[Illustration: _Tonenili_ - Navaho]
_Tonenili_ - Navaho
_From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis_
Tonenili, Water Sprinkler, is the Rain God of the Navaho. He it is who
sends the rain, the hail, and the snow, and causes thunder and lightning.
The personator of this god in the ceremonies assumes the additional
character of a clown and as such creates much merriment in the dances in
which he appears. His apparel consists principally of spruce boughs and a
mask.
The Hozhoni Hatal, or Happiness Chant, is a nine-days' chant held inside a
hogan, and like many of the Navaho ceremonies, it was derived from another
tribe. The myth relating to it tells of a renowned warrior who had two
beautiful sisters whom he wished to see married, but only to men who
should first prove their strength and valor in a feat of arms; so word was
sent to all the young men of the warrior's tribe to gather at his home on
a certain day, prepared for war, if they wished to enter a contest he
would then propose. The girls being coveted prizes, a goodly number of
warriors, painted and dressed in full war regalia, assembled on the
appointed day, among them being two old, white-haired brothers, of an
alien tribe, who had recently come to live near the Navaho people. The
young chief protested at the presence of the old men, declaring that they
would only sacrifice their lives in the first combat, for they could have
no possible hope of success. The two persisted, however, and were allowed
to remain in the van.
Four-days journey from the Navaho country was a village of the Aya Kinne{~COMBINING BREVE~},
Have Holes For Houses, enemies from early times. They also prided
themselves on having two very beautiful girls, upon whom many admiring
young men of the tribe bestowed valuable presents of turquoise, shell
beads, and other jewels. One of these wondrous beauties wore her hair
plaited always with rich strings of turquoise; the other with strings of
white shell.
"To the two men," said the vaunting young Navaho, "who will fight their
way to the homes of these boasted beauties and bring to me their
jewel-plaited scalps, will I give my sisters."
The band started, each man eager and hopeful, and on the fourth night
bivouacked in sight of the cliffs under which the hated Aya Kinne{~COMBINING BREVE~} had
their homes. At daybreak on the following morning they made their attack
on the pueblo, but the villagers, ever alert and well prepared for an
onslaught, offered desperate resistance, every man fighting bravely for
his life and his family. All day long the contest raged; arrow, lance, and
stone hammer dealing death on every hand. As nightfall shrouded the
combatants in darkness, the invaders, depleted in rank, slunk back to
their camp on the hill, where they found the two gray-haired brothers,
each bearing a jewelled scalp as his trophy.
When the Navaho chief learned that the old men were the victors, he raged
with anger, condemning his tribesmen and vowing that his sisters should
never become the wives of unknown aliens, and accordingly declared a new
contest. The man who would win a beautiful wife must hit the blade of a
yucca plant with an arrow at forty paces. The long, narrow blade was hung
in the bark of a tree and the contest commenced. The younger men shot
first. One by one they twanged their bows, and one by one marched off in
sullen humor. At last it came the turn of the aged brothers. The first
shot his arrow, and the slender leaf was pierced; the second shot, and
again the leaf was pierced; but so soon as the second arrow had hit its
mark the Navaho declared a new feat, contending that this had not been
sufficient. A long race was then arranged, and once more the brothers came
off victorious.
The chief became desperate. Some feat must be devised in which his own men
could prove the superior. In the wall of a high cliff not far distant was
a small hole, barely larger than a half-closed hand, and just above the
reach of the average man. The ones who could run past that hole, jump, and
thrust their hands into it as they did so, might claim the sisters. One by
one the young Navaho warriors leaped wildly and struck out for the hole in
the cliff, but none could thrust his hand into it. Then the elderly
brothers ran past, sprang lightly, and darted a hand each into the pocket.
[Illustration: _Zahadolzha_ - Navaho]
_Zahadolzha_ - Navaho
_From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis_
These deific characters in Navaho mythology, though beneficent always,
have no special functions to perform. The name means "Fringe Mouth" and
has no ascertainable significance other than that these spirits, whose
abode is in the water, are supposed to have peculiar markings about their
mouths. Rescue from drowning invariably redounds to the glory of these
gods.
But for the third time the Navaho chief declared the test insufficient.
The cliff was high. They who would marry his sisters must shoot an arrow
over its rim; so a second contest in archery took place, but only the
feathered reeds of the white-haired brothers passed out of sight.
Still the old men were refused the prizes they had fairly won so many
times. A dance was called. Finding no way to outdo the two brothers in
skill or strength, the young chief left the selection of husbands to his
sisters. They should join the men in the dance and go home with whom they
chose. The aliens did not join the dancers, preferring instead to remain
in their own little brush house half a mile distant, with its single-slant
roof, "For it is foolish," said one, "to think that two such handsome
young maidens as they are would ever look with favor upon our rags and
wrinkles. We would better lie here to-night and rest in sleep after our
busy day." Each then brought forth a sacred pipe and tobacco, which they
used only on rare occasions. One had a pipe of rich blue turquoise, and
the other one of fine, pure white shell. They filled them, smoking in
silence. From the distance the songs and laughter of the merry dancers
greeted their ears, but not as joyous sounds. Each smoked with apparent
resolution, blowing forth cloud after cloud of filmy whiteness, and lo! as
they smoked each noticed that the other had grown youthful in appearance!
Their tattered garments, too, as insensibly as the creeping shadows,
changed their forms, becoming fine shirts, leggings, and moccasins.