Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of the estate of Ruth and Sidney Schultz
Object numberPC2022.44.118
DescriptionA gouache painting of a group of figures kneeling on rugs. Three women grind corn using a metate, while three men sit on blankets around them.
On View
Not on view
Text Entries
Indigenous Art, Culture, and Community: Works from the Ruth and Sydney Schultz Collection
on view 02/04/2023 - 07/23/2023
Haskay Yahne Yah/Harrison Begay’s gouache drawing depicts individuals grinding dried corn to make flour using stone tools called tsédaashch’ini
and tsédaashjéé’ in Diné. Corn grinding was traditionally done by hand in a long, labor-intensive process. Because the work was hard and took many hours, singers were hired to make the process more enjoyable. The figures on the left can be seen singing and drumming on an overturned basket. Corn flour was and is used to make twoosch’chiin (blue corn mush), a major food staple for Diné people. Begay’s depiction of this process honors the work necessary to care for and feed one another. The artwork serves as a record of this process which is mostly done today with electric grinders. Begay studied art with Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School beginning in 1934. Dunn encouraged her students to work in a two-dimensional style focusing on ceremonial and “traditional” themes from each student’s culture.
