Children ages 6-12 are invited to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Month with a hands-on art workshop at the Altadena Library on Thursday, November 6, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. The free program will introduce young participants to the Indigenous traditions of sand painting and clay pot making, with each child creating their own artworks to take home.
The workshop is part of the library’s extensive November programming honoring Native American Heritage Month, officially recognized at the national level through a designation established by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
Young artists will learn about sand painting, a traditional art form primarily utilized by American Indian tribes of the Southwestern United States for ceremonial and religious purposes. In Navajo tradition, sand paintings are called “places where the gods come and go” in the Navajo language, and are used in curing ceremonies in which the gods’ help is requested for harvests and healing. Traditional sand paintings are created using naturally colored sand, including crushed gypsum, yellow ochre, red sandstone, and charcoal.
Participants will also explore Native American pottery traditions with ancient roots. The coil method involves rolling clay into long, thin logs and stacking the coils to create the walls of the pot. Native American pottery is spiritual by nature, with prayers said throughout the entire pottery-making process.
The workshop takes place on the ancestral lands of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Kizh Nation peoples, who continue to call this region home. Los Angeles County has the largest concentration of people who identify as Indigenous in the United States, with an estimated population of 111,096.
Celebrating Indigenous Art for Kids! will run on Thursday, Nov. 6, from 4-5 p.m. Altadena Main Library, 600 E. Mariposa St., Altadena. For more information, call (626) 798-0833, Ext. 108, or visit https://www.altadenalibrary.org/programs?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D191671377. Admission is free.
