Shonto begay biography books

Native American artist, illustrator, writer, and educator

Shonto Begay is a Native American artist, illustrator, writer, and teacher. He began his artistic career in 1983 and his art features landscapes and other cultural elements of Navajo life.

Biography and education

Begay was born into the Diné tribe on February 7, 1954, near Shonto, Arizona.^[1] His mother was a Navajo weaver from the Bitter Water clan and his father was a medicine man from the Salt clan.^[2] Begay was named via a traditional Navajo naming ceremony that is held once a baby has their first laugh; this name is only used by family members and Begay was given an American name by the government, "Wilson".^[3] Begay later changed this first name to his great-great grandmother's name, Shonto.^[3]

Begay had fifteen siblings and his family lived in three hogans, which had no water or power.^[3] He spent his childhood herding sheep, reading books, and