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Initiation Ceremony by Gerald Nailor
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography
Photo CaptionNavajo Scenes (detail) - Initiation Ceremony
Initiation Ceremony
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography
Photo CaptionNavajo Scenes (detail) - Initiation Ceremony

Initiation Ceremony

Year1940
Classification painting
Medium oil on plaster
Dimensions8 ft. 2 1/16 in. (249.1 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Section of Fine Arts, 1934 - 1943
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
  • In the mural Initiation Ceremony by Navajo painter Gerald Nailor, two masked
    and costumed figures initiate two young girls into the home of the Gods through
    a ceremony that involves hitting their backs with bundled yucca leaves. As
    described by the artist, “this is done during the Yei-Be-Chei Dances in the
    Winter,” and “usually the children are very much frightened about this
    Ceremony.” Correspondingly, Nailor portrays the children clinging closely to
    their mother. One of them sticks a finger in her mouth, acting much as children
    do. In the upper left corner, the artist includes the “Rain Cloud Symbol.”

    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.