came from a place called Tha`tsí, Among the Red (Waters or Banks),
which was west of the San Juan settlement. From their traditions it
appeared that they were not a newly created people; they had escaped
in some way from the alien gods, and were for these reasons regarded
as diné` digíni, or holy people. They were divided into two gentes,
Thá`tsini and Kaídine`, or Willow People, and for a while they formed
two gentes among the Navahoes; but in these days all traces of this
division have been lost, and all their descendants are now called,
without distinction, sometimes Thá`tsini and sometimes Kai or Kaídine`.
406. Before this time the Navahoes had been a weak and peaceable
tribe; but now they found themselves becoming a numerous people and
they began to talk of going to war. Of late years they had heard
much of the great pueblos along the Rio Grande, but how their people
had saved themselves from the anáye the Navahoes did not know. A man
named Napaílinta got up a war party and made a raid on a pueblo named
Kinlitsí (Red House), and returned with some captives, among whom
was a girl captured by Napaílinta. From her is descended the gens
of Kinlitsí, whose members are now close relations to Tsinadzi'ni
(the gens of Napaílinta), and cannot intermarry with the latter.
407. The captives from Kinlitsí were, at first, slaves among the
Navahoes;[187] but their descendants became free and increased greatly,
and from them came another gens, Tliziláni, Many Goats, also closely
related to Tsinadzi'ni.
408. Next in order came a band of Apaches from the south representing
two gentes,--Destsíni (Red Streak People), and Tlastsíni (Red Flat
Ground People). These were adopted by the Navahoes as two separate
gentes and became close relations to the Tsinadzi'ni.
409. Not long after the arrival of these Apaches some Utes came
into the neighborhood of the Navahoes, camping at a place called
Tsé`di`yikáni (a ridge or promontory projecting into the river),
not far from Hyíetyin. They had good arms of all kinds, and two
varieties of shields,--one round and one with a crescentic cut in the
top. They lived for a while by themselves, and were at first unruly and
impertinent; but in the course of time they merged into the Navahoes,
forming the gens of Notá or Notádine`, Ute People.
410. About the time they were incorporated by the Navahoes, or soon
after, a war party of the Utes made a raid on a Mexican settlement,
somewhere near where Socorro now is, and captured a Spanish woman. She
was their slave; but her descendants became free among the Navahoes
and formed the Nakaídine` (White Stranger People), or Mexican gens,
who cannot now intermarry with Notádine`.
411. Góntso, or Big Knee, chief of the Thá`paha, was still alive
and was a famous old man; but he had become feeble and had many
ailments. There was a great ceremony practised in those days
called natsi'd, which lasted all winter,[184] from harvest-time
to planting-time; but the Navahoes have long ceased to celebrate
it. This ceremony was held one winter for the benefit of Big Knee at
the sacred place of To`ye'tli, the home of the War Gods. One night,
while the rites were being performed, some strangers joined the
Navahoes coming from the direction of the river. Adopted by the
Navahoes, they formed the gens of To`yetlíni, and became closely
allied to Notádine` and Nakaídine`.
412. On another occasion during the same winter some Apaches came from
their country in the south to witness the ceremony of natsi'd. Among
the women of the Thá`paha was one who visited the Apache camp and
remained all night there. She became attached to an Apache youth,
with whom she secretly absconded when the visitors left. For a
long time her people did not know what had become of her; but many
years after, learning where she was, some of her relations went to
the Apache country to persuade her to return. She came back an old
woman, bringing her husband and a family of three girls. The girls
were handsome, had light skins and fair hair. Their grandmother, who
admired them very much, insisted that a new gens should be made of
them. So they were called Háltso, Yellow Bodies,[188] and originated
the gens of that name. Their father died an old man among the Navahoes.
413. On another night of the same winter, while the ceremony for Big
Knee was going on, two strange men, speaking the Navaho language,
entered the camp. They said they were the advanced couriers of a
multitude of wanderers who had left the shores of the great waters
in the west to join the Navahoes. You shall now hear the story of
the people who came from the western ocean:--
414. Surrounding Estsánatlehi's home were four mountains, located like
those at the Place of Emergence--one in the east, one in the south,
one in the west, and one in the north. She was in the habit of dancing
on these mountains,--on the mountain in the east to bring clouds;
on the mountain in the south, to bring all kinds of goods,--jewels,
clothing, etc.; on the mountain in the west, to bring plants of all
kinds; and on the mountain in the north, to bring corn and animals. On
these journeys for dancing she passed from the east mountain to
the south, the west, and the north mountain, the way the sun goes;
and when she was done dancing on the north mountain she retraced her
course (without crossing it) to the east; but she never completed
the circle, i.e., she never passed from the north directly to the
east. Over the space between the north and the east mountains she
never travelled. This is the way her trail lay:--
415. Estsánatlehi had not been long in her western home when she
began to feel lonely. She had no companions there. The people who had
accompanied her thither did not stay with her. She thought she might
make people to keep her company, so one day, when she had completed one
of her dancing journeys, she sat down on the eastern mountain. Here
she rubbed epidermis from under her left arm with her right hand;
she held this in her palm and it changed into four persons,--two men
and two women,--from whom descended a gens to which no name was then
given, but which afterwards (as will be told) received the name of
Honagá`ni. She rubbed the epidermis with her left hand from under
her right arm, held it in her palm as before, and it became two
men and two women, from whom descended the gens afterwards known as
Kinaá`ni. In a similar way, of epidermis rubbed from under her left
breast she created four people, from whom descended the gens later
known as To`ditsíni; of epidermis from under her right breast, four
persons, from whom descended the gens called Bitáni; of epidermis
from the middle of her chest, the four whose descendants were called
Hasli'zni; and of epidermis from her back between her shoulders,
the four whose descendants were called Bitá`ni in later times.
416. She said to these: "I wish you to dwell near me, where I can
always see you; but if you choose to go to the east, where your
kindred dwell, you may go." She took them from her floating home to
the mainland; here they lived for thirty years, during which time they
married and had many children. At the end of this time the Twelve
People (Diné` Nakidáta), or rather what was left of them, appeared
among Estsánatlehi's people and said to them: "We have lost our sister
who kept our house for us; we have no home; we know not where else to
go; so we have come here to behold our mother, our grandmother. You
have kindred in the far east who have increased until they are now a
great people. We do not visit them, but we stand on the mountains and
look at them from afar. We know they would welcome you if you went to
them." And many more things they told about the people in the far east.
417. Now all crossed on a bridge of rainbow to the house of
Estsánatlehi on the sea, where she welcomed them and embraced them. Of
the Diné` Nakidáta but ten were left, for, as has been told, they lost
their sister and their younger brother; but when they came to the home
of Estsánatlehi she made for them two more people out of turquoise,
and this completed their original number of twelve. She knew with what
thoughts her children had come. She opened four doors leading from
the central chamber of her house into four other rooms, and showed
them her various treasures, saying: "Stay with me always, my children;
these things shall be yours, and we shall be always happy together."
418. When the people went back from the house of Estsánatlehi to the
mainland, all was gossip and excitement in their camp about what they
had heard of the people in the east. Each one had a different part
or version of the tale to tell,--of how the people in the east lived,
of what they ate, of the way in which they were divided into gentes,
of how the gentes were named, and of other things about them they
had heard. "The people are few where we live," they said; "we would
be better off where there are so many." They talked thus for twelve
days. At the end of that time they concluded to depart, and they
fixed the fourteenth day after that as the day they should leave.
419. Before they left, the Diné` Nakidáta and Estsánatlehi came to see
them. She said: "It is a long and dangerous journey to where you are
going. It is well that you should be cared for and protected on the
way. I shall give you five of my pets,[189]--a bear, a great snake, a
deer, a porcupine, and a puma,--to watch over you. They will not desert
you. Speak of no evil deeds in the presence of the bear or the snake,
for they may do the evil they hear you speak of; but the deer and the
porcupine are good,--say whatever you please to say in their presence."
420. Besides these pets she gave them five magic wands. To those
who were afterwards named Honagá`ni she gave a wand of turquoise;
to those who later were called Kinaá`ni, a wand of white shell; to
those who became To`ditsíni, a wand of haliotis shell; to those who
became Bitá`ni, a wand of black stone; and to those who in later days
became Hasli'zni, a wand of red stone. "I give you these for your
protection," she said, "but I shall watch over you myself while you
are on your journey."
421. On the appointed day they set out on their journey. On the
twelfth day of their march they crossed a high ridge and came in
sight of a great treeless plain, in the centre of which they observed
some dark objects in motion. They could not determine what they were,
but suspected they were men. They continued their journey, but did not
directly approach the dark objects; they moved among the foothills that
surrounded the plain, and kept under cover of the timber. As they went
along they discerned the dark objects more plainly, and discovered
that these were indeed human beings. They got among the foothills to
one side of where the strangers were, and camped in the woods at night.
422. In spite of all the precautions taken by the travellers, they
had been observed by the people of the plain, and at night two of the
latter visited their camp. The visitors said they were Kiltsói, or
Kiltsóidine` (People of the Bigelovia graveolens); that their tribe was
numerous; that the plain in which they dwelt was extensive; and that
they had watermelons getting ripe, with corn and other food, in their
gardens. The people of the west concluded to remain here a while. The
second night they had two more visitors, one of whom became enamored
of a maiden among the wanderers, and asked for her in marriage. Her
people refused him at first; but when he came the second night and
begged for her again, they gave her to him. He stayed with her in
the camp of her people as long as they remained in the valley, except
the last two nights, when she went and stayed with his people. These
gave an abundance of the produce of their fields to the wanderers,
and the latter fared well. When the travellers were prepared to move,
they implored the young husband to go with them, while he begged to
have his wife remain with him in the valley. They argued long; but in
the end the woman's relations prevailed, and the Kiltsói man joined
them on their journey. In the mean time four other men of Kiltsói had
fallen in love with maidens of the wanderers, and asked for them in
marriage. The migrating band refused to leave the girls behind, so the
enamored young men left their kindred and joined the travellers. The
Kiltsói tried to persuade the others to dwell in their land forever,
but without avail.
423. They broke camp at last early in the morning, and travelled all
day. At night a great wind arose, and the bear would not rest, but ran
around the camp all night, uneasy and watchful. The men looked out
and saw some of the Kiltsói trying to approach; but the bear warded
them off and they disappeared without doing harm. In the morning it
was found that the men of the Kiltsói who had joined them on their
journey had now deserted them, and it was supposed that in some way
they were in league with their brethren outside.
424. The second day they journeyed far, and did not make camp until
after dark. As on the previous night, the bear was awake, watchful,
and uneasy all night. They supposed he was still looking out for
lurking Kiltsói. Not until daybreak did he lie down and take a little
sleep while the people were preparing for the day's march.
425. On the third night the bear was again wakeful and on guard, and
only lay down in the morning while the people were breaking camp. "My
pet, why are you troubled thus every night?" said one of the men to
the bear. The latter only grunted in reply, and made a motion with
his nose in the direction whence they had come.
426. On the fourth night they camped, for mutual protection, closer
together than they had camped before. The bear sat on a neighboring
hill, from which he could watch the sleepers, but slept not himself
all night. As before, he took a short sleep in the morning. Before the
people set out on their march some one said: "Let us look around and
see if we can find what has troubled our pet." They sent two couriers
to the east and two to the west. The former returned, having found
nothing. The latter said they had seen strange footprints, as of
people who had approached the camp and then gone back far to the
west. Their pursuers, they thought, had returned to their homes.
427. They had now been four days without finding water, and the
children were crying with thirst. On the fifth day's march they
halted at noon and held a council. "How shall we procure water?" said
one. "Let us try the power of our magic wands," said another. A man
of the gens who owned the wand of turquoise stuck this wand into the
ground, and worked it back and forth and round and round to make a
good-sized hole. Water sprang from the hole. A woman of another gens
crouched down to taste it. "It is bitter water," she cried. "Let
that, then, be your name and the name of your people," said those
who heard her; thus did the gens of To`ditsíni, Bitter Water People,
receive its name.
428. When the people had cooked and eaten food and drunk their fill
of the bitter water, they said: "Let us try to reach yonder mountain
before night." So they pushed on to a distant mountain they had beheld
in the east. When they got near the mountain they saw moccasin tracks,
and knew there must be some other people at hand. At one place,
near the base of the mountain, they observed a cluster of cottonwood
trees, and, thinking there might be a spring there, they went straight
to the cottonwood. Suddenly they found themselves among a strange
people who were dwelling around a spring. The strangers greeted the
wanderers in a friendly manner, embraced them, and asked them whence
they came. The wanderers told their story briefly, and the strangers
said: "We were created at this spring and have always lived here. It is
called Maitó`, Coyote Water (Coyote Spring), and we are the Maídine`"
(Coyote People). The Navahoes called them Maitó`dine`.
429. The travellers tarried four days at the Coyote Spring, during
which time they talked much to their new friends, and at length
persuaded the latter to join them on their eastern journey. Before they
started, the Coyote People declared that their spring was the only
water in the neighborhood; that they knew of no other water within
two days' journey in any direction. On the morning of the fifth day
they all moved off toward the east. They travelled all day, and made
a dry camp at night. The next day at noon they halted on their way,
and decided to try again the power of a magic wand. This time the
white shell was used by a member of the gens to whom it had been
given, in the same way that the turquoise wand was used before. Water
sprang up. A woman of another gens said: "It is muddy; it may make the
children sick." "Let your people then be named Hasli'zni, Mud People,"
cried voices in the crowd. Thus the gens of Hasli'z, or Hasli'zni,
was named.
430. The second night after leaving Coyote Spring, darkness overtook
the wanderers at a place where there was no water, and they rested
there for the night. At noon on the following day all were thirsty,
and the children were crying. The people halted, and proposed to try
again the efficacy of a sacred wand. The wand of haliotis was used
this time. When the water sprang up, a woman of the Coyote People
stooped first and drank. "It is To`dokónz, alkaline (or sapid) water,"
she exclaimed. To her and her children the name To`dokónzi was then
given, and from them the present gens of that name is descended. Its
members may not marry with Maitó`dine`, to whom they are related.
431. On the night after they found the alkaline water, they encamped
once more at a place where no water was to be found, and on the
following day great were their sufferings from thirst. At midday
they rested, and begged the bearers of the black stone wand to try
the power of their magic implement. A stream of fine, clear water
sprang up when the wand was stuck in the ground. They filled their
vessels and all drank heartily, except a boy and a girl of the gens
that bore the black stone wand. "Why do you not come and drink before
the water is all gone?" some one asked. The children made no reply,
but stood and looked at the water. The girl had her arms folded
under her dress. They gave then to her and to her gens the name of
Bitá`ni,[190] which signifies the arms under the dress.
432. The night after the Bitá`ni was named, the travellers slept
once more at a place where no water was to be found, and next day
they were very thirsty on their journey. In the middle of the day
they stopped, and the power of the red stone wand was tried. It
brought forth water from the ground, as the other wands had done,
and all drank till they were satisfied; but no member of the gentes
still unnamed said anything and no name was given.
433. After this they camped two nights without water. On the second
noon they arrived at a spring in a canyon known to the Maídine` and
called by them Halkaíto`, Water of the White Valley. They journeyed
no farther that day, but camped by the water all night.
434. From Halkaíto` they travelled steadily for twenty-five days,
until they came to a little river near San Francisco Mountain, and
west of it. During this part of the journey they found sufficient
water for their needs every day. They stopped at this river five
nights and five days and hunted. Here one man, and one only,--whose
name was Bainili'ni (Looks on at a Battle),--killed a deer, a large
one, which he cut into small pieces and distributed around so that
every one might get a taste.
435. From the banks of this stream they came to the east side of
San Francisco Mountain, to where, beside a little peak, there is a
spring that has no name. Here the travellers stopped several days,
and built around their camp a stone wall that still stands.
436. The puma belonged to the gens that bore the black stone wand, and
that was afterwards called Kinaá`ni. While the people were camped at
this spring he killed a deer. The bear sometimes killed rabbits. The
snake and the porcupine were of no use, but were a trouble instead,
since they had to be carried along. The deer ran among the crowd and
did neither good nor harm. The people lived mostly on rabbits and
other small animals and the seeds of wild plants.
437. From the spring near San Francisco Mountain they
travelled to Bitáhotsi (Red Place on Top),[191] and from there to
Tsé`zintsidilya. Here they held a council about the big snake. He was
of no use to them, and a great encumbrance. They turned him loose
among the rocks, and his descendants are there in great numbers to
this day. At Natsisaán (Navaho Mountain) they turned the porcupine
loose, and that is why there are so many porcupines on the Navaho
Mountain now.
438. They next went to the place now called Agála,[192] or
Agálani, Much Wool, or Hair, and were now in the land of the Ozaí
(Oraibes). They camped all around the peak of Agála and went out
hunting. Some who wore deer-masks for decoys, and went to get deer,
succeeded in killing a great number. They dressed many skins, and
the wind blew the hair from the skins up in a great pile. Seeing
this, one of the Honagá`ni proposed that the place be called Agála,
so this name was given to it.
439. From Agála the wanderers went to Tse`hotsóbiazi, Little Place
of Yellow Rocks, and from there to Yótso, Big Bead. On the way they
camped often, and sometimes tarried a day or two to hunt. It was now
late in the autumn. At Yótso they saw moccasin tracks, evidently not
fresh, and they said to one another: "Perhaps these are the footprints
of the people whom we seek." Now there were diverse counsels among
the immigrants. Some were in haste to reach the end of the journey,
while others, as the season was late, thought it prudent to remain
where they were. Thus they became divided into two parties, one of
which remained at Yótso, while the other (containing parts of several
gentes) continued the journey. Soon after the latter was gone, those
who remained at Yótso sent two messengers, and later they sent two
more, to induce the seceders to return; but the latter were never
overtaken. The couriers came to a place where the runaways had divided
into two bands. From one of these the Jicarilla Apaches are supposed
to have descended. The other band, it is thought, wandered far off
and became part of the Diné` Nahotlóni.[193]
440. The last two messengers sent out pursued one of the fugitive
bands some distance, gave up the task, and returned to Yótso. The
messengers sent first pursued the other band. After a while they saw
its camp-fires; but at such a great distance that they despaired of
overtaking it and turned toward the San Juan River, where they found
at length the long-sought Navahoes. These two messengers were the men,
of whom you have heard before, who entered the camp of Big Knee at
To`ye'tli while the dance of natsi'd was going on, and announced the
approach of the immigrants from the west. (See par. 143.)
441. When spring-time came, the people who had remained at Yótso set
out again on their journey; but before long some of the To`ditsíni got
tired. They said that the children's knees were swollen, that their
feet were blistered, and that they could not go much farther. Soon
after they said this they came to a place where a great lone tree
stood, and here they declared: "We shall stop at this tree. After
a while the people will come here and find us." They remained and
became the gens of Tsinsakádni, People of the (Lone) Tree, who are
closely related to To`ditsíni and cannot marry with the latter.
442. At Pinbitó`, Deer Spring, some more of the gens of To`ditsíni
halted, because, they said, their children were lame from
walking and could travel no farther. Here they formed a new gens
of Pinbitó`dine`, People of Deer Spring,[194] who are also closely
related to To`ditsíni. At this place they wanted their pet deer to
leave them, but he would not go; he remained at the spring with the
people who stayed there. What finally became of him is not known.[195]
443. The main body of the immigrants kept on their way, and, soon after
passing Deer Spring, arrived at Hyíetyin, where the people of Thá`paha
had their farms. Big Knee was still alive when they came; but he was
very old and feeble, and was not respected and obeyed as in former
days. When Thá`paha and Hasli'zni met, they traced some relationship
between the two gentes: their names had much the same meaning; their
headdresses and accoutrements were alike; so the Hasli'zni stopped
with Thá`paha and became great friends with the latter. Yet to-day
a member of one of these gentes may marry a member of the other.