界闻名。纳瓦霍妇女掌管着自家的羊群，控制羊毛的剪
取、梳理、纺纱和染色、以及面料织造的全过程。男性忠实复制过去的沙画代表着纳瓦霍思
想的稳定性，而女性为每个编织做新的设计，体现的则是活力。编织是一种创造力的一种形
式，是由一个叫蜘蛛女的神话人物将宇宙编织成一个联合天地的宇宙网而来。传说是她教纳
瓦霍妇女编织的。妇女们准备材料和编织的过程，就是最初创造了世界的改变的模仿。

纳瓦霍织工在织布机上创造图像，体会人与自然的和谐。这是她们创造美，从而促进世
界的美、和谐和治愈的方式。因此，编织是一种看世界的方式，也是世界的一部分。