_From Copyright Photograph 1903 by E.S. Curtis_
Disc N 1--Yolkai Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n, one of the most venerated and greatly feared
personages in the Apache mythology. She is the Goddess of Death, or rather
of the after-life, for she controls all souls that pass on to the future
world. The road to this afterworld is supposed to cross her shoulders and
is symbolized by the Milky Way, a trail made by the departing spirits. The
Apache will not utter the name of a deceased person, because they say the
dead have gone on to Yolkai Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n and are her people. If they talked of
them it might anger her, and when their death ensues she might refuse them
admittance to the eternal paradise. This goddess is supposed to preside
over the birth of children, hence supplications and offerings are made to
her immediately before childbirth. She is invoked at other times to
withhold her call, for it is believed that she can cause death. These
prayers are addressed to Yolkai Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n through the medium of small white
shells and white stone beads. The white beads are symbolic of purity, and
through them Yolkai Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n is asked to keep the minds of the people free
from evil thoughts or deeds.
2--Dutli{~COMBINING BREVE~}shi Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n, the Turquoise Girl, is the creator of all things
green. She has to do with the crops in the fields, and the devout Apache
prays to her every morning during the season of growth.
3--Enasho Dilhkli{~COMBINING BREVE~}shen is the God of Intellect. He controls the minds of
the people, making their thoughts good or evil at will. It was he who
first talked to the people on earth. When a child is born its parents
often pray that Kuterastan will make it grow to be like Enasho
Dilhkli{~COMBINING BREVE~}shen, to whom prayers are addressed for aid when one must talk to
the people. In such case no offering of pollen is made unless the request
be presented to an image representing this god, when pollen is sprinkled
upon it.
4--Hadintin Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n is Chieftainess of Pollen, because she causes pollen to
grow on the trees. The Indians know the function of pollen in plants and
pray that their corn and other products of the fields, as well as the nuts
and fruits that grow wild, may be fructified early in the season, to
insure good harvests.
Disc O 1--Hadintin Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n, described above.
2--Nilchidilhkizn, Chief of the Winds. The Apache never complains of the
wind, for should he become impatient about them and give vent to
sacrilegious utterances he might anger the Wind God and thereby bring on
destructive storms.
3--Yolkai Nali{~COMBINING BREVE~}n, described above.
4--Yakosha Skhin, God of Moisture and also Controller of Rain. Since snow,
ice, hail, frost, dew, and fog are derived from the clouds, Yakosha Skhin
is sometimes termed Chief of the Clouds, but in general the clouds are
regarded as his workshop, for there is another who has direct charge and
control of them.
P, Q, R, and S--These figures represent gods, or, in Apache, _gaun_, who
are supposed to have been made by the Sun for the purpose of curing people
stricken with bodily disease. Diseases of the body are regarded as
distinct from those of the mind. The _gaun_ live in the four cardinal
directions and are impersonated in medicine ceremonies by men wearing
stick masks, who always take stations at the four sides of the patient.
These doctors are not called in case of illness until after the four chief
deities have been supplicated, when, as a last resort, the medicine-man
prays to the _gaun_. If the _gaun_ cannot help, there is believed to be no
hope for the patient. In ancient times all animals could talk, and many
were used as beasts of burden. The bear and the deer were the horses of
that time. In the graphic representations of the Apache these four spirits
are often pictured riding deer and bear.