after the arrival of the people in the fifth world (after the first
sudatory had been built and the first corn planted), some one said:
"It would be well if we had in this world such mountains as we had in
the world below." "I have brought them with me," said First Man. He did
not mean to say he had brought the whole of the mountains with him,
but only a little earth from each, with which to start new mountains
here. The people laid down four sacred buckskins[18] and two sacred
baskets[5] for him to make his mountains on, for there were six sacred
mountains in the lower world, just as there are six in this, and they
were named the same there as they now are here. The mountain in the
east, Tsisnadzi'ni, he made of clay from the mountain of the east
below, mixed with white shell. The mountain of the south, Tsótsil,
he made of earth from below mixed with turquoise. The mountain of
the west he made of earth mixed with haliotis or abalone shell. The
mountain of the north he made of earth mixed with cannel coal.[158]
Dsilnáotil he made of earth from the similar mountain in the lower
world, mixed with goods of all kinds (yúdi althasaí). Tsolíhi he made
of earth from below, mixed with shells and precious stones of all kinds
(inkli'z althasaí). While they were still on the buckskins and baskets,
ten songs were sung which now belong to the rites of hozóni hatál. The
burdens of these songs are as follows:--
1st. Long ago he thought of it.
2d. Long ago he spoke of it.
3d. A chief among mountains he brought up with him.
4th. A chief among mountains he has made.
5th. A chief among mountains is rising.
6th. A chief among mountains is beginning to stand.
7th. A chief among mountains stands up.
8th. A cigarette for a chief among mountains we make.
9th. A chief among mountains smokes.
10th. A chief among mountains is satisfied.
When the people came up from the lower world they were under twelve
chiefs, but only six of them joined in the singing these songs, and
to-day six men sing them. When the mountains were made, the god of each
of the four quarters of the world carried one away and placed it where
it now stands. The other two were left in the middle of the world and
are there still. A pair of gods were then put to live in each mountain,
as follows: East, Dawn Boy and Dawn Girl, called also White Shell Boy
and White Shell Girl; south, Turquoise Boy and Turquoise Girl; west,
Twilight Boy and Haliotis Girl; north, Darkness (or Cannel Coal)
Boy and Darkness Girl: at Dsilnáotil, All-goods (Yúdi-althasaí)
Boy and All-goods Girl; at Tsolíhi, All-jewels (Inkli'z-althasaí)
Boy and All-jewels Girl.
Version B speaks of the making of only four mountains, and very
briefly of this.
52. Tsis-na-dzi'n-i is the name of the sacred mountain which the
Navahoes regard as bounding their country on the east. It probably
means Dark Horizontal Belt. The mountain is somewhere near the pueblo
of Jemez, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. It is probably Pelado
Peak, 11,260 feet high, 20 miles N.N.E. of the pueblo. White shell
and various other objects of white--the color of the east--belong to
the mountain.
53. Tse`-gá-di-na-ti-ni A-si-ké (Rock Crystal Boy) and
Tse`-gá-di-na-ti-ni A-tét (Rock Crystal Girl) are the deities of
Tsisnadzi'ni. They were brought up from the lower world as small
images of stone; but as soon as they were put in the mountain they
came to life.
54. Tsó-tsil, or Tsó`-dsil, from tso, great, and dsil, a mountain,
is the Navaho name of a peak 11,389 feet high in Valencia County,
New Mexico. Its summit is over twelve miles distant, in a direct
line, east by north, from McCarty's Station on the Atlantic and
Pacific Railroad. It is called by the Mexicans San Mateo, and was
on September 18, 1849, named Mt. Taylor, "in honor of the President
of the United States," by Lieut. J. H. Simpson, U.S. Army.[328] On
the maps of the United States Geological Survey, the whole mountain
mass is marked "San Mateo Mountains," and the name "Mount Taylor" is
reserved for the highest peak. This is one of the sacred mountains
of the Navahoes, and is regarded by them as bounding their country
on the south, although at the present day some of the tribe live
south of the mountain. They say that San Mateo is the mountain of
the south and San Francisco is the mountain of the west, yet the
two peaks are nearly in the same latitude. One version of the Origin
Legend (Version B) makes San Mateo the mountain of the east, but all
other versions differ from this. Blue being the color of the south,
turquoise and other blue things, as named in the myth, belong to
this mountain. As blue also symbolizes the female, she-rain belongs
to San Mateo. Plate III. is from a photograph taken somewhere in the
neighborhood of Chavez Station, about thirty-five miles in a westerly
direction from the summit of the mountain.
55. Dot-li'-zi Lá-i Na-yo-á-li A-si-ké, Boy Who Carries One Turquoise;
Na-tá Lá-i Na-yo-á-li Atét, Girl Who Carries One (Grain of) Corn.
56. Do-kos-líd or Do-ko-os-li'd, is the Navaho name of San Francisco
Mountain, one of the most prominent landmarks in Arizona. The summit
of this peak is distant in a direct line about twelve miles nearly
north from the town of Flagstaff, on the Atlantic and Pacific
Railroad, in Yavapai County, Arizona. The precise meaning of the
Indian name has not been ascertained, but the name seems to contain,
modified, the words to` and kos, the former meaning water and the
latter cloud. It is the sacred mountain of the Navahoes, which they
regard as bounding their land on the west. The color of the west,
yellow, and the various things, mostly yellow, which symbolize the
west, as mentioned in the myth, are sacred to it. Haliotis shell,
although highly iridescent, is regarded by the Navahoes as yellow,
and hence is the shell sacred to the mountain. In Navaho sacred songs,
the peak is called, figuratively, The Wand of Haliotis. Plate II. is
from a photograph taken on the south side of the mountain, at a point
close to the railroad, two or three miles east of Flagstaff.
57. The name Na-tál-kai A-si-ké (White Corn Boy) is from natán
(corn), lakaí (white), and asiké or iské (boy). The name Natáltsoi
Atét (Yellow Corn Girl), comes from natán (corn), litsói (yellow),
and atét (girl). In paragraph 291 mention is made of the creation of
a White Corn Boy and a Yellow Corn Girl. It is not certain whether
these are the same as the deities of Dokoslíd, but it is probable
the Navahoes believe in more than one divine pair with these names.
58. Depe'ntsa, the Navaho name for the San Juan Mountains
in southwestern Colorado, is derived from two words,--depé
(the Rocky Mountain sheep) and intsá (scattered all over, widely
distributed). These mountains are said to bound the Navaho land on the
north. Somewhere among them lies Níhoyostsátse, the Place of Emergence
(note 43). Black being the color of the north, various black things,
such as pászini (cannel coal),[158] blackbirds, etc., belong to these
mountains. There are many peaks in this range from 10,000 to 14,000
feet high.
59. Tha-di-tín A-si-ké (Pollen Boy), A-nil-tá-ni A-tét (Grasshopper
Girl). In paragraphs 290, 291, these are referred to again. In a
dry-painting of klédzi hatál, Grasshopper Girl is depicted in corn
pollen.
60. Dsil-ná-o-til seems to mean a mountain encircled with blood, but
the Navahoes declare that such is not the meaning. They say it means
the mountain that has been encircled by people travelling around it,
and that, when Estsánatlehi and her people lived there they moved
their camp to various places around the base of the mountain. Of
course this is all mythical. Had the author ever seen this mountain,
he might conjecture the significance of the name; but he does not even
know its location. The name of the Carrizo Mountains, Dsilnáodsil,
meaning Mountain Surrounded with Mountains, is nearly the same; but
when the writer visited the Carrizo Mountains in 1892 he was assured
by the Indians that the sacred hill was not there. Dsilnáotil is
rendered in this work Encircled Mountain, which is only an approximate
translation. It is altogether a matter of conjecture why goods of
all kinds--yúdi althasaí (see note 61)--are thought to belong to
this mountain.
61. Yú-di Nai-di-si's-i A-si-ké, Boy who Produces Goods, or causes
the increase of goods; Yú-di Nai-di-si's-i A-tét (Girl Who Produces
Goods). Yódi or yúdi is here translated "goods." It originally referred
to furs, skins, textile fabrics, and such things as Indians bartered
among themselves, except food and jewels. The term is now applied to
nearly all the merchandise to be found in a trader's store.
62. Tso-lí-hi, or Tso-lín-i, is one of the seven sacred mountains of
the Navaho country. Its location has not been determined, neither
has the meaning of its name. Perhaps the name is derived from tsó,
the spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia). We can only conjecture what
relation the mountain may have to jewels.
63. Tsoz-gá-li, a large yellow bird, species undetermined.
64. In-kli'z Nai-di-si's-i A-si-ké (Boy Who Produces Jewels);
In-kli'z Nai-di-si's-i Atét (Girl who Produces Jewels). Inkli'z means
something hard and brittle. It is here translated "jewels" for want
of a better term. It is not usually applied to finished jewels, but to
the materials out of which the Navaho jewels are made, such as shells,
turquoise in the rough, cannel coal, and other stones, many of which
are of little value to us, but are considered precious by the Navahoes.
65. A-ki-da-nas-tá-ni, signifying
One-round-thing-sitting-on-top-of-another, is the Navaho name of
an eminence called on our maps Hosta Butte, which is situated in
Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 14 miles N.N.E. of Chavez Station
on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. This butte or mesa has an
altitude of 8,837 feet. Being surrounded by hills much lower, it is
a prominent landmark.
66. Tse`-ha-dá-ho-ni-ge, or mirage-stone, is so called because
it is thought in some way to look like a mirage. The writer has
seen pieces of this in the pollen bags of the medicine-men, but
never could procure a piece of it. They offered to exchange for
another piece, but would not sell. A stone (Chinese idol) which they
pronounced similar was analyzed by the chemists of the United States
Geological Survey in Washington, and found to be silicate of magnesia,
probably pyrophyllite. Such, perhaps, is the mirage-stone. The author
offered the Chinese idol to one of the shamans in exchange for his
mirage-stone; but, having heard that the stone image represented a
Chinese god, the shaman feared to make the trade.
67. Tó`-la-nas-tsi is a mixture of all kinds of water, i.e., spring
water, snow water, hail water, and water from the four quarters of
the world. Such water Tó`nenili is supposed to have carried in his
jars. Water used to-day in some of the Navaho rites approximates this
mixture as closely as possible.
68. The subject of the dead belonging to the Sun and the Moon is
explained at length in the version of Náltsos Nigéhani (Version B)
thus: "On the fifth day (after the people came up to the surface
of this world) the sun climbed as usual to the zenith and (then)
stopped. The day grew hot and all longed for the night to come, but
the sun moved not. Then the wise Coyote said: 'The sun stops because
he has not been paid for his work; he demands a human life for every
day that he labors; he will not move again till some one dies.' At
length a woman, the wife of a great chief, ceased to breathe and
grew cold, and while they all drew around in wonder, the sun was
observed to move again, and he travelled down the sky and passed
behind the western mountains.... That night the moon stopped in
the zenith, as the sun had done during the day; and the Coyote told
the people that the moon also demanded pay and would not move until
it was given. He had scarcely spoken when the man who had seen the
departed woman in the nether world died, and the moon, satisfied,
journeyed to the west. Thus it is that some one must die every night,
or the moon would not move across the sky. But the separation of the
tribes occurred immediately after this, and now the moon takes his
pay from among the alien races, while the sun demands the life of a
Navaho as his fee for passing every day over the earth."
69. Many of the Indians tell that the world was originally small and
was increased in size. The following is the version of Náltsos Nigéhani
(B): "The mountains that bounded the world were not so far apart then
as they are now; hence the world was smaller, and when the sun went
over the earth he came nearer to the surface than he does now. So
the first day the sun went on his journey it was intolerably hot;
the people were almost burned to death, and they prayed to the four
winds that each one would pull his mountain away from the centre of
the earth, and thus widen the borders of the world. It was done as
they desired, and the seas that bounded the land receded before the
mountains. But on the second day, although the weather was milder, it
was still too hot, and again were the mountains and seas removed. All
this occurred again on the third day; but on the fourth day they
found the weather pleasant, and they prayed no more for the earth to
be changed."
70. The story of the making of the stars is told in essentially
the same way by many story-tellers. It is surprising that Hatáli
Nez totally omitted it. The following is the tale as told by Náltsos
Nigéhani: "Now First Man and First Woman thought it would be better if
the sky had more lights, for there were times when the moon did not
shine at night. So they gathered a number of fragments of sparkling
mica of which to make stars, and First Man proceeded to lay out
a plan of the heavens, on the ground. He put a little fragment in
the north, where he wished to have the star that would never move,
and he placed near it seven great pieces, which are the seven stars
we behold in the north now. He put a great bright one in the south,
another in the east, and a third in the west, and then went on to
plan various constellations, when along came Coyote, who, seeing
that three pieces were red, exclaimed, 'These shall be my stars, and
I will place them where I think best;' so he put them in situations
corresponding to places that three great red stars now occupy among
the celestial lights. Before First Man got through with his work,
Coyote became impatient, and, saying, 'Oh! they will do as they are,'
he hastily gathered the fragments of mica, threw them upwards, and blew
a strong breath after them. Instantly they stuck to the sky. Those
to which locations had been assigned adhered in their proper places;
but the others were scattered at random and in formless clusters over
the firmament." See "A Part of the Navajo's Mythology," pp. 7, 8.[306]
71. The following are some of the destroyers who sprang from this
blood:--
Tse`nagahi, Travelling Stone.
Tsindilhásitso, Great Wood That Bites.
Bitsóziyeada`a`i,
Sánisdzol, Old Age Lying Down.
Tse`tlahódilyil, Black Under Cliffs.
Tse`tlahódotli'z, Blue Under Cliffs.
Tsé`tlahaltsó, Yellow Under Cliffs
Tsé`tlahalkaí, White Under Cliffs.
Tse`tlahóditsos, Sparkling Under Cliffs.
Tsadidahaltáli, Devouring Antelope.
Yeitsolapáhi, Brown Yéitso.
Lokáadikisi, Slashing Reeds.
"You see colors under the rocks, at the bottoms of the cliffs, and
when you approach them some invisible enemy kills you. These are the
same as the Tse`tlayaltí`, or Those Who Talk Under the Cliffs." Thus
said Hatáli Nez when questioned.
72. Kintyél or Kintyê'li.--This name (from kin, a stone or adobe house,
a pueblo house, and tyel, broad) means simply Broad Pueblo,--one
covering much ground. It is applied to at least two ruined pueblos in
the Navaho country. One of these--the Pueblo Grande of the Mexicans,
situated "twenty-two or twenty-three miles north of Navaho Springs,"
a station on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, in Arizona--is well
described and depicted by Mr. Victor Mindeleff in his "Study of
Pueblo Architecture."[326] The other--the Kintyél to which reference
is made in this story--is in the Chaco Canyon, in New Mexico. With
its name spelled "Kintail," and rendered "the Navajo name for ruin,"
it is mentioned by Mr. F. T. Bickford,[293] and one of his pictures,
probably representing Kintyél, is here reproduced (fig. 36). In the
Journal of American Folk-Lore, April-June, 1889, the author says:
"I have reason to believe that this pueblo is identical with that
seen and described in 1849 by Lieut. J. H. Simpson, U.S.A., under
the name of Pueblo Chettro Kettle."
73. The name Has-tsé-yal-ti, spelled according to the alphabet of the
Bureau of Ethnology "Qastcéyalçi" may be translated Talking God, or
Talking Elder of the Gods. Hastséyalti is otherwise called Yébitsai,
or the Maternal Grandfather of the Gods. He is a chief or leader
among several groups of local divinities who are said to dwell at
Kininaékai, in the Chelly Canyon, at Tse'nitse, Tsé`híhi, and at
various other sacred places. Although called a talking god, the man
who personates him in the rites never speaks while in character,
but utters a peculiar whoop and makes signs. In the myths, however,
the god is represented as speaking, usually after he has whooped
and made signs. (Par. 472.) He is a beneficent character, always
ready to help man and rescue him from peril. He is sometimes spoken
of and prayed to as if there were but one, but the myths show that
the Navahoes believe in many gods of this name, and in some prayers
it is distinctly specified which one is meant by naming his home
in connection with him. In plate I. he is shown, as represented in
the dry-paintings, carrying a tobacco bag made of the skin of Abert's
squirrel (Sciurus aberti). In the picture the black tips of toes, nose,
and ears, and the reddish (chestnut) spot on the back of the squirrel,
are carefully indicated. The dry-painting shows the more important
characters of the mask worn by the personator,--the eagle-plumes at
the back, the owl-feathers at the base of the plume-ornament, and the
peculiar symbols at mouth and eyes,--but it does not show the cornstalk
symbol over the nose. Fig. 27, taken from a photograph, shows the mask
trimmed with its collar of fresh spruce boughs, as it appears when used
in the dance of naakhaí on the last night of the ceremony of klédzi
hatál. The personator of Hastséyalti has his whole person clothed,
while the representatives of other gods go nearly naked. The proper
covering for his back is a number of finely dressed deerskins, one over
another, tied together in front by the skins of the legs; but of late
years the masquerader often appears in an ordinary calico shirt. The
symbol surrounding each of the holes for the eyes and mouth is this
[symbol]. It is said to represent the storm cloud hanging above,
and the mist rising from below to meet it. Thus cloud and mist often
appear in the mountains of the Navaho land during the rainy season,
Hastséyalti or the Yébitsai is the principal character in the great
rite of klédzi hatál, or the night chant. Our people, who often go
to witness the public performance of the last night in this rite,
call it the Yébitsai (Yáybichy) dance. The songs and prayers in which
Hastséyalti is mentioned are numerous. For the points in which fig. 2,
plate I., agree with fig. 1, plate I., see note 74.
74. Has-tsé-ho-gan, spelled with alphabet of Bureau of Ethnology,
Qastcéqogan, may be freely translated House God. Hastséhogan is one
of the leading personages in each of the local groups of the yéi,
or divine beings, who dwell in caves and old cliff-dwellings. He
is commonly spoken of as if there were but one; but an examination
of the myths shows that the Navahoes believe in many of these
gods. Those of Tse`gíhi, Tsé`nihogan, Tsé`nitse, Kininaékai, and
the sacred mountains are the ones most commonly worshipped. In most
myths he appears as second in authority to Hastséyalti, the Talking
God, but occasionally he is represented as equal or even superior
to the latter. He is a farm god as well as a house god. To him are
attributed the farm-songs sung during the night chant (see note 322),
and many other songs. He is a beneficent character and a friend to
man. There are many songs and prayers in his honor. In the rite of
klédzi hatál, or the night chant, he is represented in the dance
by a man wearing a collar of spruce, a blue mask decorated with
eagle-plumes and moccasins, with shirt and leggings, which should be
(but of late years are not always) of buckskin. He is depicted in the
dry-paintings thus (see plate I., fig. 1): He wears a black shirt
ornamented with four star-like ornaments embroidered in porcupine
quills, and having a fancy fringe of porcupine quills at the bottom;
white buckskin leggings; colored garters; quill-embroidered moccasins,
tied on with white strings; long ear-pendants of turquoise and coral;
bracelets of the same; an otter-skin (hanging below the right ear),
from which depend six buckskin strings with colored porcupine quills
wrapped around them; a cap-like (male) mask painted blue, fringed with
red hair, and adorned with eagle-plumes and owl-feathers. He carries a
staff (gis) painted black (with the charcoal of four sacred plants),
streaked transversely with white, and adorned with a single cluster
of turkey tail-feathers arranged as a whorl, and two eagle plumes,
which, like the plumes on the head, are tipped with small, downy
eagle-feathers. The yellow stripe at the chin indicates a similar
stripe on the mask actually worn, and symbolizes the yellow light
of evening (nahotsóí). The neck of this as well as the other divine
figures is painted blue, and crossed with four stripes in red. Some
say that this indicates the larynx with its cartilaginous rings;
others say that it represents the collar of spruce-twigs; others are
uncertain of its meaning. If it does not represent the spruce collars,
it represents nothing in the costume of the masquerader, which, in
other respects, except the quill embroideries, agrees closely with the
picture, Hastséyalti is also a dawn god, Hastséhogan a god of evening.
75. In the Navaho tales, men frequently receive friendly warnings
or advice from wind gods who whisper into their ears. Some
story-tellers--as in the version of the origin myth here given--speak
of one wind god only, whom they call simply Ni'ltsi (Wind); while
others--as in the story of Nati'nesthani--speak of Ni'ltsi-diné`
(Wind People) and Niltsiázi-diné` (Little Wind People) as the friendly
prompters.
76. The game of nánzoz, as played by the Navahoes, is much the
same as the game of chungkee played by the Mandans, described and
depicted by Catlin in his "North American Indians,"[296] vol. i.,
page 132, plate 59. A hoop is rolled along the ground and long poles
are thrown after it. The Mandan pole was made of a single piece of
wood. The pole of the Navahoes is made of two pieces, usually alder,
each a natural fathom long; the pieces overlap and are bound together
by a long branching strap of hide called thágibike, or turkey-claw.
77. These shells may not be altogether mythical. Possibly they are the
same as those described in the story of "The Great Shell of Kintyél"
given in this book.
78. Vague descriptions only of Bé-ko-tsi-di so far have been
obtained. He is not represented by any masked characters in the
ceremonies, or by any picture in the dry-paintings. No description
of his appearance has been recorded, except that he looks like an old
man. There is a myth concerning him of which a brief epitome has been
recorded. There are four songs of sequence connected with this myth. If
a Navaho wants a fine horse, he thinks he may get it by singing the
second and third of these songs and praying to Békotsidi. In his prayer
he specifies the color and appearance of the horse desired. Some say
that Békotsidi made all the animals whose creation is not otherwise
accounted for in the myths. Others say that he and the Sun made the
animals together. Others, again, limit his creation work to the larger
game animals and the modern domestic animals. In this paragraph (228)
it is said he is the god who carries the moon, while in paragraph 199
it is said the moon-bearer is Kléhanoai. Perhaps these are two names
for one character. Some say he is the same as the God of the Americans.