Hastiin Tłʼa (Hosteen Klah)

Hastiin Tłʼa (Hosteen Klah)

This Navajo artist was a Nádleeh (pl. Nádleehi, meaning "one-who-has-been-changed"). According to Wikipedia, the Nádleehi are a third gender recognized by the Navajo people who embody traditionally male and female roles.

The male role of Hastiin Tłʼa was that of the medicine man. Their female role was that of a weaver. This artist, Hastiin Tłʼa, broke tradition when capturing the patterns used in their elusive impermanent sandpaintings in the relative stability or permanence provided by the medium of woven textiles. Yet, it was an act of cultural conservation when Hastiin Tłʼa sought to preserve the Navajo religion by helping a Boston heiress (his friend Mary Cabot Wheelwright) establish the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That institution later was renamed the Navajo Museum of Ceremonial Art when it repatriated sacred materials and remains back to the care of the Navajo people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosteen_Klah