Artists of Earth and Sky

 

Oh our Mother the earth, Oh our Father the sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you the gifts you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;

May the Warp be the white light of the morning,
May the weft be the red light of the evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.

Thus weave for us a garment of brightness,
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother Earth, Oh our Father Sky.

–Native American Prayer

I finally got to the Metropolitan Museum to see the Plains Indian exhibit a few days ago.  It’s only there for another week.  This “drawing of the artist’s world” was among my favorite works on display.  I tried to do some sketching, but it was very crowded and I couldn’t really stand in the way of people trying to see the objects for long.

The painted buffalo robes had many wonderful figures, and I would have loved to draw them all.  But I had to be satisfied with just a few.

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/plains-indians-artists-of-earth-and-sky