The subject of Three Spirits was likely inspired by a ceremonial performance Miller witnessed on the San Ildefonso Reservation. Indeed, Miller represented a number of the Tewa ceremonial dances through her

painting, and it formed an important motif of the artist's work. Examples include Miller's illustration of the Kachina night dance, the deer dance, as well as the eagle dance, which was displayed at the artist's 1945 exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York, but this present picture is recognised within her oeuvre as the most ambitious work the artist undertook on the theme.