
Life on the Navajo reservation helped shape 39-year-old Diné artisan Philander Begay. Begay is a Navajo artist who has won numerous awards for his jewelry at the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial, Santa Fe shows, and the Heard Museum.
Begay remembers hanging on the skirt tails of his grandmother in Round Rock, Ariz., as she would teach him things about the Diné culture. They would walk together as his grandmother pointed out certain things about the land. One of the things he learned about was the horned toad.
“My grandma would find one, pick it up, and pray for it as well as bless it. She would talk to it and say it would give me...