tribes in former days. Early travellers mention amputation of the nose
and other mutilations, and it appears that capital punishment for this
crime was not uncommon. If there is any punishment for adultery among
the Navahoes to-day, more severe than a light whipping, which is rarely
given, the author has never heard of it. The position of the Navaho
woman is such that grievous punishments would not be tolerated. In the
days of Góntso even, it would seem they were scarcely less protected
than now, for then the husband, although a potent chief, did not dare
to punish his wives--so the legend intimates--until he had received
the consent of their relatives.
184. For the performance of these nine-days' ceremonies the Navahoes
now build temporary medicine-lodges, which they use, as a rule, for one
occasion only. Rarely is a ceremony performed twice in the same place,
and there is no set day, as indicated by any phase of any particular
lunation, for the beginning of any great ceremony. Many ceremonies may
be performed only during the cold months, but otherwise the time for
performance is not defined. There is a tradition that their customs
were different when they lived in a compact settlement on the banks
of the San Juan River (before they became shepherds and scattered
over the land); that they then had permanent medicine-lodges, and
exact dates for the performance of some ceremonies. In paragraph 411
we hear of a ceremony which lasted all winter.
185. For a description of this ceremony see "The Mountain Chant:
a Navaho Ceremony,"[314] by the author. It is an important healing
ceremony of nine days' duration. The rites, until the last night,
are held in the medicine-lodge and are secret. Just after sunset on
the last day, a great round corral, or circle of evergreen branches,
is constructed, called ilnásdzin, or the dark circle of branches. This
is about forty paces in diameter, about eight feet high, with an
opening in the east about ten feet wide. From about eight P.M. on
the last night of the ceremony until dawn next morning, a number of
dances, dramatic shows, medicine rites, and tricks of legerdemain
are performed in this corral, in the presence of a large group of
spectators,--several hundred men, women, and children. No one is
refused admittance. Fig. 37 shows the dark circle of branches as it
appears at sunrise when the rites are over, and, in addition to the
original opening in the east, three other openings have been made
in the circle. Fig. 30 shows the alíl (rite, show, or ceremony)
of nahikáï, which takes place on this occasion, and it is designed
largely for the entertainment and mystification of the spectators. The
performers march around (and very close to) the great central fire,
which emits an intense heat. Their skin would probably be scorched
if it were not heavily daubed with white earth. Each actor carries
a short wand, at the tip of which is a ball of eagle-down. This ball
he must burn off in the fire, and then, by a simple sleight-of-hand
trick, seem to restore the ball again to the end of his wand. When
this is accomplished, he rushes out of the corral, trumpeting like
a sand-hill crane. In "The Mountain Chant" this is called a dance,
but the movements of the actors are not in time to music. Nahikáï
signifies "it becomes white again," and refers to the reappearance of
the eagle-down. The show is very picturesque, and must be mystifying
to simple minds.
186. Tse`-zin-di-aí signifies Black Rock Standing (like a wall). It
might mean an artificial wall of black rock; but as the result of
careful inquiry it has been learned that the name refers to a locality
where exists the formation known to geologists as trap-dyke. It cannot
be averred that it is applied to all trap-dyke.
187. Slaves were numerous among the Navahoes, and slavery was openly
recognized by them until 1883, when the just and energetic agent,
Mr. D. M. Riordan, did much to abolish it. Yet as late as 1893,
when the writer was last in the Navaho country, he found evidence
that the institution still existed, though very occultly, and to a
more limited extent than formerly.
188. Some translate Háltso as Yellow Valley, and give a different myth
to account for the name. As most Navaho gentile names are undoubtedly
of local origin, there may be a tendency to make all gentile names
accord with the general rule.
189. The word here translated pet (lin) means also a domestic animal
and a personal fetish. (See par. 63.)
190. Although this name, Bi-tá`-ni, seems so much like that of Bitáni
that one might think they were but variants of the same word, they
are undoubtedly distinct names and must not be confounded.
191. This is believed to be the notable landmark called by the whites
Sunset Peak, which is about ten miles east of San Francisco Peak,
in Yavapai County, Arizona. Sunset Peak is covered with dark forests
nearly to its summit. The top is of brilliant red rock capped by a
paler stratum, and it has the appearance, at all hours of the day,
of being lighted by the setting sun.
192. This locality is in Apache County, Arizona, about sixty miles from
the eastern boundary and twelve miles from the northern boundary of
the Territory. A sharp volcanic peak, 6,825 feet high above sea-level,
which marks the place from afar, is called "Agathla Needle" on the
maps of the United States Geological Survey, and on the accompanying
map, which was compiled from the government maps by Mr. Frank Tweedy
of the Geological Survey.
193. The Navahoes are aware that in lands far to the north there are
kindred tribes which speak languages much like their own. They have
traditions that long ago some of their number travelled in search of
these tribes and found them. These distant kinsmen are called by the
Navaho Diné` Nahotlóni, or Navahoes in Another Place.
194. A version has been recorded which says that, on the march,
one woman loitered behind at Deer Spring for a while, as if loath to
leave; that for this reason they called her Deer Spring, and that her
descendants became the gens of that name. The same version accounts in
a similar manner for the names given at the magic fountains. The women
did not call out the names of the springs, but they loitered at them.
195. The story of the Deer Spring People affords, perhaps, the best
evidence in favor of the former existence of totemism to be found in
the legend. Assuming that the immigrants from the west had once totemic
names, we may explain this story by saying that it was people of the
Deer gens who stayed behind and gave their name to the spring where
they remained; that in the course of time they became known as People
of the Deer Spring; and that, as they still retain their old name
in a changed form, the story-teller is constrained to say that the
fate of the deer is not known. Perhaps the name of the Maitó`dine`
(par. 428) may be explained in somewhat the same way. (See "The
Gentile System of the Navajo Indians," p. 107.[318])
196. The more proper interpretation of Ho-na-gá`-ni seems to be People
of the Walking Place, from ho (locative), nága (to walk), and ni
(people). It is not unreasonable to suppose that, like nearly all
other Navaho gentile names, this name has a local meaning, and that
the story here told to account for its origin is altogether mythical.
197. This episode indicates that kindness and pity are sentiments
not unknown to the Navahoes, and that (though there are many thieves)
there are honest men and women among them.
198. Na-nas-te'-zin, the Navaho name for the Zuñi Indians, is said
to be derived from aná (an alien or an enemy), naste (a horizontal
stripe), and zin (black). Some say it refers to the way the Zuñians
cut their hair,--"bang" it,--straight across the forehead; others
say it is the name of a locality.
199. Kin-a-á`-ni, or Kin-ya-á`-ni, means People of the High Pueblo
House,--the high wall of stone or adobe. The name kinaá` might with
propriety be applied to any one of hundreds of ruins in the Navaho
country, but the only one to which the name is known to be given is
a massive ruin six or seven stories high in Bernalillo County, New
Mexico, about seventeen miles in a northerly direction from Chaves
Station, on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. This ruin consists
of unusually large fragments of stone, and looks more like a ruined
European castle than other old Indian dwellings. It seems too far
east and south, and too far away from the settlements on the San
Juan, where the western immigrants finished their journey, to be the
place, as some say it is, from which the gens of Kinaá`ni derived
its name. The high stone wall which the immigrants passed en route,
mentioned in par. 435 in connection with the gens of Kinaá`ni, may be
the place to which the legend originally ascribed the origin of the
name. There are many pueblo remains around San Francisco Mountain. The
name is written "Kin-ya-a-ni" on the accompanying map.
200. Plate I., fig. 1, shows a yébaad, or female yéi or goddess,
as she is usually represented in the dry-paintings. The following
objects are here indicated: (1) A square mask or domino, which covers
the face only (see fig. 28), is painted blue, margined below with
yellow (to represent the yellow evening light), and elsewhere with
lines of red and black (for hair above, for ears at the sides), and
has downy eagle-feathers on top, tied on with white strings; (2) a
robe of white, extending from the armpits to near the knees, adorned
with red and blue to represent sunbeams, and fringed beautifully at
the bottom; (3) white leggings secured with colored garters (such
as Indians weave); (4) embroidered moccasins; (5) an ornamental
sash; (6) a wand of spruce-twigs in each hand (sometimes she is
shown with spruce in one hand and a seed-basket in the other);
(7) jewels--ear-pendants, bracelets, and necklaces--of turquoise
and coral; (8) long strips of fox-skin ornamented at the ends, which
hang from wrists and elbows. (For explanation of blue neck, see note
74.) In the dance of the nahikáï, there are properly six yébaad in
masquerade; but sometimes they have to get along with a less number,
owing to the difficulty in finding suitable persons enough to fill the
part. The actors are usually low-sized men and boys, who must contrast
in appearance with those who enact the part of males. Each yébaad
actor wears no clothing except moccasins and a skirt, which is held
on with a silver-studded belt; his body and limbs are painted white;
his hair is unbound and hangs over his shoulders; he wears the square
female mask and he carries in each hand a bundle of spruce twigs,
which is so secured, by means of strings, that he cannot carelessly
let it fall. Occasionally females are found to dance in this character:
these have their bodies fully clothed in ordinary woman's attire; but
they wear the masks and carry the wands just as the young men do. While
the male gods, in plate I., except Dsahadoldzá, are represented with
white arms, the female is depicted with yellow arms. This symbolism
is explained in note 27.
201. The exact etymology of the word Na-ti'n-es-tha-ni has not
been determined. The idea it conveys is: He who teaches himself,
he who discovers for himself, or he who thinks out a problem for
himself. We find the verb in the expression nasinítin, which means,
"Teach me how to do it." Here the second and third syllables are
pronouns. Although the hero has his name changed after a while, the
story-teller usually continues to call him Nati'nesthani to the end
of the story. Often he speaks of him as the man or the Navaho.
202. The eighteen articles here referred to are as follows: 1, white
shell; 2, turquoise; 3, haliotis shell; 4, pászini or cannel coal;
5, red stone; 6, feathers of the yellow warbler; 7, feathers of
the bluebird; 8, feathers of the eagle; 9, feathers of the turkey;
10, beard of the turkey; 11, cotton string; 12, i`yidezná;[11] 13,
white shell basket; 14, turquoise basket; 15, haliotis basket; 16,
pászini basket; 17, rock crystal basket; 18, sacred buckskin. (See
note 13.) These were the sacred articles which the gods were said
to require in the myths of klédzi hatál and atsósidze hatál. In the
myths of the former rite they are mentioned over and over again, to
the weariness of the hearer. They are all used to-day in the rites
mentioned, except the five baskets. Now ordinary sacred baskets
(note 5, par. 28) are used; the jeweled baskets are legendary only.
203. The knowledge of domestic or pet turkeys is not new to the
Navahoes. The Pueblo Indians of the Southwest have kept them for
centuries. The Navahoes declare that in former years they kept pet
turkeys themselves; but this seems doubtful, considering their mode
of life. A conservative Navaho will not now eat turkey flesh, although
he will not hesitate to shoot a wild turkey to sell it to a white man.
204. In the Navaho dry-paintings the rainbow is usually depicted
with a head at one end and legs and feet at the other. The head
is represented with a square mask to show that it is a goddess. It
is apotheosized. (See fig. 29.) In one of the dry-paintings of the
mountain chant the rainbow is depicted without limbs or head, but
terminating at one end with five eagle-plumes, at the other end with
five magpie-plumes, and decorated near its middle with plumes of the
bluebird and the red-shafted woodpecker. (See "The Mountain Chant,"
p. 450.[314])
205. This magic cup figures in many other Navaho myths. (See paragraph
572.)
206. Has-tsé-ol-to-i means the Shooting Hastsé (par. 78), or Shooting
Deity. As the personator of this character always wears a female mask
(fig. 28), it would seem that this divinity of the chase, like the
Roman Diana, is a goddess. The personator (a man) carries a quiver
of puma skin, a bow, and two arrows. The latter are made of reed,
are headless, and are feathered with the tail and wing feathers of the
red-tailed buzzard (Buteo borealis), tied on with fibrous tissue. The
tips of the arrows are covered with moistened white earth and moistened
pollen. Each arrow is at least two spans and a hand's-breadth long; but
it must be cut off three finger-widths beyond a node, and to accomplish
this it may be made a little longer than the above dimensions. There
are very particular rules about applying the feathers. The man who
personates Hastséoltoi, in a rite of succor in the ceremony of the
night chant, follows the personators of the War Gods. While the patient
stands on a buffalo robe in front of the medicine-lodge, the actor
waves with the right hand one arrow at him, giving a peculiar call;
then, changing the arrows from one hand to another, he waves the other
arrow at the patient. This is done east, south, west, and north. The
actor repeats these motions around the lodge; all then enter the lodge;
there the patient says a prayer, and, with many formalities, presents
a cigarette to the personator (after he has prayed and sacrificed
to the War Gods). The three masqueraders then go to the west of
the lodge to deposit their sacrifices (that of Hastséoltoi is put
under a weed,--Gutierrezia euthamiæ, if possible). When this is done,
they take off their masks, don ordinary blankets,--brought out by an
accomplice,--hide the masks under their blankets, and return to the
lodge in the guise of ordinary Indians. Some speak as if there were
but one Hastséoltoi, and say she is the wife of Nayénezgani. Others
speak as if there were one at every place where the yéi have homes.
207. The Gán-as-ki-di are a numerous race of divinities. Their
chief home is at a place called Depéhahatil (Tries to Shoot Sheep),
near Tse`gíhi, north of the San Juan; but they may appear anywhere,
and, according to the myths, are often found in company with the yéi
and other gods. They belong to the Mountain Sheep People, and often
appear to man in the form of Rocky Mountain sheep. In the myths of the
night chant it is said that they captured the prophet of the rites,
took him to their home, and taught him many of the mysteries of the
night chant. In the treatment accompanying these, the tendo-achillis
of a mountain sheep is applied to an aching limb to relieve pain;
the horn is pressed to an aching head to relieve headache; and water
from the sheep's eye is used for sore eyes. The Gánaskidi are gods of
plenty and harvest gods. A masquerader, representing one of these,
sometimes appears in an act of succor about sundown on the last day
of the night chant, following representatives of Hastséyalti and
Dsahadoldzá. He wears the ordinary blue mask of a yébaka with the
fringe of hair removed. He carries a crown or headdress made of a
basket from which the bottom has been cut, so that it may fit on the
head. The basket crown is adorned with artificial horns; it is painted
on the lower surface black, with a zigzag streak to represent lightning
playing on the face of a black cloud; it is painted red on the upper
surface (not shown in picture), to indicate the sunlight on the other
side of the cloud; and it is decorated with radiating feathers,
from the tail of the red-shafted woodpecker (Colaptes mexicanus),
to represent the rays of the sun streaming out at the edge of the
cloud. The god is crowned with the storm-cloud. The horns on the crown
are made of the skin of the Rocky Mountain sheep (sewed with yucca
fibre); they are stuffed with hair of the same, or with black wool;
they are painted part black and part blue, with white markings; and
they are tipped with eagle-feathers tied on with white string. On
his back the actor carries a long bag of buckskin, which is empty,
but is kept distended by means of a light frame made of the twigs of
aromatic sumac, so as to appear full; it is decorated at the back with
eagle-plumes, and sometimes also with the plumes of the red-shafted
woodpecker; it is painted on the sides with short parallel white lines
(12 or 16), and at the back with long lines of four colors. This bag
represents a bag of black cloud, filled with produce of the fields,
which the god is said to carry. The cloudy bag is so heavy, they say,
that the god is obliged to lean on a staff, bend his back, and walk
as one bearing a burden; so the personator does the same. The staff,
or gis, which the latter carries, is made of cherry (new for each
occasion); it is as long as from the middle of the left breast to
the tip of the outstretched right hand; it is painted black with the
charcoal of four sacred plants; it bears a zigzag stripe in white to
represent lightning, and it is trimmed with many turkey-feathers in
two whorls, and one eagle-feather. These properties and adornments
are conventionally represented in the dry-paintings. (See plate I.,
fig. 5.) The red powder thinly sprinkled over the eagle-plumes at
the back represents pollen. The cloud bag is tied on the god, says
the myth, with rainbows. The yellow horizontal line at the chin in
the picture represents a yellow line on the mask which symbolizes the
evening twilight. The actor wears a collar of fox-skin (indicated by
mark under right ear) and ordinary clothing. The elaborate ceremony
of succor will not be described here. Gánaskidi means Humpback. The
name is sometimes given Nánaskidi.
208. The only Ki'ndoliz, or Ki'ndotliz (Blue House), the writer knows
of is a ruined pueblo of that name in the Chaco Canyon; but this can
hardly be the Blue House referred to in the myth. There is probably
another ruin of this name on the banks of the San Juan.
209. The Dsahadoldzá, or Fringe-mouths, are a class of divine beings
of whom little information has been gained. They are represented in the
rite of klédzi hatál by sand-paintings, and by masqueraders decked and
masked as shown in the pictures. There are two kinds,--Fringe-mouths
of the land and Fringe-mouths of the water (plate I., fig. 3),
or Thastlátsi Dsahadoldzá; the latter are the class referred to in
this story. The zigzag lines on their bodies shown in the pictures
represent the crooked lightning, which they used as ropes to lift the
log. On the mask (shown in the dry-painting) the mouth is surrounded
by white radiating lines; hence the name Fringe-mouths. The actor
who represents the Fringe-mouths of the land has one half of his
body and one half of his mask painted black, the other half red. He
who represents the Fringe-mouths of the water has his body painted
half blue and half yellow, as shown in plate I., fig. 3. Both wear a
similar mask and a similar crown or headdress. The crown consists of a
basket from which the bottom has been cut, so that it may fit on the
head; the lower surface is painted black, to represent a dark cloud,
and is streaked with white to represent lightning; the upper surface
(not shown in the painting) is colored red, to represent the sunlight
of the back of the cloud; and feathers of the red-shafted woodpecker
are attached to the edge, to represent sunbeams. So far, this crown
is like that worn by Gánaskidi (note 207). Ascending from the basket
crown is a tripod of twigs of aromatic sumac, painted white; between
the limbs of the tripod finely combed red wool is laid, and a downy
eagle-feather tips each stick. The actor carries in his left hand a
bow adorned with three eagle-plumes and two tufts of turkey feathers,
and in his right hand a white gourd rattle, sometimes decorated
with two whorls of feathers. His torso, arms, and legs are naked,
but painted. He wears a shirt around his loins, and rich necklaces
and ear pendants. All these things are plainly indicated in the
dry-paintings. The fox-skin collar which he wears is vaguely shown by
an appendage at the right ear. The angles of the white lightning on the
chest and limbs of the actor are not as numerous as in the paintings.
210. Tielín are ferocious pets that belong to Tiéholtsodi, the water
monster, and guard the door of his dwelling. They are said to have
blue horns.
211. Na-tsi-li't a-kó-di (short rainbow), the fragmentary or incomplete
rainbow.
212. Has-tsé-zin-i signifies Black Hastsé, or Black God. There are
several of them (dwelling at Tsení`hodilyil, near Tse`gíhi), but
the description will be given in the singular. He is a reserved,
exclusive individual. The yéi at other places do not visit him
whenever they wish. He owns all fire; he was the first who made
fire, and he is the inventor of the fire-drill. It is only on rare
occasions that he is represented by a masquerader at a ceremony. When
it is arranged to give a night chant without the public dance of the
last night (and this seldom occurs), Black God appears in a scene
of succor[206] on the evening of the ninth day in company with three
other gods,--Nayénezgani, To`badzistsíni, and Hastséoltoi. It is said
that the personator is dressed in black clothes; wears a black mask,
with white marks and red hair on it, and a collar of fox-skin; and
that he carries a fire-drill and a bundle of cedar-bark. The author
has never seen Hastsézini represented either in a dry-painting or in
masquerade, and he has therefore never witnessed the scene or ceremony
of succor referred to. This ceremony, which is very elaborate, has
been described to the author by the medicine-men. The actor has to be
well paid for his tedious services, which occupy the whole day from
sunrise to sunset, though the act of succor lasts but a few minutes.
213. The fire-drill is very little used by the Navahoes at the present
time,--matches and flint-and-steel having taken its place; but it is
frequently mentioned in the myths and is employed in the ceremonies. Of
the many aboriginal fire-drills, described and depicted by Dr. Walter
Hough in his excellent paper on "Fire-making Apparatus,"[302] that
of the Navahoes is the rudest. It looks like a thing that had been
made to order.
214. Tsin-tli'-zi signifies hard, brittle wood.
215. It is probable that the various peculiar acts described in this
paragraph have reference to agricultural rites still practised,
or recently practised, by the Navahoes, but the writer has never
witnessed such rites.