the Indian custom, these names were given when the brothers returned
to their home, and the ceremony of rejoicing (the "scalp-dance")
was held for their first victory. Nayénezgani is derived from na,
or aná (alien or enemy: see note 7); yéi, ye or ge (a genius or god;
hence anáye, an alien god or giant: see par. 80); nezgá` (to kill
with a blow or blows, as in killing with a club); and the suffix ni
(person). The name means, therefore, Slayer of the Alien Gods, or
Slayer of Giants. As the sounds of g and y before e are interchangeable
in the Navaho language, the name is heard pronounced both Nayénezgani
and Nagénezgani,--about as often one way as the other. In previous
essays the author has spelled it in the latter way; but in this work
he gives preference to the former, since it is more in harmony with
his spelling of other names containing the word "ye" or "yéi." (See
par. 78.) To`-ba-dzis-tsí-ni is derived from to` (water), ba (for
him), dzistsín (born), and the suffix ni. The name therefore means,
literally, Born for the Water; but the expression badzistsín (born
for him) denotes the relation of father and child,--not of a mother
and child,--so that a free translation of the name is Child of the
Water. The second name of this god, Naídikisi, is rarely used.
128. About 40 miles to the northeast of the top of Mt. San Mateo
there is a dark, high volcanic hill called by the Mexicans El Cabezon,
or The Great Head. This is the object which, according to the Navaho
story-tellers, was the head of Yéitso. Around the base of San Mateo,
chiefly toward the east and north, there are several more high volcanic
peaks, of less prominence than El Cabezon, which are said to have
been the heads of other giants who were slain in a great storm raised
by the War Gods. (See pars. 358, 359.) Plate V. shows six of these
volcanic hills. The high truncated cone in the distance (17 miles
from the point of view) is El Cabezon. Captain Clarence E. Dutton,
U.S.A., treats of the geologic character of these cones in his work
on Mount Taylor.[299] Plate V. is taken from the same photograph as
his plate XXI. In Lieut. Simpson's report,[328] p. 73, this hill is
described under the name Cerro de la Cabeza, and a picture of it is
given in plate 17 of said report. It is called "Cabezon Pk." on the
accompanying map.
129. To the south and west of the San Mateo Mountains there is a
great plain of lava rock of geologically recent origin, which fills
the valley and presents plainly the appearance of having once been
flowing. The rock is dark and has much resemblance to coagulated
blood. This is the material which, the Navahoes think, was once the
blood of Yéitso. In some places it looks as if the blood were suddenly
arrested, forming high cliffs; here the war god is supposed to have
stopped the flow with his knife. Plate VI. shows this lava in the
valley of the Rio San José, from a photograph supplied by the United
States Geological Survey.
130. Version A adds some particulars to the account of the return of
the brothers to their home, after their encounter with Yéitso. They
first went to Azíhi, the place at which they descended when they
came from the sky, and then to Kainipéhi. On their way home they sang
twenty songs--the Nidotátsogisin--which are sung to-day in the rites of
hozóni hatál. Near Dsilnáotil, just at daybreak, they met Hastséyalti
and Hastséhogan, who embraced them, addressed them as grandchildren,
sang two songs, now belonging to the rites, and conducted the young
heroes to their home.
131. Té-el-get, Tê-el-ge'-ti and Del-gét are various pronunciations
of the name of this monster. In the songs he is sometimes called
Bi-té-el-ge-ti, which is merely prefixing the personal pronoun "his"
to the name. The exact etymology has not been determined. The name has
some reference to his horns; tê, or te, meaning horns, and bité, his
horns, in Navaho. All descriptions of this anáye are much alike. His
father, it is said, was an antelope horn.
132. Arabis holböllii (Hornemann), a-ze-la-dil-té-he, "scattered" or
"lone medicine." The plants grow single and at a distance from one
another, not in beds or clusters. (See "Navajo Names for Plants,"[312]
p. 770.)
133. Version A relates that they sang, while at work on these kethawns,
six songs, which, under the name of Atsós Bigi'n, or Feather Songs,
are sung now in the rite of hozóni hatál.
134. Version A says that the horns of Téelget were like those of an
antelope, and that Nayénezgani cut off the short branch of one as an
additional trophy.
135. Tse`na'-ha-le. These mythic creatures, which in a previous paper,
"A Part of the Navajos' Mythology,"[306] the author calls harpies,
from their analogy to the harpies of Greek mythology, are believed
in by many tribes of the Southwest. According to Hatáli Nez they were
the offspring of a bunch of eagle plumes.
136. Tsé`-bi-ta-i, or Winged Rock, is a high, sharp pinnacle of dark
volcanic rock, rising from a wide plain in the northwestern part of
New Mexico, about 12 miles from the western boundary of the Territory,
and about 20 miles from the northern boundary. The Navahoes liken it
to a bird, and hence the name of Winged Rock, or more literally Rock,
Its Wings. The whites think it resembles a ship with sails set, and
call it Ship Rock. Its bird-like appearance has probably suggested to
the Navahoes the idea of making it the mythic home of the bird-like
Tse`na'hale.
137. There are many instances in Navaho language and legend where, when
two things somewhat resemble each other, but one is the coarser, the
stronger, or the more violent, it is spoken of as male, or associated
with the male; while the finer, weaker, or more gentle is spoken
of as female, or associated with the female. Thus the turbulent
San Juan River is called, by the Navaho, To`baká, or Male Water;
while the placid Rio Grande is known as To`baád, or Female Water. A
shower accompanied by thunder and lightning is called niltsabaká, or
male rain; a shower without electrical display is called niltsabaád,
or female rain. In the myth of Nati'nesthani the mountain mahogany
is said to be used for the male sacrificial cigarette, and the cliff
rose for the female. These two shrubs are much alike, particularly
when in fruit and decked with long plumose styles, but the former
(the "male") is the larger and coarser shrub. In the myth of Dsilyi`
Neyáni another instance may be found where mountain mahogany is
associated with the male, and the cliff rose with the female. Again,
in the myth of Nati'nesthani a male cigarette is described as made
of the coarse sunflower, while its associated female is said to be
made of the allied but more slender Verbesina. Instances of this
character might be multiplied indefinitely. On this principle the
north is associated with the male, and the south with the female,
for two reasons: 1st, cold, violent winds blow from the north, while
gentle, warm breezes blow from the south; 2d, the land north of the
Navaho country is more rough and mountainous than the land in the
south. In the former rise the great peaks of Colorado, while in the
latter the hills are not steep and none rise to the limit of eternal
snow. A symbolism probably antecedent to this has assigned black as
the color of the north and blue as the color of the south; so, in turn,
black symbolizes the male and blue the female among the Navaho. (From
"A Vigil of the Gods.")[328]
138. Version A.--The young birds were the color of a blue heron,
but had bills like eagles. Their eyes were as big as a circle made
by the thumbs and middle fingers of both hands. Nayénezgani threw the
birds first to the bottom of the cliff and there metamorphosed them.
139. The etymology of the word Tse'-da-ni (Englished, chedany) has not
been determined. It is an expression denoting impatience and contempt.
140. On being asked for the cause of this sound, the narrator gave an
explanation which indicated that the "Hottentot apron" exists among
American Indians. The author has had previous evidence corroborative
of this.
141. Version B here adds: "Giving up her feathers for lost, she turned
her attention to giving names to the different kinds of birds as they
flew out,--names which they bear to this day among the Navajos,--until
her basket was empty."
142. Tse`-ta-ho-tsil-tá`-li is said to mean He (Who) Kicks (People)
Down the Cliff. Some pronounce the name Tse`-ta-yi-tsil-tá`-li.
143. In versions A and B, the hero simply cuts the hair of the monster
and allows the latter to fall down the cliff.
144. Na-tsis-a-án is the Navaho Mountain, an elevation 10,416 feet
high, ten miles south of the junction of the Colorado and San Juan
rivers, in the State of Utah.
145. Thus does the Navaho story-teller weakly endeavor to score a point
against his hereditary enemy, the Pah Ute. But it is poor revenge, for
the Pah Ute is said to have usually proved more than a match for the
Navaho in battle. In Version A, the young are transformed into Rocky
Mountain sheep; in Version B, they are changed into birds of prey.
146. This is the place at which the Bináye Aháni were born, as told
in par. 203. The other monsters mentioned in Part II. were not found
by Nayénezgani at the places where they were said to be born.
147. Other versions make mention, in different places, of a Salt Woman,
or goddess of salt, Ásihi Estsán; but the version of Hatáli Nez does
not allude to her. Version A states that she supplied the bag of salt
which Nayénezgani carried on his expedition.
148. Tsi-dil-tó-i means shooting or exploding bird. The name comes,
perhaps, from some peculiarity of this bird, which gives warning of
the approach of an enemy.
149. Hos-tó-di is probably an onomatopoetic name for a bird. It is
said to be sleepy in the daytime and to come out at night.
150. Version B says that scalps were the trophies.
151. In all versions of this legend, but two hero gods or war gods
are prominently mentioned, viz., Nayénezgani and To`badzistsíni; but
in these songs four names are given. This is to satisfy the Indian
reverence for the number four, and the dependent poetic requirement
which often constrains the Navaho poet to put four stanzas in a
song. Léyaneyani, or Reared Beneath the Earth (par. 286), is an
obscure hero whose only deed of valor, according to this version
of the legend, was the killing of his witch sister (par. 281). The
deeds of Tsówenatlehi, or the Changing Grandchild, are not known to
the writer. Some say that Léyaneyani and Tsówenatlehi are only other
names for Nayénezgani and To`badzistsíni; but the best authorities
in the tribe think otherwise. One version of this legend says that
Estsánatlehi hid her children under the ground when Yéitso came
seeking to devour them. This may have given rise to the idea that
one of these children was called, also, Reared Beneath the Earth.
152. The following are the names of places where pieces were knocked
off the stone:--
Bisdá, Edge of Bank.
To`kohokádi, Ground Level with Water. (Here Nayénezgani chased
the stone four times in a circle; the chips he knocked off are
there yet.)
Daatsi'ndaheol, Floating Corn-cob.
Nitati's, Cottonwood below Ground.
Sasdestsá`, Gaping Bear.
Béikithatyêl, Broad Lake.
Nánzozilin, Make Nánzoz Sticks.
Aki'ddahalkaí, Something White on Top (of something else).
Anádsil, Enemy Mountain.
Sásbito`, Bear Spring (Fort Wingate).
Tse`tyêliski'd, Broad Rock Hill.
Tsadihábitin, Antelope Trail Ascending.
Kinhitsói, Much Sumac.
Tsúskai (Chusca Knoll).
Lestsídelkai, Streaks of White Ashes.
Dsilnáodsil, Mountain Surrounded by Mountains (Carrizo Mountains.).
Tisnáspas, Circle of Cottonwood.
The above, it is said, are all places where constant springs of
water (rare in the Navaho land) are to be found. Some are known to be
such. This gives rise to the idea expressed in note 8. There is little
doubt that the Navahoes believe in many of the Tiéholtsodi. Probably
every constant spring or watercourse has its water god.
153. Version A adds an account of a wicked woman who dwelt at
Ki'ndotliz and slew her suitors. Nayénezgani kills her. It also adds
an account of vicious swallows who cut people with their wings. Version
B omits the encounter with Sasnalkáhi and Tsé`nagahi.
154. Possibly this refers to Pueblo legends.
155. Version B, which gives only a very meagre account of this
destructive storm, mentions only one talisman, but says that songs
were sung and dances performed over this.
156. Such pillars as the myth refers to are common all over the
Navaho land.
157. Version A makes Nayénezgani say here: "I have been to
ni`indahazlágo (the end of the earth); to`indahazlágo (the end of the
waters); to yaindahazlágo (the end of the sky); and to dsilindahazlágo
(the end of the mountains), and I have found none that were not
my friends."
158. Pás-zin-i is the name given by the Navahoes to the hard mineral
substance which they use to make black beads, and other sacrifices to
the gods of the north. Specimens of this substance have been examined
by Prof. F. W. Clark of the United States Geological Survey, who
pronounces it to be a fine bituminous coal of about the quality of
cannel coal; so it is, for convenience, called cannel coal in this
work. It is scarce in the Navaho land and is valued by the Indians.
159. This refers to large fossil bones found in many parts of Arizona
and New Mexico.
160. Ha-dá-ho-ni-ge-di-ne` (Mirage People), Ha-dá-ho-nes-tid-di-ne`
(Ground-heat People). Hadáhonestid is translated ground-heat, for want
of a more convenient term. It refers to the waving appearance given
to objects in hot weather, observed so frequently in the arid region,
and due to varying refraction near the surface of the ground.
161. The ceremony at Tsinlí (Chinlee Valley) was to celebrate
the nubility of Estsánatlehi. Although already a mother, she was
such miraculously, and not until this time did she show signs
of nubility. Such a ceremony is performed for every Navaho maiden
now. The ceremony at San Francisco Mountain occurred four days after
that at Tsinlí. It is now the custom among the Navahoes to hold a
second ceremony over a maiden four days after the first. On the second
ceremony with Estsánatlehi they laid her on top of the mountain with
her head to the west, because she was to go to the west to dwell
there. They manipulated her body and stretched out her limbs. Thus
she bade the people do, in future, to all Navaho maidens, and thus
the Navahoes do now, in the ceremony of the fourth day, when they
try to mould the body of the maiden to look like the perfect form of
Estsánatlehi. Version A makes the nubile ceremony occur before the
child was born.
162. Dsil-li-zi'n, or Dsillizi'ni (Black Mountain), is an extensive
mesa in Apache County, Arizona. The pass to which the myth refers is
believed to be that named, by the United States Geological Survey,
Marsh Pass, which is about 60 miles north of the Moki villages. The
name of the mesa is spelled "Zilh-le-jini" on the accompanying map.
163. To`-ye't-li (Meeting Waters) is the junction of two important
rivers somewhere in the valley of the San Juan River, in Colorado or
Utah. The precise location has not been determined. It is a locality
often mentioned in the Navaho myths. (See par. 477.)
164. The following appeared in the "American Naturalist" for February,
1887:--
"In the interesting account entitled 'Some Deities and Demons of the
Navajos,' by Dr. W. Matthews, in the October issue of the "Naturalist"
(note 306), he mentions the fact that the warriors offered their
sacrifices at the sacred shrine of Thoyetli, in the San Juan Valley. He
says that the Navajos have a tradition that the gods of war, or sacred
brothers, still dwell at Thoyetli, and their reflection is sometimes
seen on the San Juan River. Dr. Matthews is certain the last part
is due to some natural phenomenon. The following account seems to
furnish a complete explanation of this part of the myth. Several years
ago a clergyman, while travelling in the San Juan Valley, noticed
a curious phenomenon while gazing down upon the San Juan River as
it flowed through a deep canyon. Mists began to arise, and soon he
saw the shadows of himself and companions reflected near the surface
of the river, and surrounded by a circular rainbow, the 'Circle of
Ulloa.' They jumped, moved away, and performed a number of exercises,
to be certain that the figures were their reflections, and the
figures responded. There was but slight color in the rainbow. Similar
reflections have no doubt caused the superstitious Indians to consider
these reflections as those of their deities."--G. A. Brennan, Roseland,
Cook County, Illinois, January 12, 1887.
165. Tse`-gí-hi is the name of some canyon, abounding in
cliff-dwellings, north of the San Juan River, in Colorado or Utah. The
author knows of it only from description. It is probably the McElmo
or the Mancos Canyon. It is supposed by the Navahoes to have been
a favorite home of the yéi or gods, and the ruined cliff-houses
are supposed to have been inhabited by the divine ones. The cliff
ruins in the Chelly Canyon, Arizona, are also supposed to have been
homes of the gods; in fact, the gods are still thought to dwell there
unseen. Chelly is but a Spanish orthography of the Navaho name Tsé`gi,
Tséyi or Tséyi. When a Navaho would say "in the Chelly Canyon,"
he says Tséyigi. The resemblance of this expression to Tse`gíhi (g
and y being interchangeable) led the author at first to confound
the two places. Careful inquiry showed that different localities
were meant. Both names have much the same meaning (Among the Cliffs,
or Among the Rocks).
166. The expression used by the story-teller was, "seven times old age
has killed." This would be freely translated by most Navaho-speaking
whites as "seven ages of old men." The length of the age of an old
man as a period of time is variously estimated by the Navahoes. Some
say it is a definite cycle of 102 years,--the same number as the
counters used in the game of kesitsé (note 176); others say it is
"threescore years and ten;" while others, again, declare it to be
an indefinite period marked by the death of some very old man in
the tribe. This Indian estimate would give, for the existence of the
nuclear gens of the Navaho nation, a period of from five hundred to
seven hundred years. In his excellent paper on the "Early Navajo and
Apache,"[301] Mr. F. W. Hodge arrives at a much later date for the
creation or first mention of the Tse`dzinki'ni by computing the dates
given in this legend, and collating the same with the known dates of
Spanish-American history. He shows that many of the dates given in
this story are approximately correct. While the Tse`dzinki'ni is,
legendarily, the nuclear gens of the Navahoes, it does not follow,
even from the legend, that it is the oldest gens; for the diné`
digíni, or holy people (see note 92), are supposed to have existed
before it was created.
167. Tse`-dzin-ki'n-i is derived from tse` (rock), dzin (black, dark),
and kin (a straight-walled house, a stone or adobe house, not a Navaho
hut or hogán). Tse` is here rendered "cliffs," because the house or
houses in question are described as situated in dark cliffs. Like
nearly all other Navaho gentile names, it seems to be of local origin.
168. The rock formations of Arizona and New Mexico are often so
fantastic that such a condition as that here described might easily
occur.
169. The author has expressed the opinion elsewhere[318] that we
need not suppose from this passage that the story-teller wishes to
commiserate the Tse`tláni on the inferiority of their diet; he may
merely intend to show that his gens had not the same taboo as the
elder gentes. The modern Navahoes do not eat ducks or snakes. Taboo
is perhaps again alluded to in par. 394, where it is said that the
Thá`paha ate ducks and fish. The Navahoes do not eat fish, and fear
fish in many ways. A white woman, for mischief, emptied over a young
Navaho man a pan of water in which fish had been soaked. He changed
all his clothes and purified himself by bathing. Navahoes have been
known to refuse candies that were shaped like fish.
170. A common method of killing deer and antelope in the old days was
this: They were driven on to some high, steep-sided, jutting mesa,
whose connection with the neighboring plateau was narrow and easily
guarded. Here their retreat was cut off, and they were chased until
constrained to jump over the precipice.
171. The name To`-do-kón-zi is derived from two words,--to` (water)
and dokónz (here translated saline). The latter word is used to
denote a distinct but not an unpleasant taste. It has synonyms in
other Indian languages, but not in English. It is known only from
explanation that the water in question had a pleasant saline taste.
172. The arrow-case of those days is a matter of tradition only. The
Indians say it looked something like a modern shawl-strap.
173. In the name of this gens we have possibly another evidence
of a former existence of totemism among some of the Navaho
gentes. Haskánhatso may mean that many people of the Yucca gens lived
in the land, and not that many yuccas grew there.
174. From the description given of this tree, which, the Indians say,
still stands, it seems to be a big birch-tree.
175. Tsin-a-dzi'-ni is derived by double syncopation from tsin (wood),
na (horizontal), dzin (dark or black), and the suffix ni. The word
for black, dzin, in compounds is often pronounced zin. There is a
place called Tsi'nadzin somewhere in Arizona, but the author has not
located it.
176. Ke-si-tsé, or kesitsé, from ke (moccasins), and sitsé (side by
side, in a row), is a game played only during the winter months,
at night and inside of a lodge. A multitude of songs, and a myth
of a contest between animals who hunt by day and those who hunt by
night, pertain to the game. Eight moccasins are buried in the ground
(except about an inch of their tops), and they are filled with
earth or sand. They are placed side by side, a few inches apart, in
two rows,--one row on each side of the fire. A chip, marked black
on one side (to represent night), is tossed up to see which side
should begin first. The people of the lucky side hold up a screen to
conceal their operations, and hide a small stone in the sand in one
of the moccasins. When the screen is lowered, one of the opponents
strikes the moccasins with a stick, and guesses which one contains the
stone. If he guesses correctly, his side takes the stone to hide and
the losers give him some counters. If he does not guess correctly,
the first players retain the stone and receive a certain number of
counters. (See note 88.) A better account of this game, with an epitome
of the myth and several of the songs, has already been published.[316]
177. There are many allusions in the Navaho tales to the clothing
of this people before the introduction of sheep (which came through
the Spanish invaders), and before they cultivated the art of weaving,
which they probably learned from the Pueblo tribes, although they are
now better weavers than the Pueblos. The Navahoes represent themselves
as miserably clad in the old days (par. 466), and they tell that many
of their arts were learned from other tribes. (Par. 393.)
178. Allusion is here made to the material used by Indians on the
backs of bows, for bow-strings, as sewing-thread, and for many other
purposes, which is erroneously called "sinew" by ethnographers and
travellers. It is not sinew in the anatomical or histological sense
of the word. It is yellow fibrous tissue taken from the dorsal region,
probably the aponeurosis of the trapezius.
179. The Navaho country abounds in small caves and rock-shelters, some
of which have been walled up by these Indians and used as store-houses
(but not as dwellings, for reasons elsewhere given, par. 26). Such
store-houses are in use at this day.
180. The legends represent the Navahoes not only as poorly clad
and poorly fed in the old days, but as possessing few arts. Here
and elsewhere in the legends it is stated that various useful arts
became known to the tribe through members of other tribes adopted by
the Navahoes.
181. Another version states that when the Western immigrants were
travelling along the western base of the Lukachokai Mountains, some
wanted to ascend the Tse`inlín valley; but one woman said, "No;
let us keep along the base of the mountain." From this they named
her Base of Mountain, and her descendants bear that name now. This
explanation is less likely than that in par. 393.
182. This statement should be accepted only with some allowance for
the fact that it was made by one who was of the gens of Thá`paha.