The Hunting Ground

Across the south wall of the
eighth-floor penthouse at the Department of the Interior building is The Hunting Ground by Navajo artist
Gerald Nailor. On the left side of the mural, two hunters track two squirrels
and several other animals, including antelopes over the archway and buffalos
and deer on the right. In the upper corners of the mural are the “Sun and Cloud
Symbol” that the artist adapted from Navajo Sand Painting. Directly above the
archway, he painted a “Ceremonial Plant and Bird Symbol.” Nailor often added
elements of humor in his murals. For instance, one of the squirrels appears to
be sniffing the light switch with curiosity.

Gerald Nailor, also known as Toh Yah, which
translates to “Walking by the River,” was commissioned in 1939 to create a
series of murals at the new Department of the Interior building in Washington,
D.C. He was one of four Native American artists who painted 2,200 feet of
murals for the penthouse, which served as the employee lounge. Zia Pueblo
artist Velino Herrera painted the north corridor, and Potawatomi artist Woody
Crumbo covered the south corridor. In the main room, the walls were divided
between Nailor and Chiricahua Apache painter Allan Houser. The Secretary of the
Interior, Harold Ickes, insisted on commissioning artwork by Native American
artists. Because of this mandate, the Section of Fine Arts invited Herrera,
Crumbo, Houser, and Nailor to participate in the penthouse project and
contacted two Kiowa artists, James Auchiah and Stephen Mopope, to paint murals
for the cafeteria.