Commercialization of the Navajo Sand Painting Practice For the West , art has traditionally been considered as the mark of civilization , in so far as humanity is able to capture and render the essence of beauty and preserve this through their “artwork (Gilbert , 1982 Errington , 1994 Witherspoon , 1977 ) Indeed , art may even be a purely Western construct “since textiles and jewellery , clothing and cosmetics (to mention only a few of the contexts where aesthetic choices operate ) are not usually considered by us to be Art with a capital ‘A (Gilbert , 1982 : 168 ) The understanding and appreciation of non-Western “art ‘ has therefore been problematic for many scholars ,given that branding such cultural products and practices as such carries with it the enthnocentric connotations of the Western definition which usually defines “art ‘ based on the value system of Western culture (Gilbert , 1982 : 167-168 Errington , 1994 : 203 Clifford , 1988 :221 ) that ,as Robbins (2005 ) points out , has become more and more concerned with the accumulation of material wealth and the derivation of fulfillment from the consumption of products (Robbins 2005 :20 ) and where the perception of beauty is lamentably static (Witherspoon , 1977 :152 )Critics have likewise noted that “art ‘ in the West has often connoted being “art by intention ‘ which are produced and valued to be perceived for their beauty and for the monetary value that they carried (Errington , 1994 : 201 ) This is distinguished from what is considered as “art by appropriation ‘ or the things that were produced for purposes other than art but are appraised to be of high value with antiquity or the possession of an indigenous or unique identity , thereby alienating them from the culture that produced them . Witherspoon (1977 ,for instance , emphasizes the importance of defining indigenous behavior ,institutions , and practices within the context of their culture or at the very least , “against the backdrop of their view of the world or their ideological frame of reference (Witherspoon 1977 :4 ) This includes confronting the fact that these cultures often evolve or even change with their exposure to other cultures and vice versa .The dilemma over the treatment and definition of non-Western art is illustrated , for instance , in efforts to preserve Navajo sand paintings so they could be sold and collected (Errington , 1994 : 203 . The sand paintings which were originally used in Navajo religious rites and healing ceremonies have been described as “true masterpieces of art ‘for their “instinctive awareness of the basic principles of design ,colour harmonies , and contrasts (Foster , 1963 :43 ) Ironically , the sand paintings were created by the Navajo not for art ‘s sake but as an integral part of religious healing ceremonies to locate and reestablish of an individual in his or her right place in the the universe and thus cure his or her illness .These paintings often utilized colored sand , cornmeal , and other bits of material to depict the Navajo ‘s vision of the cosmos and to symbolize their socio-economic life and other cultural elements (Robbins , 2005 :14 Foster , 1963 : 43 ) Foster (1963 ) notes that…