Harvey Begaye, War Eagle, was born and raised in Two Grey Hills, New Mexico. His mother, Alice, was a weaver and his father, Roy worked on the railroad. He has 4 sisters who are weavers, but his 7 brothers are not artists. He got his name from his great grandfather who was a medecine man who sang to the eagles, caught them and got their feathers. Because of this he was named for 'hunting' eagles or having a war with the eagle.

Harvey has been sandpainting since 1972. At school he studied art. He learned water colors, oils and acrylics. He started doing sandpaintings because at one time his sister did traditional sandpaintings. After he saw Monument Valley, he was inspired to do non=traditional sandpaintings. He sees visions which he interprets in his art. He sometimes travels hundreds of miles to get the rocks he grinds for his sand. After starting with sand, War Eagle highlights his paintings with acrylic.