|
|
PAPAGO
INDIAN LEGENDS |
This
exhibition, painted in 1975, is one of DeGrazia's most popular collections.
It depicts his love for Native Americans and the pleasure he got in story telling. The
artist chose four myths that depict the Papago, now known as the Tohono
O'odham, tradition of story telling: “Creation Of The World”, “The Monster Of Quitovac”,
“The Eagle Man” and “Ho'ok, The Witch”.
“Creation
Of The World” depicts the earth’s beginnings and the birth of the “just right” Papago
people. “The Monster Of Quitovac” tells of a large horned toad that hides in
an arroyo waiting for Indians to fetch water in order to eat them. “Eagle Man” is
a half man, half eagle creature who marries and has an eagle baby. After the
Eagle Man and child begin eating Indians as snacks, his wife decides she can no longer
live with them. She calls on the Papago god Eetoi to help her and after he decapitates
them she lives happily ever after. The final myth is “Ho’ok, The Witch”. Ho’ok
is a wicked witch who goes from house to house collecting children in order to eat
them. The children are finally safe once Eetoi captures and kills the witch. Ho’ok
can be seen in the image to the right. There
are 20 paintings in this collection along with a full representation of items in different
media including bronzes, coins, oils, sketches, and watercolors.