piece first from the end nearest the root, and they continue to cut
off as many pieces as may be necessary from butt to point. The pieces,
according as they are cut, are notched near the butt (with a stone
knife), so that the relations of the two extremities of the piece
may not be forgotten. All through the painting of the cigarettes,
and the various manipulations that follow, the butt end must be
the nearer to the operator, and the tip end the farther away from
him. Since the cigarette-maker sits in the west of the medicine-lodge
facing the east, the cigarettes, while there, must lie east and west,
with the tips to the east. If a number of cigarettes are made for one
act of sacrifice, the first piece cut off is marked with one notch
near the base, the second piece with two notches, the third piece
with three notches, the fourth piece with four notches, all near the
butt ends. This is done in order that they may always be distinguished
from one another, and their order of precedence from butt to tip may
not be disregarded. When they are taken up to be painted, to have the
sacred feathers of the bluebird and yellowbird inserted into them,
to be filled with tobacco, to be sealed with moistened pollen, or
to be symbolically lighted with the rock crystal, the piece that
came from nearest the butt (the senior cigarette, let us call it)
is taken first, that nearest the tip last. When they are collected
to be placed in the patient's hands, when they are applied to his
or her person, and finally when they are taken out and sacrificed,
this order of precedence is always observed. The order of precedence
in position, when sacrifices are laid out in a straight row, is from
north to south; the senior sacrifice is in the northern extremity of
the row, the junior or inferior in the southern extremity. When they
are laid out in a circle, the order is from east back to east by the
way of the south, west, and north. The gods to whom the sacrifices are
made have commonly also an order of precedence, and when such is the
case the senior sacrifice is dedicated to the higher god, the junior
sacrifice to the lower god. When it is required that other articles,
such as feathers, beads, powdered vegetable and mineral substances,
be sacrificed with the cigarettes, all these things are placed in
corn-husks. To do this, the husks are laid down on a clean cloth with
their tips to the east; the cigarettes are laid in them one by one,
each in a separate husk, with their tip ends to the east; and the
sacred feathers are added to the bundle with their tips also to the
east. When dry pollen is sprinkled on the cigarette, it is sprinkled
from butt to tip. When moist pollen is daubed on the side of the
cigarette, it is daubed from butt to tip. (From "A Study in Butts and
Tips.")[319] The hollow internode of the reed only is used. The part
containing the solid node is discarded and is split up, so that when
thrown away the gods may not mistake it for a true cigarette and suffer
disappointment. All the débris of manufacture is carefully collected
and deposited to the north of the medicine-lodge. The tobacco of
commerce must not be employed. A plug of feathers, referred to above,
is shoved into the tube from tip to butt (with an owl's feather) to
keep the tobacco from falling out at the butt. The moistened pollen
keeps the tobacco in at the tip end. The rules for measuring kethawns
are very elaborate. One or more finger-joints; the span; the width
of the outstretched hand, from tip of thumb to tip of little finger;
the width of three finger-tips or of four finger-tips joined,--are a
few of the measurements. Each kethawn has its established size. This
system of sacrifice is common among the pueblo tribes of the Southwest,
and traces of it have been found elsewhere. Fig. 23 represents a
thing called ketán yaltí, or talking kethawn (described in "The
Mountain Chant,"[314] p. 452), consisting of a male stick painted
black and a female stick painted blue. Fig. 24 shows a kethawn used
in the ceremony of the night chant; a dozen such are made for one
occasion, but male and female are not distinguished. Fig. 25 depicts
a set of fifty-two kethawns, used also in the night chant: of these
the four in the centre are cigarettes lying on meal; the forty-eight
surrounding the meal are sticks of wood. Those in the east are made
of mountain mahogany, those in the south of Forestiera neo-mexicana,
those in the west of juniper, and those in the north of cherry. A
more elaborate description of them must be reserved for a future work.
13. "Sacred buckskin" is a term employed by the author, for
convenience, to designate those deerskins specially prepared for
use in making masks and for other purposes in the Navaho rites. The
following are some of the particulars concerning their preparation;
perhaps there are others which the author has not learned: The
deer which is to furnish the skin must not be shot, or otherwise
wounded. It is surrounded by men on foot or horseback, and caused
to run around until it falls exhausted; then a bag containing pollen
is put over its mouth and nostrils, and held there till the deer is
smothered. The dead animal is laid on its back. Lines are marked with
pollen, from the centre outwards along the median line of the body and
the insides of the limbs. Incisions are made with a stone knife along
the pollen lines, from within outwards, until the skin is opened;
the flaying may then be completed with a steel knife. When the skin
is removed it is laid to the east of the carcass, head to the east,
and hairy side down. The fibulæ and ulnæ are cut out and put in the
skin in the places where they belong,--i.e., each ulna in the skin of
its appropriate fore-leg, each fibula in the skin of its appropriate
hind-leg. The hide may then be rolled up and carried off. Both ulnæ
are used as scrapers of the skin. If masks are to be made of the skin,
the fibulæ are used as awls,--the right fibula in sewing the right
sides of the masks, the left fibula in sewing the left sides of the
masks. Other rules (very numerous) for making the masks will not be
mentioned in this place. Fibulæ and ulnæ other than those belonging
to the deer that furnished the skin must not be used on the latter.
14. This mask, made of leaves of Yucca baccata, from which the thick
dorsal portions have been torn away, is used in the rite of the night
chant. The observances connected with the culling of the leaves, the
manufacture of the mask, and the destruction of the same after use,
are too numerous to be detailed here. The author never succeeded in
getting such a mask to keep (the obligation on the shaman to tear it up
when it has served its purpose seemed imperative), but he was allowed
to take two photographs of it, one before the fringe of spruce twigs
was applied, the other when the mask was finished, as shown in fig. 26.
15. The following account taken from "The Prayer of a Navajo
Shaman,"[315] and repeated here at the request of Mr. Newell, shows
how definitely fixed was the limit of this part of the tale in the
mind of the narrator:--
"In none of my interviews with him (Hatáli Nez) had he shown any
impatience with my demands for explanations as we progressed, or with
interruptions in our work. He lingered long over his meals, lighted
many cigarettes and smoked them leisurely, got tired early in the
evening, and was always willing to go to bed as early as I would let
him. When, however, he came to relate the creation myth, all this was
changed. He arrived early; he remained late; he hastened through his
meals; he showed evidence of worry at all delays and interruptions,
and frequently begged me to postpone minor explanations. On being urged
to explain this change of spirit he said that we were travelling in
the land of the dead, in a place of evil and potent ghosts, just so
long as he continued to relate those parts of the myth which recount
the adventures of his ancestors in the nether world, and that we
were in danger so long as our minds remained there; but that when we
came to that part of the tale where the people ascend to this--the
fifth and last world--we need no longer feel uneasy and could then
take our time. His subsequent actions proved that he had given an
honest explanation.
"It was near sunset one afternoon, and an hour or more before
his supper time, that he concluded his account of the subterranean
wanderings of the Navajos and brought them safely through the "Place
of Emergence," in the San Juan Mountains, to the surface of this
world. Then he ceased to speak, rolled a cigarette, said he was tired,
that he would not be able to tell me any more that night, and left me.
"After his departure I learned that he had announced to some of
his friends during the day that he would have to pray at night
to counteract the evil effects of his journey through the lower
world. After his supper he retired to the apartment among the old adobe
huts at Defiance in which he had been assigned room to sleep. I soon
followed, and, having waited in the adjoining passage half an hour or
more, I heard the voice of the old man rising in the monotonous tones
of formulated prayer. Knowing that the rules of the shaman forbade
the interruption of any prayer or song, I abruptly entered the room
and sat down on the floor near the supplicant."
(Thus the prayer in question became known to the author.)
15a. "Tune us the sitar neither low nor high."--The Light of Asia.
16. Hatál, in Navaho, means a sacred song, a hymn or chant,--not a
trivial song: hence the names of their great ceremonies contain this
word, as dsilyi'dze hatál (the mountain chant); klédzi hatál (the
night chant), etc. The man who conducts a ceremony is called hatáli
(chanter or singer). As equivalents for this word the author uses
the terms shaman, priest, medicine-man, and chanter. One who treats
disease by drugs is called azé-eli'ni, or medicine-maker.
17. No antecedent. We are first told to whom "they" refers in
paragraph 139.
18. In symbolizing by color the four cardinal points, the Navahoes
have two principal systems, as follows:--
East. South. West. North.
First System White. Blue. Yellow. Black.
Second System Black. Blue. Yellow. White.
Both systems are the same, except that the colors black and white
change places. The reasons for this change have not been satisfactorily
determined. In general, it seems that when speaking of places over
ground--lucky and happy places--the first system is employed; while,
when places underground--usually places of danger--are described,
the second system is used. But there are many apparent exceptions to
the latter rule. In one version of the Origin Legend (Version B) the
colors are arranged according to the second system both in the lower
and upper worlds. In the version of the same legend here published
the first system is given for all places in the lower worlds, except
in the house of Tiéholtsodi under the waters (par. 178), where the
east room is described as dark and the room in the north as being
of all colors. Yet the Indian who gave this version (Hatáli Nez),
in his Prayer of the Rendition (note 315), applies the second system
to all regions traversed below the surface of the earth by the gods
who come to rescue the lost soul. Although he does not say that the
black chamber is in the east, he shows it corresponds with the east by
mentioning it first. Hatáli Natlói, in the "Story of Nati'nesthani,"
follows the first system in all cases except when describing the
house of Tiéholtsodi under the water, where the first chamber is
represented as black and the last as white. Although in this case the
rooms may be regarded as placed one above another, the black being
mentioned first shows that it is intended to correspond with the
east. In all cases, in naming the points of the compass, or anything
which symbolizes them, or in placing objects which pertain to them
(note 227), the east comes first, the south second, the west third,
the north fourth. The sunwise circuit is always followed. If the
zenith and nadir are mentioned, the former comes fifth and the latter
sixth in order. The north is sometimes symbolized by "all colors,"
i.e., white, blue, yellow, and black mixed (note 22), and sometimes
by red. In the myth of dsilyi'dze hatál[314] (the story of Dsi'lyi`
Neyáni) five homes of holy people underground are described, in all
of which the second system is used. See, also, note 111, where the
second system is applied to the house of the sun. In the story of the
"Great Shell of Kintyél" at the home of the Spider Woman underground,
in the sky world, the east is represented by black and the north by
white. (See par. 581 and note 40.)
19. There are but three streams and but nine villages or localities
mentioned, while twelve winged tribes are named. Probably three are
supposed to have lived in the north where no stream ran, or there
may have been a fourth river in the Navaho paradise, whose name is
for some reason suppressed.
References to the sacred number four are introduced with tiresome
pertinacity into all Navaho legends.
20. Version B.--In the first world three dwelt, viz.: First Man,
First Woman, and Coyote.
21. The swallow to which reference is made here is the cliff
swallow,--Petrochelidon lunifrons.
22. The colors given to the lower worlds in this legend--red for the
first, blue for the second, yellow for the third, and mixed for the
fourth--are not in the line of ordinary Navaho symbolism (note 18),
but they agree very closely with some Moki symbolism, as described
by Victor Mindeleff in his "Study of Pueblo Architecture,"[324]
p. 129. The colors there mentioned, if placed in order according to the
Navaho system (note 18), would stand thus: red (east), blue (south),
yellow (west), white (north). Mixed colors sometimes take the place
of the north or last in Navaho symbolism. Possibly Moki elements have
entered into this version of the Navaho legend. (See par. 91.)
23. Version B.--In the second world, when First Man, First Woman,
and Coyote ascended, they found those who afterwards carried the sun
and moon, and, beyond the bounds of the earth, he of the darkness
in the east, he of the blueness in the south, he of the yellowness
in the west, and he of the whiteness in the north (perhaps the same
as White Body, Blue Body, etc., of the fourth world in the present
version. See par. 160). Sun and First Woman were the transgressors
who caused the exodus.
24. Version B.--When the five individuals mentioned in note 23 came
from the second world, they found the "people of the mountains"
already occupying the third world.
25. Version B.--The people were chased from the third world to the
fourth world by a deluge and took refuge in a reed, as afterwards
related of the flight from the fourth world.
26. In the Navaho tales, when the yéi (genii, gods) come to visit men,
they always announce their approach by calling four times. The first
call is faint, far, and scarcely audible. Each succeeding call is
louder and more distinct. The last call sounds loud and near, and
in a moment after it is heard the god makes his appearance. These
particulars concerning the gods' approach are occasionally briefly
referred to; but usually the story-teller repeats them at great length
with a modulated voice, and he pantomimically represents the recipient
of the visit, starting and straining his attention to discern the
distant sounds.
Nearly every god has his own special call. A few have none. Imperfect
attempts have been made in this work to represent some of these calls
by spelling them; but this method represents the original no better
than "Bob White" represents the call of a quail. Some of the cries
have been recorded by the writer on phonographic cylinders, but even
these records are very imperfect. In the ceremonies of the Navahoes,
the masked representatives of the gods repeat these calls. The calls
of Hastséyalti and Hastséhogan are those most frequently referred to
in the tales. (Pars. 287, 378, 471, etc.)
27. Yellow corn belongs to the female, white corn to the male. This
rule is observed in all Navaho ceremonies, and is mentioned in many
Navaho myths. (Pars. 164, 291, 379; note 107, etc.)
28. An ear of corn used for sacred purposes must be completely covered
with full grains, or at least must have been originally so covered. One
having abortive grains at the top is not used. For some purposes, as
in preparing the implements used in initiating females in the rite
of klédzi hatál, not only must the ear of corn be fully covered by
grains, but it must be tipped by an arrangement of four grains. Such
an ear of corn is called tohonoti'ni.
29. The Navaho word nátli or nu'tle is here translated hermaphrodite,
because the context shows that reference is made to anomalous
creatures. But the word is usually employed to designate that class of
men, known perhaps in all wild Indian tribes, who dress as women, and
perform the duties usually allotted to women in Indian camps. Such
persons are called berdaches (English, bardash) by the French
Canadians. By the Americans they are called hermaphrodites (commonly
mispronounced "morphodites"), and are generally supposed to be such.
30. These so-called hermaphrodites (note 29) are, among all Indian
tribes that the author has observed, more skilful in performing women's
work than the women themselves. The Navahoes, in this legend, credit
them with the invention of arts practised by women. The best weaver
in the Navaho tribe, for many years, was a nátli.
31. Masks made from the skins of deer-heads and antelope-heads,
with or without antlers, have been used by various Indian tribes,
in hunting, to deceive the animals and allow the hunters to approach
them. There are several references to such masks in the Navaho tales,
as in the story of Nati'nesthani (par. 544) and in the myth of "The
Mountain Chant," page 391.[314] In the latter story, rites connected
with the deer mask are described.
32. The quarrel between First Man and First Woman came to pass in
this way: When she had finished her meal she wiped her hands in her
dress and said: "E`yéhe si-tsod" (Thanks, my vagina). "What is that
you say?" asked First Man. "E`éhe si-tsod," she repeated. "Why do you
speak thus?" he queried; "Was it not I who killed the deer whose flesh
you have eaten? Why do you not thank me? Was it tsod that killed the
deer?" "Yes," she replied; "if it were not for that, you would not
have killed the deer. If it were not for that, you lazy men would
do nothing. It is that which does all the work." "Then, perhaps,
you women think you can live without the men," he said. "Certainly we
can. It is we women who till the fields and gather food: we can live
on the produce of our fields, and the seeds and fruits we collect. We
have no need of you men." Thus they argued. First Man became more
and more angry with each reply that his wife made, until at length,
in wrath, he jumped across the fire.
33. During the separation of the sexes, both the men and the women were
guilty of shameful practices, which the story-tellers very particularly
describe. Through the transgressions of the women the anáye, alien gods
or monsters, who afterwards nearly annihilated the human race, came
into existence; but no evil consequences followed the transgressions
of the men. Thus, as usual, a moral lesson is conveyed to the women,
but none to the men.
34, 35. Notes 34 and 35 are omitted.
36. Version A.--Water in the east, black; south, blue; west, yellow;
north, white. In the ceremony of hozóni hatál a picture representing
Tiéholtsodi and the four waters is said to be made.
37. Version A says that the nodes were woven by the spider, and
that different animals dwelt in the different internodes. Version B
says that the great reed took more than one day to grow to the sky;
that it grew by day and rested by night; that the hollow internodes
now seen in the reed show where it grew by day, and the solid nodes
show where it rested by night. Some say four reeds were planted to
form one, others that one reed only was planted.
38. Version B.--The Turkey was the last to take refuge in the reed,
therefore he was at the bottom. When the waters rose high enough to
wet the Turkey he gobbled, and all knew that danger was near. Often
did the waves wash the end of his tail; and it is for this reason
that the tips of turkeys' tail-feathers are, to this day, lighter
than the rest of the plumage.
39. Version A.--First Man and First Woman called on all the digging
animals (i'ndatsidi dáltso) to help. These were: Bear, Wolf, Coyote,
Lynx, and Badger. First, Bear dug till he was tired; then Coyote
took his place, and so on. When badger was digging, water began to
drip down from above: then they knew they had struck the waters of
the upper world, and sent Locust up. Locust made a sort of shaft in
the soft mud, such as locusts make to this day.
40. Version A says there were four cranes; Version B, that there were
four swans. Both versions say that the bird of the east was black,
that of the south blue, that of the west yellow, and that of the
north white. (See note 18.)
41. Two versions, A and B, have it that the bird passed the arrows
through from mouth to vent, and vice versa, but all make the Locust
pass his arrows through his thorax. Another version relates that two
of the birds said: "You can have the land if you let us strike you in
the forehead with an axe." Locust consented. They missed their aim and
cut off his cheeks, which accounts for his narrow face now. Version
A relates that the arrows were plumed with eagle-feathers.
42. Version A.--The Locust, before transfixing himself with the arrows,
shoved his vitals down into his abdomen; then he changed his mind and
shoved them high into his chest. That accounts for his big chest now.
43. A small lake situated somewhere in the San Juan Mountains is said
to be the place through which the people came from the fourth world to
this world. It is surrounded, the Indians tell, by precipitous cliffs,
and has a small island near its centre, from the top of which something
rises that looks like the top of a ladder. Beyond the bounding cliffs
there are four mountain peaks,--one to the east, one to the south, one
to the west, and one to the north of the lake,--which are frequently
referred to in the songs and myths of the Navahoes. These Indians
fear to visit the shores of this lake, but they climb the surrounding
mountains and view its waters from a distance. The place is called
Ha-dzi-naí, or Ni-ho-yos-tsá-tse, which names may be freely translated
Place of Emergence, or Land Where They Came Up. The San Juan Mountains
abound in little lakes. Which one of these is considered by the
Navahoes as their Place of Emergence is not known, and it is probable
that it could only be determined by making a pilgrimage thither with
a party of Navahoes who knew the place. Mr. Whitman Cross, of the
United States Geological Survey, who has made extensive explorations
in the San Juan Mountains, relates that Trout Lake is regarded by
the Indians as a sacred lake; that they will not camp near it, and
call it a name which is rendered Spirit Lake. This sheet of water is
designated as San Miguel Lake on the maps of Hayden's Survey. It lies
near the line of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, at the head of
the South Fork of San Miguel River. It has no island. A small lake,
which accords more in appearance with the Navahoes' description of
their sacred lake, is Island Lake. This has a small, rocky island in
the middle. It is situated on a branch of the South Fork of Mineral
Creek, three miles southeast of Ophir, Colorado, at an altitude of
12,450 feet. Prof. A. H. Thompson has suggested that Silver Lake,
about five miles southeasterly from Silverton, Colorado, may be the
Place of Emergence. This lake is 11,600 feet above sea-level, and is
surrounded by four high mountain peaks, but it has no island.
44. Version A.--Gánaskidi struck the cliffs with his wand. "Gong ê'"
it sounded, and broke the cliffs open. Version B.--He of the darkness
of the east cut the cliffs with his knife shaped like a horn.
45. Version A.--They prayed to the four Winds,--the black Wind of the
east, the blue Wind of the south, the yellow Wind of the west, and the
white Wind of the north,--and they sang a wind-song which is still sung
in the rite of hozóni hatál. Version B.--They prayed to the four Winds.
46. The Kisáni, being builders of stone houses, set up a stone wall;
the others, representing the Navahoes, set up a shelter of brushwood,
as is the custom of the Navahoes now.
47. Tsi-di'l, or tsin-di'l is a game played by the Navaho women. The
principal implements of the game are three sticks, which are thrown
violently, ends down, on a flat stone, around which the gamblers
sit. The sticks rebound so well that they would fly far away, were
not a blanket stretched overhead to throw them back to the players. A
number of small stones, placed in the form of a square, are used
as counters; these are not moved, but sticks, whose positions are
changed according to the fortunes of the game, are placed between
them. The rules of the game have not been recorded. The other games
were: dilkón, played with two sticks, each the length of an arm;
atsá, played with forked sticks and a ring; and aspi'n.
48. Version A.--Coyote and Hastsézini were partners in the theft
of the young of Tiéholtsodi. When Coyote saw the water rising, he
pointed with his protruded lips (as Indians often do) to the water,
and glanced significantly at his accomplice. First Man observed the
glance, had his suspicions aroused, and began to search.
49. Other variants of the story of the restoration of Tiéholtsodi's
young speak of sacrifices and peace offerings in keeping with the
Indian custom. Version A.--They got a haliotis shell of enormous
size, so large that a man's encircling arm could barely surround
it. Into this they put other shells and many precious stones. They
sprinkled pollen on the young and took some of it off again, for it
had been rendered more holy by contact with the bodies of the young
sea monsters. Then they put these also into the shell and laid all
on the horns of Tiéholtsodi; at once he disappeared under the earth
and the waters went down after him. The pollen taken from the young
was distributed among the people, and brought them rain and game and
much good fortune. Version B.--"At once they threw them (the young)
down to their father, and with them a sacrifice of the treasures of
the sea,--their shell ornaments. In an instant the waters began to
rush down through the hole and away from the lower worlds."
50. Some give the name of the hermaphrodite who died as
Natliyilhátse, and say that "she" is now the chief of devils in the
lower world,--perhaps the same as the Woman Chief referred to in the
"Prayer of a Navaho Shaman." [315] Version B says that the first to
die was the wife of a great chief. (See note 68.)