Reared Within the Mountains carries for me;
A black spruce sapling, he carries for me;
An implement of the rites, he carries for me;
A holy treasure, he carries for me.
The Holy Young Woman carries for me;
A blue spruce sapling, she carries for me;
An implement of the rites, she carries for me;
A holy treasure, she carries for me.
260. The evergreen poles used in the dance and in making "the dark
circles," to both of which this song probably refers, were, in all cases
where I have observed them, made of piñon and not of spruce; but all
dances I have witnessed were at altitudes of about six thousand feet,
where piñon was abundant and spruce rare. In those portions of the
Navajo country with which I am familiar the spruce (_Pseudotsuga
douglassii_) grows plentifully at the height of eight thousand feet,
sparsely below that. There is good reason for believing that the spruce
is the true sacred tree of these rites and that the piñon is only a
convenient substitute. The song is called Ilnásjin Beniçà , "that with
which the dark circle is built." It is sung by the shaman at the eastern
gate, while the young men are building the corral. (Paragraph 124.) I
have other slightly different versions of it, probably suitable for
different occasions. The form given above is recited, under ordinary
circumstances, when the patient is a woman.