Where the Two Came to Their Father

In the fall of 1942 and the spring of 1943, Jeff King, a Navajo Medicine Man, gave to Maude Oakes (1903-1990), an American ethnologist, writer, and artist, the legend and the sand paintings of Where the Two Came to Their Father, a War Ceremony that was and is performed over young men who have volunteered or been drafted into the service. World War II was upon us.

Oakes had left her home in 1941 to spend two years living in a hogan on the Navajo reservation. She made friends with King and was invited to attend a ceremony where men headed for war were given protection.

According to King, “The story is the beginning of people, East, South, West, and North. It goes everywhere, because it is full of power—good power. My story has no evil in it. It is straight. It is to save and protect people. It is to save and protect men going to war, or in enemy country.”

Oakes spent her lifetime studying the religious cultures and myths of indigenous people. As she gained the confidence of King, who, like Hosteen Klah, the first Medicine man to weave traditional sand paintings, was afraid these sacred blessings would be lost, they agreed to collaborate on recording this ceremony.

He first drew the paintings on paper, and after many months of deliberation, agreed that he should share the words of the ceremony.

Working with King and American writer Joseph Campbell, who spent his life studying myths, spirituality, and religion, Oakes created a text to accompany the 18 color plates she created from King’s drawings. The portfolio was published in 1943.

This collection was purchased from an estate in Southern California, where it has been stored for thirty years. All the pieces are framed and are in superb condition. Every piece is accompanied by an explanation of the particular sand painting and its role in the Ceremony as well as an overall description of the ceremony.