Bruce Hathale, Navajo Nation Painter

In the 1980s, Bruce Hathale and his brother Dennis were engaged in making sand paintings on muslin bed sheets which are called memory aids.  Memory aids are sketches of successful sand paintings and are used by a medicine man when preparing a sand painting for a healing ceremony.  Bruce Hathale was a son of Roger Hathale, known as “the medicine man form Tes Nez Iah,” the patriarch of the family whose family name was Hataalii before it was anglicized.

The muslins by the Hathale brothers, Bruce (b.1956) and Dennis (b.1961), were discovered in the early 1980s by Jack Beasley, a trader in northern New Mexico.  Roger Hathale explained the creation of this art form as follows: “I was looking around for something my boys could do and felt that they could reproduce the sandpaintings I made for ceremonies, as long as they were accurate.  If others did this type of art they would be harmed, but I have the power to protect my boys. The idea was mine, but I have never made one myself. Certain figures would bring harm, but I will not let these be sold.” The muslins are not made for, or used, in ceremonies—they are true folk art.  Rosenak 1994:71

I do not believe the Hathale brothers are still making memory aids.

Reference:  Navajo Folk Art: The People Speak by Chuck and Jan Rosenak

TAGS: Diné of the Navajo Nation, Native American Paintings, Dennis Hathale