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The Night Chant: A Navaho Ceremony

Washington Matthews · 1902 · Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VI (Publications of the Hyde Southwestern Expedition), New York, 1902; Archive.org DjVu OCR text layer, identifier b3134902x. · Public Domain · uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

Preface dated December 19, 1901; published 1902 as Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VI (Publications of the Hyde Southwestern Expedition). Navaho song and prayer texts given with Matthews's English translations.

Served verbatim, era-bound vocabulary and all — the house frames, it never paraphrases; what a passage does and does not show rides its receipt.

I. Navaho Ceremonies in General

NAVAHO CEREMONIES IN GENERAL.

1. — A great number of ceremonies are practiced by the Navahoes. The more
important last for nine nights and portions of ten days ; but there are minor cere¬
monies which may occupy but a single day, or night, or a few hours. As far as
has been learned, the great ceremonies are conducted primarily for the curing of
disease ; although in the accompanying prayers the gods are invoked for happi¬
ness, abundant rains, good crops, and other blessings for all the people. The
great ceremonies have, too, their social aspect. They are occasions when people
gather not only to witness the dances and dramas, but to gamble, practice games,
race horses, feast, and otherwise have a merry time.

2. — Many of the minor ceremonies are also for the healing of disease ; but
there are others for various occasions, such as the planting and harvesting of
crops, the building of houses, war, nubility, marriage, travel, the bringing of
rain, etc.

3. — The great ceremonies vary much in popularity. Some are going quite
out of fashion and may have but one or two priests surviving. We have accounts,
in the legends, of ceremonies that have become altogether obsolete, and of some
that are known only by name. There are others in great demand and increasing
in popularity.

CEREMONY AND RITE.

4. — Throughout this book, we shall use the noun ceremony, and the adjec¬
tive ceremonial when speaking of the whole work of the night chant or of any
other of the worshipful performances of the Navahoes ; and we shall use the noun
rite and the adjective ritual in speaking of the minor divisions or acts of the
ceremony. These applications of the words in question are, of course, quite
arbitrary ; but it has been found convenient to adopt them.

PRIESTS.

5. — A priest of one of the great ceremonies is called katali, which means
literally a singer of sacred songs, and is usually translated chanter in this work.
Shaman, priest, and medicine-man are used as synonyms. A chanter usually
knows but one great ceremony perfectly ; for the learning of such demands the
arduous study of many years ; but he may also know some of the minor ceremonies,
and usually, if he is old, he has a knowledge of other great ceremonies sufficient
to relate their myths and assist in their performance. He may possess property ;
but he often makes his living largely by the practice of his ceremonies, for which
he obtains liberal fees.

6. — The man who knows only how to conduct one of the minor ceremonies
is not called /za/a/i, receives small fees, and devotes his time largely to the care
of his flocks or to some other occupation.

THE NIGHT CHANT IN PARTICULAR.

7. — The most popular ceremony, at the present time, is that which is described
in this work. The writer has had more opportunities of witnessing it than any
other. Nearly all the important characters of the Navaho pantheon are named
in its myths, depicted in its paintings, or represented by its masqueraders. Many
myths must be told to account for the origin or introduction of different parts of
its work among the Navahoes, — myths that indicate the ceremony to be of
composite origin. To one who would understand the spirit of Navaho religion,
it is most instructive. For these reasons it has been selected for extended
treatment.

NAME OF THE CEREMONY.

8. — The name of the ceremony is kled^e /za/a/. This is here translated night
chant. The majority of informants have told the writer that the name is derived
from kle, meaning night, the postposition d^e, meaning toward or pertaining to,
and /zaz'a/, which signifies a sacred song or a collection of sacred songs, a
hymnody. One informant averred that the name is derived from a place called
Kle^altyi or Red Earth Valley, somewhere near the San Juan River, where, it is
said, the principal prophet of the ceremony first saw it performed. Although
other great ceremonies have nocturnal performances, I know of none but this
that enjoins continuous and uninterrupted song, from dark until daylight, such
as is heard on the ninth night of kiddie zkaz'a/, hence the name is peculiarly
appropriate.

9. — White men often witness the dance of the last night, or a portion of it,
and they usually call it the Yebitrai dance, from the most conspicuous character
of the night, the Yebityai or maternal grandfather of the gods.

SEASON.

10. — This ceremony must be performed only during the frosty weather, in
the late autumn and the winter months, — at the season when the snakes are
hibernating. This is the case with all the great nine-days’ ceremonies of the
Navahoes of which we have learned.

EXPENSES.

11. — The expenses of a healing ceremony are defrayed by the patient, as¬
sisted usually by his most intimate relations. The cost of a nine-days’ ceremony
often amounts to the sum of two hundred or three hundred dollars, not all in

cash, but mostly in horses, sheep, and goods of various kinds. Besides giving a
large fee to the principal shaman, lesser fees to assistant shamans, and paying for
cotton, blankets, and other articles used in the rites, the patient and his people
must feed all those who assist in the ceremony and sleep in the medicine-lodge
while work is in progress. During the last day or two, when visitors gather in
great crowds, the patient is not expected to feed these ; they must provide their
own food. On the last night, many who come from the near neighborhood of
the lodge bring no food. After the ceremony they expect to get home in time
for breakfast.

ORIGIN.

12. — The ceremonies of the Navahoes have many elements in common with
those of the Mokis, Zunis, and other Pueblo Indians. The resemblances between
Moki and Navaho ceremonies have been pointed out to the writer by the late
Mr. A. M. Stephen, who had long studied the cults of both tribes, and held the
opinion that the Navahoes learned from the Mokis. With regard to the night
chant at least, this theory is to be doubted. Some reliance must be placed on
the myths, fanciful as they are, and they all indicate that the ancient Cliff Dwel¬
lers, and not the inhabitants of the great pueblos, were the principal instructors
of the Navahoes. It is more probable that Navahoes and Mokis derived the
rites from a common source, than that one was master and the other pupil. Apart
from the teaching of the myths, there are many reasons for believing that the
Cliff Dwellers still flourished when the first small bands of Athapascan wanderers
strayed into New Mexico and Arizona from the north. It is not unlikely, too,
that these poor immigrants, ignorant of agriculture, subsisting on small mammals
and the spontaneous productions of the soil, may have regarded the more ad¬
vanced Cliff Dwellers as divine beings, and as such, transmitted their memory in
legends.

SYMBOLISM OF COLOR.

13. — In the myths and rites of the night chant, and in other healing cere¬
monies, the cardinal points of the compass are usually thus symbolized and take
precedence in the following order : east, white ; south, blue ; west, yellow ; north,
black. Sometimes the north is represented by a mixture of these four colors.
The zenith is associated with blue in the myths of this ceremony, but not in the
acts or sacrifices.

14. — In legends that refer to the underground world, or place of danger
(and, it is said, in the rites of witchcraft), the east is black and the north white ;
the south and west remain unchanged.

15. — In making the dry-paintings, in decorating the implements and sacrifices,
we often see what we may call the law of contrasting colors. It appears where
other requirements of symbolism do not intervene. According to this, a blue
surface is bordered or tipped with yellow, a yellow surface with blue ; a white
surface with black, and a black surface with white. Par. 401.

SYMBOLISM OF SEX.

1 6. — Of two things which are nearly alike, or otherwise comparable, it is com¬
mon among the Navahoesto speak of or symbolize the one which is the coarser,
rougher, stronger, or more violent as the male, and that which is the finer, weaker,
or more gentle as the female. Thus : a shower accompanied by thunder and
lightning is called ni'ltsabaka or he-rain, while a shower without electric display is
called ni'ltsabaad or she-rain ; the turbulent San Juan River is called To'baka or
Male Water, while the more placid Rio Grande is known as 7o‘ baad or Female
Water. Other instances of this kind might be cited from the vegetable kingdom
and from other sources. As an instance of this principle the south, and the
color of the south, blue, belong to the female ; the north, and the color of the
north, black, belong to the male. The north is assigned to the male because
it is to the Navahoes a rough and rigorous land. Not only do inclement and
violent winds come from the north, but the country north of the Navaho land
is rugged and mountainous — within it rise the great snow-covered peaks of Colo¬
rado. The south is assigned to the female because gentle and warm breezes come
from there, and because the landscape south of the Navaho country is tame com¬
pared to that of the north. See pars. 91, 248.

1 7. — Another mode of symbolizing sex, shown in wooden kethawns (par. 1 73)
and plumed wands (par. 282), is this: a facet is cut at the tip end of each one de¬
signed to represent the female, while no such facet is cut in that of the male. The
facets are designed to represent the square dominoes or masks (par. 267) worn by
female characters who take part in the rites. The round ends of the other sticks
sufficiently represent the round, cap-like masks worn by the male characters.
Similar features are to be observed among the sacrificial sticks of the Moquis and
other Pueblo tribes. See plate II. E.

THE LAWS OF BUTTS AND TIPS.

18. — Among all the Navaho priests and in all the Navaho ceremonies which
the author has seen, a careful distinction is made between the butts and tips of all
objects, where there are butts and tips to be considered, and between the analo¬
gous basal and terminal, central and peripheral, ends. The central or basal has
always preference over the peripheral or terminal. Butt must always correspond
with butt and tip with tip. Numerous instances of these laws may be found in
the rites : in making and depositing the kethawns (pars. 166, 3 1 5) ; in the skin¬
ning of a deer for a sacred buckskin (par. 257) ; in the making of baskets, plumed
wands, and other implements (pars. 281, 288), and in numerous other ways (par.
135)-

THE ELEMENT OF LIFE.

19. — In this and other healing ceremonies, since the object is to guard against
death and prolong life, it is important that a life element, or what appears to the

Indian mind to be such, should be preserved as much as possible in all articles
used. Feathers should be obtained from living birds, or, at least, from birds that
have been captured alive and killed without wounding. Eagles are caught in earth-
traps in a manner similar to that witnessed by the writer among the Indians of
the Upper Missouri over thirty years ago. To get living bluebirds, yellow-birds,
and other small birds, the Indian observes them nesting during the day ; at night
he steals noiselessly to the nest and captures bird, nest and all. Sometimes
fledglings are run down before they are able to fly. Many different kinds of
pollen are prepared by putting live birds and other animals into corn pollen (par.
1 86). These must be released alive after being used. If you kill the bird that
has entered the pollen, your pollen will be dead medicine, they say. In procur¬
ing sacred buckskin (par. 257), they do not choose to flay the deer alive, but
think that if they do not wound it, and close the exit of its breath with pollen, a
certain vital element remains even though the animal dies ; one of its souls may
depart, but not all. The stone knife used in the rites must be perfect ; if it is
broken it is like a dead man, and will ruin the efficacy of the whole work.

I. Gods of the Night Chant

GODS OF THE NIGHT CHANT.

20. — The gods of the Navahoes are so numerous that we shall not here en¬
deavor to describe them all ; or even all that are mentioned in the myths belong¬
ing to this ceremony, or are represented in its rites. Attention will be confined to
those mentioned in the Waking Song (par. 470). Such may be regarded as the
principal gods of the ceremony.

21. — On the fourth night of the night chant, during the vigil of the gods,
twenty masks are displayed on the floor of the medicine lodge ; but as five of these,
all alike, belong to undifferentiated Yebaad, or goddesses, and two to //asUebaka,
or gods, there remain but sixteen different masks, and sixteen different deities to
be described on the basis of masquerade.

22. — In the Waking Song, which belongs to the vigil of the gods (par. 470),
there are sixteen characters mentioned. All of these are represented by masks,
except Estsanatlehi, and one of the masks, that of //astyeeFodi, has no stanza in
its honor at least in the version of the song recorded in this work. The order in
which the masks are arranged is different from the order in which the gods are men¬
tioned in the song. In neither list are the gods named in the order of their gen¬
eral importance in Navaho mythology. Below is presented a list of these gods
in the order of the song, with numbers indicating the order on which they stand
on the list of displayed masks. It is not claimed that the order of stanzas in the
song, or of masks in the display, is constant and alike with all shamans.

LIST OF GODS.

23. — The order in which the gods are mentioned in the song, is arbitrarily
taken as the order in which to describe them.

(Column A in the order of the song.

Column B in the order of the masks.)

1. //astyeyald.

2. //ast-ye/zo^an.

3. Dsahaz/old^a.

4. Gazzaskiz/i.

5. ffatdastsi'si.

6. //astyebaka.

7. //asty^baad.

8. Nayenezgani.

9. 7b‘baddstrfni.

10. //astyeokoi (same as 7).

11. //astye/tyi.

12. //astyeAni.

13. 7o‘nenili.

14. Tybhanoai.

15. Klehanoai.

16. Estsanatlehi.

“HAST St,” Yfil, YE.

13*

4 and 5.

15 to 20.

//astyeel/odi 5 ?

24. — The names of eight gods in the above lists begin with the syllables Ziastse.
This is believed to be a corruption of hast and yei. Hast denotes worthy age or
dignity. We have it in the word hasten (hast-dine), which means a worthy or
respected old man, senex, — term sometimes applied to a chief. Yei, or, in com¬
pounds, ye, is a name applied to many Navaho divinities, but not to all. Perhaps
we should translate the word as demi-god or genius ; but it is not well, with
our present knowledge, to try to distinguish by name as a class the yei from
other divine personages. We shall call them all gods. The Zuni Indians have
also an order of gods called by them yeyi. The yei seem more numerous than
those which may be regarded as higher gods. Thus, while there is but one Est¬
sanatlehi, and but one Nayenezgani, there are several //ast.yeyalz'i and several
Hasts€hogax\, who are chiefs among the yei. They are said to dwell in different
localities, and in prayers to them (par. 613) the home is mentioned of the god to
whom appeal is specially made. Tse'na/zaltn or Tsg'nitn (par. 568) Tse'gi'hi,1
the White House (par. 390) in the Chelly Canon, and the sacred mountains of the
Navaho land are important homes of the yei.

25. — For etymological reasons it is believed that the word should be written
^astye, but it is not so pronounced. The combinations of dy and ty (y conso¬
nant) present difficulties to the human tongue even among civilized people, as is
well known. There are many among us who say “ Don’t choo,” for “ Don’t you.”
Such is the difficulty, it is thought, that makes the Navaho say “ hasts€." In re¬
ducing to writing an oral language, it is often difficult to decide how far we shall be
guided by our grammatical surmises, or knowledge even, and how far by our ears.

7/ASTSEYAL7T OR Y&BITSAI.

26. — The name of this divinity comes from Ziastse and yal t\, to speak, he
speaks, and is translated Talking God, Talking Elder or Chief of the Gods. He
is also known as YebiUai or Maternal Grandfather of the Gods. He is the most
important character of this ceremony, and as he is the leader of the public dance on
the last night, white men who often witness this dance speak of it as the Yebityai
dance (par. 9).

27. — Although called Talking God, the man who personates him in the rites
never speaks while masked ; but makes signs and utters a peculiar whoop or call,
which we attempt to represent by the spelling “ Wu‘hu‘hu‘hu.” But in the myths
the god is represented as speaking, and as being usually the chief spokesman of
the yei, although he always announces his approach by his characteristic call four
times uttered. He is often mentioned in story and addressed in prayer as if
there were but one ; but it is evident from the myths, prayers, and songs that the
Navahoes believe in many gods of this name, since they often distinctly specify
which god is meant by naming his home in connection with him.

28. — //astyeyaEi is a god of dawn and of the eastern sky. He is also a god
of animals of the chase, although he is not supposed to have created them. In vari¬
ous myths, as well as in the rites, he is always associated with //astye/zo^an and is
apparently about equal in importance with the latter, like the peace-chief and the
war-chief of some Indian tribes. In some tales and songs the one appears the
more important, in some the other. There are people who say that //astyeyaEi
is the more beneficent of the two, and would more frequently help men in distress,
if his associate would let him ; yet both are constantly represented as benevolent
deities who take a deep interest in human affairs. According to some shamans
he is a god of corn, but there are certainly other corn gods.

29. — The personator of //astyeyaEi has his whole body clothed, while most of
the representatives of the other gods go nearly naked. The proper covering of
his torso is a number of finely dressed deerskins, placed one over another and tied
together in front by the skins of the legs ; his leggings and moccasins are of
white deerskin ; but of late years the masquerader often appears with calico shirt
and pantaloons cut in Navaho fashion, or even in a white man’s suit.

30. — The mask of //astyeyaEi is the only white one seen in the ceremony.
It is the caplike or baglike mask common to all male characters (par. 266). The
circular holes for mouth and eyes are each surrounded with a peculiar symbol.
This is said to represent a mist arising from the ground and a rain-cloud hanging
above. Ascending from the mouth toward the top of the mask is the symbol of
a corn-stalk with two ears on it. At the bottom of the mask is a transverse band
of yellow, to represent the yellow evening light, crossed by eight vertical black
strokes to represent rain. When worn in the dance, it has a fringe of hair from side
to side over the top ; two tails of the black-tailed deer hanging over the forehead ;
at the back a fanlike ornament of many (6 to 12) eagle-plumes, and, at the base of

this, a bunch of owl-feathers. A large collar of spruce conceals the yellow band
under the chin. (Plate III, A.)

31. — //asts-eyald appears in three of the dry-paintings reproduced in this
work. In plate II, D, he is shown in the north bearing his healing talisman or
alili (par. 285). In plate VI, he is depicted in the east with a bag made of the
skin of Abert’s squirrel ( Sciurtis aberti\ which is his special property. In plate
VII, he is drawn in the northwest corner and again with his bag of squirrel-skin.
In plates VI and VII, his mask is shown ornamented with a number of erect
eagle-plumes such as are borne on the mask of the Yebitrai in the dance ; but in
plate II his mask is shown without these plumes, for in the scene of succor here
represented, the plumes are rarely worn. In all the pictures he is painted as
dressed in white and “ His white robe of buckskin ” is the distinctive part of his
attire mentioned in the Waking Song (par. 470). The general dress and adorn¬
ments of the personator are shown in all the figures to which reference is made ;
but the deer-tails and corn-symbol on the mask are omitted, while ornate skirt-
fringes and pouch are added. The red margin around the head represents the
fringe of hair and furthermore sunlight. The red margin on the body also rep¬
resents sunliofht. The Navaho artist does not confine the halo to the head of
his holy one. The triangular object in three colors, yellow, blue, and black, at
one side of the neck, denotes the fox-skin collar which the personator wears
sometimes, but never in the dance of the last night.

Z7ASTSEWOCAN.

32. — The name of Hasts&kogan is derived from Hastsi and kogan, a house ;
it may be translated Elder or Chief House God or simply House God. Along
with //astreyalZi he is one of the leading characters in each of the local groups of
divinities who dwell in caves, deserted cliff-houses, and other sacred places of the
Navaho land. The House Gods of Tse‘gihi, Tse'nits'Ho^an, Kininaekai, and the
seven sacred mountains2 are those chiefly worshipped in this ceremony. He is
often mentioned as if there were only one ; but a careful examination of the
myths reveals that the Navahoes believe in many of these gods. In our earlier
studies of their mythology it was thought that flastse/iogan as well as other yei
mentioned as having many dwellings, might be only one god with many local
manifestations, like the tutelary divinities of the heathen Aryans ; but our present
interpretations of the myths and rites lead us to think that the Navahoes believe
in many different individuals of this name, and of other names, among the yei.
In many of the myths it is indicated that he is inferior to //asts'eyald ; but in others
he is represented as equal or even superior to the latter. Being directly ques¬
tioned some shamans declare the equality of these gods, while some declare the
superiority of one or the other. Like //astreyalZi, this god is a beneficent char¬
acter, a friend to man, and a healer of disease ; yet the prayers indicate that all
the beneficent gods are supposed to cast evil spells on men. He is a farm god as

well as a house god and is said to have orginated the Farm Songs of the night
chant In the songs of pars. 320 and 333, Hastszhogan is alluded to as the supe¬
rior. See also par. 818.

33- — Hasts&hogan appears in acts of succor, and he is usually one of the
gods who go on begging tours ; but he is rarely seen in the naakM or dance of
the last night. His call may be approximately represented thus : “ Hahuwa,
Hahuwa.”

34- — H astreyal/i is a god of dawn, and of the east ; his companion, Hastse-
hogan, is a god of the west and of the subset sky. In the myths, the two gods
come often together and so they do in the acts of succor, where //asUeyalA
usually takes precedence.

35. — In the rites, the personator wears a collar of spruce or one of fox-skin, a
blue mask decorated with many eagle-plumes and owl-feathers, moccasins, black
shirt, leggings and sometimes stockings of Navaho make. The shirt and leg¬
gings should be of buckskin, but of late years, they are not often of this material.
His proper implement is a staff ; but he does not always carry it.

36. — The mask is the blue mask of the //astyebaka (par. 61) but it is
trimmed differently. Its blue face represents the sky. Below the mouth is the
broad horizontal band of yellow (seen in all male masks), crossed by four pairs of
vertical black streaks. At the back of the mask there is a fanlike bunch of eagle-
plumes of some even number, from 6 to 12, and a bunch of owl-feathers, both
similar to those that deck the mask of //astyeyaLi.

37. — The staff, or gis, is of cherry, a natural yard in length, blackened with
sacred charcoal (par. 214) streaked transversely with white, adorned with a whorl
of turkey-feathers and two downy eagle-feathers. Attached below the whorl is a
miniature gaming-ring of yucca and two skins of bluebirds.

38. — Z/astse/iogan is represented only once in the dry-paintings copied in
this work, — in the picture of Whirling Logs, shown in plate VI. In this he is
depicted in the west, staff in hand, punching the cross of logs to make it whirl.
The various points in dress and accoutrement, mentioned above, are symbolized
in the picture. Instead of the symbol of a fox-skin collar, which drawings of
other gods have, he is depicted as having at the neck an otter-skin from which
depend six deerskin strings with colored porcupine-quills wrapped around them.
The starlike figures on the shirt indicate quill embroideries with which the buck¬
skin shirt was embroidered in former days ; they also symbolize sunlight. The
red margins symbolize sunlight also. No pouch is painted.

DSAHA£>OLDZA.

39. — The name of Dsaha^/old^a is said to signify Fringe Mouth, and although
there are many gods of this name, it is considered advisable often to use it as a
proper noun. There are two kinds of these divinities : Tsfi'nityi Dsahar/old^a or
Fringe Mouths who dwell at Tsg'nitn/k^an (par. 568), designated sometimes as

I 2

Fringe Mouths of the Land, and Thatladze Dsaharfbld,sa or Fringe Mouths of
the Water. These gods are mentioned in the myths, are represented in one
of the dry-paintings, and are named in the Waking Song ; but are never seen in
the dance of the last night. One appears occasionally in an act of succor.

40. — The man who personates the Fringe Mouth of Tse'nitn has his body
and limbs painted, on the right side red, on the left side black. He who enacts
the Fringe Mouth of the Water is yellow on the right side and blue on the left.
In other respects, the two personators are alike and only one need be described.
His trunk and limbs are naked but painted as aforesaid. In addition to the
parti-colored painting, he is marked on each side of the chest, on the back over
each shoulder-blade, on each arm and each leg, with a zigzag white line to repre¬
sent lightning. The mark on the arm has always five salient angles, two of
which are below the elbow. The mark on the leg is similar to this, but does not
extend above the knee. The designs on breast and back are similar to those
on the arms. The hands are painted white. There is a white streak on the
median line, both behind and before, separating the lateral colorings. In the
myths, the gods are said to carry on their persons strings of real lightning which
they use as ropes.

41. — The dress, if such it may be called, of the personator, consists of mask
with attached collar and crown, a kilt or loin-cloth, moccasins, necklaces, ear-pen¬
dants, and bracelets. He carries in his left hand a bow and in his right hand a
gourd rattle.

42. — The mask for both kinds of Fringe Mouths is red on the right and
blue on the left — a compromise between the colors of both kinds of Fringe
Mouths. Down the centre, from top to mouth, is a line, about half an inch wide,
usually in black (but once seen in yellow) bordered with white and crossed with
several transverse lines in white. There is a tubular leather mouth-piece or bill
about three inches long and one inch wide, around the base of which is a
circle of coyote fur, which gives name to these gods, although the masks of other
gods have a similar fringe. The black triangles that surround the eyes are
fringed with white radiating marks. The usual yellow streak appears at the
chin, crossed with black lines, to symbolize rain and the evening sky. On top
of the mask is a head-dress or crown, made by cutting the bottom out of a basket ;
it is fastened by thongs to the mask. This crown is, on its lower surface, painted
black to represent a storm-cloud, and encircled with a zigzag line to represent
chain lightning ; it is painted on the upper or concave surface, not shown in the
illustration, red to indicate the sunlight on the back of the cloud ; it is bordered
with ten tail-feathers of the red-tailed woodpecker to represent rays of sunlight
streaming out at the edge of the cloud. Ascending from the basket crown is a
tripod of twigs of aromatic sumac, painted white ; between the limbs of the tri¬
pod, finely-combed red wool is laid, and a downy feather tips each stick. See
plate III, F.

43. — The bow, painted red and black or yellow and blue according to the

colors of the bearer, is ornamented with lightning symbols in white, with three
eagle-plumes, and with two whorls of turkey-feathers, one at each end. The
rattle is painted white and is usually trimmed with two whorls of turkey-feathers.

44. — All the dress and adornment, above described, are symbolized in the
dry-painting ; but the zigzag marks in the picture are more numerous than on the
body of the personator and they appear on the thigh. A highly embroidered
pouch, elaborate fringes to the skirt, and arm-pendants, are shown in the picture
which are not on the person of the actor. It is in the picture of the eighth day
that the Dsaha^/old^a are delineated. Two of the Fringe Mouths of TsS'nitri ap¬
pear immediately to the north of the corn-stalk in the centre ; and two of the
Fringe Mouths of the Water appear immediately south of the corn-stalk. (Plate
VIII.)

45. — The collar of fox-skin is symbolized, as in pictures of other gods, by a
triangular figure in three colors, below the mask, to the right, but the neck is also
painted blue, which may designate a collar of spruce (par. 524).

GAiYAS KIZ>I.

46. — GawaskkA signifies a heap or hump on the back, or, freely translated,
Humpback. The name may refer to the black bag on the back which looks like
a deformity, or to the fact that the actor always walks with his back bent. In
this work Ga?zasklrtfi is often used in the singular, and as a proper name, as if
there were but one ; yet the Humpbacks are a numerous race of divine ones.

47. — Their chief home is at a place called ZYpe/za/^ad/ (Tries to Shoot
Sheep) near Tse‘gihi, a canon where there are many ruined cliff-dwellings,
north of the San Juan; but they may appear anywhere, and according to the
myths, are often found in company with the other yei, and visiting at the homes
of the latter. They belong to the Rocky Mountain Sheep People; they may
be considered as apotheosized bighorns. In the myth of the Visionary, it was
they who captured the prophet and took him to the divine dwellings where he
was taught the mysteries of the night chant. Although playing an important
part in the myths, Ga/zaskitffi appears in the rites only on one occasion — the
scene of succor on the afternoon of the ninth day, when he comes in company
with //asUeyald and Dsaharf'old^a. But he does not always appear, even in this
scene. Ga^askuH is a god of the harvest, a god of plenty, and a god of mist.

48. — The personator of Gawaskiah has his trunk and limbs naked but painted
white. His hands are whitened. He wears a mask with crown and spruce collar
attached, a cloth around the loins, moccasins, ear-pendants, necklaces, and brace¬
lets. He carries a bag on his back and a staff in his hands.

49. — The mask is the ordinary blue mask of the Yebaka with the fringe of
hair removed. The crown, like that of Dsaha^/old^a, consists of a Navaho basket
from which the bottom has been removed. On the lower surface, it is painted
black to represent a storm-cloud and encircled with a zigzag line to depict

lightning on the face of the cloud. Ten quills of the red-shafted woodpecker,
radiating from the edge of the crown, symbolize sunbeams streaming out at the
edge of the cloud. The god is crowned with the storm-cloud. Arising from the
crown are two objects intended to represent the horns of the bighorn. These
objects are made of dressed bighorn skin, sewed with yucca fibre and stuffed with
bighorn hair or the wool of the domestic sheep. They are painted for the most
part blue ; but at the base they are black, striped longitudinally with white, and
they are encircled with white rings at tip and butt. They are tipped with eagle-
feathers tied on with white strings. (Plate III, H.)

50. — The long slender bag made of dressed deerskin which the actor carries
on his back is empty ; but it appears full, being distended with a light frame of
twigs of aromatic sumac. The bag is painted black, marked on the sides with
short parallel white lines, 12 or 16 in number, arranged in three or four rows
(to indicate the contents of the bag) ; and at the back, longitudinally with lines
of four different colors emblematic of a rainbow. It is adorned on the back
with five eagle-plumes and sometimes with five plumes of the red-tailed wood¬
pecker. The bag represents a bag of black cloud which the god is supposed to
carry, filled with fruits and the products of the field. It is the Navaho equivalent
for the horn of plenty. The original bag which the god bears is so heavy, it is
said, that he is obliged to lean on a staff, bend his back, and walk as one who bears
a heavy burden. So the personator does the same.

51. — The staff or gu is made of cherry, newly for each ceremony, a natural
yard in length. It is blackened with the sacred charcoal (par. 214), painted with
white zigzag lines for lightning, and decorated with two whorls of turkey-feathers
and with one eagle-feather.

52. — Ganaskidi figures are represented in two of the dry-paintings ; in that
of the sixth day, where there are two figures, and in that of the eighth day, where
there are four. In each painting the figures are in the extreme north and south
within the rainbow. All the dress and adornment of the personator, as described
above, are shown in these pictures. The fox-skin collar is shown by a triangular
figure under the right ear. In addition to all symbols described, the red borders
on the body are said to represent sunlight ; a many-colored border at the butt of
the wand represents a rainbow ; strings of rainbow are shown securing the bag
to the body, and pollen is typified by red powder, thinly sprinkled over the plumes
on the back of the bag. See plates VI and VIII.

HATD AST SISI.

53. — This god does not appear in the ceremony of the night chant proper,
but in the variant of it called fo’nastn/zego h&tid, where the dance of the last
night is omitted. Nevertheless his name is mentioned in the Waking Song (par.
473), and a mask is shaken for him on the night of vigil. His home is at
Ti'asitsozsaka^ ( Yucca Angustifolia Standing ), a place near Tse'gihi.1

54- — His personator wears the ordinary mask of the Yebaka, devoid of eagle-
plumes, but having many owl-feathers attached. He has a collar of spruce twigs.
He is usually clothed in ordinary Navaho dress. In old days he wore white
buckskin leggings, and “ His white leggings” are the special property assigned to
the god in the Waking Song ; but they are rarely worn of late years. He carries
on his back a ring about 12 inches in diameter made of yucca leaves and, sus¬
pended from this by the roots, a complete plant of Yucca baccata. He holds in
his hands scourges made of yucca leaves. The ring is like that used in the game
of na.nzo2 and indicates that the god is a great gambler in nan^o^. The yucca
scourges are made from leaves taken from the east and west sides of the plants.
For the yucca which hangs at the back, they select one whose root sticks well out
of the ground and they kick this out of the ground with the foot.

55. — If Hatdastsisi is to be represented in the ceremony, a kethawn is sacri¬
ficed to him. This is of reed, three finger-widths in length, painted black with a
design representing a ring in white and a yucca plant in blue. It is buried east of
the lodge at the foot of a yucca. Before the kethawn is taken out, a dialogue
prayer is said, which begins thus: “ //aA/astrm, I have made your sacrifice, I
have prepared a smoke for you ” ; and then it proceeds much in the same form as
other prayers that pertain to kethawns. Ten songs belong to the kethawns but
the god has no “ song of his own,” that is, none which he is represented as singing
himself. He is never depicted in the dry-paintings.

56. — The representative of this god appears on the ninth day of the cere¬
mony in the afternoon. He goes around among the crowd of visitors to cure
disease ; but he never essays to treat the patient who is the patron of the
ceremony. He treats simply by flagellating the diseased part. For instance,
if a man has lumbago and wishes treatment, he bends over to the west and pre¬
sents his back. The actor whips him on the back, holding the scourge in his
right hand. First he whips with one scourge holding its point toward the north ;
then he changes the wands in his hands and strikes again, holding the point
toward the south. After he performs these acts, he turns around, sunwise, from
the patient, bends low, and utters his call, which is a low hoarse moan something
like the lowing of a cow. Anyone wh'o desires may have his services. When
he has whipped all the applicants he can find, he returns to the medicine-lodge
and removes his divine belongings.

Z/ASTNEiBAKA OR YEBAKA.

57. — //asUebaka means a male /zast se (par. 24), a male chief or elder of the
gods. It refers to many, but it is also used in the sense of a proper noun. In
the list of gods given in paragraph 23, at least eight are regarded as //astyebaka
and perhaps there are others. All male characters bearing the title //as Ue in
their names belong to this class, also all those who wear the //asUebaka mask.
The following is a list of such in the order of the song : 1, //astseyal/i ; 2, Z/ast-

s£hoga.n ; 3, //a/z/astn-si ; 4, //asUebaka ; 5, 7/ast.re/td ; 6, //astfdaffni ; 7, T^o-
hanoai ; 8, Klehanoai. Of these all but 1 and 6 wear the mask of //astyebaka.
But the list may be more extensive. In the prayers, the name is applied to the
Atsa/ei and other gods.

58. — Of these it will be seen that one is known by no other name than //ast-
.yebaka. He is the undifferentiated chief of the gods, and is the one referred to
in song and story under this name when some special definition is not given.
Yebaka, which may be translated male divinity or god, is often used as a synonym
of //astyebaka. Men in the guise of //astyebaka take part in many acts of suc¬
cor. They appear in the dance of the last night most conspicuously. Then four
of them perform as Atsa/ei or First Dancers, in the beginning of the rites, and
six are constantly seen in the naak/zaf throughout the night.

59. — The dress of the personator, as he appears in the naak/zaf, — his typical
costume we may call it, — is this : His naked trunk, upper extremities, and thighs
are whitened. He wears a mask ; a collar of spruce ; a loin-cloth of scarlet baize
or any rich, showy material ; a leather belt adorned with large plates of silver ; a
fox-skin, tail downwards, hanging from the belt behind ; dark woolen stockings of
Navaho make ; red garters of Navaho make ; moccasins ; ear-pendants ; bracelets,
and as many necklaces of coral, shell, and turquoise, mostly borrowed, as he cares
to wear. He carries in his right hand a gourd rattle, painted white and sometimes
decorated with spruce twigs, and in his left hand a bunch of spruce twigs as a
wand, which for security is attached to his mask with a string of yucca fibres.

60. — In scenes of succor he often wears a collar of fox-skin instead of spruce
and he carries implements other than the gourd rattle and bunch of spruce twigs.

61. — The mask is a cap or helmet of sacred buckskin, painted blue to repre¬
sent sky, with a horizontal yellow streak at the bottom to symbolize the evening
sky ; this is crossed by four pairs of perpendicular black lines to represent rain.
A fringe of hair, usually horsehair or wool, crosses the mask from side to side
over the crown of the head. This fringe is constructed on a neatly braided base,
is attached to the mask with thongs, and is easily removed. It may be of long
flowing hair, or of short bristly hair or yarn about two inches long. Sometimes
it is seen of a dull red or yellow color and sometimes of black. The small eye¬
holes are surrounded by black triangles. At the mouth a leather tube, with
longitudinal slits, projects four finger-widths, or about two inches, from the face ;
it is two finger-widths in breadth (pars. 138, 140). In two of the six Yebaka
masks, this tube is terete or pointed, somewhat in the shape of a bird’s bill, and
in four it is truncated. Its base is surrounded by a fringe of fur. When dressed
anew for the rites, two eagle-plumes are added and a bunch of owl-feathers below
the plumes. There is a special way of affixing the eagle-plumes ; they are
securely tied with yucca fibre to a peeled forked twig of aromatic sumac, so as to
stand erect, separate, and in a constant position ; the sumac twig is tied to the
mask by thongs which are permanently joined to the mask for this purpose. A
downy eagle-feather is attached to the top of the mask. In one mask measured,

the following dimensions were found : size of painted face, iox 12 in. ; from eyes
to crown of head, 4 in. ; from eyes to mouth, 2 in. ; between eyes, 4 in. ; length
of mouth-tube, 2 in. ; eye-holes, £ in. ; black triangles around eyes, 1 in.

62. — The //ast^ebaka, thus dressed and adorned, are shown best in the dry
picture of the seventh day (plate VII), which represents the naak/zai dance, as it
is said to have occurred among the gods. But some slight differences between
picture and description may be observed : brilliant pouches and skirt-fringes are
added ; the legs are yellow to indicate that the gods dance knee-deep in pollen ;
the forearms are also yellow ; pendants of fox-skin hang from the arms. The red
border around the mask shows not only the red hair, but sunshine. The red
border on the body indicates sunshine also.

63. — In the dry-painting of the sixth day (plate VI) four Yebaka are indi¬
cated, one at each extremity of the cross. They differ from the characters of
the pictures of the seventh day in these particulars : they have black shirts, no
kilts or loin-cloths, and their legs are not shown, — this is to indicate that they are
sitting, not dancing. In the picture that belongs to the scene of succor of the fifth
day (plate II, C), if the patient be a male, a Yebaka is drawn in the centre of the
picture, devoid of arm-pendants and of the spruce wands and rattles which are
implements of the dance.

AASTSEBAAD OR YEBAAD.

64. — //astrebaad, or //asUebaadi, means a female /^asUe or chief of the divini¬
ties. The word Yebaad, meaning a female yei or god, is often used as a synonym.
Both words may properly be translated goddess.

65. — Every Navaho god is supposed to have a wife — there are no celibates
on the Navaho Olympus — and, although the Navahoes are polygamists, their
divinities, with the exception of the Sun Bearer, seem satisfied with one wife
each.

66. — Among the Navahoes, the position of the woman is one of much inde¬
pendence and power, and, as might be expected, among their divinities, the female
is potent and conspicuous. The goddesses appear in rites of succor or exorcism.
On the last night of the night chant they do not take any part in the perform¬
ance of the Atsa/ei or First Dancers ; but in the dance of the naak//af, which
occupies most of the night, provisions are made for the appearance of six, though
that number is not always present.

67. — Six masks, all alike, are provided for these goddesses. In the Waking
Song, one of these masks is shaken for 7/ast.yeol/oi, the goddess of the chase, and
one for an indefinite //astrebaad ; but the other four are not shaken and there is
no song for them.

68. — In most cases, the character of the goddess is taken by a boy, or a man
of low stature. This male personator is mostly naked, the exposed parts of his
body being painted white. He wears an ornate skirt or scarf around the hips, a

1 8

belt ornamented with silver from which a fox-skin depends behind, dark woolen
stockings of Navaho make, moccasins, ear-pendants, necklaces, bracelets, and the
mask of the Yebaad, with a collar of spruce twigs. In the dance, he carries a
tuft of spruce twigs in each hand and he sings in falsetto.

69. — In the dance of the last night the character is sometimes assumed by
women. The female personator is fully clothed in an ordinary Navaho woman’s
dress — either old- or new-fashioned ; she wears the collar of spruce, but no fox-
skin behind, and no blanket. She dances with a step different from that of the
male personator and holds her hands in a different position (par. 631). Other¬
wise she performs all acts in a manner similar to that of the male actor.

70. — The mask differs much from the male mask. While the latter, like a
bag inverted, covers the entire head and neck, and completely conceals the hair
of the wearer, the former conceals only the face and throat and allows the hair
to flow out freely over the shoulders. The Yebaad actor never wears the
hair bound up in a queue. While the male mask is soft and pliable, the female
mask is stiff and hard, being made of untanned skin. It is nearly square in
shape ; the top is always slightly rounded and in some cases the base is a little
broader than the top. There is a flap or wing, called the ear, on each side
about two inches broad, as long as the margin of the mask proper, and indented
or crenated on the outer margin. The margins are all alike in each set of masks
but not in any two sets. The hole for the mouth is square. The holes for
the eyes are triangular, — the apices pointing outwards. The mask is painted
blue, the ears white, a square field around the mouth-hole and a triangular field
around each eye-hole are black. The kethawns and the dry-paintings repre¬
sent the female mask as having a yellow horizontal stripe at the bottom, like
the male masks ; but this has not been observed on any mask ; instead there
is sometimes a horizontal line of bead-work, about two inches broad, not uniform
in design on all masks. From the bottom of the mask proper, i. e., the piece
of raw-hide, a curtain of red flannel or red baize, or other material, usually
hangs. Sometimes this curtain is covered with beads, or adorned with fragments
of shell. No definite rules seem to prevail with regard to this curtain. There
is always a piece of abalone (haliotis) shell secured with thongs in the centre
at the top, behind which feathers of turkey and eagle, or of red-shafted wood¬
pecker, are stuck. The mask is tied to the head by means of long buckskin
strings. Sometimes there is a fringe of short hair at the upper margin. (Plate
III, D).

71. — The Yebaad may be represented in four dry paintings, in a celebration
of this ceremony, but they always are shown in three. If the patient be a female,
then on the fifth day, in the act of succor, the small picture appropriate to that
occasion (plate II, D) has a Yebaad figure in the centre. In the picture of the
sixth day, that of the Whirling Logs (plate VI), the four most central figures are
those of Yebaad, shown in a sitting posture and carrying in each hand a wand of
spruce twigs such as the goddess carries in the dance. In the great painting of

the seventh day, which represents the naak/^ai dance (plate VII), six Yebaad are
depicted, in the east, dancing in a row and holding up their hands with a bunch of
spruce in each. In the great painting of the eighth day (plate VIII) there are
four yebaad figures, one in the centre of each group of three divinities. Here
each goddess is represented with a bunch of spruce twigs in one hand and a sacred
jeweled basket in the other.

72. — The most important distinction presented in .the pictures between
male and female characters is that the former are shown with round masks and
the latter with quadrangular masks. The quadrangular mask always indicates the
female and it appears not only on the figures of the Yebaad but on those of the
rainbow as shown in the plates. The four-cornered mask, and with it the female
sex, is symbolized on kethawns and plumed wands by a square facet cut at the tip
end. See plate II, E.

I. Gods: Nayenezgani to Estsanatlehi

NAYENEZGANI.

73. — This name is derived from ana or na, an alien or enemy ; yei or ye,, a
god ; nezga, to kill with blows of a heavy weapon, to club to death ; and the suffix
ni. which denotes personality. The Anaye are the alien or inimical gods mentioned
in the Origin Legend ; they are the equivalent of the giants of Aryan and Sem¬
itic mythology; hence Nayenezgani, or Nagenezgani as some pronounce it, may
be translated Slayer of the Alien Gods, or Giant Killer.

74. — NayenSzgani seems, after his mother, Estsanatlehi, and perhaps after his
father, T^ohanoai, the sun god, to be regarded by the Navahoes as their most
potent divinity. He is the first and most powerful of the war-gods. The third
section of the Navaho Origin Legend3 is largely devoted to telling of his deeds
of prowess by which he destroyed the Alien Gods or giants, who had nearly ex¬
terminated the human inhabitants of the world.

75. — It is not stated in the legend what name was given to him in infancy.
When his father, the Sun Bearer, sent him down from the sky to the top of Tsotsil4
he received the name of Bi/naznolkli'^i, which means, Descended with the Light¬
ning. It was not until after he had killed his first enemy — “ counted his first coup"
as the northern Indians say — that he received the name of Nayenezgani.

76. — Some of the numerous songs about the war-gods give, in addition to
Nayenezgani and 7o‘badHstnni, two other names : Zeyaneyani, or Reared beneath
the Earth, and Tsowenatlehi, or the Changing Grandchild. Some say that
Zeyaneyani is but another name for Nayendzgani and that Tsowenatlehi is but
another name for To'badAstnni ; but the author inclines to agree with those who
think otherwise. If the former have the better version, then Zeyaneyani is the
infant name of the Giant Killer. Those who hold that Nayenezgani and Zeyane-
yani are one and the same person, say that when the child was little his mother hid
him under the ground to save him from the clutches of Yeitso 0 and other giants. In
the Navaho Origin Legend, a long account is given of a hero named Zeyaneyani
who slew his witch sister, but did not otherwise greatly distinguish himself. 1 his is

probably the Zeyaneyani referred to in the songs, as the third war-god. Of Chang¬
ing Grandchild, or the fourth war-god, nothing has been learned. Nayenezgani and
To'bad^istsini are the principal gods of war and have their counterparts in the myths
of many races both of the Old and of the New World. It is probable that the other
two gods are placed in the rank of the war-gods more for completing the sacred
number four and allowing the formation of four stanzas to a song, than for any other
reason. See par. 761.

Fig. 1. Medicine-lodge viewed from the south.

77.- — Nayenezgani is a beneficient god, a divine knight errant, always ready to
help men in distress. When properly propitiated he is prompt to cure disease,
particularly such as is produced by witchcraft. Men in danger, and warriors going to
battle, pray and sing to him. No god is more frequently referred to in the song and
story of the Navaho. Prayers and sacrifices may be offered to him at any place, but
his home is at 7o‘yetli, the junction of two rivers somewhere in the valley of the San
J uan, and warriors who desire his greatest favor, before setting out on the war-path,
go there to offer their prayers and deposit their sacrifices. He is represented in the
Navaho Origin Legend3 as a changer or transformer who changes creatures that
were once injurious to man, into others which will be of benefit to our race in the
days to come.

7^- — The personator of Nayenezgani appears in the night chant, in two acts of
succor ; one on the second night (par. 349 et seq.), the other on the afternoon of the
ninth day (par. 594). His body is nearly naked. He wears a mask ; a collar of fox-
skin ; a cloth of crimson silk, scarlet bayeta, or some other brilliant material around
the hips ; a belt ornamented with plates of silver ; moccasins which are usually but
not always of black buckskin ; ear-pendants ; numerous necklaces of turquoise, shell,
and coral, most of which are borrowed from friends ; and bracelets. He carries in
his right hand a large stone knife or pesAal, which is his special weapon or charm,
although in the Waking Song, “ His stone necklace” is the property mentioned.
His trunk and limbs are painted with sacred charcoal ; his hands are whitened with
gle^ (white clay), and on his body
eight peculiar marks, symbols of
bows, are drawn in gle^. These sym¬
bols are placed as follows : one on each
side of the chest ; one on each side of
the back, partly over the shoulder-
blade ; one on each arm extending
both above and below the elbow ; one
on each leg, below the knee, on the
outer aspect. The bows are all shown
as bent in one direction — to the right

of the man who executes the painting
as he stands at work. The symbols
are painted one at a time, that on
the left leg first, that on the left side
of the back last. The five lines of
which the symbol is composed are always drawn from above downwards, and in
an established order as shown in the diagram, fig. 2, A. All the bows are repre¬
sented as strung, except those first and last painted and these are represented as
unstrung, (fig. 2, B.)

79. — The mask is the usual inverted buckskin bag of the male character. It is
painted black with sacred charcoal and has a lightning symbol on one cheek, either
right or left, consisting of five white, narrow, zigzag parallel lines which present,
each, four obtuse angles. To each of the holes for eyes and mouth is affixed a bril¬
liant white sea-shell. The shells are said to typify, on the eyes, the way in which the
god’s orbs glared when he killed Yeitso5 ; but why the shell is put on the mouth is
not obvious unless it be for symmetry. A fringe of hair is secured to the seam of the
mask, from side to side ; this is usually red or yellow and may be either flowing or
stiff. A turkey-plume and a downy eagle-feather are attached at the top of the
mask, at one side of the centre. See plate III, C.

80. — No picture of Nayenezgani has ever been seen by the writer and he has
been assured that none is ever made in the dry-paintings. The kethawn sacred
to him is described and figured elsewhere (par. 590).

Fig. 2. Bow symbols on body of Nayenezgani. A , closed or complete
symbol. B , open or incomplete symbol.

rO'BADZISTNlNI.

8 1. — To'badsistrini signifies Child of the Water. The name is derived from
to\ water; ba, for him ; d^istsin, born ; and the personal suffix ni, i. e., Born for
the Water. But the expression bad.dst.nn designates the relation between father
and child (AaddsUin born for me, or my child. Naddstnn born for you,
or your child). The reason for the name is explained in the Origin Legend 3
where it is related that his mother conceived of a waterfall. This was apparently
his first name and he continues still to be known by it. At the scalp-dance, or
victory ceremony, held after he first scalped an enemy (Yeitso5) he received the
name NaiVikm, He Cuts Around, i. e., Scalper; but this name is now rarely
applied to him in song or story.

82. — In the version of the legend to which reference is made, he is repre¬
sented as the son of Yo/kai Estsan or White Shell Woman, a sister, by mythic
relationship, to Estsanatlehi ; but some versions say he is the son of Estsanatlehi.
Some aver that he is a twin brother of Nayenezgani, but later born ; others that
some time elapsed between the birth of the two children. Notwithstanding that
the water is his father, the sun-god speaks of him throughout the myths as his child.

83. - — Whether he is cousin or brother to the chief war-god, he is called his
brother, according to Navaho custom, and he is always represented as the
younger and inferior. In the legends we are told : that when Nayenezgani kills
Yeitso, the giant of Tso/si/, To'badAstnni only lifts the scalp ; that when the
former goes forth to fight other giants, the latter remains at home to guard
the mothers. In the Song of the Approach (par. 368) the former is spoken of
as striding on the mountain peaks, while the other walks among the foot-hills.
In the scene of succor where both divinities are represented, the personator of
Nayenezgani leads; while he who enacts To'badMstnni follows.

84. — There is distinctly but one Tb'badMstrini in Navaho mythology. His
home is with his brother at 7o‘ye'tli ; but according to the myths he is on very
friendly terms with the yei and other gods, frequently visits them, and is often
found in their company.

85. — To'badHsUini is represented in the same scenes of succor with Nayenez¬
gani on the second and ninth days. His personator wears the same scanty attire
as does the personator of the elder god, viz : sash or kilt, pendant fox-skin, belt,
moccasins (red), jewels, collar, and mask ; but the mask is different ; he carries in
his right hand a cylinder of pinon one span long, painted black ; and in his left
hand a cylinder of cedar, of the same length, painted red. These are his special
implements or talismans and represent thunderbolts.

86. — His body and limbs are painted with a native red ochre. His hands
are whitened. Eight marks, which will be called queue-symbols, are painted on
his person in the same places as the bow-symbols on Nayenezgani, namely : two
on the chest, two on the back, one on each arm, and one on each leg. As with
Nayenezgani, the symbol on the left leg is painted first and that on the left side

of the back is painted last. The first and last symbols are incomplete or open at
one point as shown in fig. 3, C, the other symbols are complete or closed as
shown in fig. 3, A. These symbols are said to represent the scalps of enemies
taken by the god. The Navahoes and many other tribes of the southwest wear
the hair done up in a queue, which is not allowed to hang low like the Chinese
queue, but is tied up close to the occiput ; hence the symbol of a queue is also
that for a scalp. The symbols left open, indicate that the labors of the god are
not yet completed. Each symbol is painted according to an established rule as
shown in the accompanying diagram, fig. 3, A.

4Mlme>

Js*/ine

Znd/me

•3d /me -

Fig. 3. Queue symbols on body of 7b‘badjzistsini. A , closed or complete symbol. 5, a variant of the symbol. C, an
incomplete symbol. The arrows show direction in which each line is drawn.

87. — The mask is the usual inverted bag made of sacred buckskin. It is
painted with red ochre all except a space over the face, triangular in form, with
rounded corners. This space is black, bordered with white and large enough to
include eye-holes and mouth-hole. On the ground of red ochre, both on the
front and on the back of the mask, are painted a number of queue-symbols in
white. These vary in number, position, and arrangement on different masks and
at each new painting of the same mask ; but the number is always a multiple of
four. To an angle of each mouth-hole and eye-hole — all diamond-shaped — is
attached a white shell. A fringe of red or yellow hair or wool, either stiff or
flowing, is attached to the seam across the crown from side to side. A turkey-
feather and a downy eagle-feather are fixed to the top of the mask, to one side of
the centre. The attached collar is of fox-skin. See plate III, E.

88. — No picture of To'badsistnni has ever been seen in the dry-paintings and
it is said that none is ever made.

//ASTSEOL7Y)I.

89. — The name ffastseolloi signifies the Shooting //astye or Shooting
Divinity. Nothing in the name indicates the sex ; but we know from the mask
and dress worn by the personator, and from the accounts of the medicine-men,
that this divinity, although usually personated by a man, is a female. Feminine
pronouns will be used in speaking of her and of her personator.

90. — She is the goddess of the chase and of its mysteries. She is the Navaho
Artemis. Some speak of her as if there were but one and these say she is the
wife of Nayenezgani, the chief war-god ; but others speak as if they thought there
were many goddesses of the. chase and that one dwelt at each one of the sacred
places where the yei have homes.

91. — We can only conjecture why the deity of the chase is a female among
the Navahoes as well as among the Greeks and Romans. The reasons given by
mythologists for the sex of Diana and Artemis will not apply in the case of
//astreoRoi. We may perhaps find an explanation in the Navaho symbolism of
sex, described elsewhere (par. 16). Hunting is allied to war, but is a milder
and less dangerous occupation ; probably the Navahoes regard it as the feminine
of war, and have therefore called a goddess to preside over its mysteries, while
the “war-medicine” is placed in the keeping of a god.

92. — She appears only once during the ceremony of the night chant and
then in company with two war-gods in the act of succor or exorcism on the after¬
noon of the ninth day (par. 594). The personator is dressed in the old-fashioned
costume of the Navaho woman, the textile articles being usually new and of fine
quality. She wears the ordinary mask of the Yebaad, which is described else¬
where, and a collar of fox-skin. She is adorned with the usual profusion of
Navaho jewelry. She carries on her back a quiver and bow-case of puma-skin,
with a bow in the case. She carries two arrows, one in each hand, and these are
her special talismans or charms although it is her puma quiver that is mentioned
in her stanza of the Waking Song (par. 470).

93. — Each arrow is made of the common reed, and is at least two spans and
a hand’s breadth long ; but the end must be trimmed off three finger-widths be¬
yond a node and, to comply with this rule, the shaft must often be longer than
the length mentioned. The arrow has no head. The tip of the shaft is wrapped
with fibrous tissue, the so-called sinew, to keep it from splitting ; it is covered
with moistened pollen, then with moistened white clay or gle.r, and again with
moistened pollen. The rules for feathering the shaft are intricate. The feathers
must be those of the red-tailed buzzard ( Buteo borealis) and for both arrows they
must be plucked from one bird. Two tail-feathers and one wing-feather, or two
wing-feathers and one tail-feather may be used. Each feather is split in two,

making six arrow-feathers. If the fletcher selects the former combination of
feathers he must put two halves of a tail-feather and one half of a wing-feather
to each arrow ; if he selects the latter combination he must attach two halves of
wing-feathers and one half of a tail-feather to each arrow. The feathers are
secured to the shaft by means of fibrous tissue.

94- — The functions of //asUeol/oi in the rite of exorcism are described else¬
where (par. 595). Her cry is a single whoop.

95. — No picture of this goddess is made in the dry-paintings.

//ASTSEATSI.

96. — The name Hasts€lts\ or //asUei/tn, is derived from Ifastse, a chief or
elder of gods, and /itsf, red ; it may be translated Red God. His body is painted
red. This divinity has his principal home at Litsiikaa, or Tse'na//alU'i, Place of
Red Horizontal Rock; but he, or others like him, are spoken of as dwelling at
White House, in Chelly Canon, and at other places where the yei have their homes.
See par. 806.

97. — He is a god of racing. His personator takes no part in the dance or in
any act of succor ; he never helps the patient. He appears only on the last after¬
noon of this ceremony, in that form known as /o‘nast^i/^ego hatal, where there is no
public dance on the last night ; but he does not always appear even then. His func¬
tion is to get up foot-races ; hence a good runner is selected to enact this character.
He goes around among the assembled crowd challenging others, who are known to
be good racers, to run with him. He does not speak. He approaches the person
whom he wishes to challenge, dancing meanwhile, gives his peculiar squeaking call,
which maybe spelt “ ooh ooh ooh' — ooh ooh',” beckons to him, and makes the sign
forracing, which is to place the two extended forefingers together and project them
rapidly forward. If he wins in the race, he whips his competitor across the back with
his yucca scourges ; if he loses, his competitor may do nothing to him. If the losing
competitor asks him to whip gently, he whips violently, and vice versa ; but the flag¬
ellation is never severe, for the scourges of yucca leaves are light weapons. He races
thus some six or seven times or until he is tired ; then he disappears. Each race is
only about 200 yards. The people fear him, yet a man when challenged may
refuse to race with him. He often resorts to jockeying tricks with his opponent,
such as making a false start. He may enter the medicine-lodge to get up a race, but
for no other purpose. //astye/tri is a very particular god and likes not to touch any¬
thing unclean.

98. — The mask is in shape like that of the yebaad, being a simple domino that
only covers the face and throat ; but it is painted differently from the yebaad mask.
It is colored red with native ochre ; white circular marks surround the holes for
the eyes and mouth ; black semi-circles extend from eyes to mouth on each side.
A white shell is attached to each eye-hole and to the mouth-hole, and there is a piece
of abalone shell at the top behind which feathers are stuck. See fig. 4.

99. — The two scourges are made of leaves of Yucca baccata or Yucca data.
They are formed from two leaves ; one taken from the east, the other from the west

of the selected plant. These leaves are split
in two and interchanged halves are bound to¬
gether to form a scourge. The personator
carries one in each hand. He strikes with the
scourge in the right hand, changes the imple¬
ments from one hand to the other, and strikes
again with the other weapon in the right hand.
These implements are called beitsis.

100. — If the god is to be represented in
the ceremony, he has a cigarette made for him
on the morning of the fourth day. It is some¬
what like the cigarette of 7o‘badMstHni. It
is three finger-widths in length. It is painted
red, with a representation of the mask on the
front and queue-symbols in white on the back.
These symbols may be either two or four in

Fig. 4. Mask of Hastseltsi. . • r r c 1 1 r

number ; it tour, two ot them are lett open or
incomplete (See fig. 3, C). There are songs for these cigarettes ; but the songs
which the god sung himself are not told. A prayer in the usual form is said for
the cigarette ; it begins, “ //ast?e/td, I have made your sacrifice, I have prepared a
smoke for you ” ; but the personator is not present when this is repeated. The
kethawn is deposited on red ground.

1 01. - — Neither personator, mask, nor cigarette has been seen by the author.
The information given above is gathered from different shamans. The accom¬
panying picture of the mask is made from descriptions and rude drawings by
Indians; hence it is not included among the colored illustrations in plate III,
which are carefully drawn from the actual objects.

HASTSEZINI.

102. — Hastsezinl signifies Black Jfastse, Black Elder of the Gods, or Black
God. There are several of these gods ; but unlike the other ^astjre, they do not
abide in different places. Most of them dwell together in one locality called
Tse'ni/zotfi/yi/ (Rock-with-dark-place in-middle), near Tse'gihi, north of the San
Juan River. The myth of the Whirling Logs gives them another home at
Tse'Wni (par. 81 r). Although there are many of these gods, it is found conven¬
ient to speak of Jfastsezlnl in the singular number.

103. — He is a reserved and exclusive god, not associating freely with other
divinities and rarely visited by the latter. This characteristic is often mentioned
in the myths. He is the owner of fire — a fire-god. Other gods may possess other
things, but all fire is his. He was the inventor of the fire-drill and the first one who
produced fire.

104. — His personator is dressed mostly in black — shirt, blanket, breech-cloth,
and old-fashioned moccasins. He wears a collar of fox-skin, but has no fox-skin
pendant behind. He wears necklaces, which, according to the Waking Song,
should be of white shell ; but which in these days may contain coral, turquoise, and
other material. He has no cloth or skirt around the loins. His naked lower ex¬
tremities are painted black, and marked each with a line of white, at the back,
extending from the top of the heel to the top of the thigh. He wears a mask. He
carries a fire-drill, with the necessary wood and tinder, a fagot, and a bundle of
corn-cakes.

105. — The mask is painted black with sacred charcoal (par. 214), marked with
white circular spots around the eye-holes and mouth-hole, and a white figure of the
shape shown in the illustration, extending in the median line from the circle around
the mouth-hole to the level of the eye-holes. It
has a fringe of red hair extending over the crown
from side to side. See fig. 5.

106. — The two parts of the fire-drill— the
shaft and the stick in which the shaft works — must
come from a cedar-tree which has been struck by
lightning. Some light bark from the same tree
is used as tinder to catch the spark from the fire-
drill.

107. — The fagot, called hanolye/, is made
from the bark of the same stricken cedar-tree that
furnished material for the fire-drill. The bark
must be shredded from tip end to butt end. The
fagot is a span long and of such diameter that it
may be completely encircled by the thumb and
forefinger of one hand ; it is tied by four strings
of yucca fibre at equal distances from one another and from the ends.

108. — The corn-cakes, four in number, are made of blue corn, naneska^i,11
mixed with meal made from corn which a thieving crow has dropped in its flight.
Each is a contracted finger-circle in diameter. (See par. 152.) Each has a hole in the
middle, perforated with an owl-quill, through which hole yucca fibres are passed
and tied so as to form a handle or grip, by which the cakes are carried suspended in
one hand. The yucca fibres used for the fagot and for the corn-cakes must come
from one plant and from two leaves, one culled from the east side of the plant and
one from the west.

109. — The personator of 7/asUeHni never appears when the public dance of the
naak//ai is to occur on the last night ; but only when the variety of the ceremony
known as /o‘nastn/^ego //a^a/is to be celebrated. Then his labors occupy the whole
day from sunrise to sunset and he receives a liberal reward for the arduous work,
which must be accurately performed.

no. — While the personator of the //astydsini is gone on his strange journey,

Fig. 5. Mask of //asty&zmi .

the people inside the lodge busy themselves executing a large dry-painting called
//astydsrlni beyika/ (par. 880). This picture has a figure of a corn-stalk in the
centre and figures of 16 /fastsezinl with their fagots and bundles of corn-
cakes ; it remains on the floor of the lodge until the arrival of the personator of
the Black God in the eveninm

1 1 1. — The personator comes to the medicine-lodge early in the morning on the
ninth day of the ceremony. He has himself clothed and painted. Before he
leaves the lodge his fagot is lighted and immediately extinguished with ke'tlo (par.
215). He hides his mask and other properties under his blanket, and proceeds to
a point some distance east of the lodge. Here he puts on his mask and at sunrise
begins his slow journey back to the lodge. He spends all day, until sunset, in re¬
turning. He walks a few paces, stops, lights his fagot with his fire-drill, lies down
with his back to the fire — a favorite attitude of his according to the myths — and
pretends to sleep and make camp. But he does not lie long ; he rises in a moment
and extinguishes his fire, for his little fagot must be husbanded. He must
make it last all day and have some left, when he gets through with his journey
in the evening, to deposit as a sacrifice. Thus he makes a number of symbolic
journeys and camps, so timing his labors, that he arrives in front of the lodge
and in the presence of the patient when the sun is a hand’s breadth above the
horizon.

1 12. — As the personator approaches, a buffalo robe is spread on the ground,
near the lodge to the east, the patient is led out to it and places himself on it in
the genu-pectoral position with his head to the east. The personator walks
astraddle over the patient from east to west and from west to east uttering as he
does so his low, hoarse call, “ Waaah.” In the same position, the patient places
himself in turn, with his head to the south, to the west, and to the north, while
the actor walks over him astraddle back and forth once for each direction. He
helps the patient to his feet and both enter the lodge, the patient leading.

1 13. — Having entered the lodge, the patient sprinkles the picture with meal,
and disrobes to the breech-cloth. The actor sprinkles it with ke'tlo (par. 215)
in ceremonial form. The patient sits on the corn-symbol, facing east. The per¬
sonator administers to him a medicinal infusion in four draughts. He gives a
fifth draught to an attendant who squirts it on the palms of the actor in order
that the latter may take up the dust from the picture on his moist hands, and
apply it to the body of the patient. The patient then assumes on the pic¬
ture the position he had on the buffalo robe, before entering the lodge, and the
actor walks again astraddle over him back and forth in four different directions.
The patient sits up. In general all the acts performed on the other great pic¬
tures (par. 556) are performed in this rite. The fagot is lighted once more and
it is extinguished by the patient, who applies ke'tlo with his finger tips, four times,
to the flame, while the actor holds the fagot.

1 14. — When the fagot is thus for the last time extinguished, the actor gives
his cakes to the officiating shaman, who keeps a portion for himself and divides

the remainder with visiting priests. The cakes are not eaten ; but are reserved
for future magic uses.

1 1 5. — The actor goes out of the lodge with the remnant of his fagot, carries
it to the west, and hides it under the roots of a cedar-tree where cattle cannot
trample on it. Here he puts on an ordinary blanket, which an accomplice has
brought for him, hides under this his mask, and returns to the medicine-lodge, to
wash himself and change his dress.

1 1 6. — As in the case of the Red God, the above items concerning the Black
God are compiled from information given by the priests. The author has never
witnessed the rites or seen the personator. The war-gods appear with //ast-
.yeAni in his act of succor, but their part in the act has not been satisfactorily
noted.

7t)‘NENILI.

1 1 7. — Water-Sprinkler is the literal translation of the name of 7o‘nenlli, —
the rain-god, — the Navaho Tlaloc. We speak of him in the singular although
there are thought to be many gods of this name. It seems that the home of the
most important rain-god is at Tse'gihi, yet one is represented as dwelling at each
place where there is a community of yei. He is the lord of waters ; but par¬
ticularly of celestial waters, of precipitated waters. The ocean, rivers, and lakes
seem more under the control of Tieholtsodi. When To'nenili wishes to produce
rain, he scatters his sacred waters to the four cardinal points and immediately
the storm-clouds begin to gather. He is a water-carrier for the other gods.

1 18. — His personator appears only on the last night of the ceremony in the
dance of the naak/zai' (par. 621). He wears the mask and dress of the or¬
dinary yebaka (pars. 59-61) ; but all the articles of his apparel are of inferior
quality. “ Why should he (the god proper) dress well, when he may get his
clothes wet with water ? ” ask the priests. The actor has no special implement ;
he does not carry a rattle, like the other dancers ; he may bear the bunch of
spruce, or the skin of a wild animal, usually a fox-skin, with which he plays his
pranks. In the myths, the god is represented as carrying a wicker water-bottle,
or two water-bottles, one black and one blue (par. 708) ; but the personator never
carries such a bottle. The strings of the divine bottles were rainbows. His
clownish actions at the dance are described elsewhere (par. 636). We attempt
to represent his peculiar cry thus : “ Yuwyuw yuw yuw.”

1 1 9. — 7o‘nenili is represented in one of the dry-paintings — that of the
naak/^ai', on the seventh day (plate VII). He is shown standing at the head of
the line of female dancers, in the northwest corner of the picture, dressed and
masked like a yebaka, but without a skirt ; his shirt spotted with pollen of
all colors. His hands appear empty to show that he carries no special property.
Rarely he is represented with a wicker water-jar which may be black or blue.
See pars. 713, 720.

TS6HANOAI OR TSLyHANOAI.

120. — The name Ti-ohanoai is said to mean Day Bearer, He Who Carries
during the Day. Sometimes the name is given as T^i^hanoai, which seems more
modern, as the present ordinary word for day is ts\n or d sin. In various previous
works the writer speaks of T^ohanoai as the Sun, in deference to the usual way
of denominating sun-gods among other peoples ; but more correctly speaking he
should be called a sun-god or sun-bearer, or, as above, Day Bearer ; for the orb
of day is to the Navaho, only the luminous shield of the god, behind which the
bearer walks or rides, invisible to those on earth.

1 2 1. — The name of the solar orb is sa.‘. According to the Navaho Origin
Legend,3 it was made by the primeval people when they emerged from the fourth
lower world to this world. The legend says they made the disk of a clear stone
called tse'tsagi ; around the edge of this they set turquoises, and outside of these
they put rays of red rain, lightning, and serpents of many kinds. They selected
one of their own number to carry it, and he is now Trohanoai.

12 2. — Much is said about the sun-god in the Origin Legend and in other
legends of the tribe. In these tales he appears as a god of the greatest power;
yet his cultus, to-day, is not so important as that of other gods. He is not ap¬
pealed to as frequently as some others are. Certainly his wife Estsanatlehi and his
son Nayenezgani receive more reverence. To him is attributed the creation of
all the great game animals ; but he did not create other beings on the Earth. He
is not a supreme god and there seems to be no supreme god in the Navaho
mythology. He has two wives, one living in the east and one in the west.
According to some informants, he walks on a holy trail of sunbeam or rainbow
across the sky ; according to others he rides on a blue steed. The latter version
is probably modern.

123. — T^ohanoai is never personated in any of the rites of the night chant
and never represented in the dry-paintings. There is a stanza for him in the
Waking Song, which alludes to a pendant of haliotis or abalone shell as his or¬
nament, and when this stanza is sung, an ordinary yebaka mask is shaken.

1 24. — There is so much to be said about this divinity that we shall not devote
more space to him here. The reader who desires further information about him,
is referred to a previous work of the writer, entitled “ Navaho Legends.” 3

KLEHANOAI OR TLEHANOAI.

125. — The Navaho word for night is kle or tie. Klehanoai is said to mean
Night Bearer, or He Who Carries during the Night. Such is the name of the
Navaho moon-god. He is often referred to by the writer as the Moon ; but moon-
bearer, moon-god, or Night Bearer are more accurate terms. To these Indians, the
orb of night is only a shield that the god carries.

126. — The moon, according to their legends, was made, immediately after, or
at the same time with, the sun, by the primeval people, when they first came up

to this world through the Place of Emergence.6 They made the disk of the moon
of tse‘tsow, star-stone, a kind of crystal ; bordered it with white shells, and cov¬
ered its face with sheet lightning and the sacred mixed water, to7anastd (par.
209). The one selected to carry the moon was an old and gray-haired person,
who had joined them in one of the lower worlds. The tale speaks of him as a
man ; but he is now the immortal moon-bearer and receives the homage due to a
god. There are some reasons for believing that the moon-god is identical with
Bekotn7i, the creator of domestic animals. He receives much less honor than
the sun-god and is considered less potent, although in all songs to the Day Bearer,
the Nicrht Bearer is mentioned.

127. — The Origin Legend tells us that when Day Bearer and Night Bearer

were about to leave the primeval people and ascend to the heavens to begin their
labors, the people were sorry, for they loved the twain. But First Man consoled the
sorrowers, saying : “ Mourn not for them for you will see them in the heavens and

all that die will be theirs in return for their labors.” Since those days the sun-god
demands the life of a Navaho for every day that he passes over the earth and the
moon-god demands the life of a Pueblo Indian for every night that he passes.

128. — Klehanoai, like T^ohanoai, is never personated in the night chant or de¬
picted in its dry-paintings. He has a stanza appropriate to him in the Waking Song
(par. 470), in which a pendant of white shell is mentioned as his attribute. When
this stanza is sung one of the six yebaka masks is shaken.

estsAnatlehi.

129. — -The name of Estsanatlehi is derived by syncopation from estsan,
woman, and natlehi, to change or transform. It maybe translated Woman that
Changes, or Woman that Rejuvenates Herself. This name is given because, it is
said, she never remains in one state of development ; that she grows to be an old
woman, returns at will to the condition of a young girl again, and so passes through
an endless course of lives, changing but never dying.

130. — Usually, if you ask a Navaho, who is his most powerful and revered
deity, you will be told that it is Estsanatlehi. To those who are accustomed to be¬
lieve that the position of the female among Indians is a degraded one, it may seem
strange that a goddess should hold the highest rank in their pantheon ; but a care¬
ful study of Navaho sociology shows us that the position of the Navaho woman is
one of respect and influence, and that a man owes his chief allegiance to his mother.
The myths also make clear the latter fact. As the mother of their greatest war-god,
she deserves special honor ; but this is not her only claim to worship : she is benefi-
cient, she loves mankind, she dwells in the west and sends from there the plentiful
rains of the summer and the thawing breezes of the spring. She created several of
the Navaho gentes from her own epidermis and hence is called their mother, and
she assisted in the creation of others from ears of corn.

1 3 1. — The version of the Origin Legend 3 which the writer most favors tells
us that she was created from a small turquoise image into which life was infused by

means of an elaborate ceremonial act of the gods ; that she conceived of the Sun and
bore the great war-god Nayenezgani ; that //asUeyaRi was her accoucheur ; that,
when her son had slain all the Alien Gods and the children of men began to increase
on the earth, she went at the bidding of the sun-god to the western ocean and that
she dwells there now on an island which floats on the bosom of the Pacific. She is re¬
garded as the sister of a goddess called Yo/kai' Estsan or White Shell Woman whom
the gods created by ceremonially giving life to a white shell image ; who conceived of
a waterfall, and became the mother of T'o’bad.dstrini, the second war-god. Another
version of the Origin Legend says that Estsanatlehi was born of the sky father and
the earth mother, and was found as an infant by P'irst Woman on the summit of the
mountain of TAolihi. 2

132. — Much is said of both of these goddesses in the Origin Legend, to which
the reader, who desires to know more about them, is referred.3 Many songs are sung
in their honor. But in song and story Estsanatlehi is always represented as the
greater. The cult of White Shell Woman is insignificant compared with that of her
sister.

133. - — It is conjectured by the writer that Estsanatlehi is a deification of fruit¬
ful nature, a goddess of the changing year, and that as such she is properly repre¬
sented as the wife of the Sun to whom nature owes her fertility : yet there are
relations concerning her in the myths which seem to indicate that she has some of
the attributes of a moon-deity.

1 34. — She is never, we are assured, personated in any of the rites or depicted in
any of the dry-paintings. When //astoeoRoi, the goddess of the hunt, appears by
proxy, in the scene of succor on the ninth day, some Navaho laymen think it is
Estsanatlehi, and so told the writer in the earlier years of his investigations ; but
all the shamans questioned declare that such informants are mistaken and that
Estsanatlehi is never personated. In the Waking Song she has a stanza in her
honor, where “ Her plants of all kinds ” are mentioned as her special attribute. This
is further evidence that she is an apotheosis of Mother Nature. When her stanza
is sung one of the six yebaad, or female, masks is shaken.

I. Essential or Sacred Parts

ESSENTIAL OR SACRED PARTS.

135. — There are certain parts of the body of the patient to which kethawns
or other sacred articles are always applied. These parts, which are called, for con¬
venience, sacred or essential parts, are as follows : (1) the soles of the feet ; (2) the
knees just below the knee-caps ; (3) the palms, outstretched on the knees ; (4) the
chest ; (5) the back between the scapulae ; (6) the right shoulder ; (7) the left
shoulder ; (8) the top of the head ; (9) the right cheek ; (10) the left cheek ; (1 1)
the middle of the mouth. The sacred objects are always applied in the order in
which the parts are named (from butt to tip ; see par. 18). Sometimes other
parts of the body receive the application — those which are supposed to be the
special seat of the disease. Sometimes the article is applied twice in succession at

each place — once with the point to the right of the operator and once with the point
to the left. After each application (often) a motion is made as if throwing some in¬
visible evil influence out at the smoke-hole.

MEASUREMENTS.

136. — The various properties of this and other ceremonies are made not only
according to rigid rules of work ; but according to established standards of
measurement. Of course this rude people have not accurate scales of dimension
such as ours ; but they have the natural standards from which most civilized meas¬
urements were derived previous to the introduction of the metric system. It will
save much repetition and encourage a more extended and accurate description, if
these standards of measure are defined in this section, than if they are left to the
section on Rites. All the measurements here described may perhaps not be em¬
ployed in the night chant ; but it is deemed best to make here a list of Navaho
measurements as complete as our knowledge will permit. The names of the
measures are mostly devices of the author.

137. — I. One finger-width : — thewidthof the last joint of the index finger,
taken on the palmar aspect over the centre or most prominent point.

138. — II. Two finger-widths : — the width of the terminal joints of the first and
second fingers on the palmar aspect over the centres ; the fingers being pressed
clo'sely together and their tips brought to the same level.

139. — III. Three finger-widths : — width of the terminal joints of the first,
second, and third fingers taken under conditions similar to those of measurement
II. On the writer’s hand this is equal to if inches. The majority of kethawns
are made of this length.

140. — IV. Four finger-widths: — width of terminal joints of all four fingers of
one hand taken under conditions similar to those of measurement II.

141. — V. Six finger-widths: — is found by doubling the measure of three finger-
widths. This is also often applied to kethawns.

142. — VI. The joint : — the length of a single digital phalanx, usually the
middle phalanx of the little finger.

143. — VII. The palm: — the width of the open palm including the adducted
thumb.

144. — VIII. The finger-stretch : — from the tip of the first to the tip of the
fourth finger ; both fingers being extended and abducted while the second and
third are flexed.

145. — IX. The span : — the same as our span, from the tip of the thumb to
the tip of the index finger, these digits being stretched as far apart as possible.

146. — X. The great span : — from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little
finger, all the digits being extended, while the thumb and little finger are
strongly abducted.

147. — XI. The cubit : — from the point of the elbow to the tip of the extended
middle finger, the arm being bent.

148. — XII. The natural yard :- — from the middle of the chest to the end of the
middle finger, the arm being outstretched laterally at right angles with the body ;
this on a tall Indian equals about three feet.

149. — XIII. The natural fathom measured on the laterally outstretched
arms, across the chest from the tip of one middle finger to the tip of the other.
This is, of course, twice the natural yard, or about six feet. Among white men
the height usually equals or exceeds this measure. Among the Navahoes the
contrary is the rule.

150. — XIV. The arm-circle : — the arms held in front as if embracing a tree-
trunk, the tips of the fingers just meeting.

1 5 1 . — XV. The finger-circle: — the fingers of both hands held so as to en¬
close a nearly circular space, the tips of the index fingers and the tips of the
thumbs just touching.

152. — XVI. The contracted finger-circle: — like the finger-circle; but di¬
minished by making the first and second joints of one index finger overlap those
of the other.

153. — XVII. The grasp : — a circle formed by the thumb and index finger of
one hand.

154. — In addition to the above measurements, which are used for sacred
articles, the story tellers often resort to the expressions, “ so big,” with explana¬
tory signs, and “as far as.” But such are only temporary makeshifts of the nar¬
rator and not accepted standards of measurement.

155. — Of course these measurements vary on different individuals; hence,
where several men work on a numerous series of sacrifices, as in the ke^an /ani
(pars. 399-403), each gaugingon his own person, we find objects measured ac¬
cording to the same rule, of different lengths. In making a series of uniform
objects, such as kethawns and plumed wands, it is customary for the operator to
measure only one object on his person and then to use this object as a standard
for the others.

DRY-PAINTINGS.

156. — An important factor in the greater, and in many of the minor, cere¬
monies of the Navahoes is the dry-paintings. Thus the author has always called
them. Others, writing later, and describing them among other tribes, speak of them
as sand-altars and sand-paintings. Objections to these terms are : (1) that the pic¬
tures are not always painted on sand, neither are the colors all sand ; and (2) that
they are not always drawn in places which can be regarded as altars, as, for instance,
the tops of sweat-houses. No doubt objections may be found to the term dry-
paintings.

157. — The excellence to which the Navahoes have carried the art of dry¬
painting is as remarkable as that to which they have brought the art of weaving.
Unlike the neighboring Pueblos, they make no graven images of their divinities.
They do not decorate robes and skins with moist colors as do the Indians of the

plains. They make little pottery and this little is neither artistically nor sym¬
bolically decorated. Their petroglyphs are rare and crude ; the best rock in¬
scriptions, which abound in the southwest, are believed to be the work of Cliff
Dwellers and Pueblo Indians, or their ancestors. Seeing no evidence of sym¬
bolic art among them, one might readily suppose they had none. Such was the
opinion of white men (some of whom had lived fifteen years or more among the
Navahoes) with whom the author conversed when first he went to the Navaho
country, and such was the opinion of all ethnographers before his time. The
symbolic art of the Navahoes is to be studied in the medicine-lodge. The
Pueblo Indians — those of Zuni and Moki — and some of the wilder tribes —
Apaches and Cheyennes— understand the art of dry-painting ; but none seem to
have such numerous and elaborate designs as the Navahoes.

158. — The pigments are five in number; they are : white, made of white
sandstone ; yellow, of yellow sandstone ; red, of red sandstone ; black, of char¬
coal, mixed with a small proportion of powdered red sandstone to give it weight
and stability ; “ blue ” made of black and white mixed. These are ground into
fine powder, between two stones as the Indians grind corn. The so-called blue
is, of course, gray ; but it is the only inexpensive representative of the blue tint
they can obtain and, combined with other colors, on the sandy floor, it looks like
a real blue. These colored powders, prepared before the picture is begun, are
kept on improvised trays of pine-bark. To apply them, the artist picks up a little
between his first and second finger, and his opposed thumb, and allows it to flow
out slowly as he moves his hand. When he takes up his pinch of powder he
blows on his fingers to remove aberrant particles and keep them from falling on
the picture, out of place. When he makes a mistake he does not brush away the
color ; he obliterates it by pouring sand on it and then draws the corrected design
on the new surface.

159. — The dry-paintings of the largest size, which are drawn on the floor of
the medicine-lodge, are often 10 or 12 feet in diameter. They are sometimes so
large that the fire in the centre of the lodge must be moved to one side to ac¬
commodate them. They are made as nearly to the west side of the lodge as
practicable. The lodge is poorly lighted, and on a short winter day the artists
must often begin their work before sunrise if they would finish before nightfall,
which it is essential they should do.

160. — To prepare the groundwork for a picture in the lodge, several young
men go forth and bring in a quantity of dry sand in blankets ; this is thrown on
the floor and spread out over a surface of sufficient size, to the depth of about
three inches ; it is leveled and made smooth by means of the broad oaken battens
used in weaving.

1 6 1.1 — The drawings are begun as much toward the centre as the design will
permit, due regard being paid to the precedence of the points of the compass ;
the figure in the east being begun first, that in the south second, that in the west
third, and that in the north fourth. The figures in the periphery come after

these. The reason for thus working from within, outward is practical ; it is that
the operators may not have to step over and thus risk the safety of their finished
work.

162. — The pictures are drawn according to an exact system, except in cer¬
tain well-defined cases, where the limner is allowed to indulge his fancy. This
is the case with the embroidered pouches the gods carry at the waist. Within
reasonable limits the artist may give his god as handsome a pouch as he wishes.
On the other handsome parts are measured by palms and spans and not a line of
the sacred design may be varied in them. Straight and parallel lines are drawn
with the aid of a tightened cord. The naked bodies of the mythical figures are
first drawn and then the clothing is put on.

163. — While the work is in progress the chanter does little more than direct
and criticise ; a number of young men perform the labor, each working on a dif¬
ferent part. These must be men who have taken the rite of initiation ; but they
need not be priests or even aspirants to the priesthood. It is usually, but not
always, the task of the shaman, when the painting is completed, to apply pollen
or meal to the divine figures, and to set up the plumed wands around the picture
when the rite requires. When all is done the picture is obliterated, by different
methods in different rites. When no semblance of the picture remains, the sand
of which it was made is gathered in blankets, carried to a distance from the lodge,
and thrown away, leaving no trace of the work.

164. — The shamans declare that these pictures are transmitted unaltered
from year to year and from generation to generation. It may be doubted if such
is strictly the case. No permanent design is anywhere preserved by them and
there is no final authority in the tribe. The pictures are carried from winter to
winter in the fallible memories of men. They may not be drawn in the summer.
The custom of destroying these pictures at the close of the ceremonies and pre¬
serving no permanent copies of them arose, no doubt, largely from a desire to
preserve the secrets of the lodge from the uninitiated ; but it had also perhaps
a more practical reason for its existence. The Navahoes had no way of drawing
permanent designs in color. When it became known to the shamans (and no at¬
tempt was ever made to hide the fact from them) that the author kept water-
color drawings of the sacred pictures in his possession, these men, at the proper
season, when about to perform a ceremony, often brought their assistants to
look at the drawings, and then and there would lecture the young men and call
their attention to special features in the pictures, thus, no doubt, saving them¬
selves much trouble afterwards, in the medicine-lodge. These water-colors were
never shown to the uninitiated among the Indians and never to any Indian during
the forbidden season.

I. Sacrifices: Kethawns

SACRIFICES, ICETHAWNS.

165. — The principal objects of sacrifice are the
Englished kethawn and pluralized kethawns. They

ke/an, whose name is here
are not only sacrifices, but

they are messages to the gods. They are very various in character and each one
embodies one or more ideas which are usually easily explained. Sacrifices of this
character are widely diffused. Most of the Indians of the Southwest use them,
or have used them, and the writer has known them to be employed by tribes of
the Upper Missouri. The inahos of Japan seem closely allied to the kethawns.
Many of them are sacrificed with feathers either attached or enclosed in the same
bundle with them, and such are to be classed with the plumesticks of the Zuni In¬
dians. Much as these sacrifices differ from one another in size, material, painting,
accessories and modes of sacrifice or deposit, there are certain rules of general
application which will be described here to avoid frequent repetition hereafter.
Special rules for special kethawns will be reserved for the part on Rites in Detail.
There are two principal kinds of kethawns used in this ceremony, cigarettes made
of hollow reed, and sticks made of various exogenous woods.

CIGARETTES.

1 66. — The cigarettes are usually made of the common reed or Phragmites
communis. The reed is first rubbed well with a piece of sandstone for the purpose
of removing the glossy silicious surface in order to make the paint adhere well. It
is next rubbed, for metaphysical reasons, with tnDilgi'si or scareweed {Gutierre-
zia euthamice) a composite plant growing abundantly in the Navaho country. The
reed is cut with a stone knife or arrow head which must be unbroken (par. 19).
The law of butts and tips (par. 18) is observed with great pains in making these
objects. In cutting up a reed for a series of cigarettes the operator facing east,
holds the butt end toward his body, the tip end toward the east, and cuts off that
section which comes next to the root. This he marks near its base, on what he
calls its front (par. 171) with a single transverse notch, made also with a stone
knife. The severed section he lays on a clean stone, buckskin, or cloth, front
down, and proceeds to cut off another section from the butt end of the remaining
part of the cane. If it is the same length as the preceding piece he marks it with
two transverse notches in the manner described. A third section he would mark
with three, and a fourth with four notches. These notches are cut in order that
throughout all subsequent manipulations the butt may be distinguished from the
tip, the front from the back, and that the order of precedence in which they were cut
may not be disregarded. But in making the notches the sacred number four must
never be exceeded. If there are more than four cigarettes of the same size in one
set, the fifth must be the beginning of a new series, to be marked with one notch,
while the operator must depend on his memory and on his care in handling to keep
the sets separate. The nodes and the adjoining portions of the culm must not be
used. They are carefully excluded and split into fragments with the point of a
stone knife before being thrown away, lest the gods, coming for their sacrifices,
might mistake empty segments for cigarettes and, meeting with disappointment,
withhold their succor from the patient. The god, it is said, examines and smells

the cigarette to see if it is made for him ; if he is pleased with it he takes it away
and rewards the giver.

167. — The second section is laid south of the first and parallel to it, the last
section is placed farthest to the south, the order of precedence being from north
to south (left to right), when sacrifices are laid out in a straight line in the east.
In the subsequent operations to be described, such as painting, inserting feathers
and tobacco, pollenizing, “ lighting,” and sacrificing, the cigarettes are always
handled in the order of from left to right. If there is an order of precedence
among the gods to whom they belong, the higher god owns the more northern
sacrifice, the one that comes from nearest the butt.

168. — The cut ends of the section are next ground smooth on a stone, and a
splinter of fresh yucca leaf, long enough to protrude at both ends is inserted to
serve as a handle and support while the cigarette is being painted. A thin slice of
yucca leaf is also used as a brush, and curved sections of the leaf are commonly
used as saucers to hold the paints. The gummy juice of yucca leaf is mixed with
the paints to make them adhere when dry. Fig. 14 shows how they are arranged
when the paint is drying.

169. — When the painting is completed a small pledget of feathers is inserted
into the hollow of each section, at the tip end, and shoved down toward the op¬
posite extremity, to keep the tobacco from falling out. The pledget consists
usually of feathers of bluebird and yellow warbler and an owl-quill is, in most cases,
the implement with which the wad is shoved in. The sections are then filled with
some kind of tobacco,7 native to the southwest — in the night chant, usually with
Nicotiana attenuata.

1 70. — After the tobacco is inserted, pollen is placed on the tip end of the
cigarette and moistened with a drop of sacred water ; thus the cigarette is sealed.
The next act is to light it symbolically. To do this a piece of rock crystal is held
up in the direction of the smoke-hole or in the beams of the sun, should they enter
the lodge ; it is then swept down and touched to the tip of the cigarette. On one
occasion (par. 484) it is so arranged that the cigarettes are prepared early in the
morning, and “ lighted ” just as the rays of the rising sun shine in through the
doorway of the lodge, over the curtain.

1 7 1. — The front or face of the cigarette has been mentioned (par. 166).
This corresponds with the side of the internode on which the alternate leaf
grows, and is marked at the base of the internode, on the dry culm, by the axil¬
lary pit or scar which the Navahoes call the eye ; this is the side which is notched
and which lies next to the ground when the cigarette is sacrificed or planted.

WOODEN KETHAWNS.

172. — Wooden kethawns are made of various kinds of wood selected in each
case for symbolic reasons. Sex is symbolized by form and color (pars. 16, 17) ;
direction of sacrifice, as regards the points of the compass, is symbolized by color

only. The distinction between butt and tip is as carefully observed as with cigar¬
ettes ; but in most species of wood this may be determined without making
notches at the butt, hence these may be omitted. As handles of yucca cannot be
applied to them they are sometimes in danger of being smeared when painted. In
general they are prepared with less care than the cigarettes.

PREPARATION OF KETHAWNS.

173- — The kethawns are always prepared in the western quarter of the lodge.
One or more blankets are first laid on the floor; or sheepskins may first be laid
down and blankets put on top of these. The blankets, nowadays, are usually
ordinary American goods and not those of Navaho make. Sometimes several
folds of new calico are laid next to the blankets. The last coverinof of all is new
white cotton sheeting, usually unbleached, and it is on this that the kethawns and
other sacred articles must rest. In old days, they say, finely dressed, new deer¬
skins were used for the top covering. All these coverings, skins and textiles, are
laid with their longer dimensions extending from north to south.

174. — Upon these cloths are placed the kethawns, during the various stages
of their manufacture, when they are not in the hands of the operators ; the rock
crystal with which the cigarettes are symbolically lighted ; the pollen bag of the
shaman ; the wild tobacco used for filling the cigarettes ; the owl-feather em¬
ployed in forcing the tobacco in ; and the corn-husks, or small pieces of cotton
sheeting in which the kethawns are folded. The husks are grouped in a row from
north to south with their tips to the east and parallel to one another. Often the
shaman displays, in similar groups, the plumes and the jewels which accompany
the cigarettes ; but sometimes he transfers these directly from their receptacles to
the husk or cloth envelopes. The stone on which the paints are mixed is some¬
times placed on the blankets at the edge of the sheeting and the paints are taken
directly from it to be applied to the kethawns ; but at other times it may be
placed in some other part of the lodge and the paints may be put on little trays
or palettes of concave yucca leaves. The one or more receptacles that contain
the shaman’s supply of feathers may be laid on the blankets.

1 75. — There is no special place on the covers assigned to each of these arti¬
cles or groups of articles and an attempt to illustrate their varying positions
would be useless, or worse than useless as it might lead the reader to place an
undue value on the arrangement. One picture will suffice to give an idea of how
the shaman sets his workshop in order, for the preparation of the kethawns.
Plate I, fig. A, shows how all appeared once, on the morning of the third day
when the kethawns of the White House were made. In this the kethawns are
represented as first painted and put to dry, before they are filled with tobacco
and placed in the husks. Fig. 14 also shows sections of reed (unfinished keth¬
awns) as they appear when painted and left to dry.

176. — During the work the shaman sits west of the white cloth with his face
to the east, while his assistants sit near him in any convenient place or attitude.

PAINTS FOR KETHAWNS.

177. — In decorating kethawns of both kinds, Navahoes usually employ
paints found in their own country, of five different colors, viz. : white, blue, yel¬
low, black and red. The white is an infusorial earth called glejr ; the blue is a
carbonate of copper ; the yellow, a yellow ocher ; the black, “ a ferruginous
deposit (clay) containing manganese and some organic matter ” ; and the red, a
red ocher. What is called sacred charcoal is sometimes used for the black.
Indigo, a substance long known to the Navahoes, and traded in old days from
the Mexicans, is often used in place of carbonate of copper.

SONGS FOR KETHAWNS.

178. — During work on the kethawns songs appropriate to different occa¬
sions are sung. There are songs for painting, songs when the tobacco is inserted,
songs for the symbolic lighting, songs for their application to the patient, and
songs of sacrifice when the kethawns are taken out to their hiding-places (pars.
320, 330, 333).

DEPOSITING KETHAWNS.

179. — The modes of sacrificing or depositing the kethawns are so various
that only a few general rules can be given. In describing special rites hereafter,
it will be said that a certain set of cigarettes or sticks is sacrificed in the east, or
in an easterly direction, another in the south or in a southerly direction, etc.
Such expressions must not be understood as meaning east or south even approx¬
imately. The local conditions required for the sacrifice, such as a certain kind of
rock or tree, are not always to be found in the required directions and a wide ter¬
ritory must be allowed the bearers. Hence, all the world that lies east of the
meridian of the lodge is considered east, and all that is west of it is considered
west ; all the world that lies north of the degree of latitude that bisects the lodge
answers for north, and all that lies south of it answers for south ; yet, the nearer
they can come to the true point the better. Sometimes when the proper place is
many miles away, the sacrifice is merely pointed toward it and then laid down in
some nearer place. The general conditions are that the sacrifices should be put
in a safe place where cattle cannot trample on them.

180. — In returning from the place of sacrifice the bearer of the kethawns must
never cross his own outgoing trail and never turn to his left. He must always
go sunwise. After he deposits his sacrifice he must face around “ by the right
flank ” before starting on his return journey. He must run all the way both
going and coming, no matter how far he has to go. He must never pass through
an ant-hill.

I. Medicines

MEDICINES.

1 8 1. — There are administered to the patient and otherwise used during the
ceremony, a variety of substances and compounds for which we can find no
better name than medicine although they may have no remedial power and are

not supposed, even by the shamans, to exert any influence on the body except
in a supernatural way. The Navahoes have a knowledge of the physical effects
of many plants and employ them in the treatment of disease with a view to
their physical effects ; but the medicines of the kiddie hz.ti.1 do not belong to
this class. As the ceremony is supposed to drive away disease by spiritual or
supernatural means, so the medicines are supposed to act in a similar way.

POLLEN.

182. — The most important medicine, in all Navaho ceremonies yet studied,
is pollen. What we may call the pollen cult is very elaborate ; all of its mys¬
teries have not been unraveled, but many facts have been gathered, which are
here submitted.

183. — It is not certain why the Navahoes ascribe remedial virtues to this
substance ; but it is probably largely because they understand its fructifying
and life-giving powers. That such is their understanding is learned from a
conversation with them and is indicated in an agricultural song of this ceremony.

184. — In old days, tradition says, the pollen of the cat-tail was most used
by the Navahoes as it now is by the Apaches ; but of late years, pollen of corn
is the kind commonly employed ; it is the pollen of general use ; but many
other kinds are collected for special purposes.

185. — The ceremonial uses to which pollen is applied are very various : it is
scattered on dancing grounds, along trails of ceremonial processions, on keth-
awns when they are deposited, on the masks and sacred properties in various
rites, on the dry-paintings, and is applied in other ways which will not be men¬
tioned here, but which may be learned by consulting the text with the aid of
the index. But here is the most suitable place to describe the mode in which
the shaman administers it to the patient and to himself and the way in which
others take it, for sometimes every person in the lodge is expected to partake :
A pinch is taken from the bag and dropped on the extended tongue ; another
pinch (or the remains of the first pinch) is held a couple of inches above the
crown of the head, and, as the hand is raised upward, the pollen is allowed to
fall on the head. The substance is sometimes applied to the essential parts of
the patient’s person.

186. — Much of the corn-pollen is used just as it is collected, being subjected
to no manipulation or rite ; but the shamans have a system of vivifying the
medicine, whereby several varieties are produced, which, after all are simple
pollen and nothing more. This vivifying consists in putting a live animal into a
bag of the substance, allowing it to remain there for some time and then liber¬
ating it. The more it struggles in its dusty prison, the better. It is supposed
to impart some of its character or spirit to the medicine while imprisoned. If it
dies while captive, the pollen, they say, is dead and must not be used. Perhaps
any animal may be subjected to this or some pollenizing treatment but the
following are those most frequently used for the kled^e hz.ti.1 : bluebird, yellow

warbler, Pipilo chloniriis, humming-bird and grasshopper. Pollen of the
lizard is used as an oxytocic. In a version of the Origin Legend it is said
that at the time of the Emergence, when the people were threatened with a
third flood, they restored to Tieholtsodi,10 the water monster, his young ; but
before they did so they put pollen on the bodies of these creatures, took it off
again and preserved it ; it brought the Navahoes rain and game and much good
fortune. See par. 263.

187. — A mixture of two or more of these life pollens is much used under
the name of i’yirtfezna. It is often moistened and applied as a paint to kethawns
or to feathers that accompany kethawns. It is daubed on, by means of a splinter
of yucca leaf, from butt to tip. This may be made by putting different animals,
consecutively into the same bag of pollen.

188. — The shaman collects pollen from different plants, in pursuance of
different mytho-therapeutic theories. Pollen of pine and cedar are gathered.
Pollen of larkspur is sometimes employed, on account of color, as a sacrifice
to gods of the south ; but as this plant yields very little pollen, the dried and
powdered corolla is added to give bulk to the collection. During the summer
rains, in the Navaho land, a fine yellow powder collects on the surface of pools ;
it is probably the pollen of pine ; but the Navahoes seem to think it is a product
of the water, call it water-pollen, and collect it for use on special occasions.

189. — In the autumn of 1884, the writer had with him in Washington the
Navaho shaman, 7/a/a/i Nez or Tall Chanter. While in the city he made, under
the author’s observation a number of kethawns. Although he understood they
were not to be sacrificed to the gods, but to be used only as exhibits, he insisted
on having all the materials genuine. It was possible to comply with his demands
in most cases : but true pollen was not to be obtained at that time of the year.
In this dilemma lycopodium was offered to him under the name of pollen. He
tasted it and said : “ This tastes like no pollen of my country. From what plant
does it come ? ” Being frankly told he replied that it would do. He took a good
supply of it home with him to New Mexico, to show his brother priests as a
sample of the kind of pollen that white doctors used.

190. — In telling //a/a/i Nez that the lycopodium was pollen, no real de¬
ception was practised. Many fine impalpable powders which are not pollen are
considered such by the Indians. Perhaps I would have had difficulty in ex¬
plaining to him the difference between spores and pollen. In sacred song and
speech the Navahoes talk of haze and of the smoky dimness of the horizon due
in desert lands perhaps usually to dust in the air, as pollen ; thus we have
references to the pollen of the morning sky and the pollen of the evening sky.

1 9 1. — Pollen is an emblem of peace, of happiness, of prosperity, and it is
supposed to bring these blessings. When, in the Origin Legend, one of the
war-gods bids his enemy to put his feet down in pollen he constrains him to
peace. When in prayer the devotee says “ May my trail be in pollen,” he pleads
for a happy and peaceful life. See Origin Legend p. 109. See par. 472.

192. — When needed in large quantities, pollen is put in fawnskin bags ; but
ordinarily it is kept in small buckskin bags, which are carried on the person, not
only by the priests but by many of the laymen. A rock crystal or other precious
stone may be kept in the pollen, or the stone fetish of a horse which at times is
“ fed ” with pollen to bring good luck to the herds.

CORN-MEAL.

193. — Corn-meal is used in larger quantities than pollen, perhaps because
more easily obtained ; but not on so many occasions. It seems to be considered
less sacred than pollen. It is employed in many ways the same as pollen and in
connection with the latter. Some shamans too occasionally use meal where
others employ pollen. It is scattered on dance-grounds, on the trails of cere¬
monial processions, on sacrifices, on dry-paintings, on succoring gods and in vari¬
ous acts described in the part on Rites in Detail. Mixed with water it forms
the food with which the masks are symbolically fed and which is used for the
sacramental feast on the fourth night. See par. 463 et seq.

194. — One important purpose which it serves is to dry the patient after he
has bathed. In this case, it answers a practical as well as a religious purpose. It
is a substitute for towels — articles of which the Navahoes know very little.
When they take the hot air sweat-bath, for purposes of comfort or cleanliness,
they roll themselves in sand after they leave the sweat-house and brush the sand
off when it has sufficiently absorbed the moisture. This resembles the system of
sanding letters which was in vogue before blotting paper became common. Corn-
meal is a refined substitute for sand.

195. — For most purposes, plain meal, ground on a metate, is used, and it has
not been learned that any special rites are observed when it is prepared to
answer a sacred purpose. The meal used in the communal supper of the fourth
night is of corn called msAaiakan which is baked in the ground.

196. — If the ceremony is for the benefit of a male patient, white meal must
be used ; if it is for the benefit of a female, yellow meal is required. It is said
that this custom arises because, according to the Origin Legend, the ancestors of
the first Navaho gens were created out of corn — the man of white, the woman
of yellow corn. But it is probable that myth and custom are alike derived from
something antecedent to both.

INCENSE, YADIDimL.

197. — All of the most important rites, such as the making and applying of
kethawns, the painting of the great pictures, and the singing of long series of
songs of sequence, are closed by the act of fumigating the patient. Sometimes
others besides the patient are fumigated. At the close of the initiation into the
mystery of the Yebltrai, all the candidates receive fumigation. See par. 510.

198. — The usual mode of administering it is this : Two hot coals are taken
from the fire and placed in front of the kneeling patient. On these a powder

called yi.d\d\n\l is sprinkled ; from this, dense, whitish pungent fumes arise which
fill the whole lodge with their odor. The devotee leans over the coals and
strongly inhales the fumes, sometimes drawing them in toward the face with the
hand or holding his blanket out over his forehead like a hood so as to get the
full benefit of the fumigation. Sometimes he bathes his hands in the smoke.

199. — When the fumes have died down, sacred water is thrown on the coals
to cool them. When cooled, they are, in some rites, carried from the lodge to be
deposited in the north along with other refuse of the ceremony ; in other rites
they are cast out through the smoke-hole of the lodge.

200. — The ingredients of the yaafidfini/ or incense are these : The complete
teguments of five different birds, including head, bill, feathers, and feet, namely —
bluebird, yellow warbler, Pipilo chlorurus and birds called tsidua^i and ts-olga/i ; a
gummy, inflammable earthy substance called ke'a/i^/itlH ; dry pinon gum, and a
plant called tlhidiai. This mixture must be made while a ceremony is in progress.

201. — As feathers constitute a part of this mixture, it might be supposed
that the odor would be offensive ; but it is not ; though pungent, it is rather
fragrant. The smell of the other ingredients obscures that of the feathers.

202. — Incense is used in other Navaho ceremonies as well as in kled^e /^a^a/
and, judging from the odor, it is believed to be the same in all ceremonies
witnessed.

KLEDZE AZE, NIGHT MEDICINE.

203. — Of the many medicines used in the night chant, only one has re¬
ceived the name of the ceremony. It is called kled^e aze which may be freely
translated night medicine or night chant medicine. It is administered with ritual
observances every day, after the sweat bath, for four days. It is an elaborate
compound in mythic medicine which reminds one of the old polypharmacy of civ¬
ilized medicine. Only a part of its composition has been determined. It consists
of three series or collections each of which is gathered on a different occasion and
kept in a separate bag or bundle until used.

204. — The first series is vegetable. The collector enters a field at night, in
the rainy season, during a violent thunder storm. He culls in the east of the field
a leaf from a stalk that produces white corn. Passing sunwise he culls in the
south a leaf from a stalk of blue corn ; in the west, a leaf from a stalk of yellow
corn ; in the north, a leaf from a stalk of variegated corn. Passing around the
field again, he culls squash leaves in the southeast, bean leaves in the southwest,
watermelon leaves in the northwest and muskmelon leaves in the northeast.
Going sunwise around the field a third time, he gathers tobacco at each of the
cardinal points. Going around a fourth time he collects wild plants at the cardi¬
nal points. Each of these things must be collected at the instant that it is illu¬
minated by a flash of lightning. To these is added a mixture called aze dot\\!z or
blue medicine the ingredients of which are not known, but they need not be
collected by lightning’s glare.

205. — The second collection consists chiefly of pasgle^, i. e., gle.y or dried white
paint taken from the bodies of men who personate gods, immediately after they
have returned from the act of personation to the medicine-lodge, to clean their
bodies. The gods whose personators furnish this paint or white earth are the
following : Neyenezgani, Dsaha^old^a, To’badAstdni, Gawaski^i, Tb’nenili,
Pfastseoltodi, Hatye/tri, Pdastsezim, //astaeol/oi, ddastse/iogan, //asUeyal/i and
PdatdastsVsl. The pasglei- of Nayenezgani must come from his head and his bow
symbols ; that of Dsahakolds'a, from the lightning symbols on his arms ; that of
To’bad.dstnni from his head and queue symbols ; that of Ganaskldi from his
hump. It is not specified from what parts of the person the other actors must
yield their gle^. Spruce leaves from the collars of the actors are added to this
mixture.

206. — The third collection consists of pollen of pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), pinon
{Pinus edulis ), cedar (jf uniperus virginiana) and juniper (jf. occidentalis ) mixed
together.

207. — To form the night medicine, these three collections are mixed together
in a wicker bowl — water-tight basket — with sacred water (par. 209).

208. — If the patient has fever, da‘tsos, or frost medicine, is added to the
above (par. 213).

7’0‘ZANASTS'f, MIXED WATER, SACRED WATER.

209. — In various parts of the description of the ceremony which follows, the
use of water is mentioned. In many cases mixed or sacred water is specified, but
in many other cases, where it is not specified, it must be understood. The name
/o‘/anasDi may be freely translated mixed water ; but the fluid may also properly
be called sacred water.

210. — It is used in mixing all lotions and draughts of the ceremony, in seal¬
ing cigarettes, in moistening life pollen, in painting kethawns, in washing the
patient, in preparing the cold gruel for the communal supper, in short, on all
ceremonial occasions where water is required. It is not used in cooking food, not
even for the ancient dishes served in the banquet of the fourth night.

2 1 1. — According to the myths, four kinds of water were originally required
for this mixture : spring or stream water from the east, hail water from the south,
rain water from the west, and snow water from the north. At present they only
approximate this mixture as best they can and usually content themselves with two
different kinds, namely : spring or stream water — flowing water, earth water —
obtained from a point east of the meridian of the medicine-lodge and the water
of precipitation — pool water, sky water— from a point west of the meridian of the
lodge. As the ceremony takes place in the winter, after the beginning of a
season of precipitation, it is usually not difficult, even in arid New Mexico, to get
water of both kinds.

212. — The proper receptacles of the sacred water are wicker water-jars and

gourd cups ; but of late years the Navahoes are getting careless in this matter
and are coming to use Zuni pots and cups and even vessels procured from the
whites.

AZE Z>A‘TSOS OR Z>A‘TSOS, FROST MEDICINE.

213 — Z?a‘tsos means simply hoar frost, but it is also a name of a preparation
used for fevers, which is supposed to contain all the virtues and cooling proper¬
ties of frost. Often this is called aze rt?a‘tsos or frost medicine. It must be pre¬
pared by a virgin. She grinds meal and puts it in a sacred basket. She takes
this out before sunrise on a frosty morning, places it under one or more plants
and shakes frost crystals into it until it is moist enough for her purpose. She
works the moistened meal into a dough, which she carries home before the sun
rises and puts away where the sun cannot shine on it. See par. 726.

SACRED CHARCOAL.

214. — On many occasions, where a surface is to be blackened, particularly
if it is a large surface, charcoal is employed. The ordinary charcoal of wood
does not usually answer, although it is used exclusively as the black in making
the dry-paintings. On most occasions they employ what is here called sacred
charcoal, which is prepared by burning together four plants, viz. : (1) A com¬
posite flower, Gutierrezia euthamice , which grows abundantly in the Navaho
land through a wide range of altitude. It is called by the Navahoes tnlafllgese
(meaning scare-weed or dodge-weed) because frightened reptiles and small animals
seek its cover. (2) Bouteloua hirsuta , a species of that genus to which the name
grama grass is most commonly applied. Perhaps other species of Bouteloua are
used. (3) Eurotia lanata, called winter-fat and white sage by the whites, and
katso^a, or jack-rabbits corn by the Navahoes. (4) An undetermined herb called
tsetsi. This mixture, though scarcely to be considered a medicine, is most
conveniently described in this connection.

KE'TLO.

215. — All lotions for external use applied in healing ceremonies are called
ke'tlo. Frequent reference is made to ke'tlo in the descriptions of the rites.
The lotion chiefly used in the ceremony of kled^e /^a/a/ is the cold infusion, in
sacred water, of an undetermined umbelliferous plant called troltsin or tadztrin,
mixed with spruce leaves. It is usually brewed in a water-tight basket in which
a couple of ears of corn are first laid. The plant must be freshly gathered. The
writer has seen a rite delayed awaiting the arrival of fresh tsdltyin. The mode
of adding the water is described in par. 461 and elsewhere.

216. — There are other medicines used in the ceremony but they do not
require special description.

FOODS.

2 1 7. — During this ceremony there are served many dishes of the ancient food
on which the Navahoes subsisted before they adopted, to any extent, the food of
the Europeans. Most of these messes are served during the vigil of the fourth
night, when they form an element of the rite. See par. 459. The following
are brief descriptions of some of them.

218. — I. Ka7 e7in, literally, no cedar, a white corn-meal mush from which the
usual ingredient of cedar ashes has been omitted.

219. — 1 1. Wa, the leaves and branchlets of bee-weed, Cleome pungens ; cooked
as we cook greens, but boiled in several waters to remove the pungent taste.

220. — III. Wa beltse, a watery stew or gravy made of wa, or bee-weed.

221. — IV. Alkan, or sweet bread. This is made in part of chewed meal,
which the saliva converts into glucose and in part of the meal of parched corn.
Sometimes roots and herbs are added. It is baked in a hole in the ground in
which a fire has been kept burning for hours. The ashes are removed ; the hole
is lined with corn-husks ; the mixture is poured in and covered with husks and
earth ; a fire is built on top and maintained for many hours more. This forms a
large soft loaf, which is the principal dish of the fourth evening. The Navaho
alkan is similar to the Zuni hepalokiya ; but the people of Zuni have permanent
stone ovens in which to bake their dish.

222. — V. ZM‘bit.yai', literally, three ears, cake or dumpling made of the pulp
of green corn, wrapped in corn-husks and boiled in water. Three cones are made
of one complete husk, whose leaves are not removed from the stem ; thus the dish
has the appearance of three deer’s ears fastened together, whence the name.

223. — VI. Tse‘as7e, literally, stone-baked. This is the same as the paper
bread of the Pueblo Indians, the hewe of Zuni. It is a thin, broad, flexible, cake
having the appearance of paper. It is made by spreading, with the hand, a very
thin corn-meal batter over a large flat, polished, stone slab, under which is a fire.
Corn of different colors is commonly selected to make different batches ; thus
they have : tse‘as7e /akaf, or white stone-baked ; tse‘as7e dotWz, or blue stone-
baked ; tse‘£.s7e /itsoi, or yellow stone-baked, and tse‘as7e litff, or red stone-baked.

224. — VII. Klesan, or ^ltlogi klesan. To make this dish, the Navahoes cut
grains from the unripe ears of corn and grind them to a pulp on a metate; they spread
out hot embers and lay on them a covering of green corn-leaves ; on this cover¬
ing they lay the pulp in small masses to form cakes ; over these they place more
corn-leaves ; then they rake glowing embers over all and leave the cakes to bake.

225. — VIII. 7anaskl'£, a very thin mush.

226. — IX. L€\\zoz or kleilzoz, literally, side by side in earth, consists of cakes
made partly of chewed meal and partly of the meal of baked corn, formed into a
stiff dough. Pieces of the dough are rolled into oblong shape, encased in corn-
husks which are tied with yucca fibre and laid side by side, in rows, in hot ashes,
to bake.

227. — X. Na^mogeA, or spread bread, a thin corn batter poured on hot coals.

228. — XI. Yhtlogin tsiYikoi, or intsWikoi, is made of dried green corn
which is ground with water, to a pulp, on a metate. The pulp is encased
in corn-husks which are folded at the ends and placed between corn-leaves and
hot coals to bake.

229. — XII. Barthhastloni, corn-meal dumplings, enveloped in husks and
boiled.

230. — XIII. KinHpi'^i, boiled corn-meal dumplings without husk covers.

231. — XIV. 77/a‘nil, gray mush made of corn-meal mixed with cedar ashes.

232. — XV. No'kad or Yokosi. The former name means, tracked, and refers
to the traces of the fingers of the cook, left in the stiff dough ; the latter name
refers to the salty taste. Thick flat cakes of salted meal baked on a hot stone
which serves as a griddle.

233. — XVI. 7/azaale1, boiled greens made from the leaves of an early-flowered
umbelliferous plant not determined.

234. — Other dishes of ancient food, which require no special description, are
prepared. These are mentioned in the account of the rites of the fourth night. 11

SACRED ARTICLES— THE DEMANDS OF THE GODS.

235. — In the accompanying myths, particularly in that of 7b‘nastyi//ego H&t-kl,
there are frequent allusions to certain articles demanded by the gods as rewards
for their labors in curing disease. The story-tellers rarely repeat the whole list
at once but usually the greater part of it, and at one repetition they mention names
which, at another time they omit. These numerous repetitions are tedious and
the reader will be spared them. Once for all we give the complete list here and
refer to it later on. This list is compiled from the various lists of the narrators.
All these articles are now used in the ceremony except the five jeweled baskets,
or baskets made of jewels, which are probably mythical.

236. — List.

Wrought beads of all kinds.
A white shell basket.

A turquoise basket.

A haliotis basket.

A cannel-coal basket.

6. A rock crystal basket.

7. White shell (fragments).

T urquoise.

Haliotis.

Cannel-coal.

Rock crystal.

Sacred buckskins.

Wild tobacco.

List.

14. Eagle feathers.

15. Bluebird feathers.

16. Yellow warbler feathers.

1 7. T urkey-feathers.

18. Turkey “ beard.”

19. Cotton string.

20. Specular iron-ore.

21. Corn-pollen.

22. Pollen of larkspur.

23. Life pollen.

24. A special life pollen made of bluebird

pollen, yellow warbler pollen and
grasshopper pollen.

I. Medicine-Lodges

MEDICINE-LODGES.

2 37- — Buildings of two different forms are constructed to serve as medicine-
lodges in this ceremony : the first is conical in form, the second is flat-topped.

238. — The conical or conoidal lodge is by far the more common. It is con¬
structed on the same principles as the ordinary conical dwelling or hog-axi of the
Navaho ; but it is much larger and requires the use of heavier beams. Fig. 1
shows a lodge built for the ceremony of the mountain chant 12 ; but that built for
the night chant is quite similar except in one slight particular, which the casual
observer might never detect and which does not show in the illustration : in the
lodge of the mountain chant, a recess is made in the north, where a character clad
in evergreens is hidden during the rites of the fifth night ; in the lodge of the
night chant, a small recess is made in the west to contain the masks and other
ceremonial properties. Plate I, fig. B, is from a photograph taken on the morn¬
ing after the last night’s performance of the night chant. It shows the form of
the lodge less perfectly than fig. 1. The pinon branches over the smoke-hole
were placed there to protect the pictures on the floor from rain or snow.

239. — In a paper on “ Navaho Houses ” 13 by Cosmos Mindeleff, p. 509, there

is an excellent description of the flat-topped medicine-lodge and of its mode of
construction. Mr. Mindeleff calls it “Hogan of the Yebitcai dance” and
“ Yebitcai house.” He says : “ For the observance of this ceremony it is usual

to construct a flat-roof hut called iyadaskuni, meaning, literally, ‘ under the flat.’ ”
We might easily draw the inference from the quoted remark that the flat-topped
lodge is almost the only form of lodge used in the night chant ; but the experience
of the writer leads him to declare to the contrary. He has observed in wide
travel over the Navaho country more than a score of night chant lodges, some in
process of construction, others completed and ready for use, others in use during
the ceremony, and many more abandoned and in various stages of decay. In all,
he has seen but one of the flat-topped variety. This was observed at a ceremony
which he attended at the ranch of Thomas Torlino near the Chusca Mountains.
Not only is the flat-topped lodge not the usual form used for this ceremony, but
it is a rare form.

240. — It is for no mythic or religious reason, that the flat-topped lodge is
constructed. It is preferred to the other form solely for economic reasons.
Torlino is a graduate of the Carlisle school and speaks English. He is a full-
blooded Navaho and was the patron of this ceremony, which he had performed
for the benefit of an invalid brother. Being asked why he built a flat-topped
lodge instead of a conical one, as was usual, he said that it was because in the
neighborhood of his house the trees were of low size ; that he could not find, with¬
out going to a distance, logs long enough for the conical house. Under favor¬
able conditions the conical house is the more easily built. Torlino’s ranch is at
an altitude of about 5000 feet, where pinon and cedar are stunted ; at higher
altitudes in New Mexico they grow to greater height.

241. — The lodge is never destroyed after the conclusion of the ceremony,
neither is the arbor or greenroom. They are left to decay. Sometimes, but
rarely, a lodge is used a second time for a ceremony, and it may be used as a
workroom or a temporary shelter ; but it is not used as a regular residence.
Lodges, falling to ruins, may be seen all over the Navaho country. It is easy to
distinguish an old lodge of the night chant from one of another ceremony, by the
remains of the arbor in the east.

ARBOR OR GREENROOM.

242. — The above names are applied to a rude structure erected on the after¬
noon of the ninth day of the ceremony about one hundred paces east of the
medicine-lodge. The arbor consists of a circle of evergreen saplings and branches,
stuck firmly in the ground and closely set. It is about twenty feet in diameter,
about twelve feet high and has an opening in the south. A fire is made in the
centre at night. Often it is built so that living trees may form a part of the circle.
It is used as a dressing-room for the dancers of the last night. Here the relays
that have finished their work take off their masks and properties, and wash the
paint from their persons ; and here the new relays paint themselves and assume
the properties which their predecessors take off. Men not performing in the rite
often loiter here to assist the actors in their toilets, to smoke and to gossip. See
plate I, figure D.

I. Sudorific Treatment

SUDORIFIC TREATMENT.

243. — The patient receives sudorific treatment during four days of the cere¬
mony — second, third, fourth, and fifth, — and always in the forenoon. Diaphoresis
is usually produced by means of a hot-air bath given in a sweat-house ; but there
is another method of producing it, called ko^nike (par. 255). The sweat-house
system will be first described.

SWEAT-HOUSES AND SWEAT-HOUSE TREATMENT.

244. - — In the mythic days, the legends tell us, four sweat-houses were built
in this ceremony, each on a separate day, and this is still often done, but the cus¬
tom of building only one sweat-house and using it four times is now becoming
common. The sweat-house is ordinarily called thtid.zdhog&n or /fogan Ma'dse,
water-house, or simply tha.‘dz6, but in the songs it is referred to as Ua/ye/ biad,
or the little darkness. It is erected at a variable distance from the medicine-
lodge — east on the first day — of from 100 to 200 paces.

245. — Whether one or four houses are built, the method of construction is
always the same. A round hole three feet or more in diameter and nearly a foot
deep is dug. Over this, four small forked sticks are planted at an angle of about
450, the forked ends interlocking above, in the middle. Two of these sticks are
of pinon, placed one in the east and one in the south ; two are of cedar, placed

one in the west and one in the north. Other sticks are laid around, leaning on
the first four sticks, so as to form a conical structure, with an opening or doorway
in the east through which the patient enters. Over the frame thus constructed,
is placed a vegetal covering so thick that none of the sand or clay, afterwards
piled on, may fall through it. This covering is preferably made of spruce twigs ;
but if spruce is scarce, artemisia or any other plant may be added to the spruce
or altogether substituted for it. The last covering is of earth or sand, taken from
the ground immediately around the house ; this is lightly beaten down and
smoothed with the oaken battens used by the weavers. The little hut thus made,
which takes an hour or more to build, measures externally from five to six feet in
diameter and about three feet high above the general surface of the ground. The
doorway is usually two feet or a little more in height, is about a foot and a half
wide at the bottom, and tapers toward the top, where it is edged with a cross¬
piece or lintel (plate I, C). Spruce twigs, or other material in default of spruce,
are strewn on the floor, for the patient to sit on. A portion of the top of the
sweat-house is smoothed with extra care and may be extended or built up at the
edges to form the groundwork for the pictorial decoration, which is next applied.

DECORATIONS OF THE SWEAT-HOUSE.

246. — The decorations are not always
the same. The reasons for varying
them have not been fully investigated.

The houses of the first and third days are

decorated alike ; so also are those
of the second and fourth days. The
decorations of the latter two are usually
simpler than those of the former, and are
sometimes omitted. Plate II, figs. A and
B, represents two forms of decoration of
the first and third sweat-houses. Other
variants of rainbow and lightning designs
may be used. These decorations are dry-
paintings, executed by a method elsewhere

described (pars. 156-164). Fig. 6 shows
the decorations done in corn-meal of the and fourth day. of the sweat-bath. Diagram. See par.

second and fourth days in the same rites.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

247. — Fig. A. The red and blue lines running from north to south (or rather
in a northerly and southerly direction, for the orientation is rarely perfect) repre¬
sent the plumed rainbow, or flying rainbow — not the anthropomorphic god. The
symbol at the northern extremity of the rainbow represents five quills of the tail

of a magpie ( Pica hudsonica ), they are black tipped with white ; the blue sprin¬
kled on the surface, imperfectly shown in the illustration, represents the changing
sheen of the feathers. The symbol at the southern extremity of the rainbow is
that of the tail of the chicken-hawk ( Accipiter cooperi ), the gini of the Navahoes.
The zigzag white and black lines running approximately from east to west repre¬
sent the white and “black” lightning. The figure terminating the lightning in
the west represents the tail of the red-tailed buzzard ( Buteo borealis ), called by
the Navahoes atse/itsoi, or yellow-tail. They regard the indistinct color of the
tail as yellow, and so depict it, while we regard it as red. The figure at the east¬
ern end of the lightning symbolizes the tail of a war-eagle (. Aquila chrysaetus)y the
atsa of the Navahoes.

248. — Fig. B. In this decoration we have also the designs of rainbow and
lightning ; but they appear as men, not birds ; they are anthropomorphic deities.
The rainbow is here shown, not as one individual, the usual way, but as two ; each
color of the rainbow represents a separate individual.14 The lightning is also rep¬
resented as two individuals, the black and the white lightnings being regarded as
separate divinities. The lightnings are supplied with the masks of male dancers ;
the rainbows with those of female dancers. Here we have again an illustration
of a law of symbolism of sex, elsewhere described (par. 16). Lightning and rain¬
bow are regarded as allied phenomena ; but the lightning, being active, noisy, and
destructive, is considered as the male, while the rainbow, being gentle, silent, and
harmless, is considered as the female.

PLANTING OF PLUMED WANDS.

249. — The eight plumed wands or mufia‘ of the shaman are stuck vertically
in the ground around the sweat-house when the decoration is completed. The
four black wands are placed north of the lodge and the four blue south. He who
plants them moves sunwise.

FIRE AND HOT STONES.

250. — While the building is in progress a fire is lighted about two paces east
of the sweat-house. The sticks used in the fire are pinon and cedar and must
have their butts towards the house. Four large stones, of a kind that will not
easily disintegrate when heated, are placed in the fire. When the stones are hot
they are taken from the fire and transferred to the sweat-house to the north of
where the patient sits, with two sticks which are used as tongs. New fire is built
every day and the material of the old fire removed and ceremonially deposited.
No water is thrown on the stones as is the custom among other Indian tribes.
The Navaho sweat-bath is a hot-air bath, not a steam bath.

CURTAINS OF THE DOOR.

251. — The door of the lodge is covered with four coverings. In former days
sacred buckskins were used for this purpose, now blankets and cotton sheeting

are largely substituted for buckskin. In the myths it is related that the gods cov¬
ered their sweat-houses with four coverings : first, a sheet of darkness ; second, a
sheet of blue sky ; third, a sheet of yellow sky ; fourth, a sheet of white sky. For
this reason it is a common practice now to spread over the door of the sweat-house
a black blanket first and a sheet of white cotton last ; but little consideration is
given to the colors of the second and third covers. These coverings are among
the many perquisites of the shaman.

WHERE ONE SWEAT-HOUSE IS BUILT.

252. — If only one sudatory is built, it is erected east of the medicine-lodge.
Each day the picture is erased, the bed of spruce and the stones taken out ; but
otherwise the structure is not in any way despoiled or injured until the last day’s
rite is done.

WHERE FOUR SWEAT-HOUSES ARE BUILT.

253. — If four sweat-houses are erected, the first is built east of the medicine-
lodge ; the second, south ; the third, west ; the fourth, north ; but in each case the
door faces east and the fire is built east of the sudatory. Each day when the rites
are done, the house is torn down, the hole filled up, the debris of the fire re¬
moved, and all traces of the house and rite are obliterated. Some shamans use
the material, or at least the four principal sticks, of the first house in building the
others ; but usually the material of each house is ceremonially deposited or sacri¬
ficed when the house is demolished, and new material collected for the next
house.

254. — The material of the first sweat-house is deposited east of the site of
the house ; the material of the second, south of the site of the house ; the material
of the third, west of the site of the house ; and the material of the fourth, north
of the site of the house to which it belonged — approximately, at least, in each
case. They are usually placed in the branches or under the shade of trees, pinon
being preferred. It is customary to place the material which formed the sweat-
house in a spot different but adjacent to that in which the heated stones, the spruce
carpeting, and the remains of the fire are laid. Thus, the different collections
may be laid in different trees, or one may be laid in the branches and the other at
the base of the tree. Some shamans deposit, with the refuse of each lodge, a
kethawn three finger-widths in length, colored according to the direction in which
it is sacrificed — white, blue, yellow, or black. The tips of the sticks from the
sweat-house and of the kethawns must point away from the medicine-lodge. Each
kethawn is laid on a trail of meal. Pollen is sprinkled on the sacrificial heap and
a benediction uttered in the usual manner. See pars. 968 and 985-989.

KOiYNIKE, OR OUT-DOOR SUDORIFIC.

255. — Sometimes the patient gets a form of sudorific treatment called kozz-
nike instead of the sweat-house. In the kozznike there is no lodge built ; but in-

stead four open fires are made, each at a different point of the compass, from the
medicine-lodge, on a different day. The fire is made of juniper and pinon and is
kept up until the ground underneath is well heated. When the fire has burned
down, the ashes are cleared away and the hot ground is covered with seven layers
of different woods and herbs, spread from below upward in the following order :
juniper, pinon, spruce, Gutierrezia euthamice , a plant called tse'aze or rock medi¬
cine, Bouteloua grass, and Eurotia lanata or winter fat. The patient is laid on
this bed, his head toward the medicine-lodge ; he is covered with blankets ; a few
leaves are put under his head for a pillow ; there he remains until certain songs
are sung and he perspires freely.

256. — In all other respects the rites and medicines are the same for kozznike
as for the sweat-house. In the myths (pars. 77 5, 867), a trench is mentioned in
which the fire was made, and various acts connected with the fire are described.
The writer has never witnessed the application of ko/znike ; but has obtained de¬
scriptions of it from different medicine-men.

SACRED DEERSKIN.

257. — Before telling how masks are made, it is well to speak of the principal
material used in their construction — a material used, too, for many other purposes
besides the fabrication of masks — i. e., z'okakehi or unwounded buckskin. The deer
which supplies the skin must not be wounded in any way. It is surrounded by
men, mounted or on foot, and chased around in a circle, from which it cannot
escape, until it is overcome by exhaustion and falls. A bag containing pollen is
put over the nostrils and mouth and held there until the deer is smothered. The
carcass is laid on its back. Lines are marked with pollen along the median line
and along the insides of the limbs, in both cases from the centre outward.
Incisions are made with a stone knife from centre toward periphery along the lines
of pollen until the skin is fully opened. The skinning may, of late years, be
completed with a steel knife. After the skin is removed it is laid east of the
carcass with its head to the east and its hairy side down. The ulnae and fibulae
are cut out and put in the places where they belong ; i. e. the right ulna is put in
the skin of the right fore leg, the left ulna in that of the left fore leg, the right
fibula in that of the right hind leg, and the left fibula in that of the left hind leg.
The skin may then be rolled up and carried away to be dressed at leisure elsewhere.
Both ulnae are used as scrapers for the skin, one for the right side, the other for
the left. If the skin is used in making masks the fibulae are employed as awls —
the right fibula in sewing the right sides of the masks, the left fibula in sew¬
ing the left sides.

258. — As there are thus many other requirements for these skins besides the
mere fact of their being un wounded, they are often spoken of in this work as sacred
buckskins or sacred deerskins although the Navahoes do not so call them.

259. — Such skins are used for many other purposes in the rites, as will be seen
in the following pages.

I. Masks

MASKS.

260. — The majority of masks worn during the ceremony may be called
permanent masks. They are the property of the chanter, are easily portable, are
stored in a bag. One set of them may last the priest through his professional
career.

261. — There are two masks of an ephemeral character, made for the occasion
of a particular act, and destroyed as soon as they have served their purpose. Such
masks are best considered in connection with the acts to which they belong (pars.
357-36i).

262. — As the chanters are comparatively few in number, the work of making-
permanent masks and the ceremonies connected therewith rarely occur. The
writer has never witnessed them and gives the following information on the
authority of several shamans.

263. — The unwounded buckskin and all other material for the manufacture
must be provided in advance by the shaman and he must cause the construction
of the special lodge in which the work is done. Pollen vitalized by a bird called
nikeni, is used. This bird, would seem, from the description to be a species of
owl. The reason it is used for the masks is that its face looks somewhat like a
human face. With pollen in which the whole bird has been immersed they mark
off the pattern of the mask on the buckskin ; with pollen which has been applied
to the eyes of the bird they mark the location of the eyes on the mask, and with
pollen which has been applied to the mouth of the bird they mark the position
of the mouth.

264. — A full set of twenty masks must all be made in one day and a sufficient
number of men must be assembled to accomplish this. The masks thus made are :
one for Nayenezgani, one for To'badAstnni, one for 7o‘nemli, one for //astreyal/i,
one for //astre/tn, one for //astreAmi, one for DsaharTold^a, one for GazzaskizA,
six for the other yebaka and six for the yebaad or goddesses. Seven bunches of
owl feathers and the wreaths of hair to adorn the masks are also then prepared
and so are the fourteen fox-skins used as collars to these masks. The spruce
collars are not made on this occasion. The shaman begins to sing when work
begins. When the masks are all done they have a ceremonious vigil of the masks
much like that which now occurs in the ordinary night chant, on the fourth night
(pars. 454 et seqi). In this they sing, with occasional rests, all night.

265. — It is allowable to make two sets, or forty masks in one day. In this case
two contiguous lodges are built and occupied simultaneously, and a separate set
is made in each lodge. The singers in both lodges do not sing at the same time ;
when the song is taken up in one lodge there is silence in the other, and vice versa.
Thus they sing alternately in one lodge or the other during the night.

266. — Fourteen of the masks, those representing males, are caps of buckskin
that completely cover the head and face ; each is made of two pieces of skin shaped
like an inverted U. These are sewed together with 12 interrupted sutures, six

on each side. At the seam, from about the level of the eyes, upward there is a
fringe of hair which may be black, red, or yellow. Buckskin thongs are attached

to the mask for the purpose of secur¬
ing plumes, collars, and other tem¬
porary appendages. See fig. 7.

267. — The six yebaad or female
masks, are simply dominoes that cover
the face only and allow the natural
hair to flow out over the shoulders.
They have fringes of hair on top.
They are made of soft deerskin secured
to a backing of rawhide by means of
an adhesive substance. While the
male masks are very flexible these
are quite stiff.

268. — The special decorations of
the different masks will be described
when we come to speak of the divine
characters that wear them.

269. — Eight masks of the more
important characters of the ceremony
are illustrated in plate III. All these
have been seen, handled, and sketched
at leisure by the writer when a cere¬
mony was not in progress. Three
other masks, of less important charac¬
ters, are illustrated by engravings in the text. Two of these, belonging to a
variant of the ceremony called /o‘nastyi/zego /za^a/, have not been seen by the
writer. The sketches are made from descriptions and rude drawings by the
Indians. See figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 7. Mask of .//astreyal/i, untrimmed, showing arrangement of
buckskin thongs.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

270. — -The hair on the masks may be either stiff or flowing. Six of the masks
are here shown with stiff hair in order that the figures on the faces may not be
obscured. In this description of the plate, brief references only, will be given.

271. — Fig. A. Mask of //astyeyal/i as it appears in the dance of the last
night, with collar of spruce-twigs.

272. — Fig. B. Mask of //astye/zo^an, as worn when he appears in the guise
of a begging god on the ninth day of the ceremony, with collar of spruce.

273. — Fig. C. Mask of Nayenezgani, with collar of skin of kit-fox ( Viilpes
velox ) as worn in the act of succor of the ninth day.

274. — Fig. D. Mask of //astrebaad, shown without any collar, so as to display
ornamentation at bottom of mask.

275. — Fig. E. Mask of To'badAstnni as worn by the personator in the scene
of succor on the afternoon of the ninth day.

276. — Fig. F. Mask of Dsahaz/old.s'a with head-dress and fox-skin collar
complete. The collar with this, as with other masks, hides the yellow streak at
the bottom which symbolizes the evening sky.

277. — Fig. G. Mask of //astrebaka with flowing hair and without collar so
as to display, at the bottom, the symbol of the evening sky, which is a horizontal
band of yellow crossed with eight perpendicular black lines to represent rain. The
mouth-tube is cylindrical.

278. — Fig. H. Mask of GazzaskizA with head-dress complete and collar of
fox-skin.

I. The Plumed Wands

THE PLUMED WANDS.

279. — Among the important properties of the night chant are eight plumed
wands or inz/ia* as they are called. They are set around the great pictures and
around the sudatories (par. 337). They are used in symbolic massage (par. 340)
and in other ways. See plate IV, fig. A.

280. — They represent Navahoes of the mythic days (see Navaho Legends,
pp. 71 et seq .), when the people dwelt on the banks of the central stream, the pro¬
totype of the San Juan in the fourth world, before they emerged to this, the fifth
world.

281. — They are made of willows which must be obtained only on the banks
of the San Juan River, the most sacred stream of the Navahoes. In procuring
them the shaman begins on the south bank of the river, faces west and cuts a
stick from a willow of suitable size and of the proper description, as hereafter
specified : this he marks with one notch near its butt end to show, until it is fin¬
ished, its butt end (par. 18), and to indicate its order of precedence. From the
point where this is done he proceeds westward until he finds a second suitable
stick, which he cuts and marks with two notches near the butt. In like manner,
moving westward, he cuts a third stick which he marks with three notches, and a
fourth stick which he marks with four notches. He wraps these four sticks in a
bundle by themselves. He scatters pollen before him, to the north, in the way
he intends to go and crosses the San Juan River to its north bank. Here he
cuts and appropriately marks (with one to four notches), four more sticks, pro¬
ceeding, as he does this, from west to east or in a direction opposite to that which
he took on the south side. In his whole journey he follows the sunwise ceremo¬
nial circuit. The four northern sticks are wrapped in a separate bundle. As
each willow is cut, it is trimmed to the proper length at the top and the discarded
part is placed upright among the growing willows, as close as possible to the
stump from which it was cut. Pollen is rubbed to the cut surface of the stump
and scattered in the air by the ascending hand from the stump upward in the
place (where the stick was, apparently as a sacrifice to the spirit of the stick-
They say this makes the willow grow again.

282. — The proper length of the sticks is either two spans or the natural cubit
(par. 147), measures which the Navahoes declare always coincide on the same
individual. Throughout this distance the stick must be free from branch, knot
or blemish of any kind. One stick, duly measured, is taken as a standard for the
other sticks. They are carefully denuded of bark and each is whittled to a point
at the butt end in order that it may be easily stuck in the ground. Each of the
four sticks cut on the south side of the river has a facet cut near its tip end (par.
17) to represent the square domino or mask worn by the female dancers in the
rites. The sticks cut on the north side of the river have no such facets ; their
round ends sufficiently represent the round cap-like masks worn by the male dan¬
cers. After this is done the sticks are painted ; those of the south blue, the color
of the female in Navaho symbolism (par. 16) ; those of the north, black, the color
of the male. According to the Origin Legend, when the sexes were separated in
the fourth world, the women dwelt on the south bank, the men on the north bank of
the river. The black sticks are painted white at the upper extremity in accord¬
ance with a law of Navaho hieratic art elsewhere explained (par. 15). The facet
on each blue stick is marked with small black spots, to represent the eyes and
mouth of the female mask and, at the bottom, is the yellow horizontal streak
which represents the na//otsoi, or yellow evening sky. The upper end of each
blue stick is painted black to represent the hair of the female characters which
flows freely out, not being confined by the domino, while the hair of the male
dancer is hidden by his mask. The points of all the wands are painted white.

283. — When the painting is finished each stick is decked with two whorls of
turkey- and eagle-feathers. Each whorl is secured by one continuous cotton
string which is terminated by a downy feather plucked from a live eagle — a
breath feather. The string must be twilled from raw cotton on an old-fashioned
spindle. Cotton string obtained from the whites is never used. The Indians
prefer, too, the aboriginal cotton of New Mexico and Arizona. When the wands
are finished the debris of manufacture is carried to the north and thrown away
among a cluster of willows on the north bank of a stream or arroyo. Song and
ceremony, which have not been obtained, accompany the making of the wands.

284. — The in<Aa‘ are expected to last a shaman throughout his professional
career and may be, by him, bequeathed to a pupil.

TALISMAN OF THE YEBITYAI.

285. — The talisman of the Yebityai or Yebitrai baalfli consists of four sticks
of peeled willow each three spans long, culled with much care and many ceremo¬
nial observances. They are so attached to one another with woolen strings that
they may be spread into an open quadrangle and folded up again into what
seems a simple cluster of parallel sticks, and again formed into a quadrangle and
again folded, instantaneously and repeatedly by a simple motion of the arms. To
each of the four strings is attached a downy eagle-feather. The talisman is not
sacrificed. The chanter usually receives it from his preceptor, may retain it all

his life and transmit it, in turn, to a pupil. See plate IV, figs. B and C. It is
whitened with gle.r, which is applied anew at each ceremony.

CEREMONIAL BASKETS.

286. — The writer has observed but two forms of baskets made by the Nav-
aho women and these are for ceremonial purposes. Perhaps other forms are
woven but he has not seen them in process of construction and, on inquiry, has
not heard of them. In developing their blanket-making to a high point of art
the women of this tribe have neglected other labors. The ruder but allied
Apaches, who weave no woolen fabrics, make more baskets than the Navahoes
and make them in greater variety of form, color, and quality. The Navahoes
buy most of their baskets from other tribes ; but, having greatly neglected the art
of basketry, they still continue to make these two forms, because such are essen¬
tial to the sacred rites and must be supplied by women of the tribe who know
what is required. The baskets are skilfully fabricated of twigs of aromatic sumac
wound in the form of a helix.

BASKET-DRUM.

287. — The most important variety of sacred basket is that which is here called
the basket-drum .(plate IV, fig. D) because in this ceremony it is used (inverted)
chiefly as a drum, although it is also used in other ways. In none of the ancient
Navaho rites is a regular drum or tom-tom employed.

288. — A colored band, red in the middle, with black serrated edges, is the
sole decoration. This band is not continuous but is intersected at one point by
a narrow line of uncolored wood. Although this resembles the line of life ob¬
served in ancient and modern Pueblo pottery, its presence is explained by reasons
more practical than those which the Pueblos attribute to their line of life. The
Navaho line is formed to assist in the orientation of the basket, at night, in the
medicine-lodge, when the fire burns low and the light is dim. The law of butts
and tips (par. 18) applies to this basket as well as to other sacred articles. In
making the basket the fabricator must always put the butt end of the twig
toward the centre, and the tip end toward the periphery. The butt of the first
twig placed in the centre, and the tip of the last twig in the edge, must lie in
the same radial line, and this line is marked by the hiatus in the ornamental band.
The rim of the basket is usually so neatly finished that the medicine-man could not
easily tell where the helix ended were not the pale line there to guide him. It
must lie due east and west when the basket is ceremonially employed.

289. — The border of this, as of other Navaho baskets, is finished in a diag¬
onally woven or plaited pattern. These Indians say that the Apaches and other
neighboring tribes finish the margins of their baskets with simple circular turns
of the investing fibre like that in the rest of the basket. The Navaho basket,
they believe, may always be known by the peculiar finish described, and they say
that if among other tribes a woman is found who makes the Navaho finish she is

of Navaho descent or has learned her art from a Navaho. They account for this
by a legend which is perhaps not wholly mythical. In the ancient days a Navaho
woman was seated under a juniper tree finishing a basket in the style of the other
tribes, as was then the Navaho custom, and while so engaged she was intently
thinking if some stronger and more beautiful margin could not be devised. As
she thus sat in thought, the god //astreyal/i tore from the overhanging juniper
tree a small spray and cast it into her basket. It immediately occurred to her to
imitate in her work the peculiar fold of the juniper leaves and she soon devised a
way of doing so. If this margin is worn through or torn in any way the basket
is unfit for sacred use.

290. — The basket is given to the shaman when the rites are done. He must
not keep it, but must give it away, and he must be careful never to eat out of it,
for, notwithstanding its sacred use, it is no desecration to serve food in it.

291. — It seems best to describe in this place some of the general observances
connected with the use of the basket-drum in the night chant. During the first
four nights song is accompanied only by the rattle. During the last five nights
noises are elicited from the basket-drum by means of the yucca drumstick. This
drum is beaten only in the western side of the lodge. For four of these five
nights the following methods are pursued : A small Navaho blanket is laid on
the ground, its longer dimension extending east and west. An incomplete circle
of meal, open in the east, of the diameter of the basket, is traced on the blanket
near its eastern end. A cross in meal, its ends touching the circle near the
cardinal points, is then described within the circle. In making this cross a line is
first drawn from east to west, and then a line is drawn from south to north. Meal
is then applied sunwise to the rim of the upturned basket so as to form an incom¬
plete circle with its opening in the east. A cross similar to that on the blanket
is drawn in meal on the concavity of the basket, the east-and-west line of which cross
must pass directly through the hiatus in the ornamental band. The basket is then
inverted on the blanket in such a manner that the figures in meal on the one shall
correspond in position to those on the other. The western half of the blanket is
then folded over the convexity of the basket and the musicians are ready to begin ;
but before they begin to beat time to a song they tap the basket with the drum¬
stick at the four cardinal points in the order of east, south, west, and north.
The Navahoes say, “We turndown the basket ” when they refer to the com¬
mencement of songs in which the basket-drum is used, and “We turn up the
basket” when they refer to the ending of the songs for the night. On the last
night the basket is turned down with much the same observances as on the previ¬
ous nights, but the openings in the ornamental band and in the circles of meal
are turned to the west instead of to the east, and the eastern half of the blanket
is folded over the concavity of the basket. There are songs for turning up and
for turning down the basket, and there are certain words in these songs at which
the shaman prepares to turn up the basket by putting his hand under its eastern
rim, and other words at which he does the turning. For four nights, when the

basket is turned down, the eastern part is laid on the outstretched blanket first
and it is inverted toward the west. On the fifth night it is inverted in the oppo¬
site direction. When it is turned up, it is always lifted first at the eastern edge.
As it is raised an imaginary something is blown toward the east, in the direction
of the smoke-hole of the lodge, and when it is completely turned up hands are
waved in the same direction, to drive out the evil influences which the sacred
songs have collected and imprisoned under the basket.

MEAL -BASKET.

292- — The other form of sacred basket is also used for various purposes ; but
as its chief use is for holding meal, it is called the meal-basket. It is made on
the same general principles as the basket-drum. Its decorations consist of four
crosses and four zigzag lines as shown in plate IV, fig. E. The crosses are said
to represent clouds, and the zigzag lines, lightning. Usually the crosses are in
red and the body of the basket in uncolored wood ; but I have seen a few samples
in which the crosses were in uncolorecl wood and the body of the basket in red.
The crosses have a margin of brown and usually at each salient angle is a small
square of brown. The lightning symbols are generally brown, red, or part brown
and part red.

DRUMSTICK.

293. — The next thing to be examined is the drumstick with which the drum
is beaten. The task of making this stick does not necessarily belong to the
shaman ; any assistant may make it ; but so intricate are the rules pertaining to
its construction that one shaman has told that he never found any one who could
form it merely from verbal instructions. Practical instructions are necessary. The
drumstick is made anew for each ceremony, and destroyed, in a manner to be
described, when the ceremony is over. It is formed from the stout leaves of
Yucca baccata , a species of Spanish bayonet, but not every plant of this kind is
worthy to furnish the material. We have seen an hour spent in search for the
proper plant on a hillside bristling with Yucca baccata. Four leaves only may be
used, and they must all come from the same plant, one from each of the cardinal
points of the stem. All must be of the proper length and absolutely free from
wound, stain, withered point, or blemish of any kind. These conditions are not
fulfilled on every yucca. The leaves may not be cut off, but must be torn off
downward at their articulations. The collector first pulls the selected leaf from
the east side of the plant, making a mark with his thumb nail on the east or dorsal
side of the leaf near its root, in order that he may know this leaf thereafter. He
walks sunwise around the plant to the west side, marks the selected leaf near the
tip on its palmar (east) surface, and culls it. He then retreats to the south side
of the plant and collects his leaf there, but does not mark it. Lastly, he proceeds
sunwise to the north and culls his last leaf, also without marking it. When the
leaves are all obtained the sharp, flinty points and the curling marginal cilia are

torn off and stuck, points upward, in among the remaining leaves of the plant
from which they were culled. The four leaves are then taken to the medicine-
lodge to be made up. The leaves from the east and west are used for the center
or core of the stick and are left whole. The leaves from the north and south are
torn into long shreds and used for the wrapper.

294. — In plate IV, fig. F, which represents the drumstick, it will be observed
that the core of the stick is divided by a suture of yucca-shred into five
compartments, one for each night during which the stick is used. Into each of
these sections are usually put one or more grains of corn, which, during the five
nights that the implement is in use, are supposed to imbibe some sacred properties.
When the ceremony is all over these grains are divided among the visiting
medicine-men, to be ground up and put in their medicine-bags.

295. — On the last morning of the ceremony, at dawn, when the last song of
sequence has been sung and the basket turned up, this drumstick is pulled to pieces
in an order the reverse of that in which it was put together. This work may only
be done by the shaman who conducted the rites, and, as he proceeds with his
work, he sings the song of the unraveling. As each piece is unwrapped it is
straightened out and laid down with its point to the east. The debris which
accumulated in the manufacture of the drumstick and which has been carefully
laid away for five days is now brought forth and one fascicle is made of all. This
is taken out of the lodge by an assistant, carried in an easterly direction, and laid
in the forks of a cedar tree (or in the branches of some large plant, if a cedar
tree is not at hand), where it will be safe from the trampling feet of cattle. There it
is left until destroyed or scattered by the forces of nature. The man who sacrifices
these fragments takes out with him in the hollow of his left hand some corn-meal,
which he sprinkles with the same hand on the shreds from butt to tip. He takes
out also, in a bag, some pollen, which he sprinkles on them in the same direction
with his right hand. As he does this he repeats in a low voice the prayer or
benediction, given in par. 988.

296. — The drumstick soon loses its freshness and becomes withered, shriveled,
and loose. A few taps of one in this condition on the basket would knock it all
to pieces. Even during the short time that the stick is in use for its sacred purpose
it would shrivel and become worthless were it not buried in moist earth all day
and taken forth from its hiding place only when needed for the ceremonies of the
night.

297. — It has been said that the drumstick, when the ceremonies are done,
must be pulled apart while a song is sung, and that its fragments must be deposited,
with prayer and ceremony, in the fork of a cedar tree or other secure place. How,
then, it may be asked, have I come into possession of a drumstick which is now on
exhibition at the National Museum? It was made for my instruction by a sha¬
man, not in the medicine-lodge, but in my own study. Such it is his privilege to
do for any recognized student of the rites. I have had several drumsticks made
and pulled apart for my instruction, and I have made them myself, under the

observation and criticism of the shaman. This one I was allowed to retain intact.
No one had ever sung or prayed over it. It had never been used in the rites.
It was therefore unnecessary to tear it apart, to release its soul and sacrifice its
substance to the gods.

YE£>AZ?ESTSANI.

298. — The name yetf'aai'estsani is applied to the two wands or implements used
in the initiation of females into the mysteries of the YebiUai. Each consists of an
ear of corn, one white and one yellow, to which is bound, by means of yucca fibres,
four fresh sprays of spruce. The sprays are but little longer than the ears of corn ;
they are fastened about equal distances apart, around the circumference of the ear,
with their axes parallel to that of the latter and their tips approximate to the tip
of the ear. The corn is of a kind so rare that the shaman always carries the
necessary ears with him. Each ear must have at its tip four grains of corn fitting
closely together and completely concealing the cob at this point. This kind of
corn is called bohoniAni.

PART II.
Rites in Detail.

Rites in Detail.

II. First Day

FIRST DAY.

299.  — The  work  usually  begins  at  nightfall  (about  6  r.M.)  of  the  day  on 
which  the  chanter  arrives.  This  first  evening’s  ceremonies  consist  principally  (1) 
in  applying  to  the  patient  the  talisman  of  the  yebitrai  (par.  285)  and  (2)  in  mak¬ 
ing  and  applying  the  circle  kethawns.  Shortly  before  the  work  proper  is  begun 
men  collect  twigs  of  aromatic  sumac  to  make  the  kethawns. 

CIRCLE  KETHAWNS. 

300.  — These  objects,  called  by  the  various  but  nearly  synonymous  names  of 
Yebitrai-tsapas,  yetsi^a-i'lpas,  yebapas  and  tsapasia^i-ol/a/,  are  twelve  in  number. 
Each  circle  is  made  of  a  twig  of  tn'ltsin  or  aromatic  sumac  (. Rims  aromatica  var. 
trilobata )  two  spans  long.  The  diameter  of  the  kethawn  must  correspond  with  a 
circle  formed  by  the  thumbs  and  forefingers  of  both  hands  touching  at  the  tips. 
It  is  usually  about  five  inches,  depending  of  course  on  the  size  of  the  constructor’s 
hand.  In  bringing  the  ends  of  the  twig  together,  to  form  the  circle,  the  butt  end 
goes  the  nearer  to  the  centre  ;  the  overlapping  tip  end  is  placed  on  the  circum¬ 
ference.  The  ends  are  tied  together  by  means  of  a  yucca  fiber  exactly  two  spans 
long.  The  butt  end  of  the  fiber  is  applied  to  the  butt  end  of  the  twig,  under¬ 
neath  it,  and  at  first  parallel  to  it,  the  fiber  is  then  wound  around  the  spliced 
extremities  of  the  twig,  so  that  its  tip  end  shall  approximate  the  tip  end  of  the 
twig.  The  fiber  is  secured  by  passing  the  end  under  the  last  turn  and  drawing  it 
tight,  in  such  a  manner  that  its  free  extremity  shall  lie  parallel  with  the  extremity 
of  the  twig.  Some  shamans  cause  the  twigs  of  sumac  to  be  peeled,  others  do 
not.  Great  care  must  be  exercised  in  bending  the  twigs  ;  should  a  break  or  even 
a  greenstick  fracture  occur,  the  twig  must  be  discarded. 

301.  — When  the  circles  are  completed  a  woolen  string  called  wok/zaY  is 
firmly  tied  to  each  and  then  secured  in  three  or  four  places,  to  the  circle  (so  as 
to  form  an  irregular  square  or  triangle  on  it)  with  a  sort  of  loose  crochet  knot 
which  opens  easily  when  the  free  extremity  is  pulled.  Each  woolen  string  is 
of  a  length  measured  from  the  centre  of  the  left  breast  to  the  end  of  the  right 
thumb,  the  arm  being  fully  extended  laterally.  At  the  end  of  each  string  is  a 
white  downy  eagle-plume  or  breath-feather.  These  strings,  like  the  talisman  of 
the  yebitrai,  are  not  sacrificed  ;  they  are  permanent  properties  of  the  chanter. 
They  are  made  for  him  on  the  occasion  of  conducting  his  first  ceremony,  after  he 
has  left  the  tutelage  of  his  instructor.  If  the  first  patient  is  a  woman,  it  is  she 
who  spins  the  strings  ;  if  it  is  a  married  man  it  is  his  wife  who  spins  them  ;  if  it  is 
an  unmarried  male  it  is  his  nearest  female  relative  who  does  the  work.  I  he  com¬ 
pleted  kethawn  is  emblematic  of  the  rings  on  which  the  wind-gods  ride. 

302. — Like  other  sacred  articles  these  kethawns  must  not  touch  the  ground, 

while  beincr 

O 

prepared.  They  must 
must,  in  turn,  be  laid  on  blankets. 

buckskins  which 
is  placed  in  the 

be  laid  on  clean  cloths  or 
When  a  finished  kethawn 

basket,  the  point  must  be  in  the  east 
and  the  breath-feather  must  hang 
over  the  edge  of  the  basket. 

303.  — It  takes  about  an  hour  to 
prepare  the  kethawns,  several  men 
working  on  them  at  the  same  time. 
When  done  they  are  placed  one  on 
top  of  another  in  one  or  more  sacred 
baskets  (I  have  seen  them  once  di¬ 
vided  into  three  groups,  each  group 
in  a  separate  basket)  to  await  the 
preparation  of  the  actors  who  are  to 
handle  them. 

304.  — The  debris  produced  in 
their  manufacture  is  taken  out  to  be 
deposited  on  the  ground,  north  of  the 
medicine-lodge.  After  they  are  laid 
in  the  basket,  the  chanter  chews  a 

plant  called  azenao XthAdo.  ( Townscndia  sericea,  Hook.)  or  unwinding  medicine, 
and  spits  the  juice  on  them.  This  is  supposed  to  facilitate  the  disentanglement 
of  the  string.  The  juice  is  spat  also  on  the  talisman  of  the  YebiUai  (par.  285). 

Fig.  8.  Kethawn  of  the  first  day.  Circle  kethawn. 

CONSECRATION  OF  LODGE. 

305.— The  shaman,  or  an  assistant,  moving  sunwise,  now  applies  meal  to  the 
inside  of  the  lodge.  If  the  lodge  is  conical  (par.  238)  he  rubs  it  on  the  five 
principal  posts  or  rafters  beginning  with  the  pole  immediately  south  and  ending 
with  that  immediately  north  of  the  doorway.  In  a  flat-topped  lodge  (par.  239)  he 
applies  meal  to  the  stringers.  In  both  cases  he  makes  a  second  circuit  of  the  lodge 
scattering  meal  around  the  edge  of  the  apartment.  If  the  patient  is  a  male,  white 
meal  is  used,  if  a  female,  yellow  meal  is  employed.  On  one  occasion  I  have  seen 
the  meal  applied  by  the  shaman  immediately  after  his  arrival,  before  any  other 
work  or  ceremony  had  begun.  It  is  applied  thus  again  to  the  lodge  on  the  night 
of  the  vigil. 

RITES  OF  TALISMAN  AND  KETHAWNS. 

306. — While  the  kethawns  are  being  prepared  the  talisman  of  Yebitrai  is 
freshly  painted  with  white  earth  and  the  toilet  of  those  who  are  to  personate  the 
mythic  characters  progresses ;  but  this  is  usually  not  finished  until  after  the 
kethawns  are  completed.  The  four  following  characters  are  usually  arrayed  in 

the  paint,  masks  and  other  properties  described  elsewhere  (par.  260).  Zfastse- 
yal/i,  //astve/pahi  and  two  //astjrebaad  or  goddesses.  When  they  are  ready, 
the  shaman  gives  them  careful  instructions  how  they  are  to  act  on  their  return. 
Then  they  leave  the  lodge,  carrying  their  masks  hidden  under  their  blankets,  and 
proceed  a  short  distance  to  the  east,  to  a  place  free  from,  observation,  where  they 
put  on  their  masks  and  await  the  arrival  of  the  patient  at  the  lodge.  Sometimes 
the  talisman  is  not  painted  till  after  the  kethawns  are  finished. 

307.  — While  the  actors  are  gone,  the  floor  is  swept ;  a  crier  goes  to  the  door  ; 
calls  aloud  “  Bike  /^a/a/i  /zakii  ”,  “  Come  on  the  trail  of  song”  ;  the  patient  enters, 
sits  down  on  a  blanket  to  the  northwest  or  west  of  the  fire,  facing  east,  with  legs 
extended,  and  the  shaman,  accompanied  by  his  assistants,  begins  to  sing. 

308.  — Soon  after  the  song  begins  //astyeyald  enters,  approaches  the  patient, 
opens  his  talisman  (par.  285)  to  its  quadrangular  form  and  places  it  around  the 
patient  four  times,  accompanying  each  motion  with  his  peculiar  cry  of  “  WiT  hu‘ 
hu‘  hu  ”.  The  first  time  he  places  it  around  the  waist ;  the  second  time  around 
the  chest ;  the  third  time  around  the  shoulders  ;  the  fourth  time  around  the  head  ; 
taking  it  completely  away  from  the  body  and  folding  it  up  in  his  hands  after  each 
application. 

309.  —  He  leaves  the  lodge  and  the  moment  he  has  disappeared  a  Yebaad 
enters.  A  circle  kethawn  is  given  to  him  (or  to  her,  we  might  figuratively  say, 
since  the  Yebaad  is  a  man,  personating  a  female  divinity).  He  applies  this  in 
silence  to  the  sacred  or  essential  parts  (par.  135)  of  the  patient,  holding  it  by 
both  hands  until  he  comes  to  the  mouth.  While  the  kethawn  is  held  in  the  last 
position,  at  the  mouth,  by  one  hand,  he,  with  the  other  hand  takes  hold  of  the 
free  end  of  the  string  and  ravels  it  out  with  a  single  pull.  He  then  lets  the 
wooden  ring  drop.  Holding  fast  to  the  end  of  the  string  he  drags  the  attached 
ring  after  him,  through  the  dust,  along  the  floor  of  the  lodge,  and  departs. 

310.  — When  the  first  //ast^ebaad  leaves,  //asUe/pahi  enters  and,  taking  a 
circle  kethawn,  goes  through  with  all  the  motions  of  his  immediate  predecessor  ; 
and  besides  utters  a  cry  while  so  doing.  When  he  has  disappeared,  dragging  his 
kethawn  after  him,  the  second  //astrebaad  enters  and  repeats  exactly  all  the  acts 
performed  by  the  first  7/asUebaad,  or  Yebaad  (par.  64). 

31 1.  — Four  times  these  four  characters  enter  in  the  order  and  manner  de¬ 
scribed,  and  on  each  occasion  they  go  through  exactly  the  same  performances, 
with  this  exception  :  on  the  second  and  fourth  occasions,  when  //astyeyal/i  enters, 
instead  of  surrounding  his  patient  with  the  open  talisman  he  applies  it  folded  to 
the  sacred  parts.  As  each  one  of  three  of  these  characters  carries  out  with  him 
at  each  exit  one  of  the  circle  kethawns,  it  is  evident  that,  when  the  last  actor  has 
departed  for  the  fourth  time,  all  the  kethawns  have  been  taken  out  of  the  lodge. 

312.  — The  characters  that  enact  this  scene  are  not  always  the  same.  I  have 
known  //ast^e/pahi  to  be  omitted,  on  which  occasion  7/asUeyaFi  performed  the 
service  usually  assigned  to  the  former,  in  addition  to  his  own,  making  separate 
exits  and  entrances  for  each  function  ;  and  I  have  known  //asbe/zo^an  to  be 

added,  applying  plumed  wands  to  the  patient,  after  //astreyaEi  had  applied  his 
talisman,  and  in  an  analogous  manner. 

313.  — When  the  actors  leave  the  lodge  in  costume,  for  the  fourth  time,  they 
take  off  their  masks,  outside,  and  in  a  few  moments  return  to  the  lodge,  un¬ 
masked.  //asUeyal/i  delivers  up  his  talisman  to  the  shaman,  assistants  proceed 
to  take  off  the  paraphernalia  from  the  actors  and  to  wash  the  coating  of  white 
earth  from  their  bodies.  When  this  is  done,  the  actors  array  themselves  in  their 
ordinary  clothes  and  the  work  of  the  evening  is  completed.  This  usually  occurs 
a  little  after  9  r.  m.  * 

314.  — I  have  it  noted,  from  observation,  that  //astreyal/i  returns  the  talis¬ 
man  to  the  shaman,  who  lays  it  away  in  the  mask  recess  in  the  west  of  the  lodge, 
but  I  have  been  informed  by  one  shaman  that  according  to  his  custom  it  is  laid 
on  the  roof,  over  the  doorway  on  top  of  the  circle  kethawns,  remains  there  all 
night,  is  brought  in  at  sunrise,  wrapped  in  buckskin  and  put  away  in  the  chant¬ 
er’s  bam 

o 

315.  — The  circle  kethawns  are  thus  disposed  of  :  According  as  they  are 
taken  out  by  the  masked  actors,  the  strings  are  wound  simply  around  them  and 
they  are  laid  on  top  of  one  another,  on  the  roof  of  the  vestibule  of  the  lodge, 
where  they  remain  all  night.  Next  morning  at  sunrise  they  are  taken  into  the 
lodge  and  turned  over  to  the  shaman.  He  unties  the  woolen  strings  and  puts 
these  back  in  his  bag.  He  unwinds  the  yucca  fibers  which  hold  the  ends  of  the 
twigs,  to  form  the  circles,  and  straightens  out  both  twigs  and  fibers  (always  hold¬ 
ing  the  butts  next  to  his  body  and  the  tips  to  the  east).  He  arranges  them  all 
in  a  single  bundle  with  all  the  butts  at  one  end  and  all  the  tips  at  the  other.  The 
bundle  is  carried  some  distance  to  the  north  of  the  lodge  and  tied  securely  (tips 
pointing  north),  in  the  forks  of  a  tree  which  may  be  of  any  species.  The  bundle 
is  sprinkled  from  butt  to  tip  with  meal  by  the  left  hand,  and  pollen  by  the  right, 
while  a  benediction  is  muttered  (par.  988).  If  there  is  no  tree  convenient  it  may 
be  laid  on  the  top  of  a  stout  weed  and  need  not  be  tied  if  it  will  stay  on  without 
tying. 

SONGS  OF  THE  EVENING. 

316. — The  songs  sung  on  this  evening,  called  Aga‘hoagisin  or  Summit  Songs, 
are  26  in  number;  but  not  all  are  sung  on  this  occasion  ;  more  of  them  are  heard 
later  during  the  nine-days’  ceremony.  The  whole  set  is  sung  on  the  third  night. 
When  there  is  no  dance  of  the  naak//ai  to  be  held  on  the  last  night,  only  three 
songs  of  the  set  are  repeated.

II. Second Day

SECOND DAY.

317- — The second day of the ceremony is a busy one. (1) In the forenoon
sacrifices (kethawns) are prepared, (2) a sudatory is built (if one is to be used),
and the first sweat-bath administered. (3) In the afternoon a small dry-painting

is made and various properties are prepared to be used in the performances of the
night. (4) The evening is occupied in dressing the patient in garlands of spruce
and removing them. Songs, prayers, and elaborate ceremonials accompany these
acts.

KETHAWNS.

318. — The preparation of the sacrificial kethawns for this morning begins
about 7.30 a. m., the patient being present while the work is in progress. The
general rules, previously described (pars. 165, et seq?) are observed. According as
the pieces are cut from the reed they are laid on a broad flat stone which rests on
a large piece of white cotton cloth, or they may be laid directly on the cotton
cloth. Each piece is three finger-widths in length. The reeds are usually pro¬
cured in the Chelly Canon. While one assistant is engaged in cutting off the
pieces another is mixing the paints on the flat stone, and the chanter busies him¬
self with taking various properties out of his medicine-bag and preparing the ac¬
cessories of the sacrifice. He takes out four corn-husks and lays them in a row
with their tips to the east on the white cotton cloth, south of the flat stone.

319. — He puts into the first and third husks (counting from north to south)
beads, or fragments of the material from which beads are made, of three different
kinds, in this order: white, blue, black, (shell, turquoise, cannel-coal). He puts
into the second and fourth husks, white, haliotis (for yellow), and black. South
or east of the corn-husks, on the cotton cloth, he arranges four piles of objects
laid down in the following order for each pile : three bluebird feathers, three
yellow warbler feathers (either of these two kinds may be omitted at times, but
not both), one feather of the cedar-bird, one downy eagle-feather,15 one
turkey-feather, one hair from a turkey’s beard, and one cotton string, about an
inch long, rubbed in meal. When these piles are completed he transfers one to
each husk, next he puts in each husk in the following order : specular iron-ore,
blue pollen, and corn-pollen. Then he moistens a brush made of bluebird
feathers, and applies with it, on each feather bundle, from butt to tip the i’yit/ezna
or life pollen.

320. — The painting of the cigarettes is next in order, and when this begins,
so do the songs. These are usually sung by three persons : the chanter, the
shaker of the rattle, and another. They sit in the west of the lodge and in the
order mentioned, from north to south.

FIRST SONG OF THE PAINTING.

A little one now is prepared. A little one now is prepared.
For Afast^/m^an, it now is prepared.

A little message now is prepared,

Toward the trail of the he-rain, now is prepared,

As the rain will hang downward, now is prepared.

A little one now is prepared. A little one now is prepared.

For 7/asUeyalA, it now is prepared.

A little kethawn now is prepared,

Toward the trail of the she-rain, now is prepared,

As the rain will hang downward, now is prepared. See pars. 900, 901.

The other songs are similar except that for “ little message ” and “ little kethawn,”
it says: in the second song, “holy message” and “holy kethawn”; in the third,
“beautiful message” and “beautiful kethawn ” ; in the fourth, “happy message”
and “ happy kethawn.”

321. — The first cigarette, that which comes from the butt end of the reed, and
is placed in the north of the row, is painted yellow and marked with four rows
of black dots, six dots in each row ; this is to represent an owl and is called naestra
bike/an or the kethawn of the owl. The second cigarette is painted blue, is sacred
to a god called //asUeayuhi, and is known as //astreayuhi bike/an. The third
cigarette is painted black and is known as //asUeeltlihi bike/an ; it belongs to a
god called //astyeeltlihi who dwells in old ruins. The fourth cigarette, that from
nearest the tip of the reed, is painted blue and is called Tse'yald bike/an or kethawn
of the Talking Stone. All are sprinkled with specular iron-ore before they are
dry so that it may stick and cause them to glisten. When the paint is dry, the
cigarettes are filled, sealed, and symbolically lighted (par. 170). The remainder
of the water used in preparing the kethawns is poured on the ground to the east
of the blankets.

TOBACCO SONG (SUNG WHILE FILLING CIGARETTES).

322. — Now the yellow tobacco am I.

Now the broad leaf am I.

Now the blue flower am I.

With a trail to walk on, that am I. See pars. 902, 903.

Another stanza speaks of a “ narrow leaf ” and a “ white mountain flower.” There
are four stanzas, each referring to a different kind of native tobacco.7

323. — The finished cigarettes are laid in the husks on top of the other articles,
in the order in which they have been named, — the first cigarette, that of the owl,
being laid in the husk furthest north ; the second, that of //asUeayuhi, in the next
husk, to the south, and so on. This done, the chanter sprinkles pollen from butt
to tip, in each husk, taking it in its regular order. He folds the husk around its
contents by turning down first the northern edge (about one third) of the leaf and
then turning down, over this, the southern edge.

324. — He collects the bundles from north to south, placing one on top of
another in his left hand. He applies pollen to the essential parts of the patient,
making a motion as if bringing it from the sun, and takes pollen on his own tongue
and head. Then he transfers the sacrificial bundles, without disarranging them,
to the hands of the patient. While the latter holds them, the chanter sits squatting

by his side and repeats a long prayer, sentence by sentence, and the patient
repeats it after him in like manner.

PRAYER.

FIRST FART. TO THE OWL GOD.

2. I have made your sacrifice.

3. I have prepared a smoke for you.

4. My feet restore for me.

5. My legs restore for me.

6. My body restore for me.

7. My mind restore for me.

8. My voice restore for me.

9. To-day take out your spell for me.

10. To-day your spell for me is removed.

11. Away from me you have taken it.
i 2. Far off from me it is taken.

13. Far off you have done it.

14. To-day I shall recover.

15. To-day for me it is taken off.

16. To-day my interior shall become cool.

17. My interior feeling cold, I shall go forth.

18. My interior feeling cold, may I walk.

19. No longer sore, may I walk.

20. Impervious to pain, may I walk.

21. Fueling light within, may I walk.

22. With lively feelings, may I walk.

23. Happily may I walk.

24. Flappily abundant dark clouds I desire.

25. Happily abundant showers I desire.

26. Happily abundant vegetation I desire.

27. Happily abundant pollen I desire.

28. Happily abundant dew I desire.

29. Happily (in earthly beauty) may I walk.

30. (Not translated).

31. May it be happy before me.

32. May it be happy behind me.

33. May it be happy below me.

34. May it be happy above me.

35. With it happy all around me, may I walk.

36. It is finished in beauty (or happily restored).

37. It is finished in beauty.

SECOND PART. TO tfASTSEAYIJHI.

326. — This is the same as the first part except in the following lines :

o. High on top,

1. ATasfreayuhi.

24. Happily abundant dark mist I desire.

31 and 32 transposed.

THIRD PART. TO AfASTSEELTLIHI.

327. — This is the same as the first part except in the following lines :

o. Beneath,

1. Afastfeeltlihi.

FOURTH PART. TO TSE‘YAL7T, THE TALKING (OR ECHOING) STONE, CALLED

TSE'ETLIHI IN THE PRAYER.

328. — This is the same as the first part except in the following lines :

1. Tse'etlihi.

24. Happily abundant dark mist I desire.

31 and 32 same as in second part.

The final words “It is finished in beauty” are repeated four times, instead of
twice as in the previous parts. (Texts, pars. 971-974.)

329. — When the prayer is finished, the chanter takes the four bundles in
his hands and applies them to the essential parts of the patient’s person. An
assistant receives them from the chanter and takes them out of the lodge to
dispose of them. Usually the chanter instructs the assistant in his duties before
he starts.

330. — The following is sung immediately after the kethawns are applied to
the body of the patient :

SEVENTH KErAN BIGI'N.

Across the Chelly Canon from the other side he crosses,

On a slender horizontal string of blue he crosses,

For his kethawn of blue, upon the string he crosses.

Across the Chelly Canon from the other side he crosses,

On a slender horizontal string of white he crosses,

For his kethawn of black, upon the string he crosses. See pars. 904, 905.

331. — The first kethawn, that of the Owl, is laid at the root of a large pinon
tree. The second kethawn, that of //astyeayuhi, is put on top of a small natural
hillock, because he is a mountain god. The third, that of //astyeeltlihi, is put in
a deserted house or old ruin, or, if such is not near, among rocks that look like
a ruin, because he is a god of ruins. The fourth kethawn, that of Tse‘yal/1,
is placed at the base of a perpendicular rock that is found to give forth an echo.
Through all the manipulations to which they are subjected these sacrifices are,
as already described, maintained in a certain order. As before stated, when the
shaman takes up the bundles, he takes that of the north, with the owl kethawn,
first and puts one on top of another in his hand. When they come to be sacri¬
ficed therefore the owl kethawn is at the bottom of the heap and is sacrificed

first. The kethawn of the Talking Rock is at the top and is sacrificed last.
They may be taken in any direction from the lodge except north.

332. — These sacrifices for the morning of the second day are, it is said,
never omitted and no change is made in them in consequence of differences in
sex of the patients ; but slight changes are made for other reasons. At a cere¬
mony witnessed in 1890, two kethawns were added for the gods of Tsefintyel or
Broad Rock in the Chelly Canon. These were double the length of those
already described. Each was painted half black and half white. In one it was
the butt, in the other the tip end that was blackened. These kethawns were
sealed by the patient, not by the shaman. In the myth of the Stricken Twins
(par. 866) a different arrangement of kethawns is described and it is not im¬
probable that this arrangement is sometimes practiced by modern shamans in the
7o‘nast.d//ego /^a/a/.

333. — The patient retains his seat for a while after the cigarettes have been
taken out, and the chanter, joined by one who rattles, sings the Tenth Ke7an
Bigi'n, or Song of the Kethawn. When this song is done, the ceremonies in the
lodge, connected with the kethawns, come to an end. This usually occurs about

9 A.M.

TENTH KE TAN BIGFN.

1. In a beautiful manner now he bears,

2. For I7asts6/iogan, now he bears,

3. A little message now he bears,

4. Toward the trail of the he-rain, now he bears.

1. In a beautiful manner now he bears,

2. For ATastj^yal/i, now he bears,

3. A little message now he bears,

4. Toward the trail of the she-rain, now he bears. See pars. 906, 907.

SUDATORY.

334. — As soon as the ceremonies of the kethawns are done, the work of
preparing the sudatory begins. Here will be described that form of sudatory in
which the sweat-house is built. The work of constructing the house may begin
before sunrise ; but the ceremonies do not begin till after the kethawns are
disposed of.

335. — Inside the medicine-lodge, one or two men grind, between stones, the
dry pigments to be used in decorating the sweat-house, and put them on the
inner surface of curved pieces of bark to be kept till used ; another twills, with a
spindle, short strings to be used later in the work ; another puts in order the eight
plumed wands which are to be planted around the sweat-house, and two Indians
dress themselves to represent //astseyal/i and //asUebaad. Outside the lodge,

other assistants finish and decorate the sweat-house, make the fire, — the coal for
starting which is taken from the medicine-lodge, — and get everything ready for
the sweat-bath. Before the masqueraders dress, the foxskins they are to wear
are often taken out and buried for a while in moist soil to freshen them.
The construction and decoration of the sweat-house is described elsewhere (pars.
243 et seq.y

336. — When the workmen, having finished the sudatory, return to the
medicine-lodge to report, a crier goes to the door and shouts the usual call,
“ Bike //a/a/i /iaku." Those who assist in singing enter and begin to sing, and
the procession, in single file, starts for the sweat-house. The shaman sprinkles
pollen on the ground in the direction they are to take. The patient leads, the
chanter immediately follows him, and the assistant singers and relatives of the
patient come after. One member of the procession, often the shaman, bears
a sacred basket (plate IV, E) containing meal and the plumed wands. The
following is a free translation of the song sung on the march and continued at
the sudatory, if need be, until it is finished :

This I walk with, this I walk with.

1. Now Afastieyal/i, I walk with.

2. '1'hese are his feet I walk with.

3 These are his limbs I walk with.

4. This is his body I walk with.

5. This is his mind I walk with.

6. This is his voice I walk with.

7. These are his twelve white plumes I walk with.

8. Beauty before me, I walk with.

9. Beauty behind me, I walk with.

10. Beauty above me, I walk with.

11. Beauty below me, I walk with.

12. Beauty all around me, I walk with.

13. In old age, the beautiful trail, I walk with.

14 It is I, I walk with.

The same as stanza I. except as follows :

1. Now //astie/zogan, I walk with.

8 and 9 transposed.

10 and 11 transposed. See pars. 908, 909.

337.— Arrived at his destination the patient sits to the south of the sweat-
house door and disrobes. If the patient be a woman, a blanket, held by women,
is raised as a screen, under cover of which she takes off all her clothes except a
short skirt reaching below the knees, and she retains the blanket until she enters
the door of the sweat-house so that there is no exposure of the person above the
middle of the legs. If the patient be a man, he strips to the breech-cloth and on

screen is raised. In the sweat-house he sits on spruce twigs which have been
spread on the ground before he enters. I have seen “sage” ( Artemisia ) used
here instead of spruce when the spruce gatherers did not arrive in time and I have
heard of other plants being used ; but spruce is the material preferred for carpet¬
ing the sweat-house. The hot stones are taken from the fire and put in the
sudatory to the north of the occupant, the curtains of the door are let fall, and the
patient is left to take his hot-air bath. Before the patient enters, the plumed
wands are set up ; the black sticks north, the blue south ; their faces turned
toward the sweat-house.

338. — While the patient is undressing and, afterwards, while sitting in the
sweat-house, the chanter busies himself in mixing two cold infusions. One of these,
called tjfo/trin, or ke'tlo, is for external application (par 215). The other infusion
is for internal administration, is called kled^e a.se, is prepared in a large gourd, and
is a very elaborate compound described elsewhere (pars. 203-208). When the two
infusions are ready the chanter dips his fingers four times into the bowl of ketlo,
transferring, each time, some of the liquid to his mouth ; he spits twice on the
sweat-house and twice on his rattler ; sits south of the house facing north, and,
joined by two or more men, begins, to the accompaniment of the rattle, to sing the
T/ia.‘dze Bigi'n or Sweat-house Sonm the first of which is the

TSE'NI GISI'N, OR SONG IN THE ROCK.

1. In the House of the Red Rock,

2. There I enter ;

3. Half way in, I am come.

4. The corn-plants shake.

1. In the House of Blue Water,

2. There I enter ;

3. Half way in, I am come.

4. The plants shake. See pars. 9 to, 9 it.

339. — After the lapse of 15 or 20 minutes, the men who enact the
part of the yei, //ast?eyal7i and //asUebaad, leave the medicine-lodge and ap¬
proach the sweat-house. They take their cue from the song ; but if they are
tardy a messenger is sent for them. They are so draped in heavy blankets that
all their paint and sacred paraphernalia are hidden from view ; their masks are
held concealed under their blankets and to the casual observer they seem to be a
pair of Indians out for a stroll. They approach the sweat-house as if on no special
errand bent. Each of them drops a piece of white string into a basket containing
meal which the shaman has before him ; the shaman rubs the string with meal and
hands it back. If they are inexperienced in their work, the shaman may coach the
actors on their duties, particularly on the mode of massage. I heir interview with
the chanter ended, they pass to a spot some 50 paces to the east of the sweat-house,

— in sight of those sitting at the sweat-house, if the woods are not dense, — lay
down their blankets, and adjust their masks. All this is done in silence until the
masks are adjusted: then //asUeyal7i whoops.

340. — They return to the sweat-house as full-fledged gods approaching from
the east, after the patient has been in the bath some 20 or 25 minutes.
Song is resumed, //ast^eyal/i throws the blankets off from the entrance to the
sweat-house and by giving his characteristic call, sometimes by beckoning also,
signals to the patient to come out. The two gods (as it is now convenient to call
them) walk around the patient four times. The chanter pulls up the plumed
wands ; hands to //astseyal/i the four black sticks that stood north of the lodge
and to //astaebaad the four blue sticks that stood south. (Once it was noted that
the gods pulled up the wands.) Holding them two in each hand, the butts
approximated, each god, in turn, applies his wands, with strong pressure, to the
essential parts of the patient’s body. One does not wait for the other to get en¬
tirely through ; but //astyeyal/i applies his implements to one part at a time and
steps aside to allow //asti'ebaad to follow his example. Besides this there is
application of the wands to parts specially diseased. On one occasion the gods
were seen to perform all this application or massage four times. When the
massage is done, //astreyal/i (sometimes taking a preliminary drink himself)
administers to the patient, in four separate draughts, the infusion of kled.se aze in
the gourd and gives to the chanter, to drink, the residue, if any is left. After this
both gods in turn howl hideously into both the patient’s ears and deliver the
wands to the shaman.

341. — They run back to the place east of the sweat-house where they left
their blankets. Here they take off their masks, again conceal under their blankets
their divine trappings, and rejoin, in the guise of ordinary Indians, the group at
the sweat-house. Before they return, they sacrifice the strings which, when they
first came to the sweat-house, they threw into the vessel of meal. To do this,
they lay them in any little channel or gully cut by the rains, saying, “ Hozogo
ndisiido."

342. — While the two yei have gone to resume the garb of ordinary mortals,
the patient (screened with a blanket if a woman, not screened and nearly naked if
a man) washes himself all over with the ketlo which the chanter has prepared in
the wicker bowl. The patient also drinks some of this lotion. While the wash¬
ing is in progress the chanter, joined usually by four others, sings a song.

LAST TSE'NI GISTN, OR SONG IN THE ROCK.

1. At the Red Rock House it grows,

2. There the giant corn-plant grows,

3. With ears on either side it grows,

4. With its ruddy silk it grows,

5. Ripening in one day it grows,

6. Greatly multiplying grows.

1. At Blue Water House it grows,

2. There the giant squash-vine grows,

3. With fruit on either side it grows,

4. With its yellow blossom grows,

5. Ripening in one night it grows,

6. Greatly multiplying grows. See pars. 912, 913.

343- — The pictures on the sweat-house are obliterated by being scraped from
one end to another, — foot to head in anthropomorphic figures, — and the dust of
which they were constructed is gathered in a blanket and thrown away a few
paces to the north of the sweat-house. The stones used to heat the house are
taken out ; so are the spruce twigs and other materials with which the floor was
covered ; the stones are laid on the twigs ; both are thrown on the ground north
of the sweat-house and meal is sprinkled on them while a benediction is uttered,
by the man who throws them away.

344. — The bath occupies in all about thirty minutes. The strictest silence is
required of the patient while he is in the sweat-house. This is a lesson forcibly
inculcated in the myth of the Stricken Twins (par. 835).

345. — When the treatment is for disease of the eye, massage is also performed
with a strip of skin cut lengthwise from the middle of the nose of a big-horn and
the tip of the horn of the same animal, each piece being held in a different hand
and transferred from hand to hand like the plumed wands. When the treatment
is for paralysis or stiffness of the limbs, the tendones Achill is of this animal is
used. All these articles may be applied at the same time with the wands, as
stated in the myth (par. 866), or separately. A mixture containing water from
the eye of a big-horn is, at this time, applied to the eye in a case of eye-disease.
One medicine-man has told me that he also uses the contused root of a plant called
nake7in, which he places between the lids for ophthalmia (par. 866).

346. — While the party is at the sweat-house, the unburned wood around the
fire is thrown into the flames so that it may be all burned up. When the
unmasked personators of the gods return to the sweat-house, the party there forms
a line in the following order : patient, chanter, personator of god, personator of
goddess, friends of patient including singers. The chanter sprinkles pollen on the
ground indicating the line of march and all return in single file to the medicine-
lodge. The chanter carries the wands in the meal-basket ; while unassisted and
without a rattle he sings all the way on his return and continues to sing after his
return until certain songs of sequence are concluded. These are //astreyal/i
Bigi'n or Songs of the Talking God. They are sung after each one of the four
sweats, but not on the last night of the ceremony.

347. — When the party returns to the medicine-lodge the patient sits in the
west, for he has still further treatment to undergo, and the whilom yei proceed
to divest themselves of their divine toggery and to scrape the paint from their
bodies. The chanter applies pollen to the essential parts of the patient, puts

some into his or her mouth, takes a pinch of it on his own tongue, and applies a
little to the top of his own head. These applications of pollen are all timed so as
to coincide with certain words of the accompanying song. In placing the pollen
in the mouth of the patient, a motion is sometimes made as if bringing the pollen
from the sky.

348. — This concludes, for the day, the rites of the sweat-house, which are
brought to a close about midday. The patient leaves the lodge ; the chanter puts
away his properties ; the inmates of the lodge engage in laughing, joking, general
conversation and comments of the events of the morning until food is brought
in, when all proceed to refreshment.

RITE OF SUCCOR.

349. — When the midday meal is over, or while some may still be eating,
assistants begin to prepare for the rites of the afternoon and night : the floor of
the lodge is swept, sand for the groundwork of the dry-painting is brought in,
spruce twigs and yucca leaves are provided, and the work is begun of preparing
the masks of the gods who appear later in the afternoon and the evergreen dress
which the patient is to wear at night. Then work on the dry-painting is begun.
As this is comparatively small it does not require more than half an hour to paint.

' DESCRIPTION OF THE DRY-PAINTING.

350. — The picture is about a yard in diameter. The circular colored figures
in the periphery represent the four principal sacred mountains of the Navahoes,
(or, more properly speaking, perhaps, the counterparts of these in the Fourth
World. See par. 14). The black.mountain in the east is TsisnadWni or Pelado
Peak ; the blue one in the south is Tsotsi/ or San Mateo ; the yellow one in the
west is Dokoslid or San Francisco Mountain, the white one in the north is
/^epe'ntsa or the San Juan Mountains.' These mountains are supposed to be
divine houses, the doors of which are represented by double lines in contrast¬
ing colors on the sides of the mountains. The four single colored lines leading
from the mountains toward the central figure indicate the trails of succoring
gods — although only one divine character appears in the real act of succor.
Proceeding from the south, at a point beyond the blue mountain and reaching the
heart of the central figure, is a line made in corn-meal (white for a male, yellow
for a female patient) and in its course are figures of four shod foot-prints ; it
makes the trail of //astieyaFi and of the patient, who, it is said, must walk
exactly in the footsteps of the god if he would recover. The figure in the centre
is that of AniPani A tit, or the Grasshopper Girl, drawn in pollen. This figure is
made if the patient is a female ; but if the patient is a male, they substitute for
the form of the Grasshopper Girl that of Th&d\t\n A^ike or the Pollen Boy, her
mythic brother, shown in fig. C', plate II. The east and west mountains are said
to be two homes of //asUeyal/i (probably //asDreyaPi and his wife //astrebaad) ;

the north and south mountains are said to be homes of T/astye/iq^an (or of him
and his wife). In the original sand-painting the mountains were in relief — little
hemispheres of sand. At one ceremony which the writer attended, this picture
was omitted, for the reason, it was said, that no sacred buckskin could be procured
for //asUeyal/'i to wear, when he came to the act of succor. See fig. C, plate II.

351. — While the picture is being made, the mask of //astreyal/i, the YebiUai,
is dressed and the debris accumulated in the dressing is carried away. When
the picture and mask are done, the chanter instructs his assistants, in the work
before them. The man who is to enact the part of the Yebityai dresses all but
putting on his mask. He is covered with a large blanket which conceals all his
paraphernalia and, hiding his mask under his blanket, he leaves the lodge. He*
proceeds to a retired spot, east of the lodge, where, secure from casual observation,
he drops his blanket and puts on his mask.

352. — As soon as he is gone a crier goes to the door and announces in the
usual way that song and rite are to be resumed. The patient enters, walks along
the line of meal, stepping carefully on the pictured foot-prints, and sits down on
the central figure of the picture, facing east. The moment he is seated, the singers
commence a

DSIZ BIGl'N or mountain song.

1. In a holy place with a god I walk,

2. In a holy place with a god I walk, .

3. On Tslsnadzi'ni with a god I walk,

4. On a chief of mountains with a god I walk,

5. In old age wandering with a god I walk,

6. On a trail of beauty with a god I walk. See pars. 914, 915.

353. — The other three stanzas are the same as this except that in the third
line the names of other mountains are substituted for TsisnadA'ni or PeladoPeak,
thus : II, Tsotsi/ or San Mateo ; III, /^okoshV or San Francisco ; IV, ZYpS'ntsa
or San Juan. 7/a^a/i Natloi has told the writer that this is a favorite song of his
and that he feels peculiarly happy while singing it.

354. — Song is continued for about 20 minutes. Soon after it begins the
Yebityai enters, walks along the trail of meal, stepping carefully in the pictured
foot-prints, and stands before the patient. As he advances an attendant obliter¬
ates the trail of meal behind him, until he reaches the fourth foot-print. This
is not erased until later, when the entire picture is destroyed. Arriving at the
middle of the picture the Yebityai howls wildly into each of the patient’s ears,
and takes his seat to the north of the patient, facing east.

355. — When the singing is done, the chanter puts pollen on the sacred or
essential parts of the patient and on some of his own sacred parts ; he administers
some to the patient and to himself per orem , and passes the bag around that others
may partake of the sacred substance. Then follows a long prayer of 298 sentences
or verses given out as usual, sentence by sentence, by the squatting priest and
repeated after him, in like manner, by the patient.

356. — When the prayer is finished the Yebityai goes around the patient sunwise
and always facing west. As he progresses, he kneels at each of the four miniature
mountains, takes sand from the mountain, and applies it to the patient, into whose
ears he utters, at the same time, his peculiar cry. This done, the Yebityai leaves
the lodge, goes to the place in the east where he laid his blanket ; this he resumes,
hides his mask under it, and returns in ordinary guise, to the lodge, where he re¬
moves his paint and trappings. The patient leaves the picture and sits in another
part of the lodge where the shaman administers the fumigation (par. 198). The
picture is obliterated, and the sand carried out. The rites of the afternoon are
completed usually between three and four o’clock.

OOHAl OR RITES OF THE EVERGREEN DRESS.

357. — Soon after the rites of the dry-painting are over, the work of prepar¬
ing for the evening rites is resumed : the chanter washes himself all over with a
solution of yucca root, giving special attention to his hair ; assistants make the
long garlands of spruce twigs, tied with yucca fibre, with which the patient is to
be festooned at night, and the mask which the patient is to wear is made. If the
patient be a woman, the mask is made of yucca leaves ; if the patient be a man,
it should be made of dressed antelope skin. Other assistants prepare the masks
of the gods, a cigarette, and other properties.

358. — The garlands which compose the Maoki 's or evergreen dress are made
of the smallest sprays of spruce, which are collected in bunches and placed butt
to butt. Each little bunch is of such a size as to be conveniently clasped between
the thumb and forefinger. The bunches are tied together with strings of yucca
fibre in a running series of simple knots. Four bunches are placed close together
forming a group ; then a space is left and another group of four is formed.

359. — The mask for the female is called nikehe. It is about ten inches square,
depending on the size of the patient’s face, and consists of yucca leaves woven
together in a simple woof and warp. In preparing a leaf for the mask the dorsal
part at the midrib is cut off to facilitate weaving. A fringe of spruce is put on
around the mask to represent hair ; small holes are cut to represent eyes and
mouth ; under the mouth a horizontal streak of black, a horizontal streak of
yellow, and eight vertical streaks of black are painted as shown in plate IV.,
figs. G and H. The vertical streaks are called ni'ltsa natsf and symbolize rain.
The holes for the eyes are triangular and one finger-stretch apart (par. 144).
The square hole for the mouth must be a similar distance from each eye. These
orifices are surrounded by black painted spots of their own shape. Strings of
yucca fibre are used to secure the mask to the head of the patient. The pieces
cut out for the eyes and mouth are tied in a strip of yucca fibre and secured to
the back of a projecting end of yucca leaf at the bottom of the mask ; this is
done in order that they may not be separated from the mask and may be sacrificed
with it.

360. — Figs. G and H, plate IV, are taken from photographs of the female

mask, or nikehe. One shows the incomplete mask, before the fringe of spruce is
added ; the other represents the finished mask. As the reader will readily sur¬
mise, it is not practicable to get a photograph of this during the ceremony. The
object here depicted was, in the presence of the author, during the daytime, at
Fort Wingate, made, unmade, and its material sacrificed, by a learned shaman,
with all the observances employed in the rites. He consented to the photograph¬
ing ; but would not consent to the preservation of the mask.

361. — As has been said, when the patient is a male, the mask — called Madilkai,
— is made of dressed antelope skin, and it must be of the kind known as sacred
or unwounded skin (par. 257). The piece cut out for the mask must be the size
of two outstretched hands. It is painted blue ; holes like those of the female
mask are cut for eyes and mouth ; it is marked below the mouth with lines, and
it is trimmed with a fringe of spruce, like the female mask. Of late this is rarely
used, owing to the scarcity of antelope in the Navaho country, and the face of
the male patient is usually hidden only with the evergreen dress in this particular
rite.

362. — The cigarette kethawn which goes with the mask is one span long.
For a male patient it is painted black, for a female patient blue ; but no design is
painted on it. Tobacco only is put in it — no feathers or other materials. It is
sealed with moistened pollen.

363. — About half-past five or six o’clock the workers in the lodge are served
with supper and labor is suspended. When the meal is over, there is usually a
season of gossiping and smoking until dark or about seven o’clock, when they go
to work again.

364. — The first thing is to paint and dress two men to represent the Navaho
war-gods Nayenezgani and 7o‘bad,dst.nni, which characters are described and
depicted elsewhere (pars. 73-88). Their preparation occupies about half an hour.
When they are ready the chanter instructs them as to their duties and they go
forth blanketed and with masks concealed as did previous personators of the
divine — although it is now dark — to a secluded place in the east, where they don
their masks preparatory to their return to the lodge as succoring gods. Blan¬
kets covered with a white cotton cloth are spread in the west of the lodge for
the patient to sit on.

365. — As soon as the actors have departed, the crier goes to the door and
utters aloud the usual call (par. 336). The floor is swept. The spruce garlands
made during the afternoon are brought forth and laid half to the south and half
to the north on the white cotton sheeting. Presently the patient enters and
sits on the middle of the sheeting. He takes off his moccasins and shirt and
extends his legs toward the east. He may wear for the occasion, besides his
own, a number of borrowed necklaces of shell and coral. Two or three comrades,
of the same sex as the patient, may enter with him or her and sit down at the
door of the lodge. A female patient bares her feet and legs only.

366. — The following is the order in which the body is dressed : 1, right

ankle ; 2, right leg ; 3, right thigh ; 4, left ankle ; 5, left leg ; 6, left thigh ; 7,
waist ; 8, chest with wreath passing diagonally over left shoulder and under right
axilla ; 9, chest with wreath passing over right shoulder and under left axilla ;
10, right arm ; 1 1, right forearm ; 1 2, right wrist ; 13, left arm ; 14, left forearm ;
15, left wrist ; 16, neck; 17, head.

367. — When the work is finished the patient looks like a great formless pile
of evergreen twigs on which the mask appears as a patch. It has not been dis¬
covered that this sylvan costume represents any special mythic character. It is
inferred that it symbolizes the bonds of disease.

368. — When the dress of green is completed, song is resumed. At its sound
the war-gods, fully caparisoned, enter the lodge and approach the patient. Here
is a free translation of the song sung as they advance.

SONG OF THE APPROACH.

In a land divine he strides,

Now Nayenezgani strides,

Above on the summits high he strides,

In a land divine he strides.

In a land divine he strides,

Now Tb'badzistdni strides,

Below on the lesser hills he strides,

In a land divine he strides. See pars. 916,917.

369. — The gods walk around the patient sunwise, making toward him, at
each of the cardinal points, a downward sweep of the right hand, armed with its
proper implement (pars. 78, 85). They halt in front of him when they get back
to the east and Nayenezgani, who holds the knife, assisted by his brother god
proceeds to divest the patient of the evergreen dress. This is done by
cutting with the stone knife and is a tedious task. The mask, if of yucca, is first
cut in two down the centre and the halves are cut into smaller pieces. The gar¬
lands are cut down the centre in front and back and as exactly as practicable
down both sides of the body. The right side, in each region, is cut before the
left. The wreaths are cut in pieces after they come off. They are cut over the
patient’s head and allowed to fall on it until every fascicle is freed. The pile of
debris is carefully examined to see that the work is complete. All this time, song
is continued. The work of cutting is called MaokiT Each god then takes a
bundle of spruce in hand and applies it to the usual parts. They do this in turn,
i. e., one does not wait for the other to get completely through ; but Nayendz-
gani applies his bundle to the soles ; 7o‘badAstAni follows immediately, doing

the same, and so on for other parts. Each god utters, with each motion, his
peculiar sub-vocal call: Nayenezgani says “//a‘a‘a‘a”; To'bad^isUini says,
“//aaaa.” The gods then give the patient a vigorous massage, in different parts
of the body, and retire from the lodge (about 8.30 p.m.). Song and work end
together.

370. — When the gods have departed the chanter stands for a while facing
the patient and dropping fragments of the evergreen dress on the patient’s head.
Afterwards, while still thus standing, he begins to sing and to beat time with a
grass brush on a bunch of the spruce twigs. Continuing to sing he wanders all
around the patient, sunwise, and makes motions with his grass brush as if he were
brushing away some evil influence which, at length, he pretends to brush out at
the smoke hole. Another shaman may join in the songs.

TWA OKI' A BEtfAKINALDZO. A SONG TO SWEEP OFF WITH.

The corn grows up ; the rain descends.

I sweep it off, I sweep it off.

The rain descends ; the corn grows up.

I sweep it off, I sweep it off. See pars. 923, 924.

In all, twelve songs belong to the oo//ai ; ten precede the brushing and two
accompany it.

371. — After song and brushing are finished, the fumes of yar/i^inil are ad¬
ministered to the patient in a manner elsewhere described (par. 198). When the
fumes have died down and the coals are extinguished the chanter says “ Ka t ”
(now) to the patient, whereat the latter arises and dresses himself. Thus end
the rites of the night in the lodge, usually about 9 p.m.

372. — About the time the brushing is completed the personators of the war-
gods return unmasked, divest themselves of their trappings, and wash off their
paint. The debris of the evergreen dress is carried out of the lodge, to be de¬
posited on the ground a short distance to the north of the lodge, preferably under
a tree. The fragments of the dress are laid down first, tips to the north, then the
fragments of the mask on top of the dress, and lastly the kethawn on top of all.
Pollen is sprinkled on the heap and a benediction is uttered in low tones.

II. Third Day

THIRD DAY.

373. — The work of the third day consists in the preparation of two sets of
kethawns, — one in the morning, the other at night, — in the sacrifice of the first
set, in the application of the second set, and in the administration of a second
sudorific treatment, which occurs in the forenoon.

KETHAWNS OF THE MORNING.

374. — The kethawns usually prepared on the third morning will first be
described. These vary in number from six to twelve and are cigarettes, made
of reed, preferably culled in the Chelly Canon. A chanter never makes the
same number twice in succession, although he always makes an even number.
Thus, if he makes six at one ceremony, he must make eight or ten at the next
that he conducts. So, too, the number of accompanying songs are changed ;
some will purposely be omitted one day, to be sung another day. The larger
kethawns to be described are always a pair. It is among the smaller kethawns
that the number is varied.

375. — The two larger kethawns, each half a span or six finger-widths long,
are called Kininaekaigi ke/an, or kethawns of the White House. The first in
order is painted yellow on its western half and white on its eastern half ; the
second is white on its western and yellow on its eastern half. A white cotton
string is attached to each kethawn at its centre by means of a peculiar knot70.
Included in the circles of this knot are three feathers of the bluebird and three
of the yellow warbler. One of these feathers is taken from each wing of the
bird and one from the tail. Feathers of Pipilo chlorurus , called by the Navahoes,
d'a/oinoga/i, or he-shakes-the-dew, may be substituted for those of the yellow
warbler. Five beads are strung along each string ; one of white shell, one of
turquoise, one of haliotis, one of cannel-coal, and one again of white shell.
Beyond, east of these, a bunch of plumage is secured by means of the peculiar
knot mentioned above ; the bunch consists of a downy eagle feather, the breast
feather of a turkey, and a hair from the beard of a turkey-cock. The pos¬
itions of the five beads on the string are determined by stretching out the
digits of one hand on the string as nearly equidistant as possible from one
another as shown in fig. 9, e ; an attachment is made where the centre of each
digit falls. The string is originally two spans long ; but when it is tied to the
cigarette and all objects are attached the end is cut off three finger-widths
beyond the most extreme eastern attachment — that of the bunch of plumage.
See fig. 9. Each end of the string, when tied, must lie parallel and close to its
enclosed feathers. Sometimes the beads are drilled in the medicine-lodge, just
before they are applied. When the kethawns are finished they are laid on the
cotton sheet, in proper order, butts aligned.

376. — The four, or more, smaller kethawns are called naak^afgi ke/an, or
kethawns of the naak/^af dance (par. 621). Each one is three finger-widths long.
One half of the number are painted black and are marked each near its eastern
extremity with a design representing the two eagle-plumes and the bunch of
owl-feathers worn in the dance by the male yei or yebaka (par. 61). The eagle-
plumes are drawn in white with a black spot near the tip ; the owl-feathers,
are done in yellow. The other half, in number, of the smaller otherwise
kethawns are simply painted blue to symbolize the female yei or yebaad and not
decorated.

a = yellow
b = ycktle
c = black

rl — blue

377. — In preparing this whole set of kethawns, the general rules already
given (par. 165) are observed. They are plugged first with a small wad of
feathers of the yellow warbler, next (West)

with a wad of feathers of the arctic
bluebird, and then with native
tobacco ; all of which are rammed
down with an owl’s feather. They
are symbolically lighted and sealed.

They are placed each in a separate
corn-husk into which are put the
following articles in the order
named : white shell, turquoise,
haliotis shell (or cannel-coal), spec¬
ular iron-ore, blue pollen, corn-pol¬
len, feather of yellow warbler,
feather of bluebird, eagle-feather,
turkey - feather, hair of turkey’s
beard, cotton string. The shells,
turquoise, and cannel-coal are put
with the large kethawns as fin¬
ished beads, while with the small
kethawns they go as small frag¬
ments or powder.

378. — Fig. 9 is a representation
of these kethawns, drawn by Dr.

McConnell from a set now in the
author’s possession. The owl-
feathers are not so perfectly formed
in the original decorations.

379. — Songs are sung during
the painting of the kethawns, some
of which are the same as those sung
while painting the cigarettes of the
second morning.

380. — It takes over an hour to
get the kethawns ready ; they are
usually done before 9 a.m. Then
the patient, who has been in
the lodge all the time, sits in the
west, on the blankets and cotton, facing the east, with lower extremities
extended and hands open, resting, palms upward, on the knees. The shaman
first puts the bundles containing the two long kethawns, those of the White
House, with their tips to the right, in both hands of the patient, who grasps

Fig. g.

(East)

Kethawns of the third*morning.

them. While the kethawns are thus held, the shaman repeats a long prayer
which the patient repeats after him, sentence by sentence, in the usual manner.

381. — After the prayer, the shaman takes the kethawns, applies them to the
essential parts (par. 135) of the patient’s body and with special force to any part
which is supposed to be the particular seat of disease. Then pollen is applied
as elsewhere described (par. 185), but on one occasion it was observed that
this was done also before the kethawns were lifted from the cotton sheet.
The patient must still retain his seat on the blankets and cotton until all the
kethawns have been applied, and must not put his feet on the ground. The
shaman gives the kethawns to the assistant who is to take them out of the lodge.
The assistant stands and waits for the rest of the cigarettes.

382. — The chanter then collects, proceeding from north to south, the
bundles containing the smaller kethawns ; applies them to the body of the
patient 7- places them in the hands of the latter, as he did before; prays again;
again applies pollen, and gives the bundles to the assistant.

PRAYER.

PRAYER OF THE FIRST LONG KETHAWN.

383. — 1. In the house of Horizontal White,

2. He who rises with the morning light,

3. He who moves with the morning light ;

4. Oh Talking God ! (//astreyalA).

5. I have prepared your sacrifice,

6. I have made a smoke for you.

7. His feet restore for him.

8. His limbs restore for him.

9. His body restore for him.

10. His mind restore for him.

1 1. His voice restore for him.

12. To-day your spell take out for him.

13. This very day your spell is taken out.

14. Away from him you took it.

15. Far away from him it has been taken.

16. Far away from him you have done it.

17. Happily he will recover.

18. Happily he has recovered.

19. Happily his interior will become cool.

20. Happily, feeling cold may he walk around.

21. It is finished again in beauty.

22. It is finished again in beauty.

23. In beauty may you walk, my grandchild.

24. Thus will it be beautiful.

PRAYER OF THE SECOND LONG KETHAWN.

384* — 1 • In the House of Horizontal White,

2. He who rises with the evening light,

3. He who moves with the evening light,

4. Oh House God ! (ZTastje^o^-an).

The rest is as in the previous prayer.

TRAYER OF THE FIRST SHORT KETHAWN.

385. — 1. With the blue face,

2. Oh Male Divinity ! (7/asHebaka).

The rest as in the previous prayers.

PRAYER OF THE SECOND SHORT KETHAWN.

386. — 1. With yellow streak,

2. Oh Female Divinity ! (7/asUebaad).

The rest as in the previous prayers.

387- — The prayer of the third small kethawn is the same as that of the first
The prayer of the fourth small kethawn is the same as that of the second except
that the words “ It is finished again in beauty ” are repeated four times.

388. — When the prayer is done the kethawns are taken out to be sacrificed
in the east. The assistant finds a steep rock with its declivity to the west. He
makes a faint furrow on the ground with the outer edge of the right moccasin,
from east to west, near the base of the rock. He lays down a bunch of Gutier-
rezia, usually collected en route, in the furrow. He takes the kethawn out of its
husk and places it on the Gutierrezia, at such a distance from the rock that the
attached feathers on the end of the string, fully strung out eastward, just touch
the base of the rock. He puts on a pinch of the sacred powders and other sacred
articles and then empties, by turning over, the entire contents of the husk on the
kethawn. He says a short prayer while crouching to do all this, and rises when
it is finished. He covers the kethawn and its accompaniments with Gutierrezia
and earth. He measures off a foot’s length southward from the first kethawn,
makes a furrow with his foot at this distance, and deposits the second kethawn
with exactly the same observances as were used on the first kethawn.

389. — When all this is done he proceeds again in an easterly direction to find
a place for the smaller kethawns. A small piece of clear level ground, devoid of
vegetation, is selected. The kethawns are laid, tips to the east, a foot’s length
apart, in a row extending from north to south ; the north kethawn being planted
first as is the invariable rule. In placing each of these kethawns the same rites
are observed as with the first two or Kininaekaigi ke/an. When the objects are
laid, face down (par. 1 7 1 ), the pictures of the eagle-plumes do not appear on top,
but to the south side, for thus the plumes of the living dancers come in the dance
of the last night, when they face the east. The sacrifice completed, the assistant
returns to the lodge in the prescribed manner (par. 180).

390. — In the Chelly Canon, Arizona, there still stands, in an excellent state
of preservation, a remarkable ruined cliff-house built of yellow sandstone, two
stories high, which has often been sketched, photographed, and described. Its
upper portion is painted white, horizontally ; its lower unpainted portion is yellow.

As it lies in a deep rock-shelter, well overshadowed by a towering cliff, the white
paint has been protected from rain and snow and looks almost as fresh now as
when first applied, many centuries ago perhaps. The Navahoes call this structure
Kininaekai, which signifies a stone house with a white horizontal streak. This
name, in the present work, is often translated House of the Horizontal White or
House of the White Horizontal Streak ; but the Americans in Arizona apply
the brief free translation White House, a name which is also used in this work.
Here, according to the myths, dwelt certain gods who practiced the rites of the
kled^e haz'd/ and taught them to the Navahoes. It is to the gods of this house
that these sacrifices are offered. See plate V, fig. C.

391. — The colors of the long kethawns, white and yellow, typify the White
House in an obvious manner; but they also typify the morning and the evening
light — the east and the west. One of the kethawns is sacred, as the prayers show,
to the T/asUeyal/i of the White House, its god of the east and of the dawn ; the
other is sacred to its //astre^o^an, its god of the west and of the evening, and it
is for this reason that the colors on one cigarette are placed in a reverse order to
those on the other cigarette. At the White House the patient is supposed to
stand in the centre of the world ; for this reason the string is attached to the
middle of the kethawn. The white cotton string represents the bike hozom, the
beautiful or happy trail of life so often mentioned in the songs and prayers, which
the devotee hopes, with the aid of the gods, to travel. “ With all around me
beautiful, may I walk,” say the prayers, and for this reason the string passes
through beautiful beads, which, by their colors, symbolize the four cardinal points
of the compass. “ With beauty above me, may I walk,” “ With beauty below
me may I walk,” are again the words of the prayers ; so the string includes feather
and hair of the turkey, a bird of the earth, and of the eagle, a bird of the sky.
“ My voice restore for me,” “ Make beautiful my voice,” are expressions of the
prayers and to typify these sentiments the string includes feathers of warbling
birds whose voices “flow in gladness” as the Navaho song says. The steep¬
faced rock, at which the long kethawns are sacrificed, some say, represents the
White House ; others, the cliff in which the White House stands.

392. — The smaller cigarettes, as has been said, represent the dancers of the
naak/zai in the last night of the ceremony of kled^e /za/a/. As this dance first
became known to the Navahoes at the White House, in the mythic days, these
kethawns go with those of the White House. As the dancers at a certain part
of the dance appear alternately, male and female, so the male and female ob¬
jects are made to alternate. As the ground on which the dance takes place is
carefully levelled, smoothed, and cleared of obstructions, so the ground selected
for sacrifice must be clear and level. The plumes on the masks of the male
dancers are placed on the right side and when they dance, as they usually do,
facing the east the plumes are seen to the south ; so the kethawns, when placed in
proper order, tip ends east, and faces downward, show the plumes in the south.
The articles sacrificed with the small kethawns have the same symbolism as similar

articles that go with the large kethawns, though many are less carefully arranged.

393. — On one occasion when ten kethawns were made, four were observed
which were sacred to the Bighorn (gods) or Rocky Mountain Sheep. They
were of the same length as the smaller or dance kethawns just described, were
accompanied with the same materials, and were arranged in a row with the latter,
south of them, on the cotton cloth. They were colored, in order from north to
south thus : white, blue, yellow, black. The first and third were sacred to males
and were deposited on top of a steep-sided rock. The second and fourth were
sacred to females and were deposited on a ledge on the face of such a rock. They
were applied to the patient after the other kethawns had been taken out and were
sacrificed by a different assistant.

394. — Such are the usual kethawns for this morning ; but occasionally other
forms may be employed. A set called yebi/naiskagi ke/an deserves especial men¬
tion. A man who personates a divine character
in the rites is charged to observe continence
while thus personating and afterwards while a
particle of sacred paint remains upon his body.

If he transgresses this rule, disease of the eyes
and ultimate blindness is the penalty. But the
proper and timely application of the ceremony
of kled^e hatal may save him. In treating
such cases these cigarettes are prepared on the
morning of the third day. They are twenty
in number and are made according to the
usual rules. Two are four finger-widths in
length ; the rest are three finger-widths long
(pars. 139, 140). Ten are painted black to
symbolize the male ; ten blue, to symbolize the
female. Before they are placed in the corn-
husks and applied to the body of the patient
they are arranged as shown in fig. 10. Those
marked 1 stand for the feet ; those marked
2, the knees ; those marked 3, the palms ;
those marked 4, the shoulders ; those marked
5 (the longest cigarettes), the trunk ; and
those marked 6, the head. The parts men¬
tioned are the sacred parts to which the
kethawns are applied. In manipulating the
objects, the order of precedence is according
to the numbers given in fig. 10, but in addition,
the black cigarette always precedes the blue, and the right side always precedes
the left. The cigarettes are wrapped in two husks — all the black in one, all the
blue in another — with white shell, haliotis, turquoise, cannel-coal, and pollen-

(West)

Fig. 10. Kethawns of third morning. Yebl/naiskdgi
ketan.

When the rites are done the kethawns are deposited north of the medicine-lodge,
preferably at the base of a tree.

395. — No matter which set of kethawns is made, while the bearers are
absent, the chanter and others continue to sing and the patient receives the fumi¬
gation of yadidiml (par. 198). The bearers return in ten minutes or more, the
length of their absence depending on the number of kethawns and the distance
they have to travel in order to find suitable places for deposit. They bring back
with them the corn-husks in which the sacrifices were enveloped. These husks
they return to the shaman, who either puts them in his bag or stores them among
the rafters in the west of the lodge, for they have been culled with care and may
be used again. They must be clean white husks, free from red spots, mould,
rents, or traces of worms. They must not be used for smoking. They are finally
deposited to the east of the lodge, in the forks of a cedar-tree if one can conven¬
iently be found.

SUDORIFIC.

396. — After a pause of about an hour, some men go out to make the final
preparations of the second sweat-house. If a new house has not been built, but
the house of the previous day used, a new fire at least is made, fresh spruce twigs
are strewn on the floor, fresh stones are heated, and fresh infusions made, — this
last may be done in the medicine-lodge. The only design seen drawn on the top
of the second sweat-house is shown in fig. 6 ; it is done in corn-meal, and is called
akan tnseml. The songs of the second sudatory are only twelve in number and
although alike in character and sentiment to those sung the day before, they are
differently worded. If a new sweat-house is built in the south the masqueraders
go to the south to assume their masks, and there are other slight changes made
in the work, which are noted elsewhere (par. 253). In all other respects the rites,
medicines, etc., of the sudatory of this day are exactly the same as those of the
day before, and need not again be described ; but the work is usually begun and
finished at an earlier hour.

KETHAWNS OF THE EVENING.

397. — The only work done in the lodge on the afternoon of the third day is
the preparation of the numerous kethawns to be sacrificed at night. The four
or more men who do the work, seem not particularly impressed with the sacred
character of their labors ; they smoke, tell stories, laugh, joke, and banter one
another — the hour of song and prayer has not yet arrived. The labor begins at
1 p.m. or soon after — when the mid-day meal is finished in the lodge — and con¬
tinues for about an hour and a half.

398. — The kethawns are fifty-two in number; four are sections of reed for
cigarettes, and forty-eight are little sticks of solid wood.

399. — Of these forty-eight there are twelve belonging to the east, made of
mountain mahogany ( Cercocarpus parvifolius) ; twelve belonging to the south,

made of a shrub called mai/a or coyote-corn by the Navahoes (. Forestiera neo-
mexicana ) ; twelve belonging to the west, made of juniper ( Juniperus occiden-
talis), and twelve belonging to the north, made of cherry ( Primus deinissa). The
four pieces of reed are each three finger-widths in length. The forty-eight sticks
are each four finger-widths in length. All these are not just the same length, for
the measurements are taken on the hands of different men. Each workman meas¬
ures one stick on his fingers and takes this as a standard for the others. Moun¬
tain mahogany is probably selected for the east, because its abundant plumose
white styles give the shrub a whitish aspect and white is the color of the east.
Forestiera may be chosen for the south because its small olive-shaped fruit is blue,
the color of the south. Juniper is perhaps taken for the west because its outer
branchlets and leaves have, in the arid region, a tone of yellow, which is the color
of the west. Cherry seems to be adopted for the north because the fruit of
Prunus deinissa, the common wild cherry, of New Mexico, ripens black, and black
is the color of the north. In the myth of The Visionary (par. 660) certain mythic
reasons are given for selecting these trees for the kethawns ; yet it is probable
that the custom does not follow the myth, but that both follow the primary law
of symbolism. See par. 659.

400. -— The four cigarettes are cut from a single cane and prepared with the
usual observances. The first is painted white ; the second, blue ; the third, yellow ;
the fourth, black ; the colors of the cardinal points. There are no devices painted
on them.

401. — The bark is left on the wooden kethawns except at the butt ends where
they are sharpened to a point one finger-width long, and here they are not painted.
The bark of the sticks of mountain mahogany is painted white ; that of the sticks
of coyote-corn, blue ; that of the juniper, yellow, and that of the cherry, black.
The flat outer or tip end of each male kethawn is painted in a contrasting color
(par. 15), i. e., the ends of the white kethawns are painted black ; the ends of the
blue kethawns, yellow ; the ends of the yellow kethawns, blue ; the ends of the
black kethawns, white. The flat ends of the female sticks are all painted black ;
this is to indicate that the female mask does not cover the entire head, but allows
the hair to be seen. Sex is also shown by cutting facets, one finger-width long,
on alternate sticks, to represent the female masks. The naturally circular ends
of the other sticks sufficiently represent the cap-like male mask (par. 17). Each
facet is painted blue, and has a yellow streak at the chin (pars. 61, 267); usually
eyes and mouth are indicated by black spots.

402. — A sacred basket of the kind described as a basket-drum (par. 287)
duly oriented, is used to receive these kethawns according as they are finished.
The four cigarettes are placed in the centre on a little pile of corn-meal, in
the usual order, tips east. The wooden kethawns are arranged in four groups,
side by side around the centre, tip ends outward, radiating slightly as the form
of the basket compels. The twelve white kethawns are put in the eastern
quarter of the basket ; the twelve blue, in the southern quarter ; the twelve yellow,

in the western quarter; and the twelve black, in the northern quarter. In laying
them down, male and female kethawns are made to alternate and the male takes
the precedence, in order, of the female. Fig. E, plate II, shows a sample of
each kind of wooden kethawn, and fig. A, plate V, from a photograph, shows
the completed sacrifice.

403. — The objects are called ke/an /ani, or the many kethawns. They are
said to belong to a numerous divine company called //astreayuhi. The wooden
pieces are for the minor deities of the group ; the cigarettes for the superior
ones. The white cigarette is for a //astreyabi ; the blue for a //astyebaad ; the
yellow for a //astyebaka ; the black for a //astseoboi.

404. — The basket containing the finished kethawns is put to one side,
in the mask recess or other secure place, where it is kept until needed at night.

405. — While the work of preparing the kethawns progresses inside, and
after it is done, men are engaged outside the lodge in cleaning the ground
around it, cutting down bushes, grubbing sage-brush, removing sticks and other
obstructions, — in short, in clearing the ground for the rites of the last night and
the practice dances which precede them.

406. — Soon after dark, about 7 o’clock, four men begin to dress themselves
as yei. One of these is always //astoeyabi ; another is usually //astre/^o^an, but
occasionally //astje/pahi takes his place ; the other two are //astrebaad, or
goddesses. They are ready in about half an hour and leave the lodge. Blank¬
ets and cotton sheeting are spread for the patient in the west of the lodge ; the
usual call is cried at the door ; the patient enters and, having first divested him¬
self of his necklace and all clothing except his breechcloth, takes the seat pre¬
pared for him in the west ; the kethawns in the basket are brought forth, and
song is begun, in which many join the chanter. The series of songs now sung is
that of the Aga‘hoa Gisi'n, or Summit Songs (par. 897). The singers begin with
No. 1, and finish the set before they stop.

407. — They have not been singing long when //astreyabi enters, runs
toward the patient, and applies his quadrangular talisman four times in the same
manner as he did on the first night (par. 308).

408. — He runs out of the lodge ; returns instantly without his talisman ;
again approaches the patient at a run, and, being handed one of the kethawns,
applies it to the usual parts of the patient, giving his characteristic whoop with
each application. He also applies it to parts most diseased. The patient draws
in breath when the kethawn is at his mouth. When all this is done the god runs
with the kethawn out of the lodge.

409. — The moment he disappears, one of the //astyebaad rushes in, takes a
kethawn from the hand of the chanter and repeats all the acts of //astreyabi
with the first kethawn, but utters no sound.

410. — As the //asUebaad, or goddess, rushes out //astse/zo^an (or //asUe/-
pahi) runs in and, taking a kethawn, repeats the operations of his predecessors,
giving his own peculiar howl or whoop with each application.

41 1. — When this god leaves, the second //astrebaad enters, running, and
does exactly as the others did, but utters no sound.

412. — In this order they follow one another and repeat over and over again
these acts, until all the kethawns are taken out. Then //astreyal/i runs in once
more and applies his talisman as he did in the beginning.

413. — As there are fifty-two kethawns to be disposed of, each one of the
gods must have thirteen entrances and thirteen exits, besides those made by
//astreyal/i to apply his talisman. It has once been noted that this particular
rite occupied just one hour, ending at 8 p.m. During all the work song never
ceases.

414. — In taking the kethawns, they begin with the four cigarettes in the
centre and of these, with the white one belonging to the east. They take the
rest in their proper order, — blue, yellow, black (south, west, north). When
the cigarettes are gone, they take of the wooden kethawns ; first the most
northerly white one — in the eastern quarter of the basket — and proceed thence
around the basket, sunwise, taking the most easterly black one in the north last.
All is so arranged that the male divinities take male kethawns, and the goddesses,
female kethawns.

415. — The kethawns, according as they are taken out, may be laid on the
flat roof of the entry to the lodge, to be left there all night and sacrificed early
in the morning in the following manner : The white kethawns are put away in
the east, the blue in the south, the yellow in the west, the black in the north, at
a little distance from the medicine-lodge. Each cigarette is placed with some
care, stuck in an upright position in the ground, under a ledge of rock, or other
protecting object, safe from the tramping of cattle. The wooden kethawns are
scattered, one by one, on the ground in the neighborhood of the cigarettes.
There is a special method of throwing them away : Standing with his back to
the lodge, the bearer holds under his thumb the point of his flexed index finger ;
he places the stick, pointed end forward (face upward if a female), on the back
of the flexed finger; suddenly and forcibly he extends the finger, releasing it
from the thumb like a spring, and thereby throwing the stick some distance
away. Such is the usual way of disposing of them ; but one chanter related that
he directs his assistants to sacrifice the kethawns at night. According to his
method, as each bearer goes with his kethawn out of the lodge, he runs a little
distance away — east, south, west, or north, according to the color of the stick ;
throws the object away in the manner described, and runs back in time to take
his place when next it becomes his turn to enter the lodge. A description of
this latter method has already been published by the author.1'5

416. — In a few moments after the last kethawn is taken out the actors return,
unmasked, and proceed to wash off the paint and divest themselves of their
trappings. The shaman receives back from the actor the talisman of the
yebitrai and puts it in his bag. Lastly, he administers the fumigation to the
patient in the usual form.

OCCASIONAL RITES.

417. — Thus — usually between 8 and 9 p.m. — the rites of the third day come
to an end. But, in addition, the following was once witnessed : After a lapse of
about a quarter of an hour from the return of the masqueraders, the chanter
mixes some paints on a stone and touches with them the essential parts of
the patient and of himself. He then sings a song and utters a long prayer
which the patient repeats after him, in the manner that other prayers are
repeated. This, it is said, is a rite rarely performed, and tlte chanter must have
for it an additional fee of a new buckskin, on which he draws a picture of the
Pollen Boy if his patient is a male and a picture of the Grasshopper Girl if his
patient is a female. (Plate II, C.)

418. — When the work is done, supper is brought in and all persons in the
lodge, who desire, may partake.

419. — In the ceremony of /o‘nastn/zego /za/a/, or that form of the night-
chant, where there is no dance on the last night (par. 648), it is related that
the ke/an /ani are not made ; but that, instead, twelve hoops or circles large
enough to encircle the body are formed out of the trees used in the
kozznike (par. 255) tied at the joinings with yucca fibre. //asLeyal/i, //astreel-
/odi, and two //asLebaad are the actors. The hoops are made outside, wheeled
into the lodge, one by one, by the divinities, and placed around the patient,
one on top of another, till all are placed and he is concealed. This arrangement
is called i/yarthtlnz. The gods return, remove the hoops, one by one, and as
they roll them out the patient blows after the hoops. As each circle is taken
out it is pressed from east to west and from north to south. The bond is loosed
and the stick straightened. The debris lies outside until morning, then it is
laid under a tree and sprinkled with meal while a benediction is spoken. This
is, of course, a very meagre description of this rite of the ilyartdtliTz. Par. 867.

420. — The third day is the day of the south, and when the work is done it
is said that the patient finds everything clear and beautiful in the south, where
before all was dark and unlovely.

II. Fourth Day

FOURTH DAY. (UNTIL NIGHTFALL).

421. — The rites proper of the fourth day consist of : 1st, the preparation and
sacrifice of kethawns in the morning ; 2nd, the administration of the sudorific, later
in the forenoon ; 3rd, the ablution with amole early in the afternoon, and 4th, the
rite of the tree and mask in the evening. But there is some work done before the
kethawns are made. If a new sweat-house is to be built, the labor of construction
is begun early— usually before sunrise — and at this time also two men go out to
select the sapling which is to be used in the evening rites. They mark this by
tying an eagle-plume to its top. As already told (par. 415), very early on the
morning of this day the sacrifices of the previous night may be deposited ; but
this is to be regarded only as a consummation of yesterday’s ceremonies.

422- — After nightfall, about 8 p.m., the vigil of the gods begins; but as
the rites connected with this are continued all nicdit until dawn of the fifth
day and form a separate and peculiar feature of the whole work, they will be
described under a separate heading: Fourth Night.

KETHAWNS OF THE MORNING.

423. — The work of the fourth day in the medicine-lodge begins about 7 a.m.
with the preparation, by assistants, of sacrificial cigarettes, which take about an
hour to make. Breakfast is brought in and eaten, sometimes immediately
before this particular task is begun, sometimes immediately after it is finished.
The cigarettes for this occasion vary, the variation depending on the nature of
the disease treated, on the kind of cigarettes used by the presiding shaman in
preceding ceremonies, and perhaps, on other conditions.

424. — The following is a description of eight cigarettes, the making and
application of which have been noted on three different occasions. They are
prepared in accordance with general rules already described. Eagle- and owl-
feathers, mixed with pollen, are used for the plugs, which are laid out in a row
on the white cotton sheeting before being inserted. When painted and finished
the cigarettes are arranged in the following order: 1st, red; 2nd, red; 3rd,
blue; 4th red, decorated with the queue-symbol of 7o‘bad,s,istsmi ; 5th, blue;
6th, black ; 7th, blue ; 8th, white. Each is placed in a separate corn-husk with
the following materials : beads or bead material of four kinds, specular iron-ore,
corn-pollen, blue pollen, life pollen, moistened pollen, bluebird feathers, yellow-
warbler feathers, eagle breath-feather,15 turkey-feather, hair of turkey’s beard,
cotton string.

425. — Songs are repeated at various times during the progress of the work,
the finishing song being one whose refrain is, Ka7 //aTams7e, Now it is
finished (par. 900).

426. — After the cigarettes are made the patient takes his, or her, seat in the
usual place in the west. The priest applies pollen to the essential parts, admin¬
isters pollen to himself, and throws a pinch of it toward the sky (smoke-hole).
He then collects the sacrificial bundles, proceeding from north to south, as usual,
places them in the hands of the devotee, squats beside him, and utters a long
prayer in his usual hasty manner, which the patient repeats after him, sentence
by sentence. This prayer begins: “House made of the dawn in Tse'gihi,” and
is addressed to gods of that place. It consists of four parts, three of which
contain forty-six verses, and one, the last, forty-eight verses. Of the forty-six
verses, thirty-eight have their counterparts in the prayer of the First Dancers
(par. 613).

427. — -When the prayer is done, the kethawns are applied by the shaman to
the patient’s essential parts and handed to an assistant who takes them out to
sacrifice them.

428. — Four of these kethawns belong to the Atsa7ei, or First Dancers of the

Fig. ii. Kethawns of the fourth day.

ninth night, and four to //asUebaka. They are sacrificed or planted south of
the lodge, with their tips pointing south. A small space of ground is smoothed
off with the foot ; furrows a hand’s breadth apart, are marked on this space with
the foot ; one cigarette with its accompaniments is laid in each furrow. The
corn-husks, only, are returned to the shaman.

429. — Another set of eight cigarettes, sometimes substituted for those just
described, is shown in the diagram, fig. 11, laid out, in regular order from north

_2W. to south, as seen before being placed

in the corn-husks. Each of these
is three finger-widths in length, ex¬
cept No. 7, which is as long as the
middle joint of the little finger.
The patient performs the symbolic
act of lighting with the crystal.
After each cigarette is laid in its proper corn-husk, beads of the usual four kinds
are added, then the usual feathers and hair of a turkey’s beard, and lastly four
sacred powders in the following order : specular iron-ore, blue pollen, corn pollen,
life pollen. The patient presents a rock crystal to the bundles as if reflecting light
into them. The chanter again puts pollen on the kethawns, with a low muttered
blessing, but without song. He administers pollen to the patient and to himself
with another muttered blessing. The bundles are folded in the prescribed manner
(par. 323). The first four bundles are given to the patient, who grasps them with
both hands. One of the usual long prayers is said. The assistant (once observed
to be a brother of the patient) who is to sacrifice, applies pollen to himself in the
usual way, and again to the bundles, and departs to deposit the cigarettes and their
accompaniments. The chanter then takes up the remaining four bundles and re¬
peats, with them, all the acts performed with the former four. He hands them to
another assistant who repeats the acts of the previous assistant and, after receiv¬
ing instructions from the shaman, carries the cigarettes away to sacrifice them.
The debris of manufacture is collected. Song is resumed. The patient sits until
the first assistant returns from the act of sacrifice. Once it was observed, on this
occasion, that the waiting patient smoked something in an ancient terra-cotta pipe.
This was the only time the writer ever saw a pipe used in the Navaho rites.

430. — In addition to the kethawns last described, the writer once saw a large
kethawn sacred to the sun, made from a thick section of some kind of grass or
sedge (possibly tide) which, it was said, does not grow in the Navaho country;
but is obtained usually from the people of Mold, who cull it far west of their vil¬
lages. Often this plant cannot be procured ; then, of course, this cigarette must
be omitted.

SUDATORY.

431. — The sweat-house, on the third day of its use — the fourth day of the
whole work — -is decorated exactly as on the first day, and all the rites are repeated

exactly as on that occasion. All the properties used are the same and the same
medicines are employed. The songs only are different. The rites of the sweat-
house on this day have been rioted on one occasion as lasting from 10.15
to 10.45 A.M.

432. — When the patient returns to the medicine-lodge, after the sweat, he sits
in the west and a song is begun whose burden is NanLoye. The chanter ap¬
proaches him still singing and proceeds to apply pollen to his essential parts in the
manner elsewhere described. The pollen is applied to each part at an appropriate
passage in the song. The chanter, ceasing to sing, takes pollen himself and
passes the bag to those who enacted the part of the yei ; they in turn pass the bag to
others ; it goes the rounds of the lodge until all partake of it in the usual way
(par. 185). On this occasion visiting chanters have been observed to pass their
pollen bags among the crowd either to save time or the pollen of the presiding
chanter.

433. — The usual fumigation of the patient closes the rites of the forenoon,
generally about thirty minutes before the noon hour.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE VIGIL.

434. — This is a day of general cleaning. Not only the patient gets his bath,
which is ceremonial ; but all others connected with the rites, clean themselves. In
addition to the regular sudatory for the patient, a sweat-house for general use is
built. After taking the hot-air bath, the shaman and his assistants clean their hair
and bodies with amole suds and dry themselves with corn-meal. This is in anti¬
cipation of the vigil at night, when the gods are supposed to visit the medicine-
lodge and feast with men. Often in the myths, the necessity is inculcated for
men to cleanse themselves when expecting a visit from the gods.

435. — Outside the lodge on this day, visitors and friends of the patient are
engaged in clearing the ground around the medicine-lodge ; while at the camp of
the patient’s relations, women are preparing the great corn-meal cake or a/kan
which is baked in the earth and they are busy preparing other special dishes which
are eaten in the feast at night. See par. 221 and plate V, fig. B.

THE AMOLE BATH OF THE PATIENT.

436. — Some time previous to the beginning of the rites, connected with the
amole bath in the lodge, a near relation, the brother or father of the patient, goes
out to collect the soap-root. He takes it from four different species of yucca
if these can conveniently be found T He cuts of each of these only a small
piece, the size of a finger, from the shady side of the plant, with a stone knife, and
applies corn pollen to the wounds. He goes then to Yucca baccata ox Yucca data,
for the large pieces which form the chief ingredient of the lather. When he
severs one of these from its deep attachments, he must begin the cutting with a
stone knife, but may finish with an instrument of steel. Again he must apply

IOO

pollen. The roots must be mashed on a hard boulder or some kind of stone not
easily broken, and not on the soft sandstone so common in the Navaho country.
When the mashing is over, the stone is laid away, in the shade of a tree or some
other umbrageous object. One or two men collect for the “ platter” the neces¬
sary mud, which must come from the centre of a cultivated field or alkali flat.
Naturally moist earth must be sought. This earth is called A^a/a//ataan, which sig¬
nifies mud taken from the centre of water, as from a drying pond. There are, no
doubt, other observances connected with these preparatory acts, but they have not
been witnessed by the writer. Much of the information in this paragraph is de¬
rived from numerous descriptions.

437. — The rites within the lodge, connected with the bath of soap-root or
anrole, are usually begun about noon, but they have been seen delayed as late as 3
r.M. When all is ready, the patient enters the lodge and sits, in the south or
southwest, facing the east, while the chanter forms on the ground, to the west of
the fire, a circular object, about two feet in diameter, called by the Navahoes
tha akis ; which might here be called, in order to be graphic, a “ mud pie,” but, to
be more elegant, will be called a mud platter, or simply a platter. He spreads on
the floor a layer of mud of the size mentioned, and nearly encircles it with a mud
rim about three inches high, leaving an opening in the east. He lays on the
platter thus formed, from centre to circumference, four spreading spruce branches,
which almost conceal it. At the first ceremony he ever performs he makes
these branches point to the four cardinal points ; at the next ceremony he directs
them to the intermediate points, and thus he continues to alternate them through
his professional career. Some shamans use five spruce branches, putting one in
the centre. See par. 778.

438. — Having completed the platter, the chanter takes a Navaho basket
of the kind known as the basket-drum, puts pollen on its margin, leaving a hiatus
in the east, and lays it to the south of the platter with its line of orientation
pointing to the east. Into the basket he puts spruce twigs, and then the
ingredients for making kd'tlo, or tyo/trin (par. 215). A young boy, or girl,
assistant pours water into the basket ; he waves one cupful from the east,
another from the south, another from the west, a fourth from the north, a fifth
from the zenith, and after this he puts in the required amount without ceremony.
An adult assistant of the same sex as the patient now stirs the mixture. This
infusion is for application to the body after the yucca suds ; but it is not always
made on this occasion — the suds is sometimes washed off with water only.

439. — At this time, too, the cold detergent solution of amole, or soap-root,
is prepared. A Navaho water-tight basket-drum is laid down near the middle of
the lodge, duly oriented ; meal is sprinkled on its margin in the usual way ; the
four small pieces of yucca first cut from the plants are laid in the bottom of
the basket ; the rest of the yucca root, or amole, is put in ; water is added in
the same manner as with the mixture of tyo/trin, and an assistant, sitting south
of the basket bowl and facing north, begins to work up the lather. A high, stiff,

IOI

lasting lather is produced by whirling in the solution a beater of spruce twigs
between the hands, as a hand-drill is twirled. The moment the assistant begins
to make the foam the shaman begins to sing. The song and the work cease
simultaneously. The songs sung on this occasion are the first and second of the
Tj-a/ye/ Bigi'n, or Darkness Songs. The refrain of these is, E samus, which
has reference to the lather. When the suds is ready, the chanter sprinkles
pollen on the rim of the platter, sunwise, leaving a hiatus in the east, and places
the basket of suds (or an assistant may do this) in the centre of the platter,
on top of the butts of the spruce twigs. Pollen is applied to the rim of the
oriented basket, leaving an opening in the east. Three superimposed circles of
pollen are made around the edge of the suds and three superimposed crosses of
pollen are drawn on it from edge to edge. The first line of each cross is drawn
from east to west through the centre of the bowl; the second line from south
to north. The first circle and cross are made of A5‘bi//zadi/bz, or water pollen
(par. 1 88), the second of tyelbiz'/zaz/iz'bz, or cat-tail pollen, and the third of corn
pollen.

440. — Four crosses in pollen are now made around the mud platter, as shown
in the diagram (fig. 12) and in the order as numbered in the diagram. The
patient kneels beside
the basket of suds,
south of it facing north
(orwest of it facing east,
as once observed). He
puts to the ground :
first, his right knee on ^

cross 1 ; second, his left
knee on cross 2 ; third,
his right hand on cross
3 ; fourth, his left hand
on cross 4 ; this brings
over the suds his head,
which he holds low
down. An assistant,
who must not be of the
same gens as the pa¬
tient, takes a little suds
from the tips and centre

of the pollen cross and . . . , ,

1 # Fig. 12. Diagram of mud platter and basket of soap-root solution ; ay rim of platter, open in the east ;

applies it to tile pa-^’ basket containing solution ; c, spruce twigs; 1, 2, 3, 4, crosses of meal in the order in which they
l k r are made and occupied.

tient’s head. He next

washes well the patient’s hair in the suds. The necklace and jewels of the
patient may now be washed and rinsed. The patient washes his own face,
feet, lower limbs, trunk (in front), and arms. An assistant washes his back. The

suds is emptied into the platter, sometimes over the patient’s head, and the
basket is rinsed into the platter. The body and head of the patient are rinsed.
If ke'tlo has been made it is now applied to the body, which it covers with wet
spruce leaves. The patient turns around sunwise and, without touching the
earth, gets on a blanket north and west of the mud platter.

441. — The platter is broken up; the debris, with the spruce twigs is collected
in a blanket and deposited in a shady place. It may be thrown into the edge of
the lodge, or it may be taken out and deposited to the north of the lodge at the
shady side of a spreading tree of any species.

442. — A basket (par. 292) containing a goodly quantity of corn-meal is
placed before the patient, who sits on a rug. To the accompaniment of song,
his essential parts are touched with a little of the meal, each application being
made at a designated passage in the song. The patient then rubs meal all over
his own body — except the back, where a friend rubs it — while a special song to
Estsanatlehi is sung. This song, which is sung at no other part of the ceremony
and is not one of the regular series of Estsanatlehi songs, is called :

ARAN BENAJTA BIGl'N. - MEAL-RUBBING SONG.

1. From his body, it is rubbed away.

2. By Estsanatlehi, it is rubbed away.

3. With the white corn, it is rubbed away.

4. Made of the corn-root, it is rubbed away.

5. Made of the corn-leaf, it is rubbed away.

6. Made of the corn-dew, it is rubbed away.

7. Made of the tassel, it is rubbed away.

8. Made of the pollen, it is rubbed away.

9. Made of the corn-grain, it is rubbed away.

10. In old age wandering, it is rubbed away.

11. On the trail of beauty, it is rubbed away.

There are three other stanzas, in which they name corn of other colors.

443. — When the application of the meal is completed and its song finished,
the chanter begins a special song to //ast?eyal/i the burden or refrain of which is
Bena^oie. At certain parts of this song, he applies pollen to the appropriate parts
of the patient. He ceases to sing ; takes pollen on his own tongue and head and
scatters it in the air above his head. The chanter must be very particular in
singing this song. Visiting chanters listen to him carefully and notify him of his
mistake if he makes one. This completes the ceremony of the amole bath, which
usually occupies something less than two hours.

444. — Not the jewels of the invalid only, but those of the shaman and
assistants are washed on this occasion. In addition to an ordinary washing with
suds and a rinsing with water, they are sometimes allowed to lie for a while in the
bowl of sacred suds, before the circles and crosses of pollen are applied, and
sometimes in the bowl of spruce and tyoltrin.

445. — If the patient be a female, three or four female relations accompany her

io3

and sit in the north of the lodge, until their turn conies to make themselves useful.
One of these may mix the amole ; another may wash the patient’s head and
necklace with the suds. When the body is being washed, two of the women
raise a blanket for a screen, while a third assists the patient to bathe the body and
a fourth carries the water or cold infusion behind the screen. After a brief
interruption, song is resumed, the screen is lowered and the patient is seen
standing, clothed. Afterwards, when the woman rubs meal to her person, the
screen is again raised by two of her companions and a third rubs the meal on the
patient’s back. During all this time, there is no exposure of the patient’s person
to the men in the lodge.

DOG KETHAWNS.

446. — On one occasion, in the afternoon, certain sacrifices called dog kethawns
were observed, but the description of them has been mislaid. Soon after sunset
they were applied in the usual manner and were taken out to be sacrificed by the
brothers of the patient. The prayer on this occasion was uttered in voices
scarcely audible and all instructions, questions and conversations were conducted
in whispers.

TREE AND MASK.

447. — The rite of the tree and mask, within the lodge, begins at nightfall.
Two men paint and decorate themselves to represent divinities. The usual
characters are //asDeyal/i and a //astrebaacl, or goddess, his wife.; but sometimes
//asUe/zo^an takes the place of the //astyebaad, and sometimes another male
divinity takes the place of //astyeyalzfi. Once the female character was seen
represented by //asts'eolzfoi, the Navaho Diana. The rites shall be described as
conducted by the first pair mentioned. It has not been discovered why the
characters are changed.

448. — While these men are preparing themselves, a hole about four inches in
diameter and six inches deep is dug in the ground to the west of the fire ; the
mask to be worn by the patient and those of the yei are laid out, and a blanket
covered with white sheeting is spread to the west of the hole for the patient to sit
on. The actors, hiding their masks under their blankets, leave the lodge. The
call to song is shouted from outside the door.

449. — The patient enters and disrobes on a blanket north of his prepared seat.
He sits then on the blankets and sheeting in the west, facing the east. The
domino-like mask of a yebaad is put over the patient’s face and rather loosely tied
behind the head with its attached strings. While the mask is being tied on, one
song is sung. It is the third of the Aga‘hoa Gisi'n or Summit Songs; but is
especially called I/yai///zaz/ Bigfin. The yei now enter dressed and masked.
//astreyalA bears a small sapling — pinon, if the patient is a male ; cedar, if the
patient is a female (par. 73 1)— almost entirely stripped of its branches, //astrebaad
carries a bag made of a single fawnskin, containing some meal and grains of corn.

Four grains of corn are dropped into the hole and then the sapling is planted in
it ; earth being packed in to keep the sapling erect. Before planting it //astreyal/i
points the top of the sapling to each of the four cardinal points in their usual order.
Alternately with each motion //ast^ebaad sprinkles meal to the cardinal points.
The sapling is then lifted toward the zenith above the hole and brought down
vertically into the latter to be planted.

450. — The sapling is then bent over to the west by //astyeyaRi ; being
steadied, if necessary, by //astrebaad. Its top is tied to the top of the mask by
means of a long string, and it is held a moment in the bent position. An assistant
unties from behind the strings that hold the mask on the patient’s head. The
sapling, released, Hies backward to an upright position, carries the mask with it,
exposes the face of the patient, and draws away, it is said, all disease from the
patient’s head.

451. — The yei run out carrying tree and mask with them and the hole is filled
up. A few minutes later the yei return, unmasked, give back their masks to the
shaman and divest themselves of paint and finery. Fumigation of the patient, in
the usual form, follows (par. 198).

452. — This completes the rites of the tree and mask within the lodge ; but,
in addition, some observances occur outside the lodge which must be described.
The work, in the morning, of selecting and marking the sapling has already been
mentioned. The sapling is trimmed at the place where it is cut, being deprived
of all its branches except a small tuft at the top. In carrying it to the lodge, the
bearer lays it down four times. Arrived at the lodge, he lays it on the level roof
over the entry, where it remains until the yei require it. When the work in the
lodge is done, the sapling and mask are laid on the roof over the entry. The
mask is returned to the chanter later. The sapling is left on the roof until
morning, when it is taken to the north or northeast of the lodge, laid in the
branches of a tree and sprinkled with meal while a benediction is spoken.

453. — After the rite of the tree and mask is done, the men in the lodge
gossip, smoke, sleep and eat the plentiful supper which is provided for them,
before the work of the night begins.

II. Fourth Night: Vigil of the Gods

FOURTH NIGHT.

YEBIKE TOILHAS, VIGIL OF THE GODS.

454. — From about nine o’clock on the fourth night, until nearly dawn on the
fifth day, a vigil is kept over the masks and other properties of the rites. This
is called yebike /oil/Hy, which means literally, no sleep on the trail of the gods,
but is here freely translated, vigil of the gods. The patient and a virgin girl
and boy who accompany him into the lodge, or enter after the masks have been
pollened, are expected to stay awake all night ; yet on one occasion the patient
was seen to drop his weary lids for a little while after 2 a.m. At any moment of
the night it may be seen that the great majority of the numerous occupants of the

lodge are awake ; wakefulness is the order of the night ; still there are few, the
shaman not excepted, who do not take an occasional doze during the watch ;
while a limited number, who take no part in the singing, may be observed,
stretched on the ground in slumber, for an hour or more at a time.

455. — There are some rites which will be described ; but the time is mostly
spent in song which, with occasional short intervals of rest, is kept up all night.
The shaman often leads in the songs which belong to the occasion, but not
always. Among the visitors in the lodge there are many middle-aged and old
men who know some particular set of songs and take the lead to the relief of the
tired shaman. The rattle is the only instrument used, and this not always.

Fig. 13. Diagram showing arrangement of masks and other properties during the vigil of the gods. 1, (mask of) //astreyal/i ; 2,
//astre/jo^'an ; 3, H&.tda.sts\s\ ; 4 and 5, //astyebaka ; 6, //astre/tri ; 7, T^dhanoai ; 8, Klehanoai ; q, Ga«askir/i ; 10, T6 nenili ; 11, Nayenez-
gani ; 12, To‘badz!strfni ; 13, Dsahaafoldza ; 14, 7/astrezini ; 15 to 20 are for //astvebaad or goddesses, one of which, 16, is for //astreoltoi ; 21;
rattles ; 22, fox-skins ; 23, miscellaneous, fringes, etc. ; 24, plumed wands in basket.

LAYING OUT MASKS, ETC.

456. — Between 8.30 and 9 p.m. usually, blankets are spread on the ground
to the northwest of the fire. If a buffalo robe can be obtained, it is laid over
these with its head to the northeast. These are in turn covered with many folds
of new calico. Over all is spread a covering of new white cotton sheeting and
sometimes a fine white buckskin. In former days, it is said, only buffalo robes
and buckskins were used ; but owing to the modern scarcity of these articles, the
white man’s goods are now employed. These goods are retained by the shaman
as a special fee. On the white sheeting, the masks, fox-skins, rattles, meal-bags,
medicine-bags, and other permanent properties of the night chant are laid out in
two rows, usually in the order shown in the diagram, fig. 13. The masks have
their faces up and their tops toward the fire.

APPLICATION OF POLLEN.

457. — The patient now applies pollen to the masks in the following manner.
Standing by the tops of the masks, with his back to the fire, he sprinkles pollen
in a straight line — letting it drop from between his thumb and first two fingers

— thinly, down the centre of the mask from top to mouth. He sprinkles it in a
similar manner on the right cheek or edge from bottom to top and then on the
left cheek in the same direction. This is the common method of applying the
votive pollen to the masks ; it is followed in other rites and will be mentioned
again (par. 509). He then sprinklespollen from right to left along both rowsof sacred
objects and scatters it widely on the ground in front of him. When this is done,
the shaman and, after him, his principal assistants follow and repeat these acts.
Sometimes the shaman precedes the patient. Then others who desire may follow
and apply pollen in the same manner to the sacred objects. These acts are of a
worshipful nature and are accompanied by silent or low-muttered prayers ; but
there is no loud prayer, song or conversation at this time. Afterwards pollen-
bags are passed around among the audience, for any one who chooses to partake

— praying in silence in the meantime.

FOOD FOR THE BANQUET.

458. — When the sprinkling of the pollen is done, there is a silent and ex¬
pectant pause which is broken by the cry “ Bike hditi.li haku,” just outside the
door of the lodge. The curtain is thrown aside and a number of women enter
bearing bowls and dishes of food in great variety. The women walk in single
file around the fire, sunwise, until the one who heads the procession gets back to
the east, or just north of the eastern extremity of the fire. The women form a
ring around the fire with a hiatus in the east. The woman at the head lays down
a dish of food called kate'tin ; the woman at the end of the procession lays down
a dish called na<Anogesz‘, followed by another called /^azaale1, and the woman,
at the head lays down a dish called wa. These four ancient Navaho dishes are
essential ; their positions in the circle and the order in which they are deposited

is established ; not so with the other dishes. When these women have placed
the four dishes mentioned, the others lay theirs down, one after another, in the
order in which they entered the lodge. They make a circle of dishes around the
fire with an opening in the east, which is defined by the two first dishes laid
down. The vessels are usually from twenty to thirty ; but the exact number is
not material. Some women carry several vessels.

459. — The following is a list of those dishes whose names and character have
been discovered : 1, Ka/eVin ; 2, na^inoge^i; 3, h azaale1; 4, wa ; 5, wa beltse ; 6,
alkan ; 7, Ma'bityai ; 8, tse‘as/e ; tse‘as/e /aka i ; 9, tse'as^e dot\Mz ; 10, tse‘as/e
/ltsoi ; 1 r, tse‘as/e /itsi ; 12, klesan ; 13, /anaski'2 ; 14, l&llzos ; 1 5, rthtlogin tsu/ikoi ;
16, barf'ahastloni ; 17, kinupi'H ; 18, ///a‘nil ; 19, no'kazi or^okos'i ; 20, naneskaafi ;
21, dumplings of tlo/ahi and other wild seeds. These are ancient aboriginal
dishes, the nature and preparation of which has been described (par. 217 et seq .)
The aboriginal dishes of boiled beans and squashes, dried melons, yucca and other
wild fruits, dried or preserved, are also commonly served. In addition to all this
ancient food, there are dishes of European origin, such as wheaten cakes, mutton
cooked in various ways, stewed peaches, etc. Of the rarer old-fashioned foods
there is usually one dish of each ; but there may be many dishes of mutton,
wheaten cakes, boiled pumpkin and such substantial articles. The culinary art
of the Navaho woman is taxed for this occasion. The ancient forms of food are
usually served in Indian baskets and pottery ; but the modern foods may be pre¬
sented in any sort of tin or crockeryware.

AN INTERVAL OF SONG.

460. — The women who brought the food sit down in the lodge. The boy
and girl before mentioned often enter with these women ; when the children
come, they sit southeast of the line of masks beside the patient. The one must
be of a different gens to the invalid ; hence, in the case of a male patient, it may
be his son. The other must be of the same gens as the invalid and hence is often
his niece. But they need not be intimate relations of the patient. After a pause
in which many indulge in cigarette smoking, song accompanied by rattling is begun
and it is continued for about an hour before the next important rite, that of the
sprinkling begins. The songs now sung are the IiWia‘ Bigi'n or Wand Songs,
thirty-two in number, all of which must be repeated with perfect exactness. The
last is sung when the sacred mush is mixed. During one of the songs, which is
very spirited, the women and children take pollen.

SPRINKLING MASKS AND OTHER SACRED OBJECTS.

461. — In the meantime the shaman makes, in a water-tight basket, the cold
infusion of t^oluln. He takes sacred water from a wicker bottle and pours it into
the basket in five gourd cupfuls, waving each cupful from a different direction
toward the basket ; on the surface of the water he may sprinkle fatsos, thus form¬
ing what is called rt&‘tsos ke'tlo (par. 213). At the proper time, as indicated by the

songs, he bids the boy and girl approach and instructs them in their duties. To
the former he gives a black plumed wand, or Inufia1, in each hand ; to the
other he gives a blue plumed wand in each hand. These wands are taken
from a basket at the south-western extremity of the row of masks, etc.
The boy, dipping his right-hand wand into the solution, sprinkles the masks and
other sacred objects, each row separately, from right to left, the nearer row first.
He steps aside and gives way to the girl, who sprinkles exactly in the same manner,
except that she waves her wand from left to right. The boy changes his wands
from one hand to another, dips and sprinkles as before with the right hand, but
with a different wand. Thus the boy and girl continue alternately to dip the wands
and sprinkle the sacred objects until each has sprinkled four times. The masks,
etc., having been properly asperged, the boy sprinkles the spectators in the north
half of the lodge ; the girl those in the south half. They sprinkle themselves.
The boy sprinkles the bottom of the lodge in the north ; the girl does the same
in the south. Lastly they sprinkle the roof of the lodge continuing until
the infusion is exhausted. They return their wands to the chanter and resume
their seats.

COMMUNAL SUPPER.

462. — After an interval of a few minutes, the girl puts into a sacred basket or
earthen bowl four handfuls of meal made of unripe corn baked in the earth ; on
this she pours sacred water and stirs the mixture into a thin mush or gruel. In
adding the water she advances one cupful toward the bowl with a sweep of the
arm from the east ; another similarly, from the south ; a third from the west ; a
fourth from the north ; a fifth from the zenith; she adds more water, if needed,
unceremoniously. On one occasion she was observed to enact the ceremonious
pouring of water four times, making twenty cupfuls in all, and to add no more.
Sometimes the boy pours the water while the girl stirs the mixture. He always
fills for her the gourd cup from the wicker bottle.

463. — Now comes a communal feast or love feast, a sacramental feast or com¬
munion it might be called, of gods and men. To begin with, the gods are
honored ; in other words food is given to the masks. The boy puts a small por¬
tion of the gruel on the mouth of each mask, begdnnino- at the rig-ht end and with
the row nearest to him ; he sprinkles gruel over the other properties ; the girl
follows his example, and thus, alternately, each four times they apply food to the
masks and other properties. The boy then, by dipping the tips of all the digits
of the right hand into the gruel, secures a morsel, carries it to his lips, and sucks
it audibly into his mouth ; this he does four times. His example is followed in
turn by the girl, the patient, the shaman, the principal assistants and, after these,
by everyone in the lodge. In passing the bowl to the multitude they begin with
those who sit south of the door, in the east, and pass it sunwise. If any of the
gruel is left after all have partaken once, some help themselves a second time un¬
til all is gone. Each devotee, as he takes the gruel, prays in silence for whatever

blessing he desires. The feast occupies about twenty minutes and is finished be¬
tween 10 and 1 1 p.m.

464. — There are some variations allowed in feeding the masks. It has once
been noted that the shaman did this, instead of the boy and girl. A myth says
the children made only a motion as if feeding the masks, and that the girl did not
begin until the boy had done it the required four times. It is also stated in a
myth that after the feast //a^tseAni started the Hozom song and all followed him
in singing. It is not now the practice to sing just after this feast ; but all partake
of pollen. Two bags are passed ; one to those who sit in the north of the lodge
and one to those in the south. As each guest partakes, he prays in silence — grace
after meals.

BANQUET AFTER COMMUNAL SUPPER.

465. — After the pollen is passed, the shaman or some one directed by him,
takes a small morsel from each of the bowls which contain the ancient Indian
foods, and puts it in a separate bowl which is laid away in the west of the lodge.
This material is, later, dried and used in certain healing rites. One such collection,
at least, is always made ; but sometimes two or three are made. The extra ones,
which are for the benefit of visiting shamans, are put in other parts of the lodge,
close to the edge.

466. — Then the dishes, which have been standing around the fire for over an
hour, are passed from hand to hand and laid in different parts of the lodge, where
each is soon surrounded by a small group of persons. All who wish to eat now
do so. The patient and the two children only may not partake ; their sole food
during the night being the morsels which each took of the sacred gruel. More¬
over, they have not eaten since breakfast, their fast is of about twenty-four hours’
duration. The shaman eats only of the sacred gruel between breakfast and this
ritual banquet. It is said if they broke this fast they would soon die. When the
banquet is finished, two pollen bags are passed and all who have eaten partake of
pollen in the usual manner, making meanwhile a silent prayer. One pollen bag
is passed from the shaman in the west, by the north, to the east ; the other bag is
passed from one sitting at the door, by the south, to the west.

AN INTERVAL OF SONG.

467. — Song, without drum, rattle or other accompaniment, is resumed after
this meal and continued until near midnight. The first songs sung are /fastse/iogan
Bigi'n. These the myth declares were sung by //astyeyal/i and //astse/iogan
when they built the first lodge ; there are twelve short songs and one long song,
making thirteen in all ; the last describes how the house was built. After this
series, come other songs of sequence. There is sometimes a pause between the
ending of one set and the beginning of another, during which people may pass in
and out of the lodge.

I IO

SMOKING THE MASKS.

468. — It is usually when these songs are done, that the chanter or an assistant
smokes the masks. He takes a long piece of reed filled with wild tobacco, lights
it and, inhaling the smoke, puffs toward the heavens and the earth, each
alternately, four times. He puffs the smoke on each mask separately and at last puffs
it, with less particularity, over the other sacred objects. This rite is called dzxsbi.1’
/i/aya‘, or a smoke for the masks. Sometimes the cigarette is made with a piece
of corn-husk for a cover instead of a piece of reed. Sometimes this rite is
deferred until after the rite of shaking the masks.

SHAKING THE MASKS.

469. — At midnight or wonderfully near that hour for a people who use no
time-pieces, the shaman starts the waking song, the refrain of which is hyu/ezna
or lur/ezna, which means, he moves, he stirs, and proceeds to “waken” or shake
the masks. As he begins each stanza, putting one hand under and the other over
the selected mask, he lifts it two or three inches from the ground, holding it
horizontally ; when he comes to the refrain he shakes the mask, horizontally, and
when he ends the refrain he lays the mask down. He does not proceed in the
order in which the masks are laid on the cotton sheeting ; but in the different order
in which they are mentioned in the song. When the masks are all shaken he begins
a song somewhat different from the first in words, but similar in tune, and proceeds
to shake the other properties. Some shamans carry a rock crystal in the right
hand, which is put under the mask in shaking.

WAKING SONG.

470. — The song of waking, or shaking, begins thus :

He stirs, he stirs, he stirs, he stirs.

Among the lands of dawning, he stirs, he stirs ;

The pollen of the dawning, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now in old age wandering, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now on the trail of beauty, he stirs, he stirs.

He stirs (four times).

Among the lands of evening, he stirs, he stirs ;

The pollen of the evening, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now in old age wandering, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now on the trail of beauty, he stirs, he stirs.

He stirs (four times).

Now AfasUeyal/ihi, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now liis white robe of buckskin, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now in old age wandering, he stirs, he stirs ;

Now on the trail of beauty, he stirs, he stirs.

He stirs (four times).

Then follow fifteen more stanzas framed like the third ; but substituting in
each for “ //astyeyal/i ” the name of a different god and for “ his white robe of
buckskin,” the name of a different property. It is unnecessary to repeat all the
words. The name of each god and the special property associated with him will
suffice. The numbers that follow are those of the stanzas.

IV. &a.sts6fioga.n . His white kilt, or loin-cloth.

V. Dsaha^/old^a. His bow of darkness.

VI. GawaskiAi. His white tobacco-pouch.

VII. If&tdastsi' s\ . His white leggings.

VIII. A/astrebaka. His soft goods of all kinds.

IX. A/astrebaad. Her jewels of all kinds.

X. Nayenezgani. His stone necklace.

XI. 7o‘badsistrini. His ear pendants.

XII. A/astreoLoi. Her puma quiver.

XIII. A/astre/tji. His coral beads.

XIV. ATastre.smi. His white beads.

XV. Zo'nenili. His jar of mixed waters.

XVI. Trohanoai. His haliotis pendant.

XVII. Klehanoai. His white shell pendant.

XVIII. Estsanatlehi. Her plants of all kinds.

471. — Some of the gods named may not be represented by masks. When
the singer repeats the stanza appropriate to such, his hands are empty, and no
shaking motion is made.

MONOLOGUE PRAYER.

472. — After he finishes the rite and songs of shaking the masks, the chanter
repeats, for his own benefit, in a low tone, the following monologue prayer, in
which the patient takes no part :

1. In beauty (happiness) may I dwell.

2. In beauty may I walk.

3. In beauty may my male kindred dwell.

4. In beauty may my female kindred dwell.

5. In beauty may it rain on my young men.

6. In beauty may it rain on my young women.

7. In beauty may it rain on my chiefs.

8. In beauty may it rain on us.

9. In beauty may our corn grow.

10. In the trail of pollen may it rain.

11. In beauty before us, may it rain.

12. In beauty behind us, may it rain.

13. In beauty below us, may it rain.

14. In beauty above us, may it rain.

15. In beauty all around us, may it rain

16. In beauty may I walk.

1 I 2

17. Goods, may I acquire.18

18. Jewels, may I acquire.19

19. Horses, may I acquire.

20. Sheep, may I acquire.

21. Beeves, may I acquire.

22. In old age,

23. The beautiful trail,

24. May I walk.

SINGING.

473. — The rest of the night is spent in song which continues with brief
interruptions, until the concluding rites in the morning. It is at this time that
any sacred songs of sequence may be sung (pars. 889 et seq .) and that songs be¬
longing to other rites may be introduced.

A SPECIAL RITE.

474. — On one occasion a rite was witnessed which it was said was not a constant
feature of the ceremony, but was desired by the patient, who paid extra for it.
It may be briefly described as follows : About 4 a. m. the masks are collected, the
chanter takes that of //astreyaki and another ; an assistant or the patient takes
all the rest. The chanter, the assistant and the patient stand in the west, in the
order named, from north to south. While they stand, holding the masks in their
hands, the chanter repeats one of his long prayers and the assistant — not the
patient — repeats it sentence by sentence after him. If the patient be a man, he
holds the masks ; if the patient be a woman, some male relation holds them.
Women are not allowed to hold the masks. When the prayer is done, the masks
are laid down — those which the chanter held, by themselves, the rest in one pile,
one on top of another.

CONCLUDING ACTS.

475. — As dawn approaches an assistant squats before the masks and sings a
very long song. He puts pollen on two of the masks and takes pollen himself.

476. — After this there is a brief pause, when the shaman may go out to look
at the sky. Singing is resumed and is continued until a crier, shouting
“ //ayi/ka/i !” outside the door, announces the first streak of dawn. Then the
Hozom Yikaigin or Songs of the Beautiful Dawn are begun. These form a
special series of six of the //asts-eyaki Hozom Songs, but are not a part of the
//astyevaki Songs sung to the drum on the last night. They have no instrumental
accompaniment. When they are done the shaman utters another monologue
prayer, applies pollen to the boy and girl, takes it himself and passes the bag
around for all to help themselves. The boy and girl leave the lodge. The
patient is now allowed a brief absence from the lodge. On one occasion a female
patient was seen who started to go out by walking to the south of the pile of
masks, but was recalled by the shaman and made to pass north of the pile.

477. — -There now follows a period of gossiping and smoking in the lodge.

After a while, the masks and other sacred articles are laid away in the recess, in
the edge of the lodge in the west, and the ground is cleared to make ready for
the work of the fifth day.

II. Fifth Day

FIFTH DAY.

478- — Theritesof the fifth dayconsistalways,(i)in the preparation and sacrifice
of a kethawn early in the morning, (2) the administration of the fourth sweat, soon
after, and (3) the initiation of candidates into the mystery of the Yebitrai at night,
(4). Sometimes, but not always, a small picture is drawn on the floor of the lodge
in the afternoon and a rite of succor from hypnotism, connected with the picture,
occurs after sunset. The ground for the last night’s dance is further prepared in
the afternoon, but this is done informally.

KETHAWN.

479- — Shortly before sunrise a buffalo-robe or blanket — preferably the former
— is spread on the ground in the west of the lodge, covered with white sheeting
for the reception of the kethawn, and the work of making the kethawn is begun.
The singers now raise their voices and continue their incantations until five songs
are sung. The kethawn and the song are usually finished together. The songs
for this sacrifice are ten in number called TsSnids'enefyin Gisfn ; five of these are
sung before the prayer and five after.

480. — In the meantime an attendant prepares yucca suds in a wicker bowl and
the man who is to bear the kethawn — a brother or near relation of the patient —
strips himself to the breech-cloth. With the help of the attendant he washes his
hair in the suds and the assistant rinses it by pouring sacred water over it from a
wicker jar. He washes his whole body and the assistant rinses him by pouring
water all over him. The bath concluded, he daubs his own face and hands with
gle.r or white earth until they are completely covered. He is clothed in new white
cotton shirt, pantaloons, and shawl ; his hair is combed out loose over his back ;
he dons numerous necklaces, but discards other ornament, and he carries a leather
pouch at his side. Thus equipped he represents a divinity called Tsenids'ene/yin,
He-who-carries-toward-a-rock-shelter, who lives in the Tointya (the Tunicha
Mountains) and there fulfills the office of the //astye^o^an of other places.

481. — The kethawn is a span long and is properly made of a great reed, or
similar plant, which does not grow in the Navaho country and has not been iden¬
tified. It is painted black if the patient be a male and blue, if a female. Like
other kethawns, it is stuffed at its butt end with feathers, filled with wild tobacco,
lighted with rock crystal and sealed with moistened corn-pollen. To its center is
attached a string with feathers, bead*s, etc., just like those belonging to the
Kininaekaigi ke7an previously described (par. 375). The description of one will
do for the other. The same number of beads (5) have been seen attached ; but
it is said, the number may be varied. The sacrificial accompaniments are similar
to those of the Kininaekaigi ke7an. It is folded in a corn-husk.

1 14

482. — The sacred bundle containing the kethawn and its accompaniments, is
placed in the patient’s hands by the chanter ; pollen is administered, a motion
being made as if carrying it from the sky ; a dialogue prayer to six gods
(//astreyald, Hasts€koga.n, Dsaha^/old^a, Gawaskitfi, //asUebaka, //astsebaad) is
repeated and at its conclusion the bundle is given to the character in white who,
having applied it to the essential parts of the patient, takes it out of the lodge to
sacrifice it.

483. — The kethawn is placed near a high echoing rock where it is secure from
the feet of cattle, in such a position that the tip of its terminal bunch of feathers,
with the string outstretched, may touch the rock. The general rules for deposit¬
ing are similar to those of the Kininaekaigi ke/an. It must not be laid away to
the north of the lodge. When the bearer deposits it he prays to the same six gods
who were invoked before, asking for many blessings for himself and his people.

484. — When the bearer of the kethawn departs, song is resumed and the five
remaining songs of the Tsdnid^ene/yin Gisi'n are sung. All the work con¬
nected with the kethawn occupies about an hour and a half. At the symbolic
lighting of the cigarette it was observed that the patient caught the" first beams of
the rising sun on his crystal as they streamed into the lodge over the top of the
curtain, which had been purposely lowered a little to allow of this — a desirable
but not essential feature of the work. Usually it is considered sufficient to point
the crystal toward the smoke-hole.

SUDATORY.

485. — This is the fourth and last day of the sweat-house. The house is dec¬

orated with a cross in meal as on the second day (fig. 6), and the rites are the same
as on that occasion. The songs are different. They are lolnV Bigi'n or Thunder
Songs, 15 in number, and are the same as the Thunder Songs sung on the last

night. “ If you are lazy you may leave one out, but no more” said Smiling

Chanter, with a smile. The patient usually enters the sweat-house about 9 a. m.
and returns to the medicine-lodge about half an hour later.

486. — When the party from the sweat-house returns to the lodge there is

singing, without rattling for about ten minutes ; then pollen is applied to the
patient and the song ceases. The patient is fumigated and so are those who en¬
acted the part of the succoring gods at the sweat-house. The latter not only in¬

hale the fragrant smoke of the powder which is cast on the hot coal, but rub the
fumes into their hands and faces. When the coal is quenched with water and
taken out, song is resumed and the patient applies pollen to his own tongue and
head in the usual manner. Song is continued for a few minutes longer until the
series is done. When it ceases the shaman repeats a monologue prayer, in alow
murmuring tone with downcast face and closed eyes. This finishes the work of
the morning.

hoditlA t yikAy, PICTURE OF THE TREMBLING PLACE.

487. — The picture, which is sometimes painted in the afternoon, is prepared

according to the rules for dry-paintings already given (par. 156 et seg.') It is
about four feet in diameter and is made near the center of the lodge. Plate II,
D, shows one form of it, drawn, as usual, in five different colors. It is called
hod\t\i.i yika/, picture of the trembling or shaking place, the reason for which
name will presently appear.

DESCRIPTION OF PICTURE (PLATE II, FIG. D).

488. — The picture represents the rite which takes place over it. The
figure in the north is that of //astreyal/i, with his talisman extended ; but
without the plumes and squirrel bag, which are his properties, in the last night’s
dance, as shown in plate VII. The figure in the center is that of a male
divinity, or yebaka, but it also stands for the patient in the accompanying
rite. This character is shown also in plate VII. The figure in the south is
that of a yebaad or goddess, carrying two plumed wands. Plate VIII. shows
this character without the plumed wands, but with other properties. Fuller
descriptions of these figures may be found in the descriptions of the gods.

489. — Changes may be made in this picture depending on changes in the
ceremony. For instance, if the patient be a female the central figure is that of a
yebaad or goddess, and if the divinity who assists //asUeyal/i in the acts of
succor be //astye^o^an, or other male divinity, the figure of such a god is drawn
in the south.

490. — When the picture proper is finished, a line is drawn in corn-meal from
a little distance east of the picture into the bed of sand on which the picture is
drawn and figures of four shod footprints are made in meal on this trail.
Then plumed wands are set up — the four black wands in the north ; the four
blue, in the south (par. 282).

RITES OF THE PICTURE.

491. — When the picture is partly done, two personators of the gods begin
to prepare themselves, and when they are ready they depart — their bodies and
masks hidden under blankets — to complete their toilet outside the lodge, in the
dark, for night has now come. When the picture is done, the singers seat
themselves in the west of the lodge and hide behind them an inverted basket for
a drum. The usual announcement is shouted at the door of the lodge and, soon
after, the patient enters. The moment he enters the shaman leads in song,
accompanied by rattle, and begins to sing the Hod\t\a.t Gisi'n, or Songs in the
Trembling Place, seven in number. If the patient be a man, he is stripped to the
breech-cloth (a female patient retains her clothes). He has a single breath-feather,
taken from the shoulder of an eagle, tied to his hair. As soon as it is tied on he
begins to tremble violently (or should tremble) as if under the influence of a
hypnotic spasm. He walks, trembling, along the track of meal, placing his feet
exactly in the figured footprints, and on reaching the picture he sits down on the

1 16

skirt of the central figure, his face turned to the east and his limbs flexed. As
he advances along the line of meal the trail is erased, all except the fourth
painted footprint, which is allowed to remain.

492. — The song continues; at a particular part of it a singer reaches behind
him and gives four loud taps on the hidden drum ; this is a signal to the
gods who wait outside. The moment they hear it they rush into the lodge,
//astseyal/i giving his appropriate call. Every one in the lodge acts as if
alarmed ; some, who have the power, imitating the voices of various alarmed
animals, //asLyeyald approaches the patient from the east and, opening his
talisman (par. 285), places it horizontally around the head of the patient, giving
his call. He steps back and makes way for //astsebaad, who places, horizontally,
a plumed wand on each side of the patient’s head and then places one before
and the other behind the patient’s head. The gods rush out of the lodge,
//ast.yeyal/i leading. Song continues and again, at certain words, the hidden
drum is loudly beaten and the gods again enter. All the acts of the gods are
performed altogether four times ; but with these differences : when the gods
enter the second time the talisman and wands are put around the shoulders
of the patient ; the third time they are put around the chest, and the fourth
time around the waist. When the gods leave for the last time the patient
ceases to be convulsed, rises, and leaves the lodge.

493. — Those who desire to apply sacred dust from the picture to their
bodies, now do so (par. 540). When they are done, the wands are pulled up
and the picture is erased by scraping the sand from circumference to centre into
a pile. All this sand is put into blankets and carried out of the lodge to be
deposited in the north. The singing is continued until the series of songs,
appropriate to this occasion, is all sung.

494. — This rite is not only therapeutic but diagnostic, in a mythic sense.
If the patient is seized with trembling, which is usually the case, the shamans
say they know the malady is caused by the gods casting a spell on the patient ;
but if he is not thus seized they must seek some other cause.

INITIATION.

495. — On the fifth night of the night chant, an hour or two after sunset,
“the basket is turned down,” as the Navahoes express it; in other words, a
basket is inverted to serve as a drum ; this is done with many mystic observances.
A crier at the door of the medicine-lodge cries “ Bike /za/a/i /zaku !” “Come on
the trail of song,” a moment later the singers begin to sing, and the drummer to
pound on his basket-drum. At the same time the two men who are to enact the
part of yei, or divine ones, at the ceremony begin to dress, adorn, and paint
themselves. At last they put on their masks. While they are dressing an
assistant prepares the two yez/az/6stsani, or implements used in the initiation of
the females. A buffalo-robe is spread on a blanket west of the fire and, after a

II 7

special series of ten songs have been sung, the divine masqueraders leave
the lodge.

496. — These two implements for initiating the female consist each of an ear
of yellow corn which must be tipped with four grains arranged compactly together ;
to the ear, four branchlets of yucca are tied (par. 298).

497. — After the masqueraders (yei let us call them) are gone, the singing
stops and there is an expectant silence in the lodge. The yei have gone to con¬
duct, or drive before them, rather, the candidates to the lodge. Soon the proces¬
sion enters — the patient first, a number of candidates for initiation following, and
the yei bringing up the rear.

498. — The divinities represented on this occasion are //astyeyald or the Talk¬
ing God and //astsebaad, or Yebaad, a goddess. //astj-eyal/i is also called
YebiUai or maternal grandfather of the gods or genii. The person who enacts
the goddess is a man, but feminine pronouns will be used in speaking of him.
When these gods now enter the lodge Has trey al/i carries in his hands two large
leaves of Yucca baccata, while H astrebaacl carries a spotted fawnskin containing
pollen.

499. — On entering, the patient sits in the south of the lodge ; the candidates
sit west of the central fire and buffalo robe, facing the east, in a curved row. The
males sit in a squatting position in the north ; the females sit to the south with
lower limbs extended towards the east ; the mothers sit south of the girls. The
candidates enter the lodge with their heads bowed and faces hidden in the folds
of their blankets and they remain thus after sitting until they are otherwise bidden.
The males disrobe under their screening blankets, taking off everything but their
breech-cloths. Meanwhile the yei keep up an occasional hooting and stand facing
the group of candidates. When the males are all ready, the yei stand facing that
one who sits farthest north. The goddess whoops as a signal. The candidate
throws off his blanket, rises and takes one step forward. The goddess applies
meal transversely to the shins of the candidate from south to north. The Talk¬
ing God advances and strikes the candidate in the same place with a yucca leaf. He
carries a leaf in each hand ; he strikes with one leaf holding its point to
the north ; changes the leaves in his hand and strikes with the other
leaf holding its point to the south. The goddess then applies meal from below
upward to the right side of the chest and to the left side, from nipple to
collar-bone in the order mentioned. The god follows, striking in the same places
and in the same order, once on each side, with his yucca leaf held upright and
changing, as before, the leaves from hand to hand between strokes. The candi¬
date turns sunwise around with his back to the yei, is sprinkled with meal
and struck on the shoulder-blades in a manner similar to that in which he was
struck on the breast. He turns round again, facing the yei and extends his fore¬
arms, hands clinched, palms up. Meal is applied transversely across the fore¬
arms from south to north and from north to south and they are struck with the
yucca leaves, pointing alternately in these directions, in a manner similar to that

in which the shins were treated. The Yebaad or goddess always applies the meal
and //astyeyal/i, the Talking God, always applies the yucca wands and always
changes them in his hands between the strokes.

500. — The candidate returns to his place in the line, sits down, bows his head
and covers it with his blanket. The youth sitting next him in the south then
rises, and submits himself to similar operations at the hands of the yei ; and so on
down the line, until all the males have been powdered and flagellated.

501. — As the leaf of this yucca, which is often called Spanish bayonet, is two
feet or more in length, very stout and much like a large bayonet in size and shape
it might be supposed that the stroke is painful, but I did not find it so in my own
case, and I have questioned Indians who were initiated at a tender age and have
been told that they did not suffer from the stroke. The punishment is symbolic
only.

502. — The females are not compelled to rise while the yei are operating on
them, nor to remove any of their clothing except that portion of the blanket which
covers the head and shoulders. Neither are they flagellated ; but they must still
keep their heads bowed. Instead of the yucca wands, the implements of corn and
spruce called yetfWSstsani are used and merely pressed against their persons.
The parts of the females alternately sprinkled with meal and pressed with the im¬
plements are the following, in the order mentioned : the soles of the feet ; the
palms and forearms (which lie extended on the thighs) ; the upper parts of the
chest, to the collar-bones ; the scapular regions ; the top of the head on both sides
of the parting of the hair. The Yebaad sprinkles the meal from below upward —
for example, on the feet she sprinkles from heel to toe, and always first on the
south or right side of the body and then on the north side, //astreyal/i presses
his instruments simultaneously on both sides, and between applications, while his
companion applies the meal, he changes the implements in his hands. Through¬
out the work, on all the candidates, each yei gives his own peculiar cry, with the
performance of each act. Each candidate covers his (or her) head with the blan¬
ket when the yei are done with him.

503. — The difference between the treatment of the male and the female can¬
didates in this rite is worthy of consideration, in view of the wide-spread opinion
that the savage has no consideration or respect for his females.

504. — Now while the candidates are all seated again in a row, with heads
bowed and faces covered, the yei take off their masks and lay them side by side,
on the buffalo-robe, faces up, and tops to the east. The female mask — that of
//astyebaad — lies south of the male mask — that of Z/astreyal/i. The men who
personated the gods then stand with uncovered faces turned toward the row
of candidates. The latter are bidden to throw back their blankets and look up.
They do so, and the secret of the Yebitrai is revealed !

505. — And the secret of the Yebitoai is this : The yei are the bugaboos of the
Navaho children. These Indians rarely inflict corporal punishment on the young ;
but instead threaten them with the vengeance of these masked characters, if they

1 19

are unruly. Up to the time of their initiation they are taught to believe, — and, in
most cases, probably do believe, — that the yei are genuine abnormal creatures whose
function it is to chastise bad children. When the children are old enough to un¬
derstand the value of obedience without resort to threats they are allowed to un¬
dergo this initiation and learn that the dreaded yei is only some intimate friend or
relation in disguise. After this initiation they are privileged to enter the medicine-
lodge during the performance of a rite.

506. — Some Navahoes neglect this initiation until they have reached mature
years, and though it is, of course, well known that they no longer believe in the
bugbear, they are not admitted into the lodges while esoteric work is in progress.
On the other hand they are not anxious to intrude themselves, for the oldest
among the tribe profess to believe that if they were to witness the secret ceremonies
without having been duly initiated, they would sooner or later be stricken blind,
or would catch the disease which is being driven out of the patient.

507. — To attain the highest privileges in these rites one must go through
this rite four times — twice at night and twice in the day. I have seen many
adult men and women and some even past middle life going through their second,
third, or fourth ordeals. It is not until one has submitted himself for the fourth
time to the flagellation that he is permitted to wear the masks and personate the
gods.

508. — The next part of the ceremony is the application of the mask. He
who masquerades as a goddess takes the female mask and applies it in turn to
the face of each of the candidates — proceeding along the row from north to
south — and adjusts the mask carefully to the face so that the candidate can look
out through the eye-holes and understand fully the mechanism of the mask. The
mask is then laid in its former position, south of the other mask on the buffalo-
robe. The actor takes good care that the eyes of the candidate are seen clearly
through the eye-holes in the mask. If they are not, it is thought, blindness would
result.

509. — The next part of the performance is the act of sprinkling or sacrificing
to the masks. Each candidate, in turn, beginning as usual in the north, rises
and walks to the east of the recumbent masks, passing by way of the west and
north. Standing facing the west he (or she) takes a pinch of pollen from the
fawn-skin bag, which now lies west of the masks in charge of an assistant. He
sprinkles it in a line downwards on each mask from the tip of the forehead to the
mouth, then upwards on the right cheek or margin, and lastly upwards on the left
(south) cheek or margin.' He powders first the mask of //astreyaEi in the north
and then that of //astyebaad in the south. Any pollen that may adhere to his
fingers is brushed off so that it may fall on the mask (but not on the eye-holes,
for this would endanger the sight of the devotee). This done, he returns
to his seat and resumes his clothing. When the candidates have fin¬
ished sprinkling, others in the lodge may follow their example. Each person
should pray in silence for what he most desires while sprinkling. Great care is

observed in sprinkling the masks, for this part of the ceremony is of the gravest
import. Before they begin the children are told carefully how to proceed and the
younger ones have their hands guided by the actors. If one sprinkles upwards
on the nose of the mask it is supposed the act may hinder the fall of rain and
occasion drought ; if he sprinkles downwards on the divine cheeks, the act may
injure the growth of crops and even the growth of the sprinkler himself.

510. — The last act is the fumigation. Hot coals, taken directly from the fire,
are placed at intervals in front of the line of candidates ; around these coals they
gather in groups of three or four. The powder called yadldinU is sprinkled on the
coals and the dense odorous fumes arising therefrom are inhaled by the candidates
for a few seconds. This completes the initiation. They now sit around the
lodge wherever it suits their convenience and listen to the songs of sequence, which,
beginning while the candidates were sacrificing to the masks, continue for about
fifteen minutes after the services are completed. The last two of the Atsa‘/ei songs
and the song for turning up the basket are sung. Then “ the basket is turned up ”
(par. 291) and put in the west edge of the lodge and the work of the night is
done.

51 1. — Usually the nightly initiation is conducted only on the fifth night of
the kleds'e hata./, but on one occasion I have seen candidates admitted also on the
sixth night. The next repetition of the rite occurs out of doors and in the day
time. No one initiated may tell the secret of initiation to an outsider. “What
would happen to one if he did reveal?” I asked a shaman. “I know not,” he
answered, “ but it has never been done.” Benjamin Damon had a Navaho mother
and was reared on the Navaho reservation until nearly grown. Then he went to
school at Carlisle, was five years in the east, and returned to New Mexico, where
I met him. He took his first initiation only after I advised him to do so. He
told me that in his boyhood he had often tried to get children of his own age to
tell him what was done to them in the medicine-lodge but always met with
refusal.

II. Sixth Day

SIXTH DAY.

512. — The principal events of the sixth day are (1) the making of a great
dry-painting, and the rites connected therewith, and (2) the preparation and
journey of the begging gods. These acts occupy the forenoon and often, also,
the early hours of the afternoon. When they are concluded, there is no more
work save a few songs of sequence and the fumigation of the patient early in the
evening. At night there is an informal practice dance outside the lodge, an
undress rehearsal of the last night’s performance.

SlZNEOZE YIKAZ, PICTURE OF THE WHIRLING LOGS.

513. — The painting for this day is that of the S I/neo/e, which may be called
that of the Whirling Sticks or the Whirlpool, depicted in plate VI. It is painted
according to general rules previously laid down (par. 156 et seq.'). After the sand

I 2 I

for the groundwork has been brought in and leveled, usually the first act is the
burying or setting of a small hemispherical earthen bowl in the center. It is set
carefully, so that its margin shall be exactly even with the surface of the surrounding
sand. It is filled with water to the brim ; the surface of the water is thickly
sprinkled, first with pollen and then with finely-powdered charcoal, so that it
appears like a mere black circular mark about four inches in diameter on the
surface of the ground. The painting, when completed, is usually about ten feet
in its largest diameter.

514. — The work, from the commencement of the picture until it is obliterated,
takes from five to seven-and-a-half hours. The task of painting the picture, alone,
takes from half an hour to an hour less. The time occupied depends much on the
number of men engaged, and the elaborateness of the work. When the four
cornstalks are omitted the work is accomplished in the shorter time mentioned.
The painters usually begin before 8 a. m., sometimes as soon as there is sufficient
light to work.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE. (PLATE VI.)

515. — This picture represents the vision of Bi/a/^a^ini at the lake of
To'nihilm, as related in the myth of the Whirling Logs, paragraphs 724 et seq.
The bowl of water in the center, sprinkled with charcoal, symbolizes the lake.
The black cross represents the spruce logs crossing one another. The colors
edging the cross show the white foam on the waters, the yellow water-pollen, the
blue and red rainbow tints.

516. — Four stalks of corn are depicted as growing on the shores of the lake;
each has three roots and two ears. The white stalk of corn, according to its
color, belongs to the east ; the blue, to the south ; the yellow, to the west, and
the black to the north ; but the conditions of the picture require that these stalks
should be directed to intermediate points. Each stalk is bordered with a con¬
trasting color (par. 15).

517. — Eight yei or divine characters — four male and four female — are
shown seated on the floating logs. The legs of the four gods in the periphery of
the picture are depicted ; this is to indicate that they are standing; but the legs
of the eight gods on the cross are not depicted ; this is done to indicate that they
are sitting ; the feet seem hanging below the logs. The four outer yei, on the
cross, dressed in black, are males. The sex is indicated : (1) by the round head
representing the cap-like or helmet-like mask which a personator of a male
divinity wears ; (2) by showing attached to the mask the two eagle-plumes and
the tuft of owl-feathers worn by each male dancer in the dance of the last night ;
(3) by the symbol of a spruce twig in the left hand and of a gourd rattle painted
white in the right — such implements are carried by the male dancers. The four
inner yei, dressed in white, are females. The sex is indicated : (1) by the rect¬
angular mask or domino (par. 622) ; (2) by the yellow arms and chests, — females
were created of yellow corn and males of white corn according to the myths, —

and (3) by a symbol of a spruce wand in each hand, for such wands does the
female dancer carry in the dance of the last night.

518. — The figures in the north and south represent Gawaskfafi or humpbacks
as they appear in the rites. These are Mountain Sheep or Bighorn Gods, which
figure so prominently in the myth of the Visionary. The blue male mask, the
headdress with its zigzag line for white lightning, the radiating scarlet feathers to
represent sunbeams, the blue imitation horns of the mountain sheep, the black
sack of plenty on the back, and the gH or staff on which the laden god leans, are
all symbolized or depicted in the picture (pars. 48-53).

519. — The white figure in the east is that of //astyeyal/i, the Talking God.
He is thus represented : He wears the white mask which the personator of this
character always wears in the ceremonies (par. 30), with its eagle-plumes tipped
with breath-feathers, its tuft of yellow owl-feathers, its ornament of fox-skin under
the right ear, and its peculiar mouth-symbol and eye-symbols, but without the
corn-symbol on the nose. He carries a pouch made of the gray skin of Abert’s
squirrel ( Sciurus abei'ti), which is depicted with care. The general gray color
of the squirrel is shown by the gray or so-called blue color of the body. The
fact that the hairs of the animal are tipped with white is indicated by making a
white margin and by sprinkling white powder lightly over the blue — the latter
device is very imperfectly shown in the illustration. The black tips on ears, nose,
and feet, as well as the chestnut spot on the back, are indicated — the latter by a
short red marginal line interrupting the white.

520. — The black figure in the west is that of //astre/zo^an. He is shown in
this manner : He wears a beautifully ornamented black dress and a blue mask
decorated with eagle-plumes and owl-feathers. The ornament under his right ear
consists of strips of otter-skin tipped with porcupine quills. He carries in his
hand a black wand colored with the charcoal of four different plants (par. 214) ;
ornamented with a single whorl of turkey-feathers, with two eagle-feathers tied
on with cotton string, with a white ring at the base of the whorl, and with the
skins of two bluebirds (par. 35).

521. — The two GazzaskizA and //astye/zo^an are supposed to be punching the
logs and causing them to whirl with their staves, while //astreyal/i scatters pollen
from his pouch.

522. — Surrounding the picture on three sides, appears the anthropomorphic
rainbow, or rainbow goddess (248), wearing the rectangular female mask and
carrying at the waist an embroidered pouch, tied on with four strings. The hands
of all the other divinities are shown occupied, but the hands of the rainbow are
shown empty ; this is that they may be ready to receive the cup of medicine which
is placed on them after the picture is finished.

523. — The rainbow and the eight divinities on the cross are represented with
breath-feathers tied to the tops of the heads by means of white cotton strings,
and the horns of the Ga/zaskirtfi are similarly decked. All the gods are shown
with garnished moccasins, tied with white strings. All of those showing their

legs have rainbow garters. Five have ornamented fringes on their kilts or loin¬
cloths. The bodies of all are fringed with red to represent sunlight ; the Navaho
artist does not confine the halo to the head of his holy subject. All have ear-
pendants of turquois and coral. The eight central figures are represented with
strips of fox-skin — blue and yellow — hanging from elbows and wrists and gar¬
nished at their ends. Such adornments, it is said, were once used in the dance
but are now obsolete ; they, in turn, represented beams of light. The yellow
horizontal line at the bottom of each pictured mask represents a band at the
bottom of the actual mask worn by the actor, and this band in turn symbolizes
the yellow evening light.

524. — All have the neck depicted in the same manner. The blue is gen¬
erally conceded by the shamans to symbolize the collar of spruce twigs ; but
opinion is divided with regard to the meaning of the transverse red lines. The
original significance of these is perhaps forgotten. Some say they represent the
rings of the trachea ; but those shamans whose opinion the writer most values
say they represent an obsolete neck ornament called tsitse‘yo or cherry-beads,
which was made neither of cherries nor corals.

VARIATIONS OF THE PICTURE.

525. — There are variations of this picture. It was once seen by the writer
with the corn-stalks and the bowl of water omitted. The shaman argued : “If
we leave out the corn, there is no use for the water, and if we leave out the water,
the corn cannot grow. It needs water to live. It eats the water.” Sometimes
the two eagle-plumes of the four male yei on the cross are put on the left side of
the head. It is said that when the plumes and rattle are on the same side of the
figure it calls for rain ; while if they are on opposite sides of the figure, it calls
for corn, since corn-ears sprout from opposite sides of the stalk.

RITES OF THE PICTURE.

526. — While the painting is in progress, the succoring god, a //astyebaka
and the begging gods (to be described later) are prepared. The mask of this
//asUebaka is painted and decorated by an assistant. His body is painted white
and he is otherwise dressed and decked as described in pars. 59-61 > he wears a
collar of fox-skin instead of one of spruce twigs.

527. — When the picture is finished and before the patient arrives, the shaman

performs on it three, sometimes four, acts in the following order : (1) he applies
meal to the figures ; (2) he sets up plumed wands around the whole picture ; (3)
he makes a cold infusion in a vessel lying on the hands of the rainbow ; (4) he

applies pollen.

528. — In applying the meal, he deposits a heap of about a teaspoonful at each
point. On the figures of the gods, he places it on the feet, skirt, chest, and mouth
in the order named. In treating this picture he applies meal to the figures on the

I 24

cross, beginning as usual with those in the east ; to the four external divine figures ;
to the cross at its extremities ; to the stalks of corn at the base of each ear ; to
the squirrel, on the chest, and to the rainbow as to the other gods, all in the order
named and going sunwise. This act is done only when the shaman needs meal,
thus rendered sacred, for ceremonial purposes. But the three following acts are
never omitted.

529. — The eight plumed wands or In^ia* are set up around the picture on
three sides — not in the east. The shaman proceeds sunwise as he sticks them in
the ground, placing the blue wands towards the south and the black towards the
north.

530. — To prepare the infusion, he places a gourd cup, its tip end pointing
east, on the hands of the rainbow ; he pours sacred water into the cup and throws
on the surface of the water a powdered vegetable substance. He places a sprig
of cedar on top of the cup, its tip pointing east.

531. — This done, he steps in, carefully, among the figures on the picture ; he
applies pollen to the pictured masks in the same way that the candidates on the
fifth night apply pollen to the real masks (par. 509) ; he applies pollen from be¬
low, upward on the bodies of the gods. The gods are pollened in the order in
which they are mealed.

532. — Before or during the application of the pollen, the man who is to en¬
act the succoring god departs from the lodge in the guise of an ordinary mortal
— his mask hidden under his blanket — and goes to the east of the lodge, with an
assistant, to prepare himself. All being now ready for the reception of the patient,
he is called in the usual way, by a crier who stands at the door of the lodge. As
soon as the patient enters, the singers begin to sing the 6Vneo/e Bigi'n, which are
twelve in number. They continue to sing these until the rite of succor is com¬
pleted and the yei departs ; then they stop, even if they have not finished the set
of songs.

533. — The patient enters, enfolding with his right arm a basket of Navaho
make, wrought with designs of crosses (par. 292), and containing corn-meal. On
one occasion it was noted that a boy and girl accompanied the patient and on an¬
other occasion that a female patient was accompanied by four women who took
seats near the door. Standing east of the picture and facing it, the patient with
his left hand sprinkles meal on the picture, in the east, in the south, in the west,
and in the north, from the center outward, dipping newly from the basket for each
quarter. Then he scatters meal all around the periphery of the picture sunwise.
As he does this he prays, employing customary prayerful expressions such as
these : “In beauty I walk. In beauty it is finished again. In beauty I recover.
With beauty before me I walk. With beauty behind me I walk. With beauty
below me I walk. With beauty above me I walk. With beauty all around me I
walk. Thus will it be beautiful, my grandchild.” The singers intone a song whose
burden is, Ooni/ena. The patient then sits near the southeast corner of the picture.
Here, if a man, he disrobes to his breech-cloth (a woman takes off her moccasins

and leggings only), lays his clothes and the basket on the ground beside him, and
awaits the arrival of the succoring god.

534. — The patient has usually but a moment to wait. When the god enters
he advances to the picture, whooping ; dips the sprinkler into the infusion con¬
tained in the gourd cup, on the hands of the rainbow, and sprinkles the picture
thus : the cross from east to west and from north to south ; the gods on the cross,
from foot to head, the male of each pair first; the four gods outside the cross,
from foot to head ; the corn-stalks from root to tassel ; the rainbow from foot to
head.

535. — After the sprinkling, an assistant picks up as much as he can, without
injuring the picture, of each little heap of meal deposited by the shaman, and puts
it in a bag. In doing this he proceeds in an order the reverse of that in which
the shaman laid the meal down (par. 528).

536. — The god then dips the cedar twig into the bowl buried in the center of
the picture and touches various parts of the picture in the following order : the
edge of the bowl at the four cardinal points ; the tips of the cross ; the figures on
the cross — feet, chest, mouth ; the four stalks of corn — top of root, base of lower
ear, base of tassel ; the four outer yei — feet, chest, mouth ; the rainbow in the same
places. At the beginning of each part of the work, as mentioned above, he dips
the sprinkler in the bowl and then moves sunwise. When he is done he gives the
sprinkler to an attendant. If the central bowl of water is omitted there is no sub¬
stitute for this part of the work.

537. — Next, the patient sits on the western limb of the cross with the center
of the picture just between his feet. If the patient be a man, the lower extremities
are flexed and the hands clasped around the knees. If the patient be a woman,
the lower extremities are extended and the hands lie on the knees. The god takes
the gourd cup with its contents from the rainbow’s hands ; he makes a motion as
if offering it to the gods in the eastern quarter of the picture, and administers a sip
of the infusion to the patient ; he offers it, let us say, to the gods in the south and
administers a second sip ; he offers it to the gods in the west and administers a
third sip ; he offers it to the gods in the north and administers a fourth sip to the
patient. He utters his peculiar cry, a whoop or yelp, each time he offers the bowl
the pictured gods.

538. — An assistant now receives into his mouth the residue of the infusion
from the gourd cup ; but he does not swallow it ; he squirts it out on the hands of
the succoring god held open to receive it. The succorer then proceeds to take
dust from the figures in the picture by pressing to them his moistened palms, and
he applies this dust to the person of the patient. Dust from the feet of the figures
he applies to the patient’s feet ; dust from their hips he applies to his hips ; dust
from their chests, to his chest ; dust from their heads, to his head. He takes it
first from the forms on the cross, next from those outside the cross, then from the
corn tassels (for the patient’s head), and lastly from the rainbow, proceeding sun¬
wise in each case. Each time that he applies dust to the patient’s body, he lifts

I 26

his hands toward the smoke-hole of the lodge. When the application of dust is
done, the god yells twice, loudly, into each ear of the patient and leaves the lodge.
Song ceases.

539. — As soon as the god departs, the patient leaves his seat on the picture
and sits elsewhere in the lodge. A hot coal is placed before him ; the powder,
yaafi^mil, is scattered on it by the shaman ; the patient inhales the odorous fumes
arising from the burning powder, and rubs them into his hands. When he is done,
the coal is extinguished with water poured four times on it and is thrown out at the
smoke-hole or carried out of the lodge. Others may receive the fumigation at the
same time. About the time the coal is cast out, the man who enacted the succoring
god returns to the lodge, unmasked and covered with a blanket. He surrenders
his mask, divests himself of his properties, and washes off his paint. When the
patient leaves the lodge he takes the meal-basket with him.

540. — The next acts of the shaman are to pull up, moving sunwise, the plumed
wands which surround the picture, and to take out the bowl buried in the center.
As soon as the bowl is taken out, although the picture is by this time badly
marred, there is a rush made for the latter by a number of men, headed often by
the shaman, who are ill or who fancy themselves ailing. They trample at will over
the picture, and take dust on their palms, from the figures, to apply to their own
bodies. If one’s head aches, he takes dust from the heads of the pictured gods
and applies it to his own head ; if his chest aches, he takes dust from the pictured
chests, and so on. When every one has all the remedial dust he wishes, the sand
is scraped off the floor from center to periphery, by several persons working at the
same time ; it is gathered in blankets, carried out of the lodge, and thrown away
to the north in a shady place. If the fire has been removed from the center of
the lodge, to make way for the picture, it is now put back.

BEGGING GODS.

541. — Reference has been made to certain begging gods. These are first sent
out on the sixth day ; but they may also be sent out on any or all of the subsequent
days of the ceremony. The same divine characters go out more than once during
the ceremony, but rarely the same individual Indians. The characters dispatched
are usually //asUeyal/i, To'nenili, //asUe/pahi, //astyebaka, and //astrebaad. If
they go to a distance they usually form a party of four — two representing male,
and two female, characters. If they beg near the lodge, a pair, or even a single
individual may go on the errand.

542. — They are dressed and adorned, in the lodge, early in the day, while the
painting and other work is in progress, and set forth as soon as they are ready.
They are expected to go and return in one day and not to remain away over night.
If they have but a short way to go, they are fully masked, dressed, and equipped
in the lodge and travel the whole distance on foot. If they have a long journey
to make, which requires the use of horses, they have their masks, collars of spruce,
and other properties prepared in the lodge, packed in blankets, and loaded on their

horses. They depart, dressed in ordinary clothes, and ride to a secure place near
the camp they intend to visit ; here they tie their horses, paint their bodies, put
on their trappings, and enter the camp on foot. The masqueraders never ride in
costume on horseback — a survival, no doubt, of the days when neither the
Navahoes nor their gods had horses.

543. — When they enter the visited camp they speak to no one ; but go
dancing around, uttering their appropriate cries and one of the number holding
out a fawn-skin bag to receive donations. If some object is offered, the beggar
does not always accept it at once, but advances and retreats four times ; the
fourth time he advances he opens the bag and allows the donor to put the offering
in it. The gifts are usually food and tobacco for the use of the lodge ; but the
gods will not refuse money or any other offering of value.

544. — If a traveler, on his way to the medicine-lodge, meets the divine
beggars, he should wait on the trail until they return and pass him. If he over¬
takes them on their return journey he should not pass them, but follow in their
rear. It is not a lucky thing to precede the yei on the trail or to get into camp
before them.

SONGS OF SEQUENCE AT NIGHT.

545. — After the rites connected with the picture are done, there is no work in
the lodge until about dusk. Then the patient, called as usual, goes to the lodge
and sits in the south while songs of sequence are sung accompanied by the beating
of the basket-drum. The singing continues from twenty minutes to an hour, the
time depending on the number of songs sung. The songs are selected from the
series of Aga'hoa Gisi'n or Summit Songs.

546. - — -The Summit Songs are followed by the first and second of the
Bena //aM/i or Finishing Hymns. As the last of these is sung the basket is
“ turned up ” in the manner described, and the invisible evil influences chased out
through the smoke-hole of the lodge.

547. — When the singing is done, the patient is fumigated, in the manner
previously described (par. 198), and the ceremonial work of the sixth day is
finished.

UNDRESS REHEARSAL.

548. — An undress rehearsal of the dance and song of the last night — the
naak/^ai — occupies the rest of the evening, until midnight or later. The per¬
formance takes place on the prepared dance-ground east of the lodge. The first
to practise are those known as the Atsa‘/ei or First Dancers. They practise every
night from this to the last. While the dancers are practising outside, those who
are to sing within the lodge on the last night practise their songs inside.

PASTIMES OF VISITORS.

549. — On the sixth day the visitors begin to gather and they continue to

increase in number until the last night. Those who are not busy in the medicine-
lodge must find pastime. During the afternoon of this day, Navaho games of
various kinds are in progress around the camp, among the men and women, and
these continue daily to the end.

II. Seventh Day

SEVENTH DAY.

550. — The ritual work of the seventh day consists in (1) the painting of a
picture, with accompanying rites, early in the day, and (2) the acts of singingover
the patient and fumigating him in the evening. Begging gods often may be
dressed and set forth as on the sixth day, while at night there is again a practice
dance or rehearsal of the naak/zai outside, and a rehearsal of song inside the
lodge.

PICTURES OF THE DAY.

551. — Either one of two different designs may be painted on the seventh
day. That of the naak/zai yika /, or dance picture, is the one usually executed ;
but sometimes one called //asUe/zo^anbe yika / or picture with //asUe/zo^an is
made. There are many variants of these pictures.

NAAK/YAf YIKAZ. PICTURE OF THE DANCE OF NAAKAAl

552. — The dry-painting of this subject as it appears on the floor of the lodge
is usually about ten feet broad - and twelve feet long. It is said to depict the
naak/zai, or dance of the last night as it took place among the gods at
Tse'nitn/zo^an, and disregarding such mythic accessories as clouds and rainbow, it
represents also the dance as it is now conducted among the Navahoes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE. (PLATE VII.)

553. — As will be learned from the description given elsewhere (par. 621 et
seq.) the naak/zai is a contra-dance in which the personators of males and females
stand in two opposite rows ; thus they are shown in the picture, six male dancers
in the west and six female dancers in the east, besides the two special characters
to be described later. The females are depicted like those shown in plate VI.,
and described in par. 517; but here the legs are displayed to show they are
standing or dancing, not sitting. Ornamental fringes to the skirts and em¬
broidered pouches are added. The males are symbolized in most respects as are
those sitting on the cross of the s\ln&ole yika / (plate VI.) with round heads,
eagle-plumes, owl-feathers, rattles, spruce wands, and arm-pendants ; but the
bodies are white, not black, and again the embroidered pouches and skirt fringes
are added. In our illustration, the female dancers are shown as turned
toward the west ; but they are often depicted turned toward the east. The
reason for this change has not been noted. The long straight lines in the west
represent a black cloud bestrewn with pollen, on which the gods dance. The
corresponding lines in the east represent blue mist bestrewn with pollen on which
the goddesses dance. The legs of the dancing figures are yellow — not white as

I 29

in other pictures — to show that they dance knee-deep in pollen. “ How can they
be knee-deep in pollen ?” a shaman was asked. “Walk through a bed of sun¬
flowers in the summer and you will be knee-deep in pollen,” he answered.

554. — The figure which stands at the head of the line of female dancers in
the northeast is that of 7o‘nenili, the Water Sprinkler, who in these days is the
clown of the dance (par. 636). He is represented as having his body sprinkled
with powders of many colors, and as wearing the same mask as the yebaka or
male dancers, but unlike the other dancers, his hands are empty. This is because
in the dance he carries neither wand, rattle, nor other regular implement, and if
he joins in the dance at all he does so in an erratic manner ; his function is to
play the buffoon. Occasionally he carries for a while the skin of some animal in
the dance, but this is not a regular property of his. In the myths he is spoken
of as carrying two water-bottles, one blue and one black (par. 708), and for this
reason he is sometimes shown in the picture with a water-bottle of either color ;
but the personator never carries such a bottle. The figure at the head of the line
of male dancers in the northwest is that of //asUeyald, shown as in plate VI. and
as described in pars. 29-31.

RITES OF THE PICTURE.

555. — It takes about five or six hours to make the picture. When it is done,
the various acts performed on it and the various rites connected with it are much
the same as those of the previous day, and are performed in much the same order.
Some modifications will be noted later.

556. — Synopsis of the picture-rites, in order of occurrence.

1. Meal applied to divine figures.

2. Plumed wands erected.

3. Cup placed on the rainbow’s hands.

4. Cold infusion made. Sprinkler placed on cup.

5. Pollen applied to figures.

6. Succorer departs, unmasked.

7. Patient enters. Song begins.

8. Patient sprinkles picture.

9. Patient sits, southeast, and disrobes.

10. Succorer (god) returns, masked.

11. Succorer sprinkles picture.

12. Assistant takes up meal from picture.

13. Succorer touches moistened sprinkler to figures.

14. Patient sits on picture.

15. Infusion offered to gods and given to patient.

16. Assistant moistens succorer’s hands.

17. Sacred dust applied to patient.

18. Succorer yells into patient’s ears.

19. Succorer departs, masked.

20. Patient leaves picture.

21. Patient fumigated.

22. Succorer returns, unmasked, and proceeds to divest.

23. Plumed wands pulled out.

24. Picture despoiled.

25. Picture erased.

26. Material taken out and deposited.

557. — As on the sixth day, different gods may come to the succor of the
patient : On some occasions //astye/zo^an, the House God, is seen, on others it is
//astye/pahi, the Brown God, who appears. Still other gods may perform the
rites of succor. Each of the four times that he administers the infusion to the
patient, //ast-ye/zq^ran utters a cry which may be approximately represented as
“ Hahuwa Hahuwa” and this is what he shouts into the patient’s ears before he
departs, //astye/pahi utters a cry somewhat like “ Hawii Hawu

558. — As the figures on the painting of the seventh day are arranged very
differently from those of the painting of the sixth day, the actors must necessarily
proceed differently in performing their various offices on the picture, such as the
application of pollen, the sprinkling with water, and touching the figures with the
wet sprinkler. Each row of figures is treated separately, that of the east first.
The actor sometimes proceeds from north to south, and sometimes in the opposite
direction. The rainbow is treated last — always from foot to head.

559. — On the sixth day there are usually two vessels of fluid — one in the rain¬
bow’s hands and one in the centre of the picture — for the succorer to use in
sprinkling and touching; on the seventh day there is but one, the infusion on the
rainbow’s hands, — so he uses this both to sprinkle the picture when he enters and
to touch the sacred parts of each pictured god afterwards.

560. — Such are some of the differences between the rites of the sixth and
seventh days, which are enforced by the different forms of the pictures and the
different gods who come to the succor ; but minor differences are often observed
which are made in accordance with a certain law of variety which belongs to the
Navaho ceremonies. Changes are made merely for the sake of change, or under
the impression that some good will result from the change. Such changes may
consist in a different order in which the wands are planted and pulled up, a dif¬
ferent order in which meal and the infusion are applied to the divine figures, in a
different selection of parts of the figures on which to make the application. The
gourd cup, on the rainbow’s hands, may have its tip pointed to the east on the
sixth and to the west on the seventh day. The picture may be erased from cir¬
cumference to centre one day, and from centre to circumference the next day.
Other slight alterations are made.

SONGS OF THE PICTURES.

561. — The songs pertaining to the picture, as on the sixth day, are usually
begun when the patient enters ; but they have been seen deferred until he began
to sprinkle ; they are concluded when the succoring god departs. If the picture
of naak/zai yika / is painted, the Aga'hoa Gisi'n or Summit Songs are sung ; but if
//astye/zo^anbe yika/ is drawn, the //astye/zo^an Bigi'n are sung. The complete
set of these is 40 in number.

I SI

WORK OF THE EVENING.

562. — The songs of sequence in the evening, when for the third time “the
basket is turned, down,” or inverted, begin usually between six and seven o’clock
and continue for an hour or more. They are the same songs that are sung in the
forenoon, during the rites of the picture ; but while in the morning the series may
not be finished, since song ceases when the yei leaves the lodge, the series is com¬
pleted at night. Besides these there are three songs sung at the turning up of the
drum (par. 291). The second of these is sung while the hand is under the edge
of the basket ready to turn it up and the last is sung when the basket is turned.

563. — When the songs of sequence are done, the patient is fumigated in the
usual manner.

564. — After the ritual work is completed there is, as on the previous night, a
rehearsal of the dance and song outside the lodge and a rehearsal of song inside.

II. Eighth Day

EIGHTH DAY.

565. — On the eighth day (1) a picture is painted and rites are performed on
it, similar to those of the seventh day. But between the finishing of the picture
and the rites mentioned, some important events occur outside the lodge different
from anything that happens on the previous days of painting. (2) The first of
these is a diurnal repetition of the rites of initiation of the Yebitrai, for the benefit
of those who desire to take their second or fourth degrees. (3) The second is an
elaborate exorcism or succor by three gods. Again, when night falls, there are
(4) songs of sequence and fumigation of the patient. Later the rehearsals of the
dance outside the lodofe and of son^ inside are resumed and continued to a late
hour.

dsahaz?oldzAbe yikAa picture with the fringe mouths.

566. — The picture with the Fringe Mouths, shown in plate VIII, is the only
picture which has been seen by the writer painted on the eighth day ; but it is
understood that other pictures, or at least variants of this picture, may be produced
on this occasion. When the painting is finished to the satisfaction of the shaman,
he places meal on four parts of each figure, sets up the plumed wands, prepares
an infusion in the bowl on the hands of the rainbow, and applies pollen to the
figures as on the sixth day ; then he and his assistants sit down and await the
completion of events which occur outside the lodge. They usually, too, partake
of food about this time, for it is now early in the afternoon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE. (PLATE VIII.)

567. — The original dry-painting is about ten feet wide and thirteen feet long.
It is said to represent a ceremony which, according to the myth (par. 765), took
place among the gods at Tse'niUi/zo^an. Possibly some such ceremony still exists
among the Navahoes. The scenes of succor on the eighth and ninth days are, to
some extent, symbolized by it.

568. — Ts^'nityi/zo^n, Rock-red-in-middle-house, is a large cliff-ruin, in a canon
abounding with ruins, somewhere north of the San Juan River, probably in
Colorado or Utah. From the people (gods) of this place many rites of the night
chant are supposed to be derived. The elements of the name are found in the
words : tse‘, rock ; a/ni‘, in the middle ; tn, red, and hoga.n, house. The building
is said to stand in a long cavern or rock shelter in the face of a whitish cliff through
which runs a seam of red. The black line in the west of the picture represents
this cave. The small white lines on the black represent the houses within the
cave.

569. — The myths say that rainbows illuminated the divine dwellings, hence
the bounding rainbow is represented as passing into the cave at one end and
coming out at the other. The hands of the rainbow, as before, are left vacant
to receive the bowl of medicine.

570. — The terraced figure in blue, called kosistnn, or the shapen cloud, in the
west, represents a cloud from which arises, by three roots, a stalk of corn. In
the gardens of the gods, say the myths, each stalk bore twelve ears ; but the
Navaho cornstalk now bears only two, hence two ears are shown on the stalk.

571. — We are already familiar with eight of the twelve divine figures
embraced by the rainbow, and they need not be again described. The four
outer figures are the Gazzaskiz/i, or Humpbacks (par. 46 et seq.). The four next
to these are yebaad, or goddesses : they differ slightly from the goddesses shown
in plate VII., for each carries in the right hand a jeweled basket, instead of
a bunch of spruce twigs, and there is no pollen on the legs.

572. — The four figures next to the cornstalk are the Dsaha^old^a, or
Fringe Mouths (par. 39 et seq .). These characters are mentioned in the myths.
Those north of the corn-stalk are Fringe Mouths of Tse'nitn, or Fringe Mouths
of the land ; those south, are Fringe Mouths under the Water, 77zalkla‘
Dsahaz/old^a. The former have their bodies painted half red and half black,
while the latter are half blue and half yellow. The marks on their bodies and
limbs are those of the white zigzag lightning. The masks are the same in all,
and represent that described in par. 42, and depicted in plate III., fig. F. Each of
the Fringe Mouths carries in his right hand a gourd rattle, ornamented with two
circles of plumes, and in his left hand a bow ornamented with plumes and breath-
feathers. The bow is painted in two colors to correspond with the body of the
bearer.

TOILET OF THE GODS.

573. — Before the picture is finished, certain characters, who are to appear
later in the outdoor ceremonies, begin to dress themselves. The two who first
are ready and go out, and who are to act in the rite of initiation, are //astreyal/i
and //astyebaad, dressed the same as those who appeared in the rite of initiation
of the sixth night. Three other characters, whose preparations are completed
later, are another //astreyaFi. another //astrebaad, and Dsahaafold^a. The
//astyebaad of the second group dresses differently from that of the first, and in

the manner of a modern Navaho woman, with gown, silver-studded belt, blanket,
moccasins, and leggings. The //astyeyal/i of the second group is usually dressed
differently from that of the first — the latter wears an ordinary Navaho cotton
shirt ; the former has his torso covered with several finely dressed buckskins,
tied on by the skin of the legs (par. 29). The masks worn by //asUeyald and
by //astrebaad of both groups are not only alike, but identical, as will be
explained later (par. 575).

SECOND RITE OF INITIATION.

574. — The first two characters leave the lodge before, or very soon after,
the shaman has finished his work on the picture. While they are preparing, the
candidates for the second (and fourth) degree have been grouped at a distance
from the lodge, usually south of it. When //astreyal/i leaves the lodge with his
companion, he gives his peculiar call, whereat all the candidates hide their faces
in their blankets. //asUeyal/i calls four times on his way. When he and his
comrade reach the waiting group, the candidates, with heads bowed and faces
hidden, go, under guidance, to a secluded place east of the lodge, the gods
following them. Here the candidates sit in a line — males north, females south —
facing east, and go through a rite similar in all respects to that of the first
initiation of the fifth night (par. 495 et seq.).

575. — The actors, as on the fifth night, take off their masks for the
candidates to sacrifice to them (par. 504) and when the rite is over they leave
the masks where they took them off, under guard, for the characters of the
second group to assume when these come to the east to dress. The candidates,
when the rite is over, go where they will. The men who impersonated the yei,
when they have removed their properties, in the lodge, washed off their paint, and
resumed their ordinary clothing, also go wherever they wish. The yertW/estsani,
or implements for initiating the females, are allowed to lie in a basket, beside the
masks (par. 298).

RITE OF SUCCOR OR EXORCISM.

576. — Soon after the actors of the initiation return to the lodge, the second
group is ready. It consists, as before stated, of three characters : //astyeyald,
//astsebaad, and Dsaha^old^a. They depart from the lodge with their peculiar
dress and painting concealed under their blankets. Dsahaafold,sa carries his
mask concealed. All have their faces and heads bare and they endeavor to
appear like ordinary Indians out for a stroll. They proceed to the east of
the lodge, to the locality where the initiation took place and where the guarded
masks of two of the characters are lying. Here they drop their blankets, don their
masks, and stand, the representatives of the gods. Let us now speak of them as
gods. The Dsahartfold^a may be of either of the two kinds mentioned, either of
the land or of the water.

577. — As soon as the personators have left the lodge the patient is called.

x34

He comes bearing on his right arm a basket containing meal. He is placed
standing about ten paces to the east of the lodge on a buffalo robe and facing east.
When he has stood there a few moments, the succoring gods are seen to
approach from the east, //astteyal/i comes first, the //astrebaad follows at a
distance of about ten paces, both walking. Between them, Dsaha^/old^a comes
dancing and, from time to time, turning around and facing //astyebaad. Thus
the three advance until they get within a few paces of the patient, when they all
halt without changing their relative positions.

578. — It is recorded that the head of the buffalo robe during this rite pointed
on different occasions east, west, and north. Barthelmess observed it pointed
north and makes the following instructive remark : “In front of it [z. e., the lodge]
the snow was cleared away and a buffalo robe spread out, so that its head lay to
the north, the tail to the south. I mention this fact because the medicine-man
went into a fury because it was laid east and west, and it was hastily turned north
and south.”21 There is little doubt that the direction of the axis of the robe is
changed in accordance with different rules, but it has not been discovered what
these rules are.

5 79. — //astyeyal/i now leaves his two companions standing and advances
alone toward the patient. He retreats three times, and advances, in all, four
times ; the last time he stops close to the patient, facing him, but does not step on
the robe. He takes a pinch of meal from a fawnskin bag which he carries J
sprinkles it upward near the body of the patient from waist to head ; holds it just
above the crown ; allows it to drop down upon the person ; gives his peculiar
whoop and steps aside to make room for Dsahaz/oldza. The latter approaches the
patient dancing (four times) ; he bears in one hand a decorated rattle, in the other
a decorated bow (plate VIII.) ; he holds these for a moment near the patient’s
head, one on each side, uttering at the same time his peculiar call ; he turns sun¬
wise around and dances back to //astyebaad on whom he repeats the acts performed
on the patient. The //astyebaad does nothing to the patient, but when Dsaha-
z/old^a holds his implements near her head, she lifts to a level with his face a
basket that she carries, containing the ye/artfestsani, or implements of female
initiation. It is once noted that, when the patient was a woman, Dsaha^/old^a
carried one of the two ye/artfestsani instead of a bow.

580. — The three succorers next pass to the south of the patient and the latter,
as they pass, scatters after them meal taken from the basket with his left hand.
They arrange themselves in a line in the south in the order which they previously
held in the east, and they repeat in the south all the acts which they performed in
the east and in the same order. As they pass to the west the patient as before
sprinkles meal after them. In the west and in the north all these acts are again
repeated. Through all this work the patient never changes his position on the
buffalo robe.

581. — These labors accomplished, the three divinities return to the east of the
patient and range themselves in a line facing west, as they originally stood before

the exorcism began. The patient then turns around sunwise, faces the west, and
marches into the lodge, followed by the three succorers.

582. — On returning to the lodge, the patient sprinkles the picture with meal,
as on the previous day, disrobes, and sits on the central figure — the cornstalk — in
the western half of the picture as on previous occasions. Then all the rites and
observances of the seventh day are repeated and in nearly or quite the same order
(par. 556). Dsaha^/old^a is the divine character who performs the various acts of
the succoring god on the picture and on the patient. The picture is erased and
the debris thrown to the north of that of the previous day.

SONGS OF SEQUENCE.

583. — When the gods appear in the east, approaching to perform the rite of
succor, a herald stationed at the door of the medicine-lodge calls aloud, “ Ad£ yei
as!”, “There come the gods,” — a cue to the singers inside the lodge, who at
once begin to sing, to the accompaniment of the rattle, the Dsaharfbld.s'a Bigi'n or
Fringe Mouth Songs. These are continued all through the rite on the picture until
the yei go out, but they are not finished until night.

WORK OF THE EVENING.

584. — At night the basket is turned down and song is accompanied by drum
and rattle. When the twelve songs of sequence are finished, one song of the
series of Ai/ena/Wi/ is sung, during which the basket is turned up and the evil
influences blown out toward the smoke-hole as before. After this the patient is
fumigated and the ritual work of the eighth day is done.

REHEARSAL.

585. — Later in the evening, songs are sung for practice inside and there is
dancing for practice outside the lodge.

PRACTICE DANCES AND SONGS OF THE NAAKT/Al.

586. — These practice dances, with their accompanying songs, as has been
stated, occur on the prepared dancing-ground in front of the medicine-lodge for
several hours after sunset, on the sixth, seventh, and eighth days, but these are
only final rehearsals. All over the Navaho land during the autumn and early
winter, groups of young men practise this dance and rehearse songs to be sung at
the naak/kai on the ninth night. Several men living in a certain locality will get
together and, knowing that a night chant will be celebrated somewhere in their
neighborhood during the winter, will make arrangements to form a group or relay
for the occasion. They will compose new songs and rehearse these with old ones,
to’the cadence of the dance, night after night for many weeks, or until they feel

themselves proficient. After the great nine-days’ ceremony has begun, men
loitering about the camp or plying their various industries, sacred or profane, may
be heard in every direction, by day as well as by night, rehearsing words to the
tunes that characterize the songs of the last night.

587. — They may practise the song in the daytime, but may practise the
dance only after sunset. For such occasions they use bunches of artemisia or
some other plant to represent the spruce wands. When they practise before the
medicine-lodge they use the regular rattles of the shaman, but when they practise
at home they extemporize rattles. They have been known, of late years, to
thrust, for a handle, a stick through an old fruit-can, and fill the latter with
pebbles to make a rattle.

II. Ninth Day

NINTH DAY, — UNTIL NIGHTFALL.

588. — The early hours of the ninth day, which is called Bitsm or last day of
the ceremony, are spent : ( 1 ) in making the kethawns to be offered to the succor¬
ing gods late in the afternoon, and (2) in preparing the masks and other properties
of the succoring gods and of those who dance at night. This work was once seen
by the writer finished before noon, but it is usually not completed till the middle
of the afternoon. Later in the day (3) the greenroom or arbor is erected (par.
242, plate 1, D) and (4) about sunset the succor or exorcism of the patient takes
place. Sometimes (5) a diurnal initiation, similar to that of the eighth day, occurs
in the afternoon, if there should be a number of persons present desiring it. The
rite of succor ends the work of the daytime. The rites of the night will be con¬
sidered under a separate section, entitled “ Last Night.”

PREPARATION OF PROPERTIES.

589. — The work of making the kethawns and preparing the masks and other
properties requires the labor of several men for three or four hours. There is no
need to describe minutely in this section the way in which the work on these
properties is done, for in speaking of the various articles elsewhere the method of
work is given. A few remarks will suffice here. The masks, as they are carried
in the chanter’s bag, are not trimmed ; on this occasion they are newly painted ;
the eagle-plumes and other plumes are mounted on them, the collars of spruce
are fashioned from fresh twigs and attached to them. When the masks are
completed, an assistant chews fruit of a plant called tse'tsagi and spits the juice
on them. The gourd rattles are painted anew with white and trimmed anew with
four spruce twigs on each handle. The talismans of Tb'bad.sist.nni (par. 85) are
made and painted if he is one of the gods of succor, or the special implements of
other gods of succor are prepared.

KETHAWNS.

590- — The kethawns for this day are cigarettes and are usually three in
number, as there are usually three suc¬
coring gods and there is one kethawn
for each. The kethawns are not always
the same, for the gods are not always
the same. The first to be described are
three kethawns (fig. 14), whose empty
cases are now in the writer’s collection.

They are made of the common reed
( Phragmites communis ) and are each
three finger-widths in length. One is
sacred to Tb'bad^Istnni, another to
Dsaha^old-sa of Tse'nitri, and another
to ZTastyeol/oi. The first is painted
red and has the emblem of To'bad^is-
trfni, the queue or scalp-lock, done in
white, twice on the back or once on
each side. The second is colored lon¬
gitudinally, black and red on opposite
sides, and these colors are separated
from one another by narrow lines of
white, like the body of Dsahartfold-su ;
there is a lightning symbol in white on
each side. The third is simply painted all blue to indicate the female, for //as-
tyeoFoi, the Navaho deity of the chase, is a goddess. Sometimes a cigarette for
Nayenfizgani is seen, which is black with a bow-symbol on each side. There is
a cigarette for Fringe Mouth Under Water which is like the second above de¬
scribed, except that blue and yellow take the place of black and red.

Fig. 14. Kethawns of the ninth day.
appear when painted and left to dry.

Cases for cigarettes as they

SONGS OF THE MASKS.

591. — The songs of sequence, five in number, which are sung during the
painting of the masks, are AniFani Bigi'n or Grasshopper Songs. These are also
called DzYsbe/ia.ia.dl'\ne Bigi'n or Songs with Preparing Masks. When the masks
are all ready and the robe is spread on which these are to be displayed, they
begin to sing one song of //astreyal/i, a song which is independent of the regular
set and may or may not be sung with the //astyeyalA Bigi'n or the Anil/ani Bigi'n
at night.

ARRANGEMENT OF MASKS AND OTHER PROPERTIES.

592. — When the masks and other properties are all finished they are taken up
in the hands of the assistants and other spectators and held while the refuse of

preparation is swept up and carried out' of the lodge to be deposited according to
rule ; then they are laid down on blankets and cloths in the north of the lodge.
In one group there are the 14 masks used in the dance of the naak//af, viz., one
of //asts-eyal/i, one of 7b‘nemli, six of yebaka or ordinary male characters, and six
of yebaad or female characters. The eight masks first mentioned — male masks
— are laid down first, in a row extending east and west ; to the south of these the
six female masks are laid down in a parallel row ; and behind all, in the north,
the six great gourd rattles are deposited in a row. The masks to be used by the
personators of the male divinities in the act of succor are laid in a separate group
to the east of the larger group of masks. If the goddess //astreol/oi is to appear
in the act of succor, a female mask is borrowed for the occasion, from the row of
yebaad masks.

* RITE OF SUCCOR OR EXORCISM.

593. — Before the preparation of the masks is completed, or very soon after,
the actors in the rite of succor or exorcism begin, with assistance, to paint and
decorate themselves. When ready, they cover themselves in the usual way with
blankets, under which they carry their hidden masks, and go to a retired place,
east of the lodge. They soon reappear in the full dress and adornment of gods,
and approach the patient. The latter, meanwhile, has been called and placed
standing, meal-basket on arm, as on the previous day, on a buffalo robe, a few
paces east of the lodge and facing east.

594. — It is not always the same gods that figure in this scene of succor or
exorcism ; //astaeyal/i, GawaskWi, Dsaha^/old^a, //astydsini, and others may
appear ; but the three which are usually seen, and whose presence from an
Aryan point of view seems most appropriate, are the war-gods, Nayenezgani and
To'badzlstrini, and the divine huntress, //astreoEoi. The act shall be described
as performed by these. When other gods figure, the rite is similarly conducted ;
the only important difference being in the dress, implements, and cries of the gods.
Elsewhere (par. 109 et seq. ) a description is given of the peculiar circumstances
under which the fire-god //astyesini takes part in the rite.

595. — Nayenezgani comes first, 7b‘badsrlstrfni second, //asUeoEoi third,
walking in single file. When they first appear in the east, Nayenezgani lifts on
high and brandishes his great stone knife, whereat all three halt and sing the
third Nayenezgani Bigi'n. This finished, they advance until Nayenezgani stands
face to face with the patient. The god makes a motion in the air with his great
stone knife, near the patient from head to foot, uttering at the same time a low,
hoarse groan. 7b‘bad£istymi follows, making a similar motion with his talismans
but giving a different call. 7/asUeoEoi comes last, making a like motion with her
bow and arrows and uttering a single yelp as she does so. All these acts are
performed to the east, to the south, to the west, and to the north in the order
named. The succoring gods pass from one point to the other as do those of the
previous day, and as each one passes, the patient sprinkles meal after him.

596. — When they have done in the north they pass around the patient by

way of the east and the south, and go to the lodge, which they treat at the four
cardinal points with forms quite similar to those used on the patient ; for, during
the nine days of ceremony, it is thought that some of the evil influence drawn from
the patient has entered the structure of the lodge so the latter needs exorcism
as well as the patient. Then, as on the previous day, they form a procession of
four, the patient leading, and march into the lodge. No one may follow them.
He who would witness the succeeding rites in the lodge should enter before the
rites of succor begin.

597. — On entering the lodge, the patient sits in the west, facing east, and the
three gods sit facing him, ranged in their previous order of precedence from north
to south. From his basket of meal, the patient takes the kethawn of
Nayenezgani, presents it to the god and, following the shaman or some one else
who is competent to lead, repeats a dialogue prayer. A kethawn is given and a
similar prayer is made to each of the other gods in turn. The gods leave the
lodge and go to the west to deposit the cigarettes and take off their masks, and
the patient is at liberty to depart. After a while the actors return, remove their
paint and paraphernalia, and resume their ordinary clothing. The dried white
pigment taken from the characteristic marks on their bodies is, by some, carefully
scraped off and preserved in medicine-bags.

598. — Sometimes the shaman takes the cigarette from the hand of the
patient and places it in the hand of the god. Nayenezgani and Zb'bad^Istnni
deposit their cigarettes in the shade of a tree, preferably a pinon, while
//astyeol/oi lays hers on the ground in a cluster of Gutierrezia euthamice.

REHEARSALS OF THE FIRST DANCERS.

599. — In the afternoon and early evening, when other work is not in progress,
the men who are to sing the first song of the night and to dance the first dance
— the Atsa'/ei, or First Dancers — enter the medicine-lodge several times, and
rehearse their important part in the rites under the criticisms of the shaman and
other experts. They rehearse this with extra care and attention for reasons which
are explained elsewhere (par. 617).

GATHERING OF SPECTATORS.

600. — On the previous days people have been coming in gradually, in no
great numbers, to witness and participate in the ceremonies. Many of these have
made themselves little huts and enclosures of evergreen boughs, particularly such
as are accompanied by women and children. Men coming alone spend much of
their time in the medicine-lodge and sleep there. But it is on the afternoon and
evening of the last day that the great crowd arrives. Many of them come with¬
out impedimenta ; some bringing food for one meal ; others bringing none and
prepared to stay only one night, during which time they sit by the fires, watch the
dance, and take no sleep. From 300 to 500 persons may be present on the last
night. The writer has made a count, as careful as practicable, of the assembled

spectators, on more than one occasion, not only during the night chant but during
the mountain chant, and he has gotten others to count ; as a result he considers
500 as a high estimate of the largest crowd he has ever seen collected to witness
these ceremonies.

II. Last Night

LAST NIGHT.

601. — In order to give a clear understanding of the work of the last night,
it will be necessary to repeat some statements already made.

602. — The medicine-lodge, as has been said (par. 237), was built before the
ceremony began and we have noted that, at different times, other preparations
were made ; that the ground in front of the lodge was cleared and levelled for the
dancers ; that an enclosure of evergreen branches and saplings, which we call the
arbor or greenroom (i/nasti), was constructed about one hundred paces east of
the lodge ; that the ground between the greenroom and the dancing-place was
cleared of brush, weeds, and other obstructions in order that the dancers might
pass easily back and forth in the dark, and that great piles of dried wood were
placed at the edges of the dance-ground, north and south, to serve for fuel and as
seats for the spectators. Four great fires are kindled on each side of the dance-
ground at nightfall, and other fires may be made later in the same locality. The
arrangements, when all is ready for the ceremonies of the last night, may be best
understood by referring to figure 15.

Fig. 15. Diagram of dancing-ground, a , fires ; b , piles of wood; c , dancing-ground.

PREPARATION OF THE FIRST DANCERS.

603. — 7 he characters paint themselves in the medicine-lodge, simultaneously,
facing the east. 77ie right hand is the part first painted ; then they whiten from
above downward. While they paint, a song called Atsa‘/ei YetzWigle.f is sung
without accompaniment of drum or rattle. The following is offered as an ap¬
proximate, free translation of this song :

Now the holy one paints his form,

The Wind Boy, the holy one, paints his form,

All over his body, he paints his form,

With the dark cloud he paints his form,

With the misty rain he paints his form,

With the rainy bubbles he paints his form,

To the ends of his toes he paints his form,

To fingers and rattle he paints his form,

To the plume on his head he paints his form. See par. 929.

604. — After the painting is done, they dress, with assistance, while another
song, which has not been recorded, is sung. The masks and rattles which were
painted and decorated during the day, the wands of spruce which were prepared,
and the fox-skins are carried out, after dark, and laid in a row in the north of the
greenroom. When the characters are ready, in the lodge, they go out blanketed
to the greenroom to assume their masks.

RITE OF THE ATSA'AEI OR FIRST DANCERS.

605. — The public performance of the night begins with the ceremony of the
AtsaEei or First Dancers, and this is usually conducted in the manner to be now
described.

606. — The performers consist of four yebaka or ordinary male divinities and
//astyeyaEi, the Talking God or Yebityai. Besides these, the chanter and the
patient appear on the scene. The yebaka, like those who appear later in the
dance of the naak/zaf, are nearly naked, their bodies heavily coated with a
mixture of white earth and water. Each wears moccasins, long blue stockings
of Navaho make, a short kilt or loin-cloth of red baize, crimson silk, or some
showy material, a silver-studded belt from which the skin of a kit-fox hangs at the
back, numerous rich necklaces borrowed from friends for the occasion, and the
blue, plumed mask of the yebaka with its attached collar of spruce twigs. Large
plumes are attached to the stockings and small feathers to the wrists. Each
carries, in his left hand, a wand of spruce twigs, attached for security to his mask,
by means of a string of yucca fibres, and in his right hand a gourd rattle. The
fifth character is //astyeyaEi, who wears the peculiar mask of that god, with a
collar of spruce. In one hand he carries a fawnskin bag. Unlike his four com¬
panions, he is comfortably clothed in some form of Navaho dress.

607. — Each one of the four yebaka represents a different character. The
first is a chief, genius, or god of corn ; the second is a chief of the child-rain ; 2
the third is a chief of all kinds of plants, of vegetation, and the fourth is a chief
of pollen. Such is the order of their precedence in the dance, and in this order
they are mentioned in the songs. Besides being chiefs of these four things, they
are spoken of as thunder-birds and as having the colors of the four cardinal points.

608. — //astyeyaEi masks and dresses himself completely in the lodge. Usually
about 8 p.m. they all leave the lodge together. //astyeyaEi whoops as they come
out and then clears the dance-ground, motioning intruders away, while the four
others precede him to the greenroom to don their masks. Before putting on
their masks they chew spruce leaves, bitten off their wands, and spit juice and leaves
into the masks in the belief that this act helps the masks to go on. They often
have to stretch and pull their masks, finding difficulty in making them fit at first.

609. — When they are all ready, they leave the green-room for the dance-
ground in the following order : the chanter, //astyeyaEi, the four Atsa‘/ei in the
order of their precedence. When they start, the chanter, uttering the benedic¬
tion, “ //o^oles ko te yitsowe,” scatters pollen on the ground, toward the west along

the way they are to follow. They move very quietly, in single file, softly shaking
their rattles and singing in a low tone. Sometimes they stop on the way to
readjust their masks. They enter softly and stealthily on to the dance-ground.

610. — As they enter the ground a watcher at the door of the lodge cries,
“Bike //a/a/i /iaku,” and the patient emerges from the lodge bearing meal in a
sacred basket, and, on top of the meal, sometimes four kethawns. While the
priest says a prayer over the meal, the four yebaka keep up a constant motion of
the feet somewhat similar to that of the dance to be presently described. The
following diagram (fig. 16) shows the position of the whole party at this time :

Fig. 16. Diagram of dance of the AtsdVei.

shaman ; patient ; c, Yebitrai ; d , d , dancers.

61 1. — After this prayer, the patient, prompted and assisted by the chanter
(or the chanter, if the patient is a child), advances to each of the Atsa'fei in turn,
and sprinkles meal on him thus: He picks up a large pinch between the thumb
and two fingers, allows the substance to fall on the right hand of the subject, up
the right arm, over the top of the forehead, and down the left arm ; he drops what
remains into the palm of the left hand. Immediately after, he may deposit a
sacrificial cigarette in the left hand. Four cigarettes thus given form a set
which is sometimes made and sacrificed on the fourth day, and sometimes, accord¬
ing to rules and theories not ascertained, on the last night. When reserved for
the last night they are thus given to the Atsa‘/ei. In applying the meal the
patient carries the basket on the left arm.

612. — When the application is finished, patient and shaman resume their
former position in the west, facing the east, and the priest prays a long prayer to
each god, which the patient repeats after him, sentence by sentence, in the usual

manner. The four prayers are alike in all respects, except in the mention of cer¬
tain attributes of the gods. I have collected and translated one of these prayers
and have given text, interlinear translation and free translation in “ Navaho
Legends.”3 To make clearer the description of the rite, I here repeat the free
translation of the prayer to the dark bird who is the chief of pollen. While the
prayer is being said, the dancers keep up a constant motion, bending and
straightening the left knee and swaying the head from side to side.

613. - FREE TRANSLATION OF PRAYER.

1. In Tse‘gihi,

2. In the house made of the dawn,

3. In the house made of the evening twilight,

4. In the house made of the dark cloud,

5. In the house made of the he-rain,

6. In the house made of the dark mist,

7. In the house made of the she-rain,

8. In the house made of pollen,

9. In the house made of grasshoppers,

10. Where the dark mist curtains the doorway,

11. The path to which is on the rainbow,

12. Where the zigzag lightning stands high on top,

13. Where the he-rain stands high on top,

14. Oh, male divinity !

15. With your moccasins of dark cloud, come to us.

16. With your leggings of dark cloud, come to us.

17. With your shirt of dark cloud, come to us.

18. With your head-dress of dark cloud, come to us.

19. With your mind enveloped in dark cloud, come to us.

20. With the dark thunder above you, come to us soaring.

21. With the shapen cloud at your feet, come to us soaring.

22. With the far darkness made of the dark cloud over your head, come to us soaring.

23. With the far darkness made of the he-rain over your head, come to us soaring.

24. With the far darkness made of the dark mist over your head, come to us soaring.

25. With the far darkness made of the she-rain over your head, come to us soaring.

26. With the zigzag lightning flung out on high over your head, come to us soaring.

27. With the rainbow hanging high over your head, come to us soaring.

28. With the far darkness made of the dark cloud on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

29. With the far darkness made of the he-rain on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

30. With the far darkness made of the dark mist on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

31. With the far darkness made of the she-rain on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

32. With the zigzag lightning flung out on high on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

33. With the rainbow hanging high on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.

34. With the near darkness made of the dark cloud, of the he-rain, of the dark mist and of the she-

rain, come to us.

35. With the darkness on the earth, come to us.

36. With these I wish the foam floating on the flowing water over the roots of the great corn.

37. I have made your sacrifice.

38. I have prepared a smoke for you.

39. My feet restore for me.

40. My limbs restore for me.

41. My body restore for me.

42. My mind restore for me.

43. My voice restore for me.

44. To-day, take out your spell for me.

45. To-day, take away your spell for me.

46. Away from me you have taken it.

47. Far off from me it is taken.

48. Far off you have done it.

49. Happily I recover.

50. Happily my interior becomes cool.

51. Happily my eyes regain their power.

52. Happily my head becomes cool.

53. Happily my limbs regain their power.

54. Happily I hear again.

55. Happily for me (the spell) is taken off.

56. Happily I walk (or, may I walk).

57. Impervious to pain, I walk.

58. Feeling light within, I walk.

59. With lively feelings, I walk.

60. Happily (or in beauty) abundant dark clouds I desire.

61. Happily abundant dark mists I desire.

62. Happily abundant passing showers I desire.

63. Happily an abundance of vegetation I desire.

64. Happily an abundance of pollen I desire.

65. Happily abundant dew I desire.

66. Happily may fair white corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

67. Happily may fair yellow corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

68. Happily may fair blue corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

69. Happily may fair corn of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

70. Happily may fair plants of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

71. Happily may fair goods of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

72. Happily may fair jewels of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.

73. With these before you, happily may they come with you.

74. With these behind you, happily may they come with you

75. With these below you, happily may they come with you.

76. With these above you, happily may they come with you.

77. With these all around you, happily may they come with you.

78. Thus happily you accomplish your tasks.

79. Happily the old men will regard you.

80. Happily the old women will regard you.

81. Happily the young men will regard you.

82. Happily the young women will regard you.

83. Happily the boys will regard you.

84. Happily the girls will regard you.

85. Happily the children will regard you.

86. Happily the chiefs will regard you.

87. Happily, as they scatter in different directions, they will regard you.

88. Happily, as they approach their homes, they will regard you.

89. Happily may their roads home be on the trail of pollen (peace).

90. Happily may they all get back.

91. In beauty (happily) I walk.

92. With beauty before me, I walk.

93. With beauty behind me, I walk.

94. With beauty below me, I walk.

95. With beauty above me, I walk.

96. With beauty all around me, I walk.

97. It is finished (again) in beauty,

98. It is finished in beauty,

99. It is finished in beauty,

100. It is finished in beauty.

614. — When these prayers are ended, the patient, followed by the chanter,
passes eastward, down the north side of the line and back again. As they pass
east, the former scatters meal up the right arm of each dancer from hand to
shoulder, and the latter scatters pollen in a similar manner. When they return
to the west, the patient lays down his basket and sits beside it near the door of
the lodge. The chanter sits to the left of the patient. Both face east, looking
at the dancers. All the spectators now become silent and attentive, waiting for
the sacred song.

615. — //ast?eyal/i, who has been standing north of the line of dancers,
facing south, rushes whooping to the east and holds up his bag as a signal to the
four Atsa7ei, who are now facing the west. Immediately the Atsa7ei advance
the left foot, bend bodies to the right, whoop, shake their rattles, dip them with
a long sweep of the arm as if dipping water and bring them up close to their
mouths. They almost touch the ground in doing this, //astfeya/ti rushes to the
west and repeats his acts, while the dancers face east and repeat their acts. They
face west again, always turning sunwise.

616. — After a brief pause in the west, //ast.yeyal/i stamps twice, violently,
with his right foot as a signal ; whereat the Atsa'/ei begin a peculiar dancing step
in which the right foot, held horizontally, is lifted from the ground. This may
be considered marking time rather than dancing. Meanwhile, the right forearm
moves up and down, in time with the corresponding foot, and shakes the rattle.
The left arm hangs inactive. This step is taken four times in silence before the
song begins and continues through the song. At certain parts of each stanza
the singers face the east and at other parts they face the west again ; thus there
are eight changes of direction during the song. They poise themselves on the
toes of the left foot before they turn and slowly shake their rattles at a distance,
laterally, from their bodies, as they wheel around.

617. — The song sung on this occasion, although it consists mostly of mean¬
ingless syllables, is, perhaps, the most important of the whole ceremony. The
singers are drilled long and thoroughly in private before they are allowed to sing
in public. It is said that, if a single syllable is omitted or misplaced, the
ceremony terminates at once ; all the preceding work of nine days is considered
valueless and the participators and spectators may return, at once, to their
homes. Visiting chanters, and others who know the song well, having sung it at

other celebrations of the rite, listen attentively and, if they note an error, pro¬
claim it. The song consists of two stanzas ; here is a free translation :

The corn comes up, the rain descends,

The corn-plant comes therewith.

The rain descends, the corn comes up,

The child-rain comes therewith.

The corn comes up, the rain descends,

Vegetation comes therewith.

The rain descends, the corn comes up,

The pollen comes therewith. See pars. 931.

618. — /Tastyeyahi takes no part in the song or dance. He may stand still
for a while or walk back and forth along the lines of dancers. At the end of
each stanza, he utters his peculiar whoop to indicate that he is satisfied with the
way in which the song has been sung, that he has detected no error. When the
song is finished the four singers are facing the west. Then they turn in the manner
already described and face the east, //astreyal/i takes his place at the head of
the line, and all depart to the greenroom. Just as they leave the dance-ground
they whoop and shake rattles, but after that they move in silence.

619. — In the greenroom, the actors take off their masks, with the wands
attached, and lay them down, with their rattles, in the north of the bower, for
other dancers to take when the time comes. If they have received sacred
cigarettes they must now go out and plant them. They return to the green¬
room when this is done. When their masks are off they may enter into informal
conversation with their friends. After a while they return without formality to
the lodge, where they pray (each separately for any special blessings he may
desire), wash the paint from their bodies and resume their ordinary dress.

620. — The cigarettes are the male Atsa‘/ei bike/an. They are deposited east
of the greenroom in a safe place where cattle cannot trample on them, pref¬
erably among the roots of a pinon tree, without the feathers or other be¬
longings which go with them when they are deposited on the fourth day.

DANCE OF NAAK/ZAf.

621. — The next rite, which is the longest and most important of all, begins
after dark — 7 o’clock or later — and lasts incessantly until daylight. It is called
naak^ai. It consists of a performance out-doors, which is mostly dance and song,
and a performance within the medicine-lodge which is mostly song and in which
there is no dancing. Let us first consider the performance which occurs outside.

CHARACTERS. DRESS.

622. — The requisite characters are : //asDeyal/i, the Talking God, or
YebiDai, To'nenili, the Water Sprinkler, and a number of dancers, preferably
twelve. Of these, six represent Yebaka, or male divinities, and six Yebaad or

female divinities. Besides these the chanter and patient participate. The dress
of //astreyahi and of 7o‘nenili are described elsewhere (pars. 29, 30, and 118).
The Yebaka have their bodies whitened and are decorated, masked, and equipped,
as are those who appear in the dance of the Atsa‘/ei (par. 606). The Yebaad
are usually represented by small men and youths. The males thus acting are
nearly naked like the Yebaka; have their bodies daubed with white earth ; wear
silver-studded belts with pendant fox-skins, showy kilts, long woollen stockings,
garters, and moccasins; but, instead of the cap-like masks of the Yebaka, each
wears a blue domino, which allows the hair to flow out behind. They have
no eagle plumes on head, or on stockings, and no collars of spruce. They carry
rattles and wands like those of the Yebaka. Sometimes women and so-called
hermaphrodites are found who understand the dance. When such take part,
as they sometimes do, in place of small men and youths, they are fully dressed
in ordinary female costume and wear the domino of the Yebaad ; but they carry
no rattles ; they have spruce wands in both hands. As has been said, there
should be six Yebaad characters; but there is often a deficiency of the small
men and youths, and when such is the case arrangements are made to do with a
less number.

TYPICAL DANCE.

623. — That which is considered the typical or complete dance will first
be described and then the variations will be discussed. The dancers are dressed
and painted in the lodge, and then proceed to the greenroom, blanketed, to get
their masks, wands, and rattles. When they are fully attired they leave the
arbor and proceed to the dance-ground. The chanter leads, observing all the
forms he used in conducting the Atsa7ei ; //astreyal^i follows immediately after
the chanter ; the twelve dancers come next, all in single file, and To'nenili brings
up the rear. Among the twelve dancers the first is a Yebaka, the second a
Yebaad, and thus the male and female characters follow one another alternately.
As they march in the darkness they sing in undertones and shake their rattles in
a subdued way.

624. — When they reach the dance-ground, between the two lines of fires, the
chanter turns and faces them ; they halt ; the patient, warned by the call, as before,

Fig. 17. Diagram of naak/*ai dance, dancers in single file, a, shaman ; patient ; c , Yebitrai ; d , male characters; e} female characters.

comes out of the lodge. They all now stand in the order shown in the diagram,
fig. 1 7. The patient and chanter walk down along the line of dancers from west
to east. As they pass, the chanter takes meal from the basket carried by the

patient and sprinkles it on the right arm of each dancer from below upwards.
This done, the patient and chanter turn sunwise and retrace their steps to their
original position west of and facing the line of dancers. Meantime the dancers
keep up motions such as those made by the Atsa7ei when they are sprinkled.

625. — When the patient returns to the west, //astveyal/i runs to the east,
whoops, and holds up his bag as he did with the Atsa7ei ; the dancers whoop,
lean to the right and dip their rattles toward the earth, in the manner already
described (par. 615). 7/asUeyal/i runs to the west, whoops and holds up his
bag ; the dancers turn toward the east and repeat their motions. They turn
toward the west again. //astreyal/i, now in the west, turns toward the dancers
and stamps twice with his right foot as a signal to them ; they whoop and begin
to dance and sing. Usually now the chanter goes into the lodge to superintend
the singing and the patient sits beside the meal-basket, near the door.

626. — For a while they dance in single line, nodding their heads oddly and
facing around in different directions, each one apparently according to his own
caprice. At a certain part of the song, the Yebaad move, dancing, a couple
of paces to the north and form a separate line, leaving the Yebaka dancing
in a line to the south. The position of the dancers, at this time is represented
by the following diagram, fig. 18 :

Fig. 18. Diagram showing position of dancers of the naak^ai in two lines. a% lodge ; 3, patient; cy Yebitrai ; d , line of male dancers;
ey line of female dancers.

They dance only for a brief time in this position, when the two lines again inter¬
mingle and they form a promiscuous group, the dancers facing in different
directions and moving around. After dancing thus for a little while the Yebaad
dance again to the north and two lines are formed as before.

627.— They dance thus for a while when, at another part of the song,
the single Yebaka and Yebaad who dance furthest west approach one another
and face east in the middle. Here the Yebaka, or male, offers his left arm
to the Yebaad, or female, much in the manner in which civilized people per¬
form this act; the Yebaad takes the proffered arm, thrusting “hers” through
to the elbow ; with arms thus interlocked they dance down the middle toward

the east. Before they reach the eastern end of the lines, they are met by
7/asteeyald, who dances up toward them ; they retreat backward, facing him ;
when they reach the west again, //astreyald begins to retreat, dancing backward,
and they follow him. When they reach the eastern end of the lines they
separate and take new positions, each at the eastern end of his and “her”
appropriate line. Soon after they have begun to dance “down the middle” the
second time, the pair now in the extreme west lock arms and dance east. As
soon as the first couple separate, //asteeyal/i dances up to meet the second
couple. All the evolutions performed by the first couple are now performed
by the second. This is continued by each couple in turn until all have changed
their places and those who first danced at the west end of the line dance there
again. White people, witnessing this dance, usually liken it to the well-known
American contra-dance, the Virginia reel.

628. — When all the figures of the dance, proper, heretofore described, have
been repeated four times, the Yebaad return from their line in the north and
a single line is formed of alternate Yebaka and Yebaad facing west. //asteeyal/i
whoops and places himself at the eastern end of the line ; all face east and, dan¬
cing in a lock-step, as closely packed together as the dancing will allow, they move
to the east. When they get off the dancing-ground they halt, give a prolonged
shake of the rattles, whoop and move away at an ordinary walk, in silence, until
they get beyond the glare of the fires, about midway between the dance-ground
and the arbor. Here in the darkness they cool off, and breathe themselves for
the next dance. They may take off their masks and chat with one another,
or with anyone else.

629. - — -All the acts described are performed in a most orderly and regular
manner, without the slightest hitch, hesitancy, or confusion on the part of any of
the participants. No orders or verbal promptings are given. The dancers take
their cue, partly from the acts and calls of //asteeyal/i ; but mostly from the
meaningless syllables of the song they are singing. At certain parts of the song
certain changes of the figure are made.

630. — When the dancers have rested for about five minutes, they return to
the dance-ground in the same order in which they first came ; but the chanter
does not accompany them, neither does he sprinkle meal on them when they
arrive on the dance-ground, unless the patient be a child. The chanter only
leads, and, as a rule, only sprinkles meal on each group of dancers once, and that
is when they make their first appearance.

631. — Except when performing the dipping motion described and when turn¬
ing around, the veritable male dancer holds the upper arms hanging by the side,
the forearms partly flexed, a gourd rattle in the right hand, a wand of spruce in
the left. When a real woman enacts the part of the Yebaad she holds both arms
extended outward horizontally, or nearly so, the elbow bent at right angles, the
forearms held upwards, and a wand of spruce in each hand.

632. — At those parts of the dance where men remain in one place, they raise

the right foot high and hold it horizontally in marking time. At certain parts
of the song they hold the foot raised for a period of two notes. When moving,
also, the men lift the feet well from the ground ; but the women do not do this ;
they shuffle along on their toes, lifting the feet but little.

633. — The average duration of a figure such as described is five minutes, and
that of the breathing-time is about the same. But on occasions when many sets
of dancers are prepared and the programme for the night is crowded, the periods
of rest are greatly shortened or altogether neglected. The dancers sometimes go
but a few paces away from the dance-ground, when their song is done, and return
immediately to begin a new song.

634. — There is often no change in the general character of this figure all night.
From the beginning, soon after dark, until the ending after daybreak it may be
constantly repeated and the accompanying song may be sung to the same time and
in the same cadence.

635. — The most desirable number of repetitions for the dance is said to be
forty-eight, when four sets of dancers each perform twelve times. This, it is said,
was, in old times, the invariable rule. On such occasions each set holds the ground
about two hours and there is a pause of about half an hour between the final exit
of one set and the first appearance of another. This gives us, with the work of
the Atsa‘/ei, an entertainment of ten hours’ duration. But great variations are
made from this standard, depending on the number of groups which have drilled
themselves and come to the ground prepared to dance— also on the number of
songs which each group may have composed and practised for the occasion. For
the first set we have noted always twelve or thirteen dances ; but for subsequent
sets we have sometimes noted higher numbers, up to twenty— not always multiples
of four and not always even numbers. When the night’s programme was crowded,
we have seen two dances conducted within an hour : then the rests were short or
omitted. There may be six or more relays and they may dance until perilously
near sunrise.

BUFFOONERY.

636. — The performances of 7o‘nemli, the clown, next demand our attention.
While the others are dancing he performs various acts according to his caprice,
such as these : He walks along the line of dancers and gets in their way. He
dances out of order and out of time. He peers foolishly at different persons.
He sits on the ground, his hands clasped across his knees, and rocks his body to
and fro. He joins regularly in the dance toward the close of a figure and when
the others have retired he remains going through his steps, pretending to be
oblivious of their departure ; then, feigning to discover their absence, he follows
them on a full run.* He carries a fox-skin ; drops it on the ground ; walks away
as if unconscious of his loss ; pretends to become aware of his loss ; acts as if
searching anxiously for the skin, which lies in plain sight ; screens his eyes with
his hand and crouches low to look ; imitates in various exaggerated ways the acts

of Indian hunters ; pretends, at length, to find the lost skin ; jumps on it as if it
were a live animal he was killing ; shoulders it and carries it off as if it were
a heavy burden ; staggers and falls under it. Sometimes he imitates the acts of
//asUeyald ; tries to anticipate the latter in giving the signals for the dance ;
rushes around with wands or skins in his hands in clumsy imitation of //asts-eyahfi ;
in intervals between the dances goes around soliciting gifts with a fox-skin
for a begging-bag, to which no one contributes. Thus with acts of buffoonery
does he endeavor to relieve the tedium of the monotonous performance of the
night. He does not always come regularly in or depart with the regular dancers.
His exits and entrances are often erratic.

VARIATIONS.

637. — There are some variations of the dance which have not been yet
described. Sometimes a set of dancers is made up without any Yebaad characters ;
then, instead of the dance down the middle, two men lock arms to dance along
the north side of the line and other changes are made to suit circumstances.
Sometimes the number of Yebaad is less than six : in this case some of them dance
down the middle more than twice. Portions of the song may be varied in length.
If the song is longer than that given (par. 641) //astreyald may cause the dancers
coming down the middle to retreat more than once to the west. On some occa¬
sions they are not required to retreat to the west at all, but dance directly down
the middle and then separate. There seems to be difficulty often in finding men
and boys of suitable size to enact the part of the Yebaad, and even when present
they have been seen, as the work approached its conclusion, to become exhausted
by the severe exercise, to throw themselves on the ground and refuse to take part.

8. — There is a variety of the dance called beziton, occasionally employed,
which has not been carefully noted on the dance-ground, but which has been
demonstrated in private to the author. In this, the hands are thrust far down¬
wards and thrown backwards in time to the song. The step is slower and more
halting than in the regular form. As compared with the latter it bears somewhat
the relation of deux-temps to trois-temps in our waltz.

OUT-DOOR SONGS.

639. — In the element of music, the songs sung out-doors are much alike. To
the ear untrained in music they sound quite alike. Even a musician, Sergeant
Barthelmess, says of them : “In all the figures of the dance, the melody of the
song remained the same.”21 Yet it is apparent, from a study of phonographic
records, that some latitude is allowed the musical composer in framing these
melodies. The author is not sufficiently versed in music to declare wherein they
must agree and wherein they may differ. In “ Navaho Legends ” 3 pp. 283, 284,
may be found the music of two different naak/iai songs noted by Professor Fill¬
more from phonographic records. The male personators of female divinities sing
in falsetto.

*5*

640. — In the matter of language, the songs have little significance. They
consist mostly of meaningless syllables or of words whose meanings are forgotten.
Yet many of these are all-important and must not be changed or omitted. As
before stated, some of them serve as cues to the dancers. There are changes
made in the few significant words of the song ; those of the first song after
dark and of the last song in the morning are invariable ; it is in the inter¬
vening songs that the modern Navaho poet is allowed to exercise his fancy.
All the songs begin with these vocables, Ohohoho, hehehe. In singing these
the dancer in the west sings the first syllables “o” and “he” alone; in all the
subsequent syllables the other singers join.

641. — It is thought better to introduce here the full text of a stanza of the
first song than to defer it to the chapter on songs.

FIRST SONG OF THE NAAK//AL.

Ohohoho hehehe heya h6ya

Ohohoho hehehe heya heya

Eo lado eo lado eo \ado naje

Howani how owow owe

Eo la4o eo la do eo la do nate

Howani how owow ow6

Howani howani how heyeyeye yeyeyahi

H6wowow htiya heya heya heya

Howa hehehe heya heya heya

Ohohoho howe heya heya

Ohohoho hehehe h£ya hdya

Zfabi nlye 4abi nlye

Ha‘huizanaha, .nhiwanaha.

Afa‘haya‘ eahebo eaheoo
•Slhiwanaha, //a'huizanaha.
jYa‘haya‘ eaheoo eaheoo eaheoo eaheoo.

The words in this stanza to which any significance is now assigned are those in
the 13th and 15th verses, and the meanings of these are only traditional: The.
rain descends. The corn comes up. The other three stanzas are the same as
this, except that in the second and fourth the words are placed in inverse order.

BEGGING GODS.

642. — Sometimes, in the intervals that occur between the final disappearance
of one set of dancers and the first appearance of the next set, //asUeyal/i or some
other of the masked characters go around among the spectators with a begging-
bag, soliciting contributions, in the manner already described (par. 543), and
receiving tobacco and other articles. He does not speak, but merely holds out
the bag ; when the contribution has been put in he closes the bag and utters his
peculiar hoot.

WORK IN THE LODGE.

643. — So far we have described the work outside the lodge ; it now. remains
to describe the work within it. The basket is “ turned down ” at night with
observances described elsewhere (par. 291). From the time it is turned down
until the final ceremonials in the morning, the work consists of singing the songs
of sequence of the rite in their proper order. The singing begins when the
AtsaVei depart from the medicine-lodge in the evening and continues until the
Song of the AtsaVei is heard outside. The moment the song outside ceases,
that in the lodge is resumed, and again the song in the lodge ceases the instant
the signers outside are again heard. Thus, song is continued throughout the
night, without interruption, either in the lodge or on the dance-ground, but never
in both places together. There are many intricate rules connected with these
songs, some of which have been learned and are related in the chapter on song ;
but there are many more which have not been discovered.

644. — The first of the songs of sequence sung in the lodge is perhaps the
most musical of the night. It is the first of the Atsa7ei Bigi'n and alludes to one
of the Atsa7ei without naming him. The following is a free translation of the
first stanza :

1. Above it thunders.

2. His thoughts are directed to you,

3. He rises toward you,

4. Now to your house

5. Approaches for you.

6. He arrives for you,

7. He comes to the door,

8. He enters for you.

9. Behind the fireplace

10. He eats his special dish.

11. “ Your body is strong,

12. “Your body is holy now,” he says. See par. 933.

The second stanza is the same except that the first line is : “ Below it thunders.”

645. — After the dancers have sung their last song outside, the singers inside
the lodge sing the four Bena Hala/i or Finishing Hymns. The following is a
free translation of the last of these :

From the pond in the white valley (alkali flat), —

The young man doubts it —

He (the god) takes up his sacrifice,

With that he now heals.

With that your kindred thank you now.

From the pools in the green meadow, —

The young woman doubts it —

He takes up his sacrifice,

With that he now heals.

W ith that your kindred thank you now. See par. 937.

i54

At the pronunciation of a meaningless vocable (niyeooo) in the refrain, the
chanter puts his right hand under the eastern edge of the inverted basket which
serves as a drum. As the last verse of the song is uttered he turns the basket
over toward the west, makes motions as if driving released flies from under the
basket out through the smoke-hole and blows a breath after the invisible flies as
they are supposed to depart. During the singing of this song, an assistant
applies meal to the lower jaw of the patient.

646. — The next labor of the chanter is to unravel the drumstick, lay its
component parts in order and give them to an assistant to sacrifice. The way in
which these acts are performed has been already described (par. 295). While
unraveling, the chanter sings the song appropriate to the act. When the stick
is unwound the chanter gives final instructions to the patient and all are at liberty
to depart.

INSTRUCTIONS TO PATIENT.

647. — According to these instructions, the patient must not sleep until sun¬
set. Shortly before that time he returns to the medicine-lodge to sleep there,
and this he must do for four consecutive nights, although he may go where he will
in the daytime. Under the threatened penalty of a return of his disease, he is
forbidden to eat the tripe, liver, heart, kidney, or head of any animal, or to eat
anything that has floated on water. If an ear of corn or a melon has dropped
into water and floated it must not be eaten. These taboos must be carefully
observed until he attends a celebration of the ceremony of /o‘nastd/^ego

then he partakes of the peculiar composite mess prepared on that occasion and
thereafter the taboos are removed.

7'0‘NASTS'I//EG0 HATAl.

6481 — There is a variant of the ceremony of the night chant which is called
^o‘nasUi/zego h&t&l. This name has not been satisfactorily translated ; but it
seems related to the name for sacred water, to7anastn. Some of the rites and
observances of this variant are described in the preceding pages (pars. 419, 647) ;
but more extensive information in relation to them appears in the story of the
Stricken Twins, the myth accounting for their introduction among the
Navahoes. The rites, as described in the myth, differ in some respects from
those of the night chant. The pictures of the two ceremonies differ somewhat
and so do the songs. In A)‘nastn7ego Jiatil there is a picture on the last day.
The most notable difference is the omission, in the one form, of the public dance
of the last night, which is so characteristic of the other form. 7o‘nastn//ego
is known as the ceremony of Kininaekai or the White House, while that of
the night chant proper is known as the ceremony of Tsg'nitn^o^an or the Red
Rock House.

649. — The author never witnessed this form of the ceremony and learns
that it is rarely performed. The patient and his relations are to some extent

at liberty to decide which of the two forms of ceremony they will have ; but
they usually choose the night chant because, owing to the public dance of the
last night, there is more merriment at it, and it attracts a larger concourse than
the other form.

PART III.
Myths.

Myths.

III. The Visionary

THE VISIONARY.

650. — He of whom this tale is told belonged to the gens of 77/a‘tdni.23 His
name was BVa/Wini 24 (the Visionary) and he lived at Tse'gihi.1 This shows how
he came to be a chanter. Whenever he went out by himself, he heard the songs
of spirits sung to him, or thought he heard them sung. He was the third of
four brothers, the youngest of whom was named Nakiestyai. His brothers had
no faith in him. They said : “ When you return from your solitary walks and
tell us you have seen strange things and heard strange songs, you are mistaken,
you only imagine you hear these songs and you see nothing unusual.” When¬
ever he returned from one of these lonely rambles he tried to teach his brothers
the songs he had heard ; but they would not listen to him.

65 r. — On one occasion the Visionary remained at home while his brothers
and a brother-in-law (married to their sister) started out to hunt. They went
first to a place called Apahflgo^ and thence they went further on to a place called
Bis?a35 and from here they began to hunt. About the time they had reached
Bis?a, the Visionary .set out to follow them ; but it took him until sundown to
reach Apahilgoj-, and he said to himself : “ I shall pass the night here.” He
camped on this side of the canon ; on the other side there was a cave in the
cliff. While he was camping he observed a vast multitude of crows going into
this cave — the crows in those days were like people. On the same side of the
canon and below where he stood there was another cavern, into which also he
observed crows flying. After a while they all passed into the caves and quieted
down.

652. — In the middle of the night while he was lying down he heard a noise.
He arose to watch and he saw a spark of fire flying across the canon from the
cave on his side to that on the opposite side, and soon after he saw another spark
flying back. Then he heard a voice proceeding from the cave on his side of the

tffne (they say).”26 “ What do they say has happened ?” came the question in a

similiar tone four times from the opposite side of the canon. Then from the
cave beneath him he heard four times called: “They killed many, they say.”
“Whom did they say were killed?” was the question that now came four times
from the opposite side. From the near side came four times the reply : “ He-
who-picks-on-the-back, He-who-sits-between-the-horns, and twelve big deer.”27
From the opposite side he next heard : “That is what has happened, they say.’’
Again from the near side came : “ The four men have killed deer enough (i.e., all
they shall kill) ” ; and from the far side : “ It is well, so be it.” At length from the
near cave .the crows called : “ It is well. Begin the dance now” ; and those on

F59]

the far side replied : “ Let you begin first.” The crows were of both sexes
in each place, yet because they sang on opposite sides of the canon is the reason
that to-day the yebaka and the yebaad stand opposite one another when they
sing in the rites of the night chant. Then he heard the people on the near side
of the canon howl and begin to dance. Instantly the howl was repeated and the
dance begun on the far side, and on both sides they danced at the same time.
All night after this he heard them shouting, dancing, and singing, and heard them
calling across the canon from one side to the other. The last song they sang
was the Bluebird Song, and with this they ended the dance at dawn. After this
he heard the Crow People say they would separate and hunt for food. Before
sunrise he observed the crows flying from the cave in every direction, and by the
time the sun had risen no one seemed to be left in the caves.

653. — When the crows had all departed he set out to seek his brothers at
Bis?a. When he arrived there he found his youngest brother in the camp — the
others were still out hunting — and he lay down. Soon after his arrival the other
brothers came in from the hunt, but they brought no game ; they all sat around
the fire, smoked, talked, roasted some meat they had on hand from a previous
hunt, and ate it. One of them said to the prophet : “ What is the matter with
you ? Why do you lie down ? Why have you come over here ? We left you
at home to take care of the /tojrdn.” The Visionary answered : “ I started yester¬
day to follow you, but night came on at Apahl'lgoi-. I camped and heard there
strange things, which I will tell you about if you wish to hear them.” His eldest
brother said : “ There is no use in listening to you, you will tell us only of things
you think you have heard — your foolish stories. We don’t believe in you.” The
Visionary then said : “ It is well. If that is the way you think, I shall tell you
nothing.” “ Go on with your own talk,” said the eldest brother to the others,
“ there is no use in believing him.” So they talked about other things and did
not refer to the Visionary’s conversation again until late in the day.

654. — In the meantime, the brother-in-law had said nothing; he had been
lying down and thinking about the Visionary. He was beginning to believe the
prophet might be a truthful man, and on this occasion he thought it would be
but right to listen to him, at least. He rose, rolled a cigarette, smoked, and
meditated on the words of the Visionary. After a time thus spent in thought,
he spoke, saying : “ Let us listen to the words of our brother. How can we tell
whether they are wise or foolish until we have heard them?” He tapped the
Visionary coaxingly, familiarly, on the front of the thigh and said : “ It matters
not whether our brothers attend to your words ; tell of what you have seen and
heard and I will listen to you.” “ No, ” answered the prophet, “ I will not speak
while the others sit by in scorn and care not to listen.” The brother-in-law spoke
again, tapping him as before : “Tell your tale to me. I do not scorn you. I will
listen.” Then the prophet arose and said : “ I shall tell you only the truth about
what I have seen and heard at Apahi'lgo^ and all that I shall tell you is true ” ;
and he related to his brother-in-law all the incidents of the previous night and all

1 6 1

that he had seen and heard. When the Visionary had done speaking, the brother-
in-law declared : “ I now truly believe in you, for yesterday we killed a magpie
and a crow and we killed twelve deer.” The prophet then reminded them that
he had heard the crows say that the party would kill no more deer, and the
brother-in-law said : “ Our brother has told us the truth in some things ; we may
feel sure that he has told us the truth in all. We will kill no more deer on this
hunt. Let us return home to-morrow.” The eldest brother said : “ It makes no
difference what our brother predicts ; he has not made the deer ; he does not
control them ; we shall go out hunting to-morrow and we will kill some more.”
“It is well,” said the brother-in-law. “ Go out and hunt if you will. I shall not
go hunting. I shall not tire myself for nothing.” That was the end of the day.
Night came and they all went to sleep.

655. — At daybreak, next morning, the eldest brother got up and declared :

“ I am going out to hunt, I advise you all to go hunting.” The two eldest
brothers left the camp to hunt while the brother-in-law and the youngest brother
staid at home with the prophet. The youngest brother now asked the Visionary :
“ Did you truly hear all that you said you heard ? Do not deceive me. If you
speak not the truth why should I stay here idle, and if you speak the truth why
should I weary myself on a useless hunt? Speak to me again that I may know
what to do.” The prophet answered : “ I have told the truth ; you shall see for

yourselves when our brothers return in the evening and bring no deer with them.”
So these three remained in camp all day and at evening the two elder brothers
returned ; but they brought home no meat with them. “ Now,” said the brother-
in-law to the unsuccessful hunters, “you see what our brother said was true. You
have gone out and tired yourselves for nothing, while I have remained at home
and rested myself.” But the eldest brother said : “ I care not for what our

brother says. For all his tales I shall go out hunting again to-morrow and I shall
not fail to bring home game,” and thus ended this day.

656. — Next morning they got up early as they had done on the previous
morning, and the two eldest went out to hunt ; but the other two remained in
camp with the prophet saying : “ Why should we weary ourselves in vain ? We
shall kill nothing if we go.” Those who went to hunt, having wandered all day,
returned at night weary and empty-handed. Those who had remained behind
said nothing to the returning hunters, they waited for the latter to speak ; but the
tired men kept their mouths closed and lay down to sleep without speaking ; and
that was the end of this day.

657. — When morning came the two eldest ventured out again. They still
thought that no one controlled the deer ; that no one owned them and that they
would surely kill some on this day. The others remained in camp as they had
done before. In the evening the hunters returned again unsuccessful. On the
way home the eldest brother thought to himself. He began to think that the
Visionary must have told the truth and that what he had heard and witnessed
would account for their failure to find game. When he entered the camp he threw

his arrows in anger on the ground and said sulkily, “ Where has a devil gone with
the deer P28 I have hunted now four days and found none. I shall hunt no more, I
give it up.” The prophet answered : “ It is as I told you, you can kill no more

deer on this hunt. You killed the crow and the magpie when you went hunting.
It is they who own the deer and they have spoiled your hunt. This is why you can
kill no deer.” They packed the meat they had killed four days before and got
everything ready to leave on the following morning.

658. — They started for home early next morning and, after traveling a short
distance, stopped near a place called Z?epe/za/zadzz, on the brow of the bluff, to
rest and smoke. While sitting there they observed four Rocky Mountain sheep
that walked along the side of the bluff among the rocks and then turned off into a
bend where they were hidden from sight. The elder brother bade the prophet to
head them off in the bend and shoot them there.

659. — He ran, as he was told, and hid himself behind a mountain mahogany
bush, near where he knew the sheep must pass out, and lay in wait. Presently
they approached. He drew his arrow to the head and prepared to shoot ; but as
he did so, he was seized with a violent trembling and spasm, found himself unable
to release the arrow and the sheep passed unharmed. When the sheep had gone
by, the spasm and trembling disappeared and he felt as well as ever. Then he ran
ahead to another turn in the cliff to head them off again. Here he got behind a
bush of the maiz'a or coyote corn ( Forestiera ). Again the sheep approached,
again he drew his arrow to the head, again he was seized with trembling and
spasm and again the sheep passed unharmed. He stretched his limbs and worked
his joints, saying, “ What is the matter with me that I cannot shoot ?” When he
came to himself again he ran once more to head the sheep off. His brethren
watched all his acts from the top of the hill and wondered greatly. “ Why is it,”
they said, “ that he does not shoot when the bighorns pass him ? ” The third time
he headed the sheep off he got behind a juniper tree, but all happened as before,
and the sheep passed unharmed. The brothers from their watch on the hill saw
all this ; they saw him stretching his limbs and working his joints. They saw him
run around a fourth bend to head the sheep off but then they saw him no more.
At the fourth bend he got behind a cherry bush and drew his arrow to the head ;
but just as he was about to release it the sheep threw off their masks and behold !
they were not sheep but holy ones (z/igf'ni z/ine‘). They untied their skins and
showed themselves as the Gazzaskfi/i. (Par. 46.)

660. — In these days when we make the kethawns of //astreayuhi, to sacrifice
in the ceremony of kled.se /za/a/, we put first those of mountain mahogany in the
east, because he first stood behind a mountain mahogany bush to shoot the sheep,
we next put mai/a in the south because he next hid behind such a shrub to shoot,
we then put kethawns of juniper in the west, because on the third occasion he hid
himself behind a juniper tree, and lastly we place kethawns of cherry in the north,
because the last time he tried to shoot the sheep he hid behind a cherry tree.
See par. 399.

661. — The four Ga«aski<A now approached the prophet, bearing with them a
skin and a mask for him to wear. They bade him strip himself of his clothes. He
laid his left moccasin, his left legging, his bow and the arrows he held in his left
hand, on the ground to the left of where he stood ; he laid his right mocasin, his
right legging and the arrow he was about to draw, on the ground to his right ; he
laid his shirt between them, and, on the top of this, he laid his head-band. After
he had stripped himself they gave him the sheepskin and told him to hold it in
his hand ; one of them puffed a breath on him, whereat the skin slipped easily
over him and covered him. Then he took, along with his four companions, four
steps which brought them to the edge of the canon and here they stepped off.
The place where they stepped off is known to this day as Z?epe/^a//a?iw or Place
Where Sheep Come Up.

662. — The watchers on top of the bluff waited a long time for the reappear¬
ance of the prophet. At length they said, one to another : “ Perhaps he has
killed a sheep, and finds it too heavy to carry up the bluff ; some one should go to
his help.” So one of them descended the bluff to seek his brother. He followed
the trail and soon came to the place where the prophet had laid down his cloth¬
ing and weapons. From there, forward, no human footprint could be seen ; no
track but that of the sheep leading to the precipice and disappearing at its edge.
The hunter examined the tracks carefully and found to his surprise that, while up
to the place where the clothes lay, there were tracks of only four sheep, further
on there were tracks of five sheep and that each of these sheep had taken four
steps to reach the edge of the precipice. He descended the walls of the canon,
which was terraced, and on three more terraces he observed the tracks of five
sheep, each sheep taking four steps ; but beyond the fourth terrace no footprints
could be found. He climbed the bluff again to where the clothes lay ; but
these he did not disturb. He returned to his comrades on top of the cliff and
related to them all that he had observed.

663. — “ Now,” said the brother-in-law, “what do you think? How do you
account for the strange things that have happened? You would not believe
what our brother told you, but his words have all come true. Now one of our
brothers is lost to us.” “True,” said the eldest brother, “ I did not believe what
my brother said ; but I believe it now. And what is your counsel ? What have
you to say about it ? What shall we do ? ” They held a council together and
determined how they should act.

664. — First they went down to where the clothes lay, to see what they
should do about them and they examined the ground around there. They con¬
cluded to leave the clothes alone. Then they went back to their home at Tse‘-
gihi. There they put into one sacred basket, turquoise, white shell, haliotis
shell, and cannel-coal, and into another basket, specular iron-ore, blue pollen, life
pollen, and corn pollen, singing as they did this. 1 hey took these things back to
where the clothes lay. The second brother laid the baskets on the edge of the
cliff where the tracks ended, and repeated the prayer to //astyeyaFi, beginning :

A^aabeya de
Tsi'snadsini, etc.

and he prayed to all the other gods, to whom we now pray in the rite of kled.se
/ja/a/. When they had done praying, the Wind whispered to them and said :
“ Do the things I bid you and on the fourth day after this, early in the morning,
your brother will return to you.” Then they all went home.

665. — On the fourth night after this, as directed by Ni'ltn, Wind, they spent
the whole night in song and prayer and vigil as we do now on the fourth night
of the the rites of kled^e /za/a/. They sang the songs of Benaj-a, and other songs.
They sprinkled meal in the four directions. Early in the morning they began to
sing the Bluebird Song, which begins with the words, //ayilka nego na^a (I
am walking in the morning) 29 and as they were singing this the prophet appeared
at the door. This night of watching we now call 7oiHa.ya Bikle, His Sleepless
Night. On the next day, called Bitsl'n, His Day, we kill sheep and prepare for
the visitors to come to the rites of the kled^e /£a/a/.

666. — The brothers within the lodge now spread a buckskin on the intse‘tla
or wonigi (the center of the lodge behind the fire) with its head to the north ; on
this they drew, in pollen, the figure of the Pollen Boy. (Plate II, C'.) They
drew from the door of the lodge to the heart of the Pollen Boy figure on the
intse‘tla, a trail of meal, and on this four figures of footprints in meal. They first
(near the door) made a figure of the print of the right foot, next of the left foot
and so on. The prophet walked along the trail, placing his feet on the pictured
footprints, and sat down on the figure of the Pollen Boy. As he sat, the eldest
brother prayed and sang for him, and, when this was done, he put pollen on the
soles, knees, palms, back, chest, shoulders, mouth, and crown of the sitting man
and sprinkled it over his body from foot to head. Each of the others then
placed pollen in his own mouth and on his own head and prayed. At last they
begged the prophet to tell them his adventures.

667. — He said : “ For a long time you have not believed my words ; but now
you know that some things I told you were true. When you were out hunting I
foretold that which came to pass.” Then he told the story of his pursuit of the
bighorns as you have already heard it, and he told his tale further. When he and
the four Ga«aski<A jumped from the edge of the canon, where the hunters last
saw their tracks, they alighted on a very narrow ledge which ran along the face
of the canon wall and they followed this ledge until they came to a place called
//astyeafespin or Place Where the Yei Sit ; here they met //astyeyal/i and //as-
ts€/ioga.n. These sent word ahead to other yei that they had with them a mortal
man whom they were bringing home, and soon they met a multitude of the Yef-
d\ ne‘, which gathered around the prophet and gazed at him. There were //astye-
yalA, //astye/^OiT'an, Dzaha^old^a, Gawasklrtfi, 7/aA/astym, //astyebaka, //astye-
baad, Nayenezgani, ToTadzistymi, //ast-yeoEoi, //astye/tyi, and 7b‘nenili.
These were the 12 chiefs of the gods who had sent the younger Ga^askirA to
capture the prophet ; but besides these there was a multitude of holy ones of

lesser degree. Many divine animals and birds were in the throng ; among these he
saw Coyote, Ni'yelni,30 Bluebirds, and Yellow Birds. When he arrived at the
home of the yei he observed that they were preparing sacred objects and con¬
ducting rites and he said : “ I desire to learn your rites and I will give you twelve
large buckskins if you teach me.” They said they would do this, and it was thus
he came to learn the ceremony.

668. - — Now the yei sent out messengers to bring in the sacrifices which the
brothers had laid on the brink of the canon. Out of the inkli'z — the precious
stones and shells — they made five great bowls or baskets : a basket of turquoise,
a basket of white shell, a basket of haliotis shell, a basket of cannel-coal and a
basket of rock crystal. They had the power to take a small fragment and make
it grow to any size and shape they wished. Then they put a sacred buckskin
over each basket ; they prayed and sang over them and jumped over each
in four different directions. The prophet sat by and watched carefully all these
rites and remembered them. One old yei taught him the songs and he learned
them more readily than any man has learned them since. The yei made in his
presence the masks and sang over them the songs of Hozondze.

669. — On the following morning they displayed to the prophet a picture
(yika/). It was the picture of the whirling sticks which we paint now in the rites
of kled^e //a/a/ (plate VI). The yei did not draw it on sand as we do now ; they
had it on a sheet of some substance called naska. We do not know now what this
substance was ; it may have been cotton. They unfolded this sheet whenever
they wanted to look at the picture. The yei who unfolded it to show the prophet
said : “We will not give you this picture ; men are not as good as we ; they
might quarrel over the picture and tear it, and that would bring misfortune ; the
black cloud would not come again, the rain would not fall, the corn would not
grow ; but you may paint it on the ground with colors of the earth.” When the
picture was folded and put away they took the fragments of stones and shells left
in the baskets and made of each fragment a great bead as long as the hand, creat¬
ing in all a great pile which they divided among themselves. The yei remained
at home. At night they put on the ground, bottoms up, the two sacrificial bas¬
kets, which the prophet’s brothers had given them, and beat them as drums while
they sang. The songs sung that night were those of the Atsa7ei. He learned
all these songs that night, for he listened well till they ended their singing and
went to sleep.

670. — On the second morning they displayed a sheet on which was painted
the picture we call naak//al yika/, the picture of the dance of the yei, such as we
draw upon the sand (plate VII). They explained the picture to him and spoke
to him as they had spoken of the picture of yesterday. He studied it all well,
that he might remember it when he returned to his people. At night they turned
down the baskets and sang the Songs of Ai/neo/e.

671. — On the third day they unfolded another sheet of naska, displaying the
picture called Dsahaz/old^rabe yika/, or picture with the Fringe Mouths (plate

1 66

VIII). At night they turned the baskets down and sang the songs of Aga'hoa-
Gisi'n. He listened to these with care and learned them well.

672. — On the fourth day no picture was displayed, but the Songs of Dsaha-
Zoldsa or the Fringe Mouths were sung. These are to cure headache, sore eyes,
and contraction of the tendons of the lower extremities. Such diseases were
common among the Navahoes until these rites were introduced. Two Yebityai
who came from the east sang the songs while they drummed on the inverted
baskets. Dsahakoldsa wore no mask then, although the actors who represent
him now wear masks. His body was naturally half red and half black ; but the
yei told the prophet that when mortals came to perform these ceremonies they
should wear masks and paint their bodies to look like this god. By sunset many
holy ones had gathered together from different parts to perform the dance of
the last night, and when darkness came they were ready to dance the naak^af as
we dance it to this day.

673. — But shortly before they began to dance, a yei, called Z/astyeayuhi, who
had not been with the crowd before, entered the lodge unseen by the others and
asked the prophet to step out. As soon as they were outside he took the prophet
under his arm and carried him away. He carried his captive, one after another,
to the tops of the four great mountains that bound the land, and from the top of
Z^epentsa he carried him up into the sky. As the prophet was going up into the
sky he sang the song of Z^egoneutehe (I am ascending), which he had learned
among the holy ones on earth, and when he reached the sky he sang the song
Aga‘hoaie (Up above).

674. — Just as they were about to begin the dance the yei missed the prophet,
and there was a great commotion among them. They looked for him in every
direction ; they called to one another and shouted ; but nowhere could they find
him. When they had searched and inquired all around the camp, some went
back on the trail by which they had brought him hither, but they could find no
trace of him. They all returned to the dancing-ground and held a council.
Some one said in the council : “It is //astyeayuhi who has stolen our grandchild.
No one else would be so mischievous. He is the thief.” This soon became the
opinion of all, and //astyeyald was asked to go in search of the prophet.

675. — He went first to the east, to the summit of TsisnadA'ni, and of the
gods there he inquired if they had seen his grandchild. They told him that
Z/astyeayuhi had come there with the captive and gone on west with him to
Tsotsi/. Z/astyeyal/i followed the captor and the captive from Tsotsi/ to Z>okos-
\id, and from there to Z/epe'ntsa. At Z/epe'ntsa were the Bear People and
many other holy ones. It was one of these, a great insect named Zkm'tso, who
told //astyeyal/i where his grandchild had been taken, Z/astyeyal/i threw a
couple of sunbeams up against the sky, making of them a trail, something like
the ladders we see in Zuni, and on these he ascended to Yaga'Zo^an, where
7/ast.yeayuhi dwelt. The holy ones used to travel thus on sunbeams long ago.
He went to the top of his ladder, and there meeting the eagle and other birds of

the sky, he asked them where his grandchild was. “We do not know,” they
answered, “ we have not seen your grandchild.” //astyeyaki put his hand over
his mouth and smiled and wondered where his grandchild was. In the meantime
the prophet lay hidden in the corner of a shelf below where the ladder leaned
against the sky. //astyeyaki had gone beyond this place. Soon he heard the
voice of the prophet singing a song with the word Tagityelgo/, meaning, You
have gone too far. He returned to the place where he heard the voice and met
//astyeayuhi. “Where is my grandchild?” demanded the Talking God. “I
know not,” replied the thief, although at the same time he had the captive hidden
behind him. //astyeyaki pushed //astyeayuhi aside, beheld his grandson, seized
the latter by the arm, and took him along.

676. — He threw a ladder of sunbeams down on Tsotsi/, and descended to the
summit of the mountain. As the prophet was going down he sang the song
Yagonk/e/e (I am descending). They went down the mountain side till they
came to a place called Tsi'nkaspln, where they found all the yei from Tse'gihi,
waiting their coming. As the yei had held no dance at the place where they
originally intended to have it, they now spoke of holding it at Tsi'n/aspin ; but
they counseled and talked and argued and at last concluded to hold the dance at
Tyuykai (Chusca Knoll). They all set out for T-yikkai, and on their way they
came to Hosta Butte and to a door on the side of the butte. Here he bade the
others wait outside while he entered and spoke to those who dwelt within. He
found there a number of the 6a.y/me‘, or Bear People, and he said to them : “ My
grandchildren, we are on our way to Tyiiykai, to dance there.” When he came
out he said to his companions : “ Those who dwell at T.yu.ykai, within the moun¬
tain, are not the same as we, they are Mountain People.” The next place the
travelers came to was 7o‘/askh/i, near Ni/otlizi, Brittle Earth, and after that
they arrived at 7o‘/atyi. The prophet thought to himself : “ I know not this
trail nor whither I am goinsf.” He looked before and behind and saw a multitude
of the yei preceding him and following him, and he sang this song :

I walk on the top of the mountain
Beside //astyeayuhi.

They go before,

They come behind,

I walk in the middle.

I walk at the foot of the mountain
Beside //astrenetli'hi.

They come behind,

They go before,

I walk in the middle. See par. 939.

677. — He was alarmed and began to weep, //astye/o^an and //astyeyaki
observed his tears and said to him : “ Do not weep. You will return yet to your
home and to your people.” They crossed a valley and got on top of another

ridge and here they stopped to eat something. For the prophet they made gruel
in a yellow bowl and //astyeayuhi administered it to him in four draughts, moving
the bowl from a different point of the compass at each draught, as we now do
when we administer the medicine in the rites. While this was being done
//astreyabi sang :

I walk on high

(But) in AfasUeayuhi’s house

They walk above me. See par. 941.

678. — When the song was finished they all partook of food, and when they
were done eating they said : “ Now we are all off to T-niykai for the dance.”

679. — In those days T^ubkai was a /login or hut. All the yei, whose names

have already been told and all the holy animals now assembled there to witness
the dance, and they made a great multitude. The Eagle and the Owl were there,
and this is the reason why the feathers of these birds are used in the dance now.
All were dressed in their best. The yei were all dressed alike — so much alike
that you could no longer tell one from another. They dressed thus because they
were going to ask the prophet a question. They were going to ask him which
one among them followed him to the sky and rescued him. They sat down around
the edge of the chamber, inside the mountain, and //astreyabi and Hnsts&hognn
placed the prophet in the middle and bade him point out the one who had followed
and rescued him. They told him that if he guessed correctly they would send
him home to his people ; but that if he did not guess correctly he should never
see his people again, //astseyabi and Unstsi/iogan then took their seats. Now
as he sat, Wind whispered into the ear of the prophet : “ He who sits farthest

to the east is the one who followed you.” The prophet then pointed to this one,
who was //asUeyabi, and sang this song :

t. Up on high he traveled for me,

2. A/astfeayuhi traveled for me.

3. Your holy body is now with me.

1. Down below he traveled for me.

2. AfastjeyalA he traveled for me.

3. Your holy body is now with me. See par. 942.

680. — Although he had guessed aright, one half of the assembly still wished
to keep him while the other half wanted to let him go. At length those who were
in favor of letting him go prevailed. They said : “If we send him to his home
he will teach his people our songs, the black cloud will be always with them, more
rain will fall, the grass and the trees will grow better. He has guessed correctly.
He has won the right to go.”

681. — Now came the fourth night from the time the prophet had descended
from the sky. When darkness fell, the yei turned the basket down again to beat

time to their singing. They bade the prophet, too, to turn down a basket and recite
all the songs he heard. “ If you remember them all you may go home in the
morning,” they said. He put the basket down and began to sing, and the yei
outside began to dance as we do now in the dance of the naak^ai. They had an
unusually fine dance and a fresh lot of dancers came for each set of songs. In
all 18 sets of songs were sung. He repeated them all without making any
mistake, so when the birds began to sing in the morning they bade him go to his
home ; but before he left they told him : “ The songs you have learned here you
must teach to some of your brothers. We are sorry you are going to leave us ;
but when you have taught the songs to your people you shall return to us.” As
he departed the yei sang a Bluebird Song — Do'U, do li niga'ni.

682. — When he had passed through all the crowd of yei and gone on he heard

a voice behind him saying “ T.ru‘ !” (chooh). He stopped and looked all around
to discover who had said this ; but he could see no one. He started to walk on
again, when again he heard the voice and turned to see who spoke ; he looked
more carefully than before, but all in vain. All these things happened a third
time and he started once more to pursue his journey. When for the fourth time
he heard the voice, he glanced quickly behind him and upwards and he beheld an
owl sitting on a limb of a pinon tree. “ Come nearer, my grandchild,” said the
owl. When the prophet drew near the owl continued : “ There is one thing the

yei have not told you, and that is, how to prepare the stuff which they sprinkle on
the hot coals to make a smell, the yartfirtfini/. I have followed you to tell you this.
The yei fear the things they use in the mixture ; that is why they have not told
you about them.” Then he told the prophet how the y&d\d\ml was made. The
owl told him not to go directly home, but to return to the place where he had left
his clothes and gone off with the Ga;easki^i. He did as he was bidden and found
his clothes lying as he left them. He put them on and set out for his home at
Tse‘gfhi. How he was received and what was done with him there have been
already told.

683. — He told his relations that the yei had charged him to teach his people

the songs he had learned ; that they were good for disease of the eyes, and that
on that very night, when darkness came, he would begin to sing them. At the
appointed time his family were all ready and many of their neighbors had gathered,
too, to hear the songs. He continued to sing all night, but when morning came not
one of his audience could remember a single song. He sang all night for a
second, and a third night, but no one could learn the songs. On the fourth
night the prophet said : “ It is because you give me nothing that you cannot

learn. Pay me a fee and then you may remember what I sing.” Hearing this
the eldest brother gave the prophet twelve sacred unwounded buckskins (Vokakehi),
and these were the skins which he afterwards gave to the yei, as he had promised,
for teaching him to sing the songs.

684. — All the time that the singing was going on the youngest brother,
Nakiestfahi, had lain behind his grandmother, seeming to be asleep. Now the

others bade him get up and try to learn, and told him that if he tried, perhaps
he could learn first. But his grandmother said: “No, he is stupid. His elder
brothers have better minds than he. If they cannot learn the songs, how can
he learn them?” For all that she caught him by the ear, made him rise, and
bade him help in the singing. He got up sleepily, scratching his head and
rubbing his eyes, which he seemed scarcely able to open ; but he managed to sit
down beside his brothers. They said, “ Sit up in this way ” — showing how to sit.
He sat up at last, in a proper way, beside the prophet, and the latter said,
“ Perhaps you can learn the songs.” But all this time the youngest brother had
been deceiving his people ; he had been quietly learning the songs while
pretending sleep. They told him of the promised fee in deerskins. When the
prophet had done singing, NakiesUahi began and sang the songs through, from
beginning to end, without making a mistake. He pretended he had learned
them all in one night. He had watched, too, all that was done during the
previous nights, had listened to the descriptions of the rites, and had heard
how the kethawns and sweat-houses were made. After this the prophet re¬
peated all the songs and lore carefully over, for four nights more, and at the end
of that time the youngest brother knew the songs and rites as well as the
prophet knew them. These people all belonged to the gens of 77za‘Uini, and it
is from this gens that the songs have spread over the whole Navaho nation.

685. — Four days after this a man came from a distance, saying he had
heard of the adventures of the prophet and of the songs and rites he had
brought home with him. He said he had a blind son on whom he begged the
prophet to test the efficacy of his songs. But the prophet answered that he had
taught his youngest brother all the songs and rites, and that NakiesUahi was the
one he must ask. The visitor gave a present of twelve buckskins to NakiesUahi,
and the latter went off to sing over the blind boy. He sweated the boy four
times in ceremonial form ; he sprinkled for him on hot coals the fragrant
yaz/iz/ini/ and performed many other rites, but he had no dance. The blind boy
recovered his sight and the youngest brother came home.

686. — Soon after he got home another man came who said his son had
a headache and was deaf in one ear, and he offered a fee of twelve buckskins to
NakiesUahi. The latter was ugly and stupid looking; he had never combed his
hair until he learned the rites ; but after that, he took more care of his personal
appearance. He went to the lodge of the deaf boy ; he made the ko/znike (par.
255), or sweat-bath, without the sweat-lodge, four times; he performed all the
rites and sang the songs he had used with his former patient ; he cured the boy
and returned to his home.

687. — No sooner had he gotten back than a woman came to him who said
that her daughter’s mouth was crooked. She said she had heard of the wonderful
power of the prophet’s songs and begged that they might be tried on her child.
NakiesUahi dug a hole in the ground “so big” (about the size of a bucket).
Into this he put four hot stones, covering them with leaves of many kinds. He

made the girl lie down and put her face over this. When he had sweated her
face sufficiently, he applied to it a piece of skin cut from the centre of the
forehead and nose of a bighorn. In addition to this, he performed rites and
sang songs, and thus he cured the girl with the crooked mouth.

688. — Soon after he got home, another woman came who said her daughter
was crippled — that her hamstrings were contracted and hardened. This time
the shaman did not want to go. He pleaded that his voice was weak and that
he was weary with his vigils. All those who heard him urged him to go ; the
woman offered him 32 buckskins and a large bowl of haliotis shell in which to mix
his medicines, and at last he consented to accompany her. This time, in
addition to songs and rites, he prepared the wo\/kad (par. 301), and for four
days applied them four times to her limbs. In the end she walked in beauty,
she recovered happily.

689. — The prophet then bade the shaman, Nakiestjahi, to have more
rites and a dance over the first patient that he treated, the boy that was
blind and that now could see, and to apply to him again the medicine that had
already cured him. The friends of the boy who had been deaf desired also that
he should be present at the ceremonies. All consented to this, and a great
yebqcmn, or medicine-lodge, was built. When the house was finished the people
took the young shaman over there, and he wanted to know how much they
would give him for his services ; for he required now a much greater fee than he
had ever had before. All the rites which are now performed in the kle^ze
kata/ were performed then.

690. — When the songs were being finished on the last morning it was
noticed that many of the tfhgin dine1, or holy people, were gathered around.
When the songs were done, these departed and after they had gone the people
sought for the prophet, but sought in vain. They never saw him again. They
thought he had gone back to the home of the holy ones, where he had learned
the songs, but they never knew. Before he left he spoke to his youngest
brother, saying : “ I shall meet you once more ; but when the meeting will be
I know not.” — Thus ends the legend.

691. — (There is a sequel to it, which the writer has not heard. It refers
to the promised meeting of the prophet and his brother, which took place at
Tsehntyel.) 32

III. The Whirling Logs

THE WHIRLING LOGS, A SEQUEL TO “THE VISIONARY”.

692. — BRa/za/ini, the Visionary,24 had heard many tales about 7o‘nihilm,
where the waters whirl, and of the Si/neo/e, or cross of logs that moves around
there on the waters, but he had never been to the place and was anxious to see
it. When he returned to Tse'gihi from his first adventure among the holy ones,
he determined to journey to the A 1/neo/e.33 The particular spot where he lived
at this time was called Tselyah6d\/y\l , Dark Place under the Rock. Por four

nights he considered various plans. He had heard of the way in which Na/i'nes-
tkam M had floated down the San Juan in a hollow log and he concluded to try
the same plan. Like Na/i'nesMani, he had a grandmother and relations ; but
unlike him, he had no trouble with his people. He, too, had a pet turkey. (See
“ Navaho Legends,” p. 160.)

693. — He went to the banks of the San Juan River and selected a dead
standing cottonwood tree. He placed pieces of dry wood around the butt, and
by rubbing sticks together he started a fire to burn the tree down. We do not
know how much he burned that day ; but he had not burned the tree through,
when he extinguished the fire and went home. When he got home, his grand¬
mother asked him where he had been all day, and he told her he had been a great
way off, but told her nothing more ; he wished to keep his purpose secret. She
said : “ Your pet turkey has been crying for you all day. He is lonely when you
are gone.”

694. — The first day he went to prepare his log, he used cottonwood branches
to make his fire ; the second day he gathered on his way, branches of pinon which
he carried on his back to make his fire. He remained at work until late on the
second day, and then he put out his fire and went home. Again his grandmother
asked him where he had been during the day, and he replied : “ I have been
walking around the land.” His grandmother said : “ Your turkey has been
mourning all day again and would not eat. Next time you go out to walk you
should take your pet with you.”

695. — On the third day when he went out again to his work, he gathered
dead branches of cedar on the way and with these he made a fire at the tree.
Fearing that his grandmother had become suspicious of him and would watch
him, he came home by a circuitous route and approached the hut in a direction
different to that in which he had left it. As he drew near he saw his grandmother
standing on a hill gazing in the direction in which he had departed in the morning.
He came up noiselessly behind her and startled her, asking : “ What are you
doing here ? For what do you look in the distance ? ” She said : “ Your turkey
was in great trouble to-day. He picked up nothing. I offered him food, but he
would not eat. He has not eaten for three days. I feared he would run away.
He ran far to the east, but came back. Feed him now, yourself.” The turkey
knew the thoughts that were in his master’s mind ; this is why he was troubled.

696. — On the fourth day, in order to deceive his grandmother, he started in
a false direction ; but, as soon as he was out of her sight, he turned and went
toward the San Juan. On his way he collected branches of spruce to make his
fire. During these four days he had burned his tree down and burned off the
upper branching part so as to make a neat log. When all this was finished he
put out his fire and went home by a circuitous way. As he neared his home he
noticed his grandmother gazing in the direction in which he returned yesterday.
When they met she said : “ Your turkey ran to the south to-day and was gone a
long time. He was never away so long before. I fear he wants to leave us.

He cries now all the time while you are gone, my grandson, and eats nothing.
Give him something now to eat,” and then she asked : “ Where do you go every
day ? Do you visit the holy ones?” “ No, I see them not,” he answered. Yet
she did not believe him ; she thought he went to see the rtfigi'ni.

697. — On the fifth day the Indian went off again in a false direction — this
time toward the east — but he soon turned in the direction of the north and went
to his log. His thought now was, how long the log should be. He lay down
beside it, but could not decide what to do. He arose, procured a slender pole
and measured, with it, his own height ; to the measure he added two spans and
decided to make the log of this length. He laid on dry cottonwood branches at
the point he had selected and kindled a fire. Late in the day he extinguished
the flames and went home in a roundabout way. From a distance he saw his
grandmother standing on a hill and looking toward the east. He approached her
from the west, and got close to her before she was aware of his presence.
“ Where have you been again to-day ?” she asked. “ I have just been strolling
around in the neighborhood of the hut,” he answered. Again she told him how
his turkey had cried in his absence and refused to eat. “ He ran far to the west
to-day and was gone a long time. I feared he would never return,” she said.
The Indian offered food to his turkey, but the latter ate very little and seemed
sad. “ Why do you grieve, my pet ? I am going nowhere. Why do you not
eat? You will be sorry if you starve yourself.” The turkey went off and lay
down silent and sad, no longer cheerful as he used to be.

698. — After eating his breakfast, on the sixth day, the man went south from
the hut, before he turned and walked north to the river. On his way he collected
pinon branches for his fire. When he got home in the evening, his grandmother
told him that his turkey still cried, failed to seek food and refused it when
offered and that he had run a long way to the west during the day.

699. — On the seventh day, when the Indian left home in the morning he
started west ; but soon again turned toward the north and went to his log. On
his way he gathered dead cedar branches for his fire. As before, when he came
near home, he found his grandmother looking for him and for this he scolded
her, asking her why she always watched him when he went away and when he
came back.

700. — On the eighth day, when he left, he went directly north and on his
way he gathered branches of spruce for his fire. This day he burned the log
through, secured the piece of the desired length, put out his fire and went home.
H e saw his grandmother looking toward the north for his return. She told him
that his turkey was still sorrowful and would not eat.

701. — On the ninth day he began his journey by going toward the east ; but
soon he turned toward the north, went to his log and began to burn a hole in it
lengthwise — to make it hollow by fire. He made his fire this day of cottonwood
branches and put it out in the evening. Returning to his hut, he approached it
from the south and saw his grandmother looking toward the east. She told him

that his turkey had been happier during the day than it had been for many days ;
that it had staid near the hut and picked up some food.

702. — On the tenth day, the Navaho departed in the direction of the south ;
but eventually went to the north where his log was. He used pinon limbs to
make his fire, and burned the hole still larger. Coming home, he approached
from the west. When he met his grandmother she told him that his pet seemed
still happier and more contented than he was yesterday and had eaten more.

703. — When he left the hut on the eleventh day he departed toward the west
and he returned in the evening byway of the north. He used cedar wood for his
fire and burned the hole still larger. In order that it might not burn too much
to one side, he rolled his log from time to time ; this he did every day. When
he returned in the evening he was seen coming from the east. His grandmother
told him that his bird seemed very happy during the day and had picked up a
good deal of food. The grandson said : “ I am glad my pet feels happy.”

704. — He went directly to the north on the twelfth day. With a fire of
spruce he burned the hole completely through and made it large enough to hold
his body. He scraped away the charcoal from the inside with a sharp-pointed
stick. In coming home -he approached the hut from the east and, as before, met
his grandmother outside watching for his return. She told him that his pet was
still happier and better. When he returned to the lodge the turkey gobbled
loudly four times to welcome him.

705. — During the twelfth day the old woman visited her other grandchildren
and told them that something troubled Bi/a/^a/ini, that he no longer staid at home
as he used to, and that she feared he was preparing for another mysterious jour¬
ney. His brothers advised her to speak cautiously to him and endeavor to find
out what was going on. At night she said to him : “ Where have you been,
every day, for the past twelve days ? Have you been among the d\g\m as you
were before ? You had dreams, you had visions, and they proved true. Do you
have visions now again, and do you hear mysterious voices?” He answered:
“ I see the holy ones no more. I hear no mysterious voices. I am but lonely
here and I wander forth to cheer my mind.” He slept little that night : he was
thinking how he should plug the ends of the hole in the log.

706. — Next morning, while his grandmother still slept, he arose stealthily, took
some chenopodium bread and meal of grass-seeds and made of these a bundle
which he hid in his clothing. Then he went to his log, sat down beside it, and
again considered how he should plug it. After awhile he arose, collected bark of
cottonwood, bark of cedar, and bark of cliff-rose ; 35 these he pounded into a pulpy
mass, tied into the form of a plug with yucca fibre and forced into the tip end of
the log. He prepared another plug of the same material for the butt ; but to this
he attached a long string of yucca so that he could pull it in after him when he
got into the log. He provided himself with a long stick to enable him to push
the plugs out whenever he wished. He put the log close to the bank of the
river, entered it and drew in the plug at the butt. He rolled around inside the

log till he caused it to tumble into the river. He had not floated far when the
plugs began to leak, and soon the log, filling with water, sank to the bottom of
the stream. He tried to push out the plugs with his stick, but failed, and became
alarmed. He said : “ It is all my own fault. Why did I do such a foolish thing?

I have taken many risks before, but none so great as this. I used to be happy
up on the dry land and in the sunlight. Now I shall drown. Oh ! why did I do
this ?” And he wept.

707. — Heedful of the words of their grandmother on the previous night, two
brothers of the Visionary went out on this (thirteenth) day to find his trail.
They started at the hut ; the elder went east ; the younger went west ; when they
got some distance from the lodge they circled round to the south and when they
met, they said to one another that they had discovered no tracks. They went
back to the hut ; the elder went west, the younger, east ; they circled around
until they met in the north and one said to another that he had found the fresh
track of their brother leading to the north. They followed the trail till they came
to the place where the log had been burned. Here they found the stump and the
severed end of the log, the debris of the material used in making the plugs, and
various traces of his work. They found where he had entered the log and rolled
it into tfue river. They went back to their grandmother and said : “ He has
rolled himself into the river in a hollow log.” The same day they returned to
the San Juan, crossed it and walked a long way down its banks seeking for a
trace of their brother, but in vain. They said : “ Only the Thunder People, only
those who dwell above in the clouds know where our brother has sunk beneath
the river.”

708. — Now the Thunder People began to make signals. Again and again
flashes of lightning descended into the river and a rainbow appeared with its end
sticking in one place out of the water. The holy ones in Tse'gihi beheld these
signs and thought they must have some meaning for them, so they sent to
7o‘nenili (par. 1 1 7) to find out what they signified. Bearing his two magic water
jars, he went to the river where the lightning was flashing and where the rain¬
bow rose. He struck the water to the right with his black jar and to the left
with his blue jar, uttering with each motion his peculiar call. As he did this the
water opened before him ; he descended to the bottom of the stream and found
there the log nearly covered with sand. He heard a voice calling from within
the log. “ Who is there ?” cried Water Sprinkler. “ It is I, Bl?a^a?ini,” said the
voice. To'nemli, in surprise, placed his hand over his mouth. He went back at
once to his home in Tse'gihi and told what he had seen and heard. The people
to whom he spoke sent word to their neighbors and these spread the news, so
that at sunset a great crowd was gathered, and a council was held which lasted all
night. As some doubted if it were indeed Bi?a/m?ini who was in the log, it was
decided that a messenger should be sent to the hut of the Indian to see whether
he was at home.

709. — In the morning //astyeyalti was sent to inquire. He did not speak to

the grandmother or to the brothers. He made signs to them which they under¬
stood, and they answered that it must surely be the Visionary who was in the
log. They told him what had happened as far as they knew. By signs he bade
the Navahoes to come to the San Juan with him. They came but they were
helpless ; they could not even reach the log and they begged him to do what he
could. He asked them if they had the sacred jewels and other articles of sacri¬
fice. They replied that they had. He directed them to put these in a haliotis
shell and sink them in the river, up stream from the point where their relation
lay,36 as an offering to the holy ones, and he bade them, when they had done this,
to go directly to their homes and not to look backward or spy upon the actions
of the yei. When //astreyaki got home and told all these things, several of the
yei repaired to the place in the river where the log was submerged. When
7o‘nenili had opened the waters, in the way in which he opened them before,
four of the yei went down and with their staves prized the log up out of the
sand ; but they found this no easy task. They tried to land the log on the south
side of the river ; but the current was so strong they could not do this and they
landed it, instead, on the north side. They tried to pull out the plugs ; failing in
this, they called for Nayenezgani, who, with his great stone knife, cut off from the
butt the piece containing the plug and pulled the man out by the feet. It was found
when he came out that only his head was dry. The log had filled with water
up to his chin. With their staves the yei poked the plug out from the tip end.

710. — After the Navaho came out of the log, the yei asked him for what
purpose he had entered it. He answered : “ My purpose was to go to 7o‘nihili«
where the logs whirl around and see the A l/neo/e. When I was with you before
I often heard you speak of both, and I determined to go there ; but I came near
dying instead. I thank you for rescuing me.” One of the gods said : “ That is
a trifling cause for which to risk your life. You have been to the great places of
the holy ones and have seen much. The things you now wish to see are insig¬
nificant compared to those you have already seen.” He answered : “You have
taught me much ; you have shown me much ; I have seen all the sacred places
except this and I shall never rest till I behold it. I am determined to go ; for
not until I have gone there shall I know all.” “ There is little to be seen there,”
said the gods, “and who are they that told you the A l/neo/e lay down the river
from here ? ” The Navaho answered : “ I have often heard your people talk of it,
and know it must be down the river. I have seen the picture drawn and I want
to see the place. I want to get the medicine you procure there. No one told
me to go there. It was my own plan ; but I came near finding the land of the
dead instead of Yi/neo/e.” “You cannot go there,” said the yei. “ But I must
go,” said the Navaho, “ I must get the medicine and behold with my own eyes
the strange place of which I have as yet only seen the pictures.”37 Four times
the yei said these words and four times the Navaho gave the same reply. At
last the gods said: “Then you shall go. We must think over your words and
determine how we can help you. Go now to your people ; but at the end of

1 77

four nights come back to us, and bring your pet turkey. On the third day you
must wash yourself with amole and dry yourself with pollen and you must call in
your neighbors to a feast in the daytime. On the fourth night you must again
gather your friends and give them food, and all night they must sit up and sing
the Songs of Hozom. In the morning that follows the night of song, the yei
will come for you.” After they told him this they took him to Tse'gihi and from
there sent him home.

71 1. — When he reached his home his grandmother said to him in anger:
“You have been telling me lies. Every day when you came home you told me
you were only wandering around the country because you felt lonely, and instead
of that you were burning out a log in which to float down the river.” He
replied : “ I told you as I did, because I knew if I spoke the truth you would not
let me do as I wished. I had much trouble in consequence of following my own
will ; I am sorry that I lied to you ; but now I shall speak the truth. I wish to
tell my story.” Then he related to her all his adventures ; told her all the yei
had promised and all they had ordered him to do. “ Heretofore,” he said, “ I
wished to go in secret. Now that the gods help me, I shall let you all know
when I am going. Do not mourn for me this time. I shall take my pet turkey
with me, for so the gods have ordered, and I shall come home again in safety.
The new mysteries I shall learn, will be of benefit to my youngest brother ; 38
they will complete his knowledge and he will transmit them to others who will
make use of them when he is dead. He will not be a great chanter until he
obtains this knowledge. That is why I go to seek it. He thinks he knows all
about the kled^e hatal, but he knows not the half. Clean the lodge well and
carry the dirt far away. Our relations and neighbors must sing all night. We
must sing the Happy Songs of the Talking God, the Mountain Songs, the Songs
of the House God and the Songs of the Grasshopper.” He said then to his
youngest brother, “ Wash my turkey, even as you wash me, and dry him with
corn-pollen. From the time I depart with the yei until my return you must sing
every morning the Hozom Songs. When your songs are finished you must say
a prayer for my safe return and scatter corn-pollen toward the east.”

712. — The friends, as they were bidden, gathered and sang all night on the
fourth night. Early in the morning BHa^a/ini heard far and faint the first call
of //asUeyaki ; but no one else in the lodge heard it. Others heard the second
and the third calls ; but when //ast<reyaki got near the door and uttered his fourth
call, all heard it. The god lifted the curtain in the doorway and beckoned the
Visionary to come forth. The latter, taking his pet turkey under his arm, and
bidding his brother sing the Hozom Songs till the day was bright, left the lodge,
//astrdyaki laid down a short rainbow ; the Navaho got on the middle, Hastse-
yaki got in front and Haststkogan behind. “ You my people,” said the prophet,
“ must not look at us or see how we travel. Remain in the lodge. Continue
with your song.” He then began to sing himself ; the rainbow began to move,
and soon the three travelers were in Tse‘gihi.

i78

713. — Here the Indian found a great crowd of holy people assembled and he
found they had prepared for him a hollow spruce log such as they had formerly
made for NaAnds///ani, but not so long. It had windows of crystal. When he
was ready to go in, they opened the log at the butt end, but did not show him
the rest of the log. After he got in, four gods, Nayendzgani, To'badAstnni,
//astfeoFoi and 7o‘nenili, performed a ceremony over the log like that performed
now over the the patient on the last day of the kled^e hatal (par. 593 et seq. ) As
soon as 7o‘nenili sprinkled water, a dense dark mist gathered around the log
and around all the people who had assembled to carry it, so that no one, from
afar, could see what they were doing. They lifted the log on rainbows and bore
it to the river, while the dark mist followed and hid them. They bade the Indian
not to speak while in the log, unless he spoke to himself or sang sacred songs, and
they would let him know when they wanted him to get out.

714 — After they launched the log it often floated close to the bank and had
to be shoved out into the stream. Six gods — -two Ga^askWi, two Hasts&kogan
and two DsahaFold.sa — worked with their staves to keep the log in the channel.
At dark they came near to a high, steep ridge of rocks 39 and here they pushed
the log ashore so that it might not float away during the night.

715. — Next day when they reached the ridge of rocks, they found them¬
selves stopped. Tieholtsodi had dammed the water and they had to pull the
log ashore again. The gods spoke to the Navaho through the log. “ We must
make a sacrifice to Tieholtsodi. If you have the sacred jewels hand them out to
us but do not speak.” They took out one of the crystal windows of the log and
the Navaho handed the jewels out through the hole. They placed the jewels in a
white shell bowl and sank them in the stream which at once flowed on and carried
the log with it. The liberated waters flowed so angrily that the gods found it
difficult to keep the log in the channel. Night came on when they reached a
place called Tlo‘tsahi Bi/Z/ffi/zotyel,40 where they pulled the log up on the north
shore for the night.

716. — On the following day they floated the log down to TahadoAiz, Blue
Shore, where they found an eddy beyond which they could not make the log float.
They sent To'nenili down the stream to see what was the matter. When he
came back he said he had found a dam, but could not find the people who had
built it. The Fringe Mouth of the Water and the Fringe Mouth of the Land
were then sent to explore. When they returned they related that they had found
those who built the dam, that they were the Flat Tails (Beavers) and the Web
Toes (Otters), that with them were Fish and Water Coyotes. //astyeyaFi and
7o‘nenili were sent to talk to the Flat Tails and their companions. “ Why did
you build this dam ? ” said the messenger. “ Our grandson wishes to go down
the river. We desire that you open the dam.” The messengers and the Flat
Tails quarrelled. “He shall not pass this place,” said the Flat Tails. “ He must
pass. Open the dam,” said the messengers. These demands and refusals were
repeated four times. At length the Flat Tails said : “We must have sacrifices.

We must have the sacred jewels. It was to get these that we dammed the
stream. You gave jewels to Tieholtsodi to let your grandson pass; now you
must give them to us. For him you put the jewels in a white vessel, for us you
must put them in a blue one.” Thus said all of the four peoples that were in the
water. The yei consented to this. They got from the Indian the sacred jewels
and put them in the river. The dam was opened. The log floated on. As the
waters fell the prophet inside the log sang the Na//osts'ahe Bigi'n, or Song of the
Subsiding Waters. Then he thought of his turkey, and looking out through
one of the crystal windows he beheld his pet on the bank of the river running
along. He felt pity for the bird and thought to himself, “ I fear my turkey will
wear his feet off running.” Then he sang a song about his pet.

717. — The log floated on well after it passed Blue Shore until it came to the
the mouth of a stream which entered the San Juan from the south, called Tse7a-
kaiYeza' or Standing White Rock (Creek) ; here they found another obstruction.
The water, instead of flowing on, accumulated and flowed back. The stream was
choked by great bowlders of granite, between which lay mud and gravel. 7o‘ne-
nili went down to the dam, but could find no one. Next, two DsahaTold^a went
there, but neither could they find any one. When they had returned, a grebe,
floating on the water, spoke to //asUe'yal/i, telling him that they who built the
dam were the Turtle People, the Rough Frog People, the Green Frog People,
and the Little Fish People, and that these people were hidden among the gravel.
Again 7o‘nenili went to the dam. He searched among the gravel, found these
people, went back to his comrades and got //astye/zo^ran to go with him to speak
to the builders of the dam. “ Our grandson BRa/Wini wishes to go down and
see the Yi/neo/e. Open this dam for us,” demanded //astre/2qc>an. “ We shall
not open it. He must not pass here,” said the Turtle People. When Z/astse/to-
g&n and the Turtle People had each thus spoken four times the latter said : “ He
may pass if he makes us sacrifices. It is to get these that we dammed the river.
You gave jewels to Tieholtsodi and the Flat Tails to let him pass. They are
not the only ones who want presents. You must give something to us also. We
desire cigarettes, corn -pollen, blue pollen, specular iron-ore and powdered
shells. If you place these in a bowl of haliotis shell and sink them in the river
above the dam, we will let your grandson pass.” The sacrifices were put thus in
the river ; the dam was broken open ; the water flowed on, bearing the log with
it. The people of the water, who had built the dam, stood on the bank, watch¬
ing the log as it passed. Among these was THltso, the Great Frog, who was
particularly ugly, whose great eyes seemed about to pop out of his head, whose
body was covered with warts. He smoked a pipe. He drew the smoke in
through his mouth, but passed it out through his warts. As the log went by, the
Indian peeped out through one of the crystal windows and, seeing THltso, four
thoughts passed through his mind. His first thought was : “ How ugly is
Tj-altso ! How big his eyes!” He spoke not; but Great Frog, sitting on the
bank, knew what was passing through the man’s mind and he answered the

i8o

unspoken thought thus : “ Yes, my grandchild, this is just the way I look.” The
second thought of the Indian was: “What a rough skin and what a swollen
throat T^altso has!” and the latter answered the unheard thought: “Yes, my
grandchild, this is just the way I look.” The third thought of the man was :
“ How strange he appears, with smoke coming out of the warts all over his
body!” and T^altso said, in answer to the thought: “Yes, my grandchild, this
is just the way I look.” The fourth thought was : “ How thin and fleshless his
legs are!” and Tmltso responded to the thought: “Yes, my grandchild, this is
just the way I look.” The yei did not go far that day after they passed the dam.
It soon grew dark and they drew the log up on the south side of the river.

718. — Next morning they had the usual trouble about keeping the log in the
center of the stream. It went on to the falls in the San Juan where the log of
NazTnes^/zani had stuck and here this log came down on its end and stuck too.
The yei tried to prize it up with their staves but they failed, //astyeyald went
up to the Thunder People and begged their aid. These threw down two ropes
of lightning, passed them under the log and lifted it out of the mud. As they
were lifting the log, the Navaho sang four songs which are still sung and are
called Kledze ldml Bigi'n. The log went on again after this adventure ; but it
had not gone far when darkness came and the yei landed it on the north bank of
the river for the night.

719. — They launched the log early on the following morning. It moved
along well until it came to a place where the river spreads out wide ; here it
drifted toward the southern shore and stranded. The yei shoved it out into the
stream again with their staves ; but they did not keep it floating long. It soon
moved toward the north shore where it again stranded ; but as darkness now
came, the yei let it stay where it stopped. During the night it sank deep in
the mud.

720. — When morning came again, the yei tried, with their staves, to lift the
log out of the mud but they did not succeed. “ Let us call upon the Rain to
help us,” they said. 7o‘nenili threw water from his jars four times against the
sky and Asa/'ini sang his rain songs.41 Soon copious showers descended ; the
river rose ; the yei worked with their staves, and got the log floating again. After
this it continued to rain and it rained too hard. The thunder shook the earth
without ceasing ; the lightning was continuous ; it was an awful storm. They
feared the log might be overwhelmed and the Navaho drowned. “ Can you
stop this storm that you have raised ? ” they said to To'nenili. He replied
that he could. He shook his bag of fox-skin toward the four quarters of the
heavens as he now often does in the dance of the naak/zaf, and each time he
shook the bag he uttered his howl. The clouds separated and let the blue sky
appear ; they passed off in four different directions and the rain ceased. When
the yei shoved the log out into the current it floated better than ever before be¬
cause the river was high on account of the great rain.

721. — The log had not floated far when it came to a place where two ridges

extended out into the water from opposite sides, making the stream very narrow.
A cedar tree stood at the extremity of the southern ridge, a pinon tree at the
extremity of the northern. A breath-feather was tied to the top of each tree.
The log, floating crosswise to the stream, became lodged against the trees. The
holy ones tried their best to release the log, but they could not ; so they stopped
and began to talk of different plans. It was //astyeayuhi and //astreaflltsosi
who had planted these trees for mischief. They accompanied the holy ones on
this journey and pretended to be their friends ; they even allowed the messengers
to be sent down into the water as usual, yet they said nothing, //astyeyal/i then
proceeded to ask each bystander, in turn, if he knew how to move the log. Each
in turn answered “No” until he came to T/astyeayuhi who said that he and
//astyertfiltsosi could do it, but that they must first receive gifts. To //astye-
ayuhi was given turquoise and white corn-meal ; to //astxe^iltsosi, white shell and
yellow corn-meal. The former went to the cedar on the south side, the latter to
the pinon on the north. Each laid his sacrifices on the ground beside the tree at
which he stood, twisted his tree four times, plucked it easily from the ground and
planted it back in the place from which he had originally dug it. The pinon
represented a man, the cedar, a woman ; and therefore it is that now in the rite of
the night chant, when we pull the mask off the patient by means of a tree we use
a pinon in treating a man and a cedar in treating a woman. See par. 449.

722. — After passing the ridges of rock they came to a lake closely surrounded
by high cliffs. The river flowed into the lake on one side and out at the other
by two streams. The log floated to the middle of the lake and then circled
around, sunwise, in constantly widening circles until it touched the shore near the
rocky wall, on the south side, where the Fringe Mouths of the Water lived, and
here it stopped with its butt to the south. 7o‘nenili pushed aside the waters in
his usual way. Hastsekogan and Ga;zaskmfi pulled out the stopper and helped
the Indian to eet out of the lorn At the same time the door of the house of the
Fringe Mouths was thrown open. He entered and found many holy ones inside
who awaited his coming. The chief of the Fringe Mouths said to him, “We
have heard that Bi/a/^a^ini was coming to us ; we have heard why he comes, and
he comes not in vain. We shall give him what he seeks and then he will be a
perfect chanter of the kled^e h&t-kl." The Prophet spoke not. The Fringe
Mouths led him four times around the lodge, and placed him sitting in the south.
It is for this reason now that the patient, when awaiting, sits in the south during
the ceremonies of kled^e hatal. Then they closed the door and bade him look
down at the ground until they told him to lift his eyes. While he was looking
down, they took from a shelf a sheet of cloud and spread it on the ground. When
they bade him look up, he beheld the sheet of cloud covered with a picture in
many colors and he saw four footprints and a trail drawn in white corn-meal
extending from where he sat to the picture where was a bowl of water. He was
told to arise and examine the picture more carefully, that it was called T^altlad^e
Dsahaufold^abe yika/ or picture with the Water Fringe Mouths.42 After he had

I 82

looked at it for a long time, the holy ones asked : “ Have you observed the
picture well? Have you got it fixed in your mind so that you will never forget
it?” When he had replied “Yes,” he walked as the yei directed, on the tracks
of meal to the center of the picture. He sprinkled pollen on the faces of the
gods in the way we do it now (par. 509) ; he sprinkled it up the stem of each
corn-plant and down its three roots, as he uttered the words “ Hozogo nasado.”
He placed corn-meal on the feet, chest and mouth of each divine figure, on the
bases of the ears and the base of the tassel of each cornstalk. After this he
picked up from each deposit a portion of the sacred meal and handed it to Zfastse-
yal/i. He stepped into the water in the middle of the picture, bowed his head
and uttered this prayer :

In beauty, I shall walk.

In beauty, you shall be my picture.

In beauty, you shall be my song.

In beauty, you shall be my medicine,

In beauty, my holy medicine.

When he had finished his prayer the yei began to beat the drum and shake the
rattle. A Fringe Mouth and a goddess entered masked and the prophet fell upon
the ground in a fit. The yei dragged his shaking body to the north of the cen¬
tral fire, and laid it, head to the north, face to the east. They rolled up the pic¬
tured cloud and laid it away on the shelf. At the same time the two divinities
whose entrance had caused the convulsion, departed. When they had gone, the
chief of the Fringe Mouths began to treat the patient by singingand making marks
on the ground with the point of his rattle from the body of the patient outwards
towards the cardinal points. He first made a straight mark in each direction and
then a zigzag mark. The first song of the chief did no good ; at the end
of the second song, the patient straightened his fingers ; at the end of the
third song, his body became straight ; and at the end of the fourth he sat up,
but still he trembled. All that were in the lodge felt sorry for him, and four who
were present prayed for him — one in the east, one in the south, one in the west and
one in the north. They pressed to the sacred parts of his body the horn of
a bighorn in the same manner that we do it now. They took two hot coals from
the fire, and sprinkled on them, corn-meal. When he had inhaled the smoke of
the burning meal they threw water on the coals and put them to one side.
They took two more glowing coals from the fire and sprinkled yazAz/Ini/ (par.
197) upon them. When he had sufficiently inhaled the fumes of this they threw
water on the coals. The four coals were carried out of the lodge and deposited
toward the north in a shady place where the sun could not shine on them.
Bi?a/za?ini went back to his seat in the south of the lodge and the yei thus
addressed him : “ When the People upon the Earth treat a sick person in the

rites of kledze hatal let them do to him as we have done to you. Truly they can¬
not draw a picture on a cloud as we do ; but they may imitate it, as best they

can, on sand. If the four songs we have given you do not cure him, let them
make the prayer which we shall teach you, and if that does not cure, let them sing
the Yikafgin or Daylight Songs.” At last they told him he must go to the op¬
posite side of the lake where he would hear the Songs under the Water and learn
other mysteries.

723. — The Prophet left the lodge and again entered his log, which whirled

around the lake four times and landed on the north shore with its butt to
the north. Here he found a doorway whose bottom was on a level with the sur¬
face of the water, and he passed through it to a house where many holy ones sat.
He was placed sitting in the south. The lodge belonged to //astreyald and
Hastsehogan, but holy ones of all kinds were assembled there. When the
Indian was seated, Hasts€hoga\\ asked him why he came. He replied that he
came to see their pictures, to hear their songs and prayers, to learn how they
made their medicines, Haststhogan replied : “ It is well, we can grant you

what you seek. Now bow your head, gaze downwards and look not up until you
are bidden.” When he was told to raise his head and look, he beheld on the floor,
drawn on a cloud, in many colors, the picture of those above one another.43
H e was told to rise and study the picture well. When he had gazed on it suffi¬
ciently he performed rites over it as the yei directed. He put pollen on the
masks of the gods ; he put meal on the feet, chests and mouths ; he took up the
meal again and gave it to //astreyal/i ; he said a prayer such as he had said over
the former picture ; but he did not fall into a fit and the ceremonies for the fit
were not employed. There was no fumigation. They explained to him how
to make the cold infusion and other medicines used in the rites. They told him
of all the ceremonies that go with this picture, which are called /o‘yunancLe hatal
or, chant beyond the water. After this they showed him another picture which
was called picture of many dancers. Long years ago the Navaho chanters
knew this picture and drew it, but it is now forgotten.44 The Prophet thanked
HasX.s€hogan for all that had been told him. He left the lodge and again entered
his log. After he was in, the yei . plugged the butt end, through which he had
entered, and shoved the log once more into the middle of the lake. The log
circled around the lake four times and then floated away.

724. — The lake had two outlets ; one to the northwest flowed to other rivers
and to the ocean in the west ; one to the southwest, flowed into the whirling lake
of 7o‘nihili^ which had no outlet and no bottom. It was on the latter stream
that the log with the Indian inside floated and soon came to the whirling water
which was surrounded by high steep cliffs. Here were the whirling logs he had
so often heard of. When his log entered the lake it ran first toward the center,
then it moved around four times, making each time a wider circle until it ap¬
proached the shore and landed close to the inlet and south of it. I he yei pulled
the plug from the butt of the log and helped the Indian to come out on the land.
When he was out, they put the plug back again and told him to look around. He
beheld the cross of sticks circling on the lake. It did not move on its own center,

but turned around the center of the water. The log which lay from east to west
was at the bottom ; that which lay from north to south was on top. On each of
the logs, four holy ones were seated— two at each end, and all were singing a song
the burden of which was “ He comes for my sake.” Many stalks of corn were
fixed to the logs; but in the picture, as the Navahoes draw it now, we put only
four.45 As Bi/a/za/ini gazed, he wondered why the holy ones were doing as they
did. When this thought passed through his mind, they began to sing another
song, one of the 6'1/neo/e Bigi'n. After this, they sang a third song, the burden
of which was, “From the east he looks at me,” and a fourth song, “The Rain
brings pollen on the tassel.” The cross of logs went around the lake four times,
getting closer to the shore each time, while the holy ones sang ; till at last it
reached the western shore where they landed and went into their houses. In the
meantime the rain was falling so hard that when the cross of logs reached the
western end of the lake, the Indian could scarcely see it. The yei who had come
with him and guided his log, now led him around the southern shore of the lake
to the western side. Bi/a/za/ini began to fear ; but his companions encouraged
him, saying : “ Fear not. Your body is holy. You are holy as you travel.” As
soon as they said this, they commenced to sing a song beginning : “Nitses z/igfni,
Your body is holy.” He thought to himself, “ I wonder what sort of a place I am
going to,” and as he thought this he sang the fifth 6’1/neo/e Song. As he walked
he heard voices coming from the place he was approaching, saying : “ Bi/a/za/ini
comes.” Hearing this, he sang the seventh Song of 6'1/neo/e. By the time he
had finished the song he was near the door and he heard a voice in the lodge
crying : “ Bi/a/za/ini is near.” His companions bade him sing a song of entrance
which should last until he got into the lodge. The holy ones inside the lodge
cried : “ One of the Earth People is coming. He brings soft goods ; he brings
jewels ; he brings fruits ; he brings good thunder ; he brings the he-rain and the
she-rain. He approaches in a beautiful way. Before him it is beautiful as he
approaches. Behind him it is beautiful as he approaches. Above him it is
beautiful as he approaches. Below him it is beautiful as he approaches. All
around him it is beautiful as he approaches.” Ashe passed through the door the
holy ones in the lodge began a Song of Welcome.

725. — When he entered the lodge he found the z/iglni prepared to receive
him. The picture of the 6’1/neo/e (plate VI.) was already spread upon the
ground. He was bidden to sit in the southwestern part of the lodge and study
the picture. After a while one of the yei said to him : “ The People upon the
Earth have never been here before. We have heard beforehand that you were
traveling hither. What do they call the place whence you come?” He an¬
swered : “ I started on my journey from a place called Tse‘ya/zoz/i/yi/ ; from there
I went to Tse‘gihi and thence I came here with your grandfather.” “And
whither are you bound ? ” they asked. “ I started to come here. I sought to
come no further than the 6’1/neo/e,” he replied. When they asked him his name,
he said : “ Those who come with me call me Bi/a/za/ini.” The z/igrni continued :

“We have heard of you at Tse'gihi ; we have heard of you at TALkai and other
places which you visited, when you went out before in search of mysteries, and
we know you have learned the mysteries of these places.” The Navaho said : “ I
am glad I have come among you ; that I bring good, beautiful meal ; that I bring
good, beautiful pollen and other good, beautiful things. This is the only holy
place I have not hitherto visited. I came here, my grandfather, to see your
picture and to learn of your medicine. Now I have beheld your picture. The
other holy ones know not how to draw it.” Someone now said : “ Let us sing a
song while he puts pollen on the picture ” ; so they sang while he applied pollen
and when the song was done he placed meal on the picture. Some of those holy
ones who had sat upon the logs while they were whirling around the lake now
came forward, brewed the cold infusion which we use to-day in our rites, to make
the patient feel light within, and sprinkled some of the infusion over the pictured
logs. When the sprinkling was done, the yei bade the Navaho pick up from off
the picture the meal he had deposited and put it in his medicine bag, for the meal
had now become sacred and had the power to heal.

726. — When all the rites connected with the picture were done, the yei told
him that there was yet another medicine he must learn to make. As this medicine
must be prepared outside the lodge, all went out to see it made. The work was
done by a virgin boy and girl, children of the divine ones who had sat on the east
limb of the cross of logs while it floated on the lake. To the boy was given a
turquoise bowl containing white meal ; to the girl a white shell bowl containing
yellow meal. While their father sat on the shore, the children went around, col¬
lecting crystals of frost from the plants that grew around the margin of the lake.
That which the boy collected and that which the girl collected, mixed with the
meal, were placed in separate buckskin bags. From these materials was made the
aze Ya'tsos or frost medicine (par. 213) such as we administer to this day in
the rites of kiddie /:a/a/ when the patient has fever. The yei then sang another
song, the tenth 6'1/neo/e Bigi'n, still sung in these days by the Navaho chanters
when they administer the frost medicine.

727. ' — When the song was ended all returned to the lodge. Here another pic¬

ture46 was shown to the Navaho, much like the one he had seen before, and rites
similar to those of the first picture were performed. After the rites were com¬
pleted and the picture put away, the Yigfni said to the prophet : “ Now you have

learned many mysteries. With these you may treat your people when they are
ill. In this work you may help one another. You will work for the sick ; they
and their people will work for you. While you sing in the lodge the others will
bury your kethawns and perform many services for you.” As they prepared to
leave the lodge they sang the eleventh Song of the 6’1/neo/e, a song about plants.
As they emerged from the lodge, hearing the voice of a grasshopper, they sang
the twelfth 6’1/neo/e Bigi'n, which is a Song of Anil/ani, the Grasshopper.

728. — They proceeded to the cross of logs on the shore of the lake. As
they approached the cross, flashes of lightning shot out of it. I hey passed from

i86

the shore to the cross on a short rainbow. The yebaka or male divinity to whom
belonged the eastern arm grot on the cross first — no one else was allowed to Ret
on before him — the Navaho followed and the yebaad or wife of the eastern god
got on after him. The other divine ones boarded the logs in the order in which
they had come off them. Thus on the east limb of the cross there were three
individuals ; but on each of the other limbs there were only two. Before he got
on the logs, the Navaho was bidden to close his eyes and to open them again as
soon as he found himself aboard. As soon as all were on the cross, it floated to
the center of the lake, circled around the water four times as it did when he first
saw it and landed at the place from which it had started. Here all got to the
shore on a short rainbow. Each time, in going around, when the cross passed
the landing-place the yei asked the Navaho if he wanted to get off ; but each
time he said “ No” until the journey was finished. On leaving the log, the yei
moved in an order (of precedence) the same as that observed on leaving the
shore. When all were on land, the ydi directed the Indian to walk around the
shore of the lake toward the place where he had left his hollow log.

729. — As he walked, coming to a ravine in which were rose bushes, he saw a

turkey picking hips. He approached the bird ; but, to his surprise, it did not run
away. It allowed him to walk right up to it and then he discovered that it was
his own pet turkey. The pet ran around him, holding out its wings in joy. The
Visionary seized the bird, embraced it and said : “ I greet you, my pet. I

thought you had remained behind. How did you get here?” As it was now
growing dark, the Indian sought a place to sleep. He selected a big cedar tree,
scratched a place for himself to lie in the debris under the tree, put the turkey on
an overhanging limb to perch, and lay down to sleep. But for a while he could
not sleep ; he grew chilly, and he said : “ My pet, I am cold.” Soon after, he

fell asleep, and while he slept the turkey came down from the tree and covered
him with its right wing. The Navaho slept soundly the rest of the night.

730. — When he woke in the morning he found the wing of the turkey cover¬

ing him and he was so warm that his skin was moist with perspiration. When
he woke he found that he was in a dark, narrow ravine where the sun did not
shine ; but he soon found a sunny spot on a neighboring ridge and he sat down.
He spoke thus to his turkey : “ My pet, I thank you for covering me last night.

I slept well. Now I shall give you something to eat.” He made a mush of meal of
the seeds of tlo'tsozi ( Sporobohis cryptandr^ls) for the turkey and, for himself, a
mush of white corn-meal, in a yellow bowl which he always carried. They both
ate. After eating, the turkey felt happy ; it ran around, picking up insects and
other small objects to eat. Together they walked along the ridge to the east
until they came to a place where four streams flowed from the hill in different
directions. Then as a heavy rain began to descend, accompanied by great
thunder and lightning, they sought shelter under a ledge of rock. The lightning
struck so close, all around, that the Visionary, thinking he was in danger, sang the
fourth of the IdnV Bigi'n or Thunder Songs, and blew his breath in four different

1 87

directions. The clouds with the thunder passed away in four directions — east,
south, west, north — and the sun shone again. They descended the hill to a place
where the four streams joined into one ; they came to a beautiful meadow
where the water overflowed the land ; they took four circuits around the
meadow and as they walked the prophet thought to himself : “ What a beautiful
place this is for a farm. I wish I had brought some grains of corn with me, or
that I had asked the yei for some, at the last place where I visited them. At
length he went to the center of the meadow where he met two //astyeyal/i and
two //ast^e^o^an ; one of each came from the lodge at the 6'1/neo/e and one of
each were of those who had traveled with him. They asked him where
he had slept the previous night. He pointed out the place ; he told
them how he longed for seeds to plant a farm, and how sorry he was that
he had not brought some with him. Said the holy ones : “ It is a fine place for

a farm, our grandson ; a fine place for a young man and a young woman to farm
together. The crops cannot fail here.” When they had spoken he sang another
song, the first of the 7aike Gisi'n or Farm Songs, the burden of which is “ I wish
I had the seed.” One of the divine ones now said : “ You have the seed. Your
turkey has it. Go ask him ; but do not let him know it was I who told you.”
The Navaho approached his pet and thus spoke : “ My pet, this is a good place

to plant. Have you any seed?” The turkey held up its head, ran four times
around its master, stood facing the east, shook its wings and dropped from them
four grains of white corn. It ran to the south and (facing south) dropped four
grains of blue corn ; to the west, and dropped four grains of yellow corn ; to the
north and dropped four grains of variegated corn. Each time that it shook its
wings and dropped corn, it gobbled. The Navaho picked up the corn and went the
to the east ; but the turkey did not follow him. Again it went toward the east
and shook from its wings four squash seeds ; to the south and shook out four
beans ; to the west and shook out four watermelon seeds ; to the north and
shook out four muskmelon seeds ; lastly it came to the center between all these
points and shook out four tobacco seeds. Bl/a/^a/mi came back to where the
turkey was, picked up all the seeds, and returning to his place in the east, sang
the second and third of the Farm Songs. Now he and his turkey together wan¬
dered four times in increasing circles till they reached the edge of the meadow.
From here, the man went to a neighboring gully and procured a piece of tsin-
tli'zi ( Fendleria rupicola ) to use as a planting stick. They both returned, making
four circuits to the place where they had been standing. Approaching the east,
the man dug a hole and, planting the white corn, sang the fourth Farm Song.
Still continuing the same song, he planted the blue corn in the south, the yellow
corn in the west and the variegated corn in the north. He returned to the cen¬
ter and began the fifth Farm Song. While singing this, he planted squash seeds
in the southeast, beans in the southwest, watermelon seeds in the northwest and
muskmelon seeds in the northeast. Singing the sixth Farm Song, he planted to.
bacco seeds in the edge of the field, beyond the others in four different places —

1 88

east, south, west, north. When the planting was done he erected four scarecrows
made of branchlets secured to the ends of high sticks. These were not only to
frighten away birds, but to show that the land was claimed. Again he circled
four times around the field and went to the south to camp under a pinon tree.
As on the previous night, the Navaho made his bed under a tree and put the
turkey to perch on a limb above him ; but when he fell asleep the turkey came
down from the tree and covered its master with its left wing.

731. — He slept well until daylight and woke warm and perspiring. They
made a breakfast like that of the day before. When they had eaten, Bi^a/Wini
said to the turkey : “Come, my pet, to the farm and see if all is well there.”
Taking four turns, as usual, they entered the farm, and found that the corn had
sprouted, that its top had already appeared above the ground. The Indian sang
the seventh Farm Song. They staid in the farm all day, pulling weeds, and at
sunset went back to camp at the pinon tree where they had rested the previous
night. The turkey, before it went to roost, plucked a feather from its right side
close to the tail and gave this to its master for a blanket. The Indian laid the
feather over him. It grew quickly in size until it covered him from head to
foot, and it kept him warm all night ; but as morning approached the feather
became small again, and when he woke, it was but the size of an ordinary turkey
feather.

732. — The Indian arose at sunrise and again prepared mush for himself and
his bird, as on the two previous mornings. Before going to the farm he walked
around it, to see if he he could find any tracks, to see if anyone visited the land.
When, at length, he entered the farm, he found the corn had grown as high as
his knee, and the weeds half as high. He went among the hills where wood
grew and made a wooden hoe ; with this he returned to the farm and worked
at cutting down the weeds until after sunset, when he returned to the pinon tree
to sleep. As on the night before, the turkey gave him a feather for a blanket ;
but this time the feather was plucked from the left side near the tail.

733. — It was late next morning when they arose from sleep. The turkey
was the first to wake up. Mush was made as before, of corn-meal for the
man and of meal of grass seeds for the bird. When they went to the farm they
found that the ears on the corn were forming, and that the other plants were
in bloom. The man spent the day hoeing weeds, while the turkey ran through
the field and around it. When darkness came, they left the field in the usual way,
and went off to camp at the pinon tree.

734. — On the following morning, after they had eaten the usual breakfast,
they took four turns around the meadow outside the place where the plants were
growing, then entered the farm from the east, and found that everything seemed
ripe or nearly so. The Indian said : “ My pet, we will stay by this farm ; we will
not leave it.” Going sunwise around the farm, he broke off an ear of white corn
in the east, an ear of blue corn in the south, an ear of yellow corn in the west,
and an ear of variegated corn in the north. Going round a second time, he

culled one squash in the east, one bean-pod in the south, one watermelon in the
west, and one muskmelon in the north. He tied the corn in one bundle. He
took all he had picked to the edge of the farm, where he kindled a flame by rub¬
bing two sticks together, built a big fire of sagebrush, and put some corn in the
husk on the fire to roast. He sat in thought, planning how he might cook the
other vegetables. Just as he asked himself : “ How shall I prepare the squash ? ”
7o‘nenili and Asa/ini appeared before him. “ Do you live here and till this
farm?” said 7o‘nenili, the Water Sprinkler. “You have raised a fine crop of
corn. We wish to see how much corn you have.” He led the gods into the
farm, walking sunwise and halting at the four cardinal points, showing them all
that grew there. The divine ones asked him where he got his seeds and the
man replied that the pet turkey had dropped them from its wings. When they
went back to the fire, after examining the farm, they found the corn was not quite
cooked, some parts of the husks were still green ; yet the Indian pulled one of the
ears out of the ashes. He was about to eat it, when Water Sprinkler checked
him and said : “ Do not eat that. Cook it well first. If you eat your green corn
before it is well cooked the frost will blight your field or the floods will wash it
out.” Asa?Ini asked the Navaho what he intended to do with the squash. “ I
was thinking,” was the answer, “ of cooking it in one or two ways, either baking
it in the ashes or toasting it before the fire.” “ Never cook it in either way,”
said the holy one, “ until it is perfectly ripe. It is never ripe until the frost
comes, and the frost has not come yet. If you bake it now, early frosts will blight
your crops or floods will wash them away.” As he said this he put his hand
under his blanket, drew out a great long earthen pot and continued : “ Put your
squash into this, and put your bean in with it.” When the Indian had obeyed,
7o‘nenIli poured into the pot his mixture of sacred waters (par. 209) which he
always carried with him, and, placing the pot on the fire, said : “ Thus must you
cook your squash.” “ What do you intend to do with the watermelon ?” asked
Water Sprinkler. “ I had thought of roasting it before the fire as I thought of
doing with the squash,” replied the Visionary. “ Do not do so,” said the god ;
“ you must eat it raw. If you throw it on the ground it will burst open. Eat
then the soft red flesh within, but not the hard rind without. If you cook the
watermelon now, the Indians will forever have to cook their watermelons.” The
divine one then asked the Navaho what he thought of doing with the muskmelon.
That, too, the Navaho said he thought might be roasted before the fire. “ Do
not cook it in any way,” said 7b‘nenili. “ Cut it open with a flint knife and eat
only the soft part inside. If you cook it now, the Indians will forever have to
cook their muskmelons.” At last the yei asked : “ What do you think of doing
with the tobacco ? ” The Indian answered : “ I knowhow to use that, for I have
seen the holy ones put it into reeds and smoke it.” “ We came,” said To'nenili,
“ to teach you how to cook the food and tell you all about it that you should
know ; but we have yet other things to tell you. On a dark, stormy night, when
the lightning flashes often, come here to your field and stand beside a stalk of the

white corn in the east. When a bright flash of lightning comes, pluck a leaf
while the light shines. Do likewise with the blue corn in the south, the yellow
corn in the west, and the variegated corn in the north. Go around the field
again and do this to the tassels of the corn. Go around once more and cull by
the lightning glare leaves from the other plants in your field. Go, at last, around
the outside of your field and pull, while the lightning shines, leaves from the sun¬
flowers, grass, and other wild plants you may find. Put all that you gather into a
bag and take it to your camp with you.” That very night the sky was covered
with black clouds, the lightning flashed vividly, and Bi?a//a?mi, going to his field,
did as Water Sprinkler had bidden him. See par. 203 et seq.

735. — On the following day he went out early to his field, culled various
products in the manner of the previous day and cooked them as he had been told.
Asa?mi had left the long pot with him, to use in cooking squash ; bu,t had told
him if ever he moved away from the farm he must return the pot. Just as he
was beginning to prepare the food, //astyeyaki, the Talking God, and //ast.ye/20-
^ran, the House God, appeared before him. Each brought with him a young son
and a young daughter. Bluebirds and many other beautiful birds of different
kinds were now sporting and singing among the corn. By this time Bka/Wini
had built himself a small hut of sticks covered with weeds and earth, //astye-
yaki said : “We have come to see your corn. You are now a great chanter and
know many mysteries ; but there is one more medicine which you must learn how
to use and we know that you collected the material last night.” The two yei, the
four children, and the Navaho went into the hut and sat down. In a little while
the children ran out. As they were gone a long while the parents missed them
and said : “ Where are our children ?” They looked out, saw the children in the
field and called them. All the little ones at once returned to the hut except one
of the boys, the son of //astyeyaki. “Where is your brother?” asked the Talk¬
ing God of the boy who had returned. “ He has fallen asleep among the corn,”
was the answer, //astyeyaki, taking the boy with him, went into the field.
There he found that his son had plucked some corn-silk, leaned against a corn¬
stalk and fallen into a swoon or trance. The child breathed, but was unconscious.
The god returned to the hut and said to Bka/£a?ini : “ My son is ill in the corn¬
field, can you help him? You People upon the Earth know much. We also
know much ; but I know not how to deal with such an attack as he now has.
Have you ever seen an Indian die thus in the field ? If you cure my son, I will
teach you how to make the cigarette sacred to me.” The Visionary only prom¬
ised to try what he could do. Together the holy one and the man walked to the
farm, circled around it four times, entered it from the east and went to where the
.boy was lying. The prophet laid the boy on his back with head to the east ; he
pulled up four stalks of corn and laid them, radiating from the body, so that the
tip of one pointed east, that of another pointed south, that of a third pointed
west, and that of a fourth pointed north ; he made a cold infusion of the leaves
collected during the storm of the previous night, and he sang Farm Songs. The

boy sat up ; consciousness was returning. The prophet pressed the cornstalks to
different parts of the boy’s body as we now press sacred things to the body of
a suffering man in the rites of the night chant (par. 135) ; he gave the cold in¬
fusion to the boy in four draughts ; and the boy arose, in all things happily
restored. In these days, if a man becomes ill while hoeing or ditching in his
field, or if he falls asleep in the field and awakes feeling ill, we treat him as the
prophet then treated the son of 7/ast?eyal/i. In return for his cure, the divine
one showed the Navaho how his kethawns were made. Each was a span long.
One was half black and half white ; the other, half blue and half yellow. As the
corn had by this time become very ripe and hard,47 the Talking God asked
the Indian when he intended to gather his corn. The man said he intended to
gather it on the morrow. “ It is well. We shall come and help you,” said
//asUeyaFi.

736.— In the morning, when he went to his field, he found it again thronged
with beautiful little birds that sang and disported themselves. He plucked four
ears of corn, one of each color. From these he shelled some grains and gave
them to his turkey ; he roasted the rest for himself. A great number of holy
ones came to his field when he had done eating. They plucked first a single ear
of white corn in the east ; then, with many hands, plucked the rest of the white
corn and made a pile of it in the east. They plucked all the blue corn and made
a pile of it in the south ; all. the yellow corn and made a pile of it in the west ; all
the variegated corn and made a pile of it in the north. But there were four
stalks of corn, each bearing three ears, from which they plucked nothing ; they
reserved these for a future ceremony. They passed around the field again sun¬
wise, making a pile of squashes in the southeast, a pile of beans in the southwest,
a pile of watermelons in the northwest and a pile of muskmelons in the north¬
east. Lastly they culled the tobacco and placed it in four piles beside the piles
of corn. While the harvesting was going on the yei saved some of the produce
for themselves. When the crop was all gathered the Indian sang the tenth Farm
Song. He measured the heaps of produce by his turkey. Bidding the turkey
to stand close to each heap, with its tail toward the heap, and to hold its head
high, he found that each heap was level with the top of the turkey’s head. The
visitors looked at the turkey in wonder while the prophet sang the eleventh Farm
Song. The chiefs among the holy ones gathered around Bi?a/za?ini and thus they
spoke to him : “Your turkey has done wonderful things before us. It must be
holy. You have said that it bears upon it the white, the blue, the yellow, and the
varigated corn ; that it has the squash, the bean, the watermelon, the muskmelon,
and the tobacco. Tell us where it carries the white corn?” “That,” said the
prophet, “is in the end of its tail where the feathers are white.” “ Where is the
blue corn ? ” they asked. “ That is around its neck,” he answered. “ Where is
the yellow corn ? ” they inquired. “ At the end of the small feathers above its
tail,” was the reply. “ And where is the mixed corn ?” “That is on its wings.”
Thus, in answer to their questions, he told them that squashes were on the

turkey’s right side, under the wings, that the bean was in its snout (erectile pro¬
cess), that the watermelon and the muskmelon were on the left side under the
wings and the tobacco in the feathers under the tail. “ What is this ?” said they,
pointing to the beard. “ That is the thing with which my pet combs itself,”
said the man. “Thus is my pet turkey dressed. Tell me now how your pet
turkey is dressed,” he said, speaking to //asUe/^o^an. The holy one answered :
“ I have no pet turkey. Things that belong to the water are mine. You have a
wpnderful pet. It has done wonderful things in our presence. Surely it is holy.”
The Visionary sang the twelfth Farm Song and when he had done singing he
said to the holy ones : “ Return tomorrow and help me to husk my corn.” They
all went home. He remained in his field until sundown and then went to his hut.

737. — As soon as the Visionary got through his breakfast on the morrow,
the holy ones began to arrive. They came shouting all the way from their
homes to the cornfield. //asUeyal/i and //astj-e/^o^an called them together at
the eastern pile. They husked this pile first and husked the others separately, in
turn, afterwards, moving sunwise. They took off most of the husk, but not all ;
they left a few of the leaves so that two ears might be tied together and hung
over a string. They worked until sunset and finished the husking. Before they
departed, the Indian cried in a loud voice asking them to come back the next day
and carry the harvest home. They took toll for their labor and went away. The
Indian and his turkey returned to the hut.

738. — When the holy ones approached, next morning, //astreyald, //astre-
hog-ax\ and 7o‘nenili came in advance and called the others together to work.
They began with the eastern heap of corn and went around the field as they had
done when culling the products. They carried them to a place southeast of the
field and near the hut to the east. They piled them again in separate piles
in the order in which they had lain in the field. They proceeded to erect a dry¬
ing frame in the middle of the piles, thus : they set up forked supports, forming a
four-cornered structure whose sides faced the east, the south, the west, and the
north ; on these they laid four stringers, and across the stringers many poles.
They hung the tobacco on the poles. They tied the ears of corn in pairs and
hung them on the poles over the tobacco — -the white corn in the east, the blue in
the south, the yellow in the west, the mixed in the north. When this was done
the Visionary invited his visitors to come again the next day and they all went
to their homes.

739. — When they arrived the next day, BHa/za/mi asked the yei to build him
a good large house, not a dwelling of clouds, mists, rainbows and lightning such
as the yei dwelt in ; but a solid house of wood, weeds, and earth, such as the
Navahoes build, when many work together. Such a house they built for him
that day. All of the yei did not go to their homes that night. Some remained
to have a ceremony with the corn.

740. — The stalks of corn, with ears attached, which had been saved for the
rites and, when needed, pulled out by the roots, were laid in a row with their tips

*93

to the east, in the order, from north to south, of white, blue, yellow and mixed
corn. All the medicines the prophet had gathered on his journey were laid
around the collection of plants. The prophet sat down to the west of the whole
group. The divine one who enacted the part of chanter then began to sing. He
sang the first songs in the evening, and in the morning he sang the last songs,
which were Yikaigin or Daylight Songs. Between these times other gods led in
singing any songs of sequence they might know, and this was continued all night.
Such was the ceremony of the vigil of the corn which is practiced among the
Navahoes to this day.48 When the singing was done, a prayer was said over the
corn, //asLe^o^an said the corn should have its breakfast, for these stalks of
corn were like men, they were living and must have food. The Visionary pro¬
posed to given them a feast consisting of corn baked in the ground. “ Give them
not such food,” said the House God, “ that is food proper for man, but not for
corn. My little daughter here has food for the corn. It is dried meat of four
animals — deer, antelope, elk and bighorn.” At the bidding of her father, the girl
ground these meats into fine powder between two stones, put them into a bowl of
white shell and mixed them, with water, into a material like mush. “ Who shall
feed this to the corn ?” asked the Navaho. “My son, Water Boy, and the
daughter of //asUeyal/i, Corn Girl, are to give the food,” said //astye/^o^an. The
children put water into a bowl of turquoise, for the corn must be given water to
drink as well as food to eat. It was to be sprinkled on the corn just as it is
to-day sprinkled on pictures of the corn in our ceremonies. To the boy the black
or male plumed wands were given ; to the girl, the blue or female plumed wands.
Twice, acting alternately, they sprinkled the different plants, beginning with the
tobacco in the east. Then, alternately, they placed the meat pulp on the tobacco
and the corn and made motions as if placing it on the other plants. While
feeding the plants, the thirteenth Farm Song was sung. Lastly, the Visionary,
from bags of cloud, took a handful of tobacco for himself and gave a handful to
each one of the visitors, who each departed as soon as he had received the gift.
Before the Talking God left the lodge, he said to the prophet : “ In the days to
come, when you treat the sick among your people do in all things as we have
taught you, and when you make a ceremony over your corn, do also as we have
shown you. Never give corn to eat of its own substance. If you give it, corn
will thereafter ever eat corn until all in the land is destroyed. Then men will
starve and have to eat one another, and thus destroy their own race. Give unto
corn, flesh to eat. For like reasons corn must be fed to the masks in the cere¬
monies. Should meat be fed to them, men would, thereafter, eat men.” Once,
many years ago, when this ceremony of the corn was going on, and while the
young virgin was grinding the meat to feed the corn, a wicked woman named
Estsan T.n5i, Ugly Woman, went out from the lodge and fed corn to the corn
that was hanging on the poles of the drying-frame. That year the people starved
and men ate the flesh of other men.

741. — Before the visitors left, they said nothing to the Visionary about his

i94

ever leaving the farm, about returning to the home of his people or to his friends
at Tse'gihi. Perhaps they expected him to stay and raise another crop. Perhaps
they wished to return, gamble with him and win his corn. Even those who were
his companions on the journey from Tse'gihi to Si/neo/e left without speaking of
his departure. But he had thought of going away, although he often said to him¬
self : “ I have here a great store of corn and other food which I am loth to leave.”
After he had remained four days and four nights at his hut, seeing no one but his
turkey, he began to grow lonely. In the meantime his friends at Tse'gihi won¬
dered where he was and what had become of him, until the sun sent down a
sunbeam as a messenger to tell them that he was living near To'nihilm and had
a farm there. When they heard this, they dispatched //astye/tyi, the Red Yei, to
find their grandchild.

742. - — On the morning after the fourth night of solitude, when the sun was
about half-way between the horizon and the zenith, Bka/zaAni and his turkey were
sitting at the door of the lodge and looking east, when they heard afar the voice
of Red Yei sounding somewhat like the voice of a wolf, “Woo-oo-oo.” The call
was repeated at short intervals four times, seeming louder and nearer each time.
After the fourth call, //asUe/tyi stood before them and greeted them thus :
“ //ala/zotsa ! What are you doing here ? I thought you had gone home long
ago.” The prophet answered : “ When I left the Whirling Waters I had it in
my mind to start for home at once ; but I saw here a good place to make a farm,
my pet had the seeds, and, with the help of the holy ones, I have raised and har¬
vested a large store of food which I like not to leave, though I long to go home.”
The yei said he wished to see the store of food, and the Navaho showed it to
him. “ If it is your wish to stay with your corn, I shall return to Tse'gihi and
tell your grandfather, //astyeyaki. Perhaps he will come to give you aid.”

743. — When //asAe/tyi got back to Tse'gihi he told his adventures to //astye¬
yaki, told him about the farm, and about the great store of corn which the
prophet was loth to leave. “ Where did he get the seed for his farm ? ” said the
Talking God, although he well knew all about the seed when he asked the ques¬
tion. “ He got it from his pet,” said Red Yei. “ Truly,” said //astyeyaki, “ he
is the one who had it.” //astye/tyi continued : “Although he has a great store
of food which he likes not to abandon, he is lonely on his farm and would be glad
to have his grandfathers come to see him.” By grandfathers he meant particu¬
larly //astyeyaki and To'nenili. Addressing these two, //astye/zo^an said : “ Go
you, to-morrow, at daylight, to your grandson’s farm ; take with you such things
as you need to help him, and bring him back to Tse'ya/zo/i/yi/.” They procured
different kinds of clouds and rainbows wherewith to make bundles of the corn and
a short rainbow on which to travel.

744- — Next morning early they got on the short rainbow. The House God
blew on the bow in the direction of Zb'nihilkz ; the two divine ones started on
their journey, and in time arrived at the house of the Visionary. The latter
heard the approaching calls and went out to meet the gods. The holy ones spoke

not; but spread the white cloud on the ground, and made motion to the Indian
to put his white corn and pumpkins on it. He obeyed. Thus, in turn, at their
bidding, he put the blue corn and the beans on the blue cloud, the yellow corn
and the watermelons on the yellow cloud, the mixed corn and the muskmelons
on the black cloud. When he had done this, they, by signs, bade him turn his
back for a moment. When he looked around again he saw that all had been
made into four small bundles, each of which might easily be grasped by two hands,
//astreyal/i took a bundle in each hand — the yellow and the black. Bi^a/m/Ini
took the white and blue bundles and carried his turkey under his arm. 7o‘nenili
carried nothing ; he kept his arms free so that he might wave them, and by this
motion keep the rainbow moving. //asUeyaki got on in front, the Indian in the
middle, To'nemli behind, and thus they started back to Tse‘ya//dki/yi/.

745. — A cloud moved with the rainbow all the way as they traveled. When
they got close to the prophet’s old home, the cloud enveloped the rainbow so
closely that the travelers could not be seen when at last they descended to the
ground. They landed on a level rock ; opened the bundles in their proper order ;
threw out the white corn to the east, the blue corn to the south, the yellow corn
to the west, the mixed corn to the north, and the other products at points be¬
tween the piles of corn. They laid these things on the rock, but not the cloudy
wrappings, which they kept to take away with them. Addressing the Indian, the
holy ones said : “You have brought home with you good white corn, good blue
corn ” (and so on, mentioning all the products of the field). “ You have brought
back good pollen, good clouds, good black mist, good lightning, good rainbows,
good he-rain and good she-rain. You have brought the medicines of the holy
ones, their pictures, rites and Songs of the Farm. Such are the good things you
have brought back with you. You know now all the mysteries of the klgi'ni.
There is nothing more for you to seek among them. It is well for you that Sun
Bearer sent a messenger to tell us, where you tarried, or you would have worked
and planted next year for the holy ones of Yi/neo/e. They would have gambled
with you and won everything. You would have been a slave to them. Hold in
your memory the pictures, rites, and songs they gave you and teach them to others.
In the years to come they will benefit your people and your people will thank
you.” The house lay to the west of where they stood. The yei bade him turn
his back toward them. As he did so he heard a sound like “ click.” When, in
an instant, he looked around again, the yei had vanished. Bidding his turkey to
remain where it was for a little while and then to follow him, he started for his
home.

746. — When he entered the hut where his relatives dwelt, he found there his

grandmother, his youngest brother and his niece. They rejoiced to see him.
“ Greeting, my grandson ! Greeting, my elder brother ! Greeting, my uncle ! ”
they said. After they had welcomed him they asked ; “ Where is your turkey ? ’’
“ I left him behind me, down the river,” he answered. They said : “ That is

what we feared you would do. We begged you not to take him with you. He

brought us the he-rain and the she-rain, the cloud and the mist. What shall we
do without him ?” Just as this was said a loud gobble was heard outside the
door and a moment later the turkey ran into the lodge. It ran around the fire
and came up to each person in turn as if glad to meet again. They all laughed.
The old woman said : “ My grandson has been joking with us.” The youngest

son stepped outside, cried aloud that his brother had returned, and all within
sound of his voice came running to the hut. There was great excitement, and
many words of greeting and shaking of the hand. When all had become quieted,
they sat down and the wanderer proceeded to tell of his adventures. He related
to his people all that had happened to him while he was gone, and then he said :
“ I went to see pictures, to obtain medicines, to learn mysteries, to hear songs.
I bring back with me all that I have seen and heard. It will benefit you, my
younger brother, and it will benefit our people.” “We thank you for bringing
us all this knowledge,” said the brethren. “In the days to come, those that fol¬
low us will do as you teach us.” He bade them divide the vegetables among
them and reserve some for seed. It is from these seeds that our seeds come to¬
day. Our people had no corn or pumpkins before the days of Bi/a/za/ini. The
meal he carried with him on his journey was supplied by the holy ones of
Tse'gfhi. “ Build now a lodge,” he said, “ in order that I may teach my youngest
brother all that I have learned.” By this time many people had gathered — so
many that when each one brought a single stick for the lodge, they found they
had enough, and the lodge was finished that day. The prophet and his youngest
brother entered it, and a crowd gathered around. He told them all the things
they must get for the kethawns and other properties of the rite, and he assigned
to each a different task.

747. — On the next day, in the part of the lodge opposite the door, two
metates or grinding stones were placed, one to the north and one to the south,
in such a manner that two persons could grind corn on them while facing one
another ; and troughs edged with flat stones were made to hold meal. A screen
of interwoven willows was erected to hide the grinders from observation. It was
painted white and decorated with pictures of corn, clouds, rainbows, and light¬
ning. It had, in the center, four square holes, through which bluebirds and other
little birds of beautiful plumage appeared. On top of the screen, and suspended
above it on strings, were more little birds. These were stuffed bird-skins, in the
rites performed by the Indians — they could do no better ; but in the houses of
the yei, where the Visionary first saw such rites, there were real birds. Those
above the screen perched on strings of rainbow ; while those at the holes in the
screen passed back and forth singing. When all was ready in the lodge,
Biz'a/za/ini went outside. The rain was falling and the moisture was so thick and
close to the ground that he could not see far. Yet the prophet beheld //astyeyaki
with his young son, and //astsezlm with his young daughter, approaching. They
wore their masks, for only when wearing them do the gods make themselves vis¬
ible to men. .//astyeyaki, the Talking God said: “My son and the daughter

of //astyezmi will prepare the medicines for you, for they are virginal.”
//asty&sini, the Black God, said : “ I have medicines which I wish prepared for

me, after the other medicines are made. Here is a corn-plant that was stolen by
a crow ; here is white medicine ; here are cakes which we call naneskaafi, with
holes in them and toasted on coals ; here is meal from sacred pictures, and here
is my talisman. Take these.” All went into the lodge. Two sacred buckskins,
one north and one south, their heads near together, were stretched on the floor
between the grinding-stones and the screens ; and the medicines were laid on the
skins. The boy went to one of the metates ; knelt on his right knee ; took the
tsasdA'ni or small upper stone in his right hand ; lowered and raised it three times
before laying on the tsasd^e or nether stone. The girl, facing him, performed
similar acts at the other metate. The boy took medicine from the buckskin
beside him ; lowered and raised it three times ; when he lowered it for the fourth
time he laid it on the nether stone. The girl followed his example. Each
grasped one of the upper stones with both hands, ready to go to work at the
beginning of song. The youngest brother of the prophet, Nakiestrahi, was now
seated at the basket-drum, behind the screen with the children. All other occu¬
pants of the lodge were before the screen. The singers sang the first Metate
Song. The moment they began to sing, the children began to grind and the
youngest brother to beat the drum. So they continued until four songs, that
sounded well (harmonized) with the noise of the stones, were sung. The prophet
gave to each of the grinders a brush made of grass and a single owl feather, — the
kind of brush with which we now sweep off stones, — and he sang the fifth Metate
Song. While he was singing this, each grinder took up a handful of the powder
and swept it slowly off his palm into the trough until all was swept away. While
the sixth song was being sung the powder was all swept up and laid on the buck¬
skins. The seventh Metate Song was sung. The prophet bade the girl grind her
father’s medicines, and grind them quickly. The boy did not help in this work.
When she had finished, she put the powder on a fawn-skin belonging to her father
and gave it all back to him. The medicine was distributed, most of those in the
lodge got some ; but those who did not, received, instead, incense powder, yididiml.

748. — “ Do not leave,” said the prophet, “until we have taken up the screen
and carried away the sand on which the picture was painted.” When this was
done he asked them to wait until he sang two more songs ; they waited and he
sang. All were going away happy. They pronounced many benedictions on one
another — the visitors on their host ; the host on the visitors. They sang two
Farewell Songs, Bi/^aoVesin. Lastly the prophet said for all a prayer called
Hozddze Soafism, and the visitors departed.

III. So, a Variant of The Visionary

SO, A VARIANT OF “THE VISIONARY.”

749. — A family of eight persons lived at a place called Kle^a/tn, Red Clay
Valley, near the San Juan Mountains. There were the father, the mother, five
sons and one daughter.

750. — One of the sons, next to the youngest, whose name was 60, believed
greatly in dreams and visions. From time to time he would wander away from
home by himself, and when he returned he would relate various wonderful visions
he had seen, and often when he woke in the morning he would tell of wonderful
dreams, but his brothers only laughed at him.

751. — One day the four other brothers went hunting. They went to a
spring near which they had erected a blind or breastwork of branches, from which
they were accustomed to shoot deer that came to the spring to drink. They
were but a short time behind the blind when they killed two young deer — a male
and a female. They took the carcasses to one side to dress them. They cut
the meat into thin sheets and spread it out on the branches of trees to dry.
After they finished this work they went back to the blind to watch for more
game. While sitting there, they looked at the tree where their meat was hang¬
ing, and they saw a crow and a magpie eating of the meat. They left the blind,
crept up carefully behind the birds, killed them with their arrows and threw them
away at a little distance from the tree. They had built a shelter and prepared a
camp not far from the spring, and when they had killed the birds they went to
this camp and hunted no more during the day.

752. — Next morning while they were sitting by the fire they beheld their
brother, 60, whom they had left at home, approaching. When he
came he said to his brothers: “What have you killed?” They knew he
pretended to second sight, so they winked at one another, laughed and made fun,
and one said : “ We have killed nothing.” He asked his question four times, but
they gave him only the same answer. Then he said to them : “ I heard some¬
thing as I came by the canon of Aga//alai. While I was walking along on the
further edge of the canon, I stopped to take off one of my moccasins, for some
gravel had gotten into it. Then I heard a voice crying from the east across the
canon, ‘Someone was killed yesterday, they say.’ Immediately I heard a voice
in the west crying, ‘ Who was killed, they say ? ’ The voice in the east answered,
‘ He-who-sits-between-the-horns-dead and He-who-picks-on-the-backbone-dead.’ 49
At last the voice in the west said, ‘ It is well. They ought to be killed.
Wherever they see red meat they go thither.’ I looked to the east to see who
was speaking and I beheld an eagle ; I looked to the west and I beheld a crow.”
When he had done speaking, his brethren told him that they had killed a crow, a
magpie and two deer, and they said : “We believe now you have always spoken
the truth, for only the spirits could have told you this.”

753. — They determined to return home. They tied the dried venison up in
four bundles and each of four hunters took a bundle to carry, but there was no
bundle for 60. They started, but he loitered behind and did not set forth until
his brothers were gone. He set out by another trail for the same destination ;
but when he came to the edge of a canon, he saw four fresh tracks of bighorn.
He followed the tracks and soon came to a place where the sheep had gone down
a very steep shelving rock. He took off his deerskin robe which had hair on it,

x99

folded it, sat on it and slid down the canon wall. He followed the tracks along
the floor of the canon for awhile and soon came to a place where the trail led
up the opposite wall.

754. — When he climbed the opposite wall of the canon he saw, near its
edge, four bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep walking quietly along. He left
their trail, ran by a circuitous route to head them off, hid behind a juniper tree
near the path by which they were advancing, and when they came close to him
he drew his arrow ; but when he released it, it refused to leave the string ; it
remained and the sheep passed on uninjured. Again he ran to head them off.
This time he hid behind a pinon tree and when the sheep approached he again
bent his bow ; but again the arrow would not leave the string. A third time he
ran ahead of the sheep and hid behind a mountain mahogany bush ; but for the
third time the arrow failed to leave the bow and the sheep passed on. A fourth
time he ran ahead and hid behind a cliff rose, but all happened again as on
the previous occasion. A fifth time he ran ahead and hid behind another juniper
to wait for the sheep ; but, as they drew near, he felt himself becoming stiff and
powerless ; he was under a spell. As he gazed he saw the skins of the mountain
sheep drop from the approaching forms, revealing the figures of four Ga/zaski<A,
or humpbacked gods, such as we see them now in the rites of the night
chant. The GazzaskizA seized the Navaho, disrobed him, laid down his clothes
and proceeded to dress him in the skin of a mountain sheep. “ It is too tight, I
cannot wear it,” he said. They bade him turn around in the direction in which
the sun goes ; he did so ; the GawaskuA breathed on him as he turned, and when
he had completed the circuit he found that the skin fitted him easily. Then
they took him in the direction of the canon of Tse'gfhi beyond the San Juan
River.

755. — As they were traveling on a beaten trail, the prophet walking in ad¬
vance of his companions, he suddenly disappeared from their sight. They looked
for him in all directions but could not find him. Then one of them sought the
aid of //astreyaki and the latter came bringing with him his talking kethawn 50 and
his six magic strings. The strings were of different colors, and each was wound
loosely in a separate ball. He took first the white string and, holding one end of
it, threw it to the east ; it flew with the speed of lightning to the far east ; but
returned to his hand as rapidly as it went and he knew from this that what he
sought was not in the east. In like manner he threw his blue string to the south,
his yellow string to the west and his black string to the north ; but each, in turn,
came back instantly to his hand. Then he took his spotted string and threw it
downwards ; the end of it stuck and did not return. “ Does anyone live down
there?” he asked the Gazzaskiki. “Yes, down there is the dwelling of the
Nl'ltdye, Wind Gods,” they said. They examined the ground and soon found a
hole through which they all descended to the dwelling of the Wind Gods and there
they found Yo. They spoke to him and begged him to come with them ; but he
did not listen to them, he had lost his reason, the Wind Gods had cast a spell upon

him and taken his mind away from him. //astyeyaki, holding in his hand his
talking kethawn, walked once, sunwise, around .5o and by this motion restored to
him his mind. He listened now to the voices of his friends, and they all came
forth and proceeded on their journey to Tse'gihi.

756. — The four elder brothers, when they left the camp where they had
killed the deer, went home. At the end of four days, as So did not return they
began to wonder where he was and to feel concerned. They had a long talk
about him and at length concluded to go back to the place where they had last
seen him and trail him from there. They tracked him to where he slid down the
rock, to where he went along the floor of the canon, to where he clambered up
the opposite wall and to the place where he left the trail of the sheep and ran to
head them off ; they saw, too, where he had waited behind the juniper for the
game to pass. They traced him to all his halting places till they found at last
where he had encountered these strange people and there they found his clothes
lying on the ground. Heretofore they had followed the tracks of four sheep and
one man, but further on they saw the tracks of five sheep and no human foot¬
print. Of these they saw tracks to show that only four steps had been taken, and
beyond these no trail of any kind could be seen. They could only suppose that
So had been changed by the spirits into a sheep and they said : “ Alas ! our brother
has often told us about his visions of the spirits and now we see that they have
changed him into a bighorn and taken him away from us. How can we tell
whither he has gone ? We should not have left him behind us. He is lost. Now
we have naught to do but to return to our people and take his clothes with us.”
And they prayed to the spirits who took their brother, that they might, some day,
restore him again to his home.

757. — When So and the Ga^askWi arrived at the edge of the canon at
Tse'gihi they stopped. He looked down into the canon and saw at the bottom
two //astyeyaki surrounded by a number of other yei, a vast crowd of them.
While he stood there a thunderbolt fell close beside him, but did no injury to him
or his companions. There was a spring of water where they stood and beside
that spring they waited until one of the //astyeyaki, seeing them from below,
came up to meet them and led them down the wall of the canon. As they
advanced, the yei picked up the sticks and stones that obstructed the path, so
that they descended with ease to the bottom until they stood among the throng
of yei. These were gathered for the performance of a great ceremony of nine
days duration and this was the last day of the rites ; hence the great crowd.

758. — The yei led him and his four companions into a great medicine-lodge
which was not like the Navaho medicine-lodge of to-day. It was in a great cavern
in a cliff and there were four compartments in it. They led them through three
of these rooms into a fourth and when they had entered this a yei stood at the
door to keep intruders out. 60 now looked around him. He saw hanging hori¬
zontally along the eastern wall of the room a long pole, painted white, from which
twelve white masks were suspended ; on the southern wall he saw a pole painted

blue, from which twelve blue masks hung ; on the western wall he saw a pole
painted yellow, from which twelve yellow masks hung, and on the northern wall
he saw a black pole, from which twelve black masks hung. He found a great
number of people were already in the lodge ; among them was Nayenezgani.
One of the four Ga«aski7i addressed the assembly, saying : “ See ! we have
brought with us an Indian.” To this Nayenezgani said : “You should not have
brought him. The Indians are a bad people. We do not want them among us,”
and he pointed to a place away from the center of the lodge, where he bade them
sit down. Then a noise like thunder was heard and Nayenezgani bade one of the
yei to look out and see what caused the noise. When the yei returned he said
he saw a great multitude descending the wall of the canon in the direction from
which their five visitors had come and that they seemed to be more of the same
people. Again the noise of thunder was heard and again Nayenezgani sent out
one of the yei to look. When this messenger returned he said : “ It is Kliktso, the
Great Serpent, who approaches.” A moment after Kliktso entered the lodge, and
crawled around it four times. The first time he crawled on the toes of the sur¬
rounding visitors ; the second time on their knees ; the third time on their chests ;
the fourth time on their mouths ; then he sat down on the floor and said : “ Why
have you not invited me to this ceremony ? This is the way you always treat me.
When you have a merry time you never let me know about it.” Nayenezgani
was the boho/m‘ or master of this ceremony and he said, when the snake was
done talking : “ We will give you a smoke. So make no more complaints,” and
he handed him the pipe to smoke.

759. — Again they heard a peal of thunder on the brow of the canon and
Nayenezgani sent out //astyeyaki to see who was coming. When the messenger
returned he related that twelve birds called tsidftkoi were coming. Soon they
entered the lodge and Nayenezgani offered them the pipe. When they were
done smoking he told them to be gone. These twelve birds came from a
mountain which is east of Bear Spring.

760. — About this time Coyote had come into the lodge unobserved and
they had passed the pipe to him, not noticing who he was. He had run in behind
the ring of people next to the wall. At length his presence was discovered and
Nayenezgani sent //astyezini to drive the intruder out. Four times did Coyote
thus sneak in and four times was he driven out. When he was being expelled for
the last time, Nayenezgani said to him : “ I want you to stay out. You have no
rio-ht here and no interest in our ceremonies. You must not return again.”

761. — About this time Nayenezgani observed that there were other uninvited
intruders in the lodge and he drove everyone out so that the following only re¬
mained : Nayendzgani, Zb‘badAstffni, Zeyaneyani, Tsowenatlehi (these four were
brothers), //astyeyaki, ZZistye/io/an (these two were nephews), Dsahakold^a,
Ga«aski7i, Kliktso, //astyeHni, four AtsaZei, Naestsan, YaZffyi/, T.yo‘hanoai,
Klehanoai, the four Wind Gods (Ni'ltff-ki/yi7, Ni'ltjri-7offi7, Ni'ltff-/itso, Ni'ltyi-
/akai) and 7o‘nenili.51

762. — When all the intruders were gone NayenSzgani went to a corner where
there was a pile covered with a blanket of darkness. He removed the blanket
and revealed a heap of twelve human skulls ornamented with turquoise earrings.
He spread a blanket of white daylight on the floor; on this he laid the skulls (in
a row), four large .bundles of powdered medicine, and four small bundles
of powdered medicine, making eight in all. He untied all these bundles ;
they contained the medicines of the andhi — the fatal medicines which the
Navaho witches use when they slay their enemies. They are made from
the flesh of dead men, taken from different parts of their bodies, dried and
ground to a fine powder. When the dreadful bags were opened Nayendzgani
said : “ Let all of you keep your places sitting in a row.” He took a little of the
medicine out of each bag, as much as he could grasp with the tips of the fingers
of ope hand, and gave to each person present. The big snake was the last to
whom he gave the drugs. All the others tied up the medicine in little bags or in
the corners of their robes or shirts. But the snake was perfectly naked and could
find no place to put the medicine for safe keeping but in his mouth, so he put it
there and that is why the mouth of the serpent deals a deadly poison now.

763. — Next, four sheets of sky were brought forth. A white sheet was spread
on the floor in the east ; a blue sheet in the south ; a yellow sheet in the west and
a dark sheet in the north. On each of these sheets was painted a picture, which
the Navaho was told to study with care, and remember. When he had done,
they rolled up again the sheets of sky and Nayenezgani said : “ Such pictures you
must teach your people to draw. They cannot do this on sheets of sky as we do ;
but they can grind to powder stones of various colors and draw their pictures on
sand.”

764. — “ Now,” said Nayenezgani, “let us go out and dance, for all is ready
outside for us to begin.” And they went forth to where there was built a great
circle of branches, such as we make now in the rites of the mountain chant,12 ex¬
cept that instead of one opening, as we have now, there were four openings in the
circle. This was because, there in the land of the yei, the dancers did not go in and
out at the same gate, as ours do ; but when a party entered from the east, having
danced, it passed out at the west, and when a party entered from the south, it
passed out at the north. Basket-drums had been laid out for the musicians to play
on. The yei took No along with them in order that he might learn the dartce.

765. — Soon after they entered the circle two persons came in from the east,
//asUeyal/i and //asts-ebaka ; the former bore a bag of corn-meal and the latter a
great stalk of corn having twelve ears, //astyeyal/i strewed corn-meal to the four
cardinal points — to the east, to the south, to the west, to the north, whooping at
each act his usual call. As he scattered the meal, //astfebaka followed his motions
by waving the cornstalk to each of the four points. Then //asti-eyal/i, his hand
extended to the west, held aloft a pinch of corn-meal and let it fall into a hole
already dug in the ground. Where the meal fell //asts-ebaka planted the stalk of
corn and they filled the earth in around it. When this was done the four Atsa‘/ei

entered. They made such motions as our dancers make at this day with their
rattles, sweeping them downward to the west and to the east, and whooping their
call at each motion (par. 615). They stood, as usual, with their faces to the west
to begin to sing. They opened their mouths and endeavored to sing, but no
sound issued — they had lost their voices. The leader made, with his rattle, the
usual sign for them to stop, and they stood still. Nayenezgani then said : “ This
must be the spell of the Coyote. It is he who has taken away the voices of the
singers, in revenge for being turned out of the lodge.” He sent //astyeyaki to
summon the Coyote who waited outside the corral ; but the messenger returned
saying that Coyote refused to come. Nayenezgani sent //asUeyaki out a second,
a third and a fourth time with peaceful words to the Coyote, begging him to enter
the corral, but still the Coyote would not come. When he refused for the fourth
time Nayenezgani became angry and said : “ Go forth and drag him in whether he
wishes to come or not. When we wanted him not in the medicine-lodge, he
entered unbidden, now when we desire his presence in the dark circle he will not
come.” Now the youngest brother of Nayenezgani, named Tsowenatlehi, seeing
that his eldest brother was wroth said : “It will avail nothing to be angry with
Coyote ; wrathy words and loud commands will not influence him ; offer him
some gift for his services and then perhaps he may enter and help you.” Na¬
yenezgani said : “ It is well. Let us do as you say. We will make him god of the
darkness, of the daylight, of the he-rain, of the she-rain, of the corn, of all vegeta¬
tion, of the thunder and of the rainbow,” and he sent //astyeyaki out to repeat
these promises to the Coyote. “ It is well,” said Coyote, when //astyeyaki had
spoken, “ though I fear the people in the dark circle may laugh at me when I
enter and pray to my god to have the voices of the singers restored.” He entered
the circle, went up to the east of the great cornstalk, stood facing it on his hind legs,
raised his fore legs as high as possible and let forth a long coyote yelp. These
acts he repeated at the south, at the west and at the north ; but at the north he
followed the long yelp by several short ones. When he was done he went to one
side and sat down ; the singers tried again to sing and found their voices restored
to them, strong and sweet. When the four dancers, with //astyeyaki the Yebityai,
making five in all, had finished they went out at the opening in the west of the
circle.

766. — The next set of dancers came in at the south. They were fourteen in
number — //astyeyaki, 7o‘nenili, and twelve ordinary dancers such as we have now
in the dance of the naak//al. Different parties of such dancers kept coming and
going alternately by the east and the south entrances. So sat and watched all
this time. When it came about the hour of midnight he was growing hungry.
Many of the divine ones offered him food, and he was inclined to accept it, but
there was a dark cloud at his left ear ; in it was the spirit of darkness which
whispered to him : “ Eat only when the Yebityai gives it to you,” and at his right
ear was the dark wind of the north, which whispered : “ If you take the food you
will never see your people again.” These spirits knew the thoughts of all the

assembly, and even before one had spoken he revealed the thought to So, and
prompted the answer. So he fasted and waited until after midnight, when he
went to the Yebityai and said : “ Sltraf, my grandfather, I am hungry. Will you
eive me something to eat?” Yebityai wore around his waist a white sash ; this
he removed, laid on the ground and spread open, when there appeared among its
folds a beautiful white water bottle that looked like white stone, a bag of corn-
meal, and a very small cup made of white sea-shell. The YebiUai mixed in the
cup a little of the corn-meal with a little of the liquid from the bottle, making a
cold paste or mush which he gave to So to eat, and So ate from it with two fingers
as is the custom with the Navahoes. He ate and ate till he was filled full and
could eat no more ; but much as he ate he never reduced the contents of the cup
in the least. When he was done he handed the cup back to the YebiUai who
emptied it with one sweep of his two fingers and gave the morsel to the Navaho.
The cup remained empty, and the Yebitrai folded up again in his sash the vessels
and the bag of meal.

767. — Now Yebitrai went along with the dancers and paid no further atten¬
tion to Yo for a while ; but when the dance was all done, and day began to dawn
and the crowd began to disperse he came to where the Navaho had been sitting,
to look for him ; but the Navaho was not there. The Yebitrai sought for him in
all directions, four times through the crowd, and inquired of many if they had seen
him ; but could find no trace or tidings of him. The Yebitjrai brought forth his
magic strings of different colors. He took his white string, and holding one end
of it, threw the rest to the east ; it fled with the speed of lightning to the far east,
but returned to his hand as rapidly as it went, and he knew from this that the
missing Indian was not in the east. In like manner he threw his blue string to the
south, his yellow string to the west, his black string to the north, and his spotted
string to the nether world, but all returned instantly to his hand. Then he took
his second blue string and threw it towards the zenith ; there the end stuck and
did not return to him. From this he knew that So had been taken into the
heavens, and he said: “ Up there is my grandchild. I will follow him.” //astreyal/i,
the Yebitrai, was a holy one of great power. He took two sunbeams and laid
them side by side so as to form a raft or platform ; on these he floated up to
the heavens, and up through the hole in the sky, which is right above the summit
of Tsotsi/ Arrived on to1> of the sky he found the track of So and of the god
//asUeayuhi who had stolen him. The tracks led to the south, and following them
he soon came in sight of four rows of blue houses, toward which he now saw
//astyeayuhi hastening with the captive. He quickened his pace and soon
overtook the fugitives. He seized Yo, took him away from the captor and back
to the sky-hole over Tsotsi/. “ Now Yitsowe, my grandchild, we are going down
again,” he said. They stood on the sunbeam raft and floated back to the summit
of Tsdtsi/

768. — From the summit of Tsotsi/ they traveled through the air on white
sunbeams till they came near to the place where dwelt the kindred of Yo, and

here they descended to the earth, //astreyal/i said then to the Navaho : “ Now
my grandchild, you can travel faster than ever you did before ; but I do not wish
you to go home to-day. You must travel a little way and sleep on your road
to-night ; early to-morrow you will reach the lodges of your people. You must tell
them that my voice is ominous, and that if one hears it something strange will
happen to him or his people the same day. When I travel among the Navahoes
I shall wear the skins of doli as signs that I am //astyeyald.” As 7/ast.yeyaFi
spoke to Yo they stood side by side. When the former ceased to speak, the
Navaho looked around to where he had stood, but the god had vanished. Yo
looked up ; he beheld in the east great white clouds ; in the south, great blue
clouds ; in the west, great yellow clouds ; and in the north, great black clouds.
He said: “I wonder whither my grandfather has returned? Has he gone to
the white clouds ? Has he gone to the blue clouds ? Has he gone to the yellow
clouds ? Has he gone to the dark clouds ? ” Then he began to weep and said :
“ Good-bye. Grandfather, I wonder whither you have gone.”

769. — From the place where //astyeyald left him, So went but a little way

when he came to a canon into which he descended and constructed on the bottom
a small circle or corral of brushwood with an opening to the east. As he
sat there all alone after dark, he beheld approaching him from the east a figure
dressed in white. It had white shirt, leggings and moccasins, a white head-dress
trimmed with owl-feathers and great staring yellow eyes. It was Naestya, the
Owl. He now entered the enclosure, passed by way of the southeast to
the south and there sat down. After sitting awhile in silence Owl said to the
Indian: “Whence come you, and where is your home?” and Yo answered:
“ I am just wandering around in these parts. I have no home.” Nadstya
asked these questions four times, but got always the same answer. At length
the Owl said : “Twelve days ago some of the yei took a Navaho with them
to Tse'gihi, and I think you are the man. Is it not so ?” And Yo answered
that he was indeed the man. Then Owl asked : “ What did you learn there ? ”

and Yo told him of the dances he had witnessed, of the pictures he had seen, of
the songs he had heard sung, and the prayers he had heard prayed. “ How many
songs have you learned to sing, how many prayers have you learned to repeat,
and how many kethawns have you learned to prepare ? ” Yo related all that he
had learned. “ Was that all they taught you ? ” said Owl, and Yo answered : “ Yes,
that was all they taught me.” “ It is well,” said Owl,“ but there are other things
to be done ; they have not taught you all ; this is because even the Yebiftyai,
themselves, are afraid to reveal these things. There are six more kethawns, they
are those of /ihi^ial, aya.ybitsos, tsidi.ya.yi, tsidi/tsoi, tsidibeH and kondlditlit,
and that is all. The Owl explained to the Navaho how all these things were
made, and the two remained together until the day began to dawn, when Owl
departed.

770. — From this camp the Navaho went directly to the lodge of his people,
and these said to him when he returned : “ Greeting, our child. Greeting, our

brother,” and they embraced him and wept over him. They said: “You have
often told us of your converse with the spirits, but we only laughed at you. Now
we know that you spoke the truth, for you have been, taken away by them and
have been with them many days.” Then his mother said : “ My child, stay here

and leave us no more.” His father said: “Yes, my son, your mother’s words
are good, listen to her and leave us no more.” His elder brothers said : “ Yes,

younger brother, we have been sad while you were gone. Leave us no more.”
His sister said : “ Older brother, you have been long gone, we have wondered
where you were. Do not leave us again. Remain forever with your people.”
From that time they watched him closely and anxiously. He did not go out of
their sight for twelve days and twelve nights.

771. — At the end of this time he said he felt lonely, that he would like to

take a little walk. He went out, taking his bow and arrows, and saying he was
going to hunt deer. About noon, as he wandered on, a Ni'ltnye appeared to
him and said : “ You have many more things to learn, and the gods desire to

teach them to you. You must learn where the different gods live in Tse'gihi, and
you must come to these again. Then he took So off with him to Tse‘glhi, to the
same part that he had visited before. But on his first visit he did not observe
what he observed now, that there were four pueblos or rows of pueblo dwellings ;
in the east was Kin/akai, or the White House ; in the south was Kinc/o/li'^, or the
Blue House ; in the west was Kin/itso, or the Yellow House; in the north was
Kin7i/yi7, or the Dark House. The chief of the White House was Nakletso, or
Big Wolf ; the chief of the Blue House was Mafi/odH, or the Kit-fox; the chief
of the Yellow House was Na^ui'tso, or the Puma; and the chief of the Dark
H ouse was Kli'jtso, or the Big Serpent. Poles of corresponding colors hung on
the walls of the houses inside. The rooms \yere small, but whenever the inmates
wanted to have one larger they had only to puff a breath at each of the four walls
and the room expanded to the desired size.

772. — They took So into the White House and into the room in which

//asts'eyal/i lived. /7ast?eyaLi said to him : <l My grandchild, when you were
here before did you observe all these pueblos that you see now ? ” and So answered :
“ No, my grandfather, and I did not see many things which I now behold.”
//asUeyal/i continued : “ Yitsowe, my grandchild, when you were here before we
sent four akaninili, messengers, to summon the holy ones from all parts of the
land. We sent one to Tsi'snadAni, one to Tsotsi/, one to Z)okosli<7, and one to
Z?ep6'ntsa~ ; to the chief of each one of these mountains we sent a messenger.
Did you find out all this when you were here before ? ” So replied : “ No, I was
so busy watching the motions of the Yebitrai and of 7o‘nenili that I did not see
what other things were done.” The yei said : “ It was thus we sent out our

messengers. But there are many more things for you to learn. We have much
to explain to you. You must stay here with us ; you must not return soon to your
people. There is a trail going up on the east side of the canon and there, at the
brow of the cliff, is a place called Tsasi7asaka7, Standing Yucca; there is another

20 7

trail going up to the south of here, and beside it, at the brow of the cliff, there is
a place called TxosakaY, Standing Spruce Tree. To the west of us a trail ascends
the canon wall, and beside it is Tse'ni/zo^an, the Cave House where you entered
the canon. To the north a trail ascends, and near it, at the edge of the cliff, is
Tse'es/agisakaY, Standing Mountain Mahogany. Now I will show you where all
our neighbors dwell. Let us first follow the trail to the east, by the way of
TsasirthsakaY.”

773. — Then these two, //astreyal/i and No, by themselves, went upon the

eastern trail, and they traveled on to the east until they came to the mountain
of TsisnadA'ni, where they entered a house of four rooms made of sheets of white
daylight. Here the prophet was shown two kinds of kethawns, 52 by the god of
the mountain, Tse‘ga<Ani/ini A.nke, Rock Crystal Boy, and the god said to him : “ I
am the god of the insane. When you wish to restore to reason a person who has
lost his mind, you will make such kethawns as I have shown you, and you will bury
them in the ground with their points directed to this mountain, as a sacrificeto me
for a cure.” From TsisnadA'ni, No and his conductor went to Tsotsi/, where they
entered a house of four rooms made of blue sky. Here he was shown another
pair of kethawns like those seen at Tsisnadm'ni, except that they were painted blue.
The god of the mountain said to him : “ These also are for the cure of the insane,
they must be buried in the ground with their tips directed toward Tsotsi/, as a sac¬
rifice to me for a cure.” From Tsotsi/ //astreyal/i and No went to DokosMd,
where they entered a house made of the yellow evening light. Here dwelt
Na/a/kai A.nke, White Corn Boy, and Na/a/tsoi A/e/, Yellow Corn Girl. They
exhibited to No two kethawns similar to those he had seen at TsisnadWni, except
that they were painted differently ; the male kethawn was white, and the female
yellow. They said that these kethawns also had influence over the mind, were to
cure insanity, and should be buried in the ground with their tips pointed toward
DokosMd, or the west, to gain the favor of these gods. From this place
//astreyal/i took the Navaho to ZZepe'ntsa, and into a house made of darkness,
where they found Tha.d\t\ AHke, Pollen Boy, and Aml/ani A/e/, Grasshopper
Girl. These showed the Navaho two kethawns which were like those he had seen
before, except that they were painted black, and they said : “ These also are to

cure insanity. Bury them in the ground with their tips to the north, towards
these mountains, if you would invoke our aid. Then the yei and the Navaho
went back to Tse'gihi, to the home of the Yebitsai, and here //asts-eyal/i said :
“ There are still more ydi for you to know, and in time I will show you them all.”

774. — They next took the trail which led out of the canon to the south, by
way of T^osaka^/. This time the Indian had six companions on his journey ; there
were //astreyal/i, who was always the spokesman and always walked in advance,
//astre/zo/an, //asts-ebaka, //astyebaaaf, 7<5‘nenili, and //asUdaini the fire god who
always bore fire — a burning wand of shredded cedar bark. When they had
climbed out of the canon, they went first to a place called Natseski/ where they
entered a white house made of cedar wood, inhabited by Coyotes who made

masks. //astyeyaFi told the Coyotes that he had with him an Indian, a dweller
on the earth, and the Coyotes answered, “ DzoFaakola. It is well.” //astyeyaFi
said to his party : “We must continue on our journey,” and they went on to a place
called DegozxtXa. where they found a Fox living. The spokesman said to the Fox :
“ We have an Indian with us. Do you like this ?” and the Fox replied : “ It is
well.” They journeyed on and came next to a place called Tse'yaZotyFa/ and
here they found the Owl, Naestya, who had met him many nights before and
spoken to him when he was camped alone, //astyeyaFi said to the Owl : “ We
have an Indian with us,” and the Owl answered : “ I know the man. It is well.”
From this place they journeyed on till they came to Kmahi and here they found
TsidiFoi, Shooting Bird, //astyeyaFi told him the same as he had told the others
and received the same reply. From Kmahi they traveled on to Kmhitsoi where
//astyeayuhi dwelt, and from there to the White Flouse in the Chelly Canon where
they met some of the Ga^asldFi. At each place //astyeyaFi spoke as he had spoken
at the other places and received the same reply. They came up from the Chelly
Canon, and came down through the Canoncito Bonito (where the Agency is now),
and went southward through the valley to Tse'^ezai, where they found //astye/il-
tsosi, a yei with a black face and a whistle, who dwelt among the rocks in a cave.
Inside of his house there was a white rainbow. Again //astyeyaFi said : “We have a
Navaho with us,” and the god replied : “ It is well.” They went on south from here
to a place called Tse‘no/oz or Striped Rock, where they found the Ni'ltyi Dine' or
Wind People. “ We have an Indian with us,” said //astyeyaFi. “ It is well,” said
one of the Wind People, and then to the Navaho, “ Henceforth you will be one of
the gods. You have breathed them in. They will be in the ends of your toes, in
the ends of your fingers, and all through your body.” They next came to a place
called Ivaitso, where stood the home of 7o‘nenili, to which he now returned say¬
ing : “This is my home; that of //astyeyaFi is far away in Tse'glhi ; but when
anything happens that concerns us both we meet at some place between our
homes and hold a council.” They traveled on and came next to a place called
NataZasai where stood the home of Z/astyeZo^'an, but not he who accompanied
the party. His house was made of blue sky ; on top of it grew four spruce trees ;
a white spruce in the east, a blue one in the south, a yellow one in the west, and a
black one in the north. On the top of the eastern tree there was a pigeon ; on
the top of the southern tree, a bluebird, on the top of the western tree a bird
called nikeni, and on the top of the northern tree a yellow-shouldered blackbird.
As the visitors entered the house all the birds whistled. //astyeyaFi said, as usual :
“We bring with us an Indian,” and /ZastyeZo^an answered: “It is well; but
now it would be well for you to take him to the house of his people. His father,
his mother, his brothers, and his little sister must long to see him again and no
doubt his heart yearns to see them once more. Take him to his home.” They
left this place and came to /ZaykanZatso. Here they found Coyotes, called Mai-
natle/e or Changing Coyotes. They were yei converted into Coyotes or having the
forms of Coyotes. They wore masks as did the Coyotes seen before, but they

differed from those in other ways. They had blue faces and yellow feet. From
the house of the Coyotes they journeyed on past Nahorfbola, past Sawsiltsoz,
above Acoma, past L6zbaito\ past DsiAbo/tn'ndi, Envy Mountain, to the north
of Tsotsi/, to a place called BeikiMotyeli, Broad Lake. Usually there is a
broad sheet of water there, but when they came there was no water, the bed
of the lake was dry. They started to cross this dry plain when a bighorn came
running from behind, touched 60 as he passed, and ran on ahead of the travelers.
But the instant the bighorn touched him, So became blind, and after that his com¬
panions had to lead him onward by the hand. They went next to a place called
KaidAtn. From there they went to Tse‘binaase/yi, thence to IiWestdia1 and
thence to To'altff d\, where they tarried awhile in a rock shelter, mixed some corn-
meal with water, and ate. In that rock shelter we still see the pictures of the
masks or faces of these yei. When they had finished their meal they went to
AistsosinflfejkU and from there they journeyed on to Na/^o^ej'kU where they rested
for a short time. While they were sitting, //astyeAni laid down the firebrand
which he had hitherto carried, and when they rose to journey on he forgot it and
left it behind him. When they arrived at YeYasitahi, Where Gods Sit High,
//astyeAni remembered his firebrand and said to his companions : “ Sike (My
boys) I have forgotten my firebrand and left it behind. What shall we do?”
and they replied : “ We may as well leave it there. We can use it in the future.”
That fire burns there to this day. It is now a burning coal-bank. 7/astyeyaLi
said : “ Perhaps, in the days to come great misfortunes may befall mankind, war
and disease ; then you may go back to your firebrand, light from it four other
fires, each at a different point and burn the world up.” Pursuing their journey,
they came next to Dsi/nahaj'kliUi, and next to Tse‘atyahi. As they were passing
this rock an antelope ran up from behind, as the bighorn had run up at Broad
Lake, and touched 60. The moment he touched the Indian, the latter was
stricken with “the warps”53 (naltff) and thenceforward his companions were
obliged to carry him. The next point on their journey was Tse‘kietff, where there
were pictures on a rock, and passing this they came to a steep rocky mountain
which lay directly across their path. Some advised that they should cross the
mountain by the shorter and more difficult trail, while others advised that they
go around the mountain by the longer and easier trail ; but they at last decided
on the shorter trail, hoping by it to reach Tse'gfhi the sooner. Thence they
went home to Tse'gfhi.

775. — The companions of So took him in and laid him down on a level piece
of ground (plaza) in the middle of the four rows of pueblo buildings. They went
into the White House in the east, where Great Wolf was chief and asked for
a medicine-man who could cure blindness and the warps ; but Maftso answered
that there was no one among his people skilled in curing these diseases. They
went into the Blue House where Fox was chief and made the same request ; but
the chief answered them as Great Wolf had done. They went to the Yellow
House in the west where Puma was chief, and there they met one of the twelve

2 10

Ga/zasldrtfi who bade them bring the invalid in to them. They took him in, as
directed by the Ga«aski<A. A long pit was dug to the east of the front door and
in this a fire was made. They placed pieces of firewood so that their tip ends were
directed to the east. When the wood was reduced to red coals, they covered
these completely over with a layer of fresh pinon branchlets ; over the pinon they
laid a covering of fresh cedar branchlets ; over these they laid a covering of the
plant tse'H, and on top of this they laid a covering of 7oika/. They carried the
Indian out and laid him upon this pile, his head to the house. They covered
him with a sheet of darkness, a sheet of blue sky, a sheet of yellow evening sky,
and a sheet of white daylight. They let him lie there awhile until he began to
perspire profusely. They applied to the sacred parts of his body the eight
plumed wands. After this was done he arose somewhat straighter than when he
lay down, but still needing assistance, and walked with one man supporting him.
His sight was partially restored. They took the plants and branches with which
the fire had been covered and laid them among the branches of a tree which stood
to the east. They took the coals out of the pit and cast them away. The Ganas-
kidi said to the Indian : “ When you find one of your people afflicted as you
have been you must do to him as we do to you.” This was all done early in the
morning and after the work was over, the whole party sat in the house all day
and did nothing more.

77 6. — The next day, early in the morning, a similar ceremony was performed
on the south side of the house, and on the third day it was performed on the
west side. After the third sweating he was able to see fairly well and could walk
a little without assistance. On the fourth day the work was repeated in the north,
with the head of the patient toward the house as on the previous occasions, and
when the work was done the patient was as well as ever. He could sit or lie
anyway he chose.

777. — Then So said : “ I would like to return to my people to-day,” and the
yei said : “ It is well.” He returned to his home in Kle/za/tn on a rainbow. He
went back to his mother ; he went back to his father ; he went back to his
brothers ; he went back to his sister. They were wild with joy ; they threw
themselves upon him and all embraced him at once and all wept at once. He had
been gone sixteen days. They asked him where he had been and what tidings
he had to tell, and he answered : “ If you wish to hear the news, build a hut on
the east side of our dwelling.” “ No,” said the youngest brother, “ the houses of
the yei are in the east. If we build you a house as they build theirs you may
become one of them, and they will take you away from us forever. Let us build
you a house in the west.” And No said : “ It is well.” So they built a hut to the
west of their dwelling and completed it in one day, and that night nothing was
done.

778- — The next day he bade one of his brothers to get for him a piece of the
root of tsasitsoz ( Yucca angustifolia). He said: “You must collect it in this
way : scrape the soil away from the root with your hand. With a stone arrow-

21 i

head cut out a piece about so long (indicating on his extended palm the distance
from the wrist joint to the end of the middle finger). When you have cut out
this, rub the divided ends of the plant with corn-pollen, place them together, pack
earth around them, and they will grow together again. Bring the piece that you
cut out to me.” When the piece of root (Galagos or /alawuc) was brought, 60
directed his sister to prepare with it a bowl of suds. He directed that five
branchlets of spruce be brought ; these he laid on the floor of the lodge in a
group, — one east, one south, one west, one north, and one in the center. On this,
in the center, he placed the bowl of suds. He selected his youngest brother as
the one to whom he should teach the rites. He made the latter disrobe and wash
himself all over with the suds. When the bath was done he directed another
brother to rub the candidate all over with white corn-meal to dry him. When
this was done, 6b began to tell his family (directing his speech more particularly
to his youngest brother) all his adventures, from the first day when he pursued
the bighorns into the canon until the day of his last return. When he had fin¬
ished his story he began to teach his brother the sacred songs. Ho remained in
the lodge twelve days and twelve nights teaching his brother the songs, describing
the ceremonies, showing him how the kethawns were made, and imparting to him
all that he had learned during his sojourn among the yei. When he had done,
he said: “Now, younger brother, that is all. You must do all these things
exactly as I tell you. If you make any mistakes you will become blind and
warped and crippled ; your mouth will be twisted. As long as you live, I want
you to do all these things exactly as I have shown you how to do them. Now,
my younger brother, I am going to leave you again.” As he said these words he
vanished. His brother was looking at him as he spoke ; but, all at once, he saw
him not.

77 9. — When 60 left the medicine-lodge, he rode on the white thunder to the
top of the mountain called TNohhi, and from there he went again to the home of
//astreyaki at Tse'gihi. //astyeyaki said to him : “ My grandchild, I see you
have returned.” 60 answered: “Yes, my grandfather, I have returned. I like
no longer to live among my own people. I feel lonely there. I love better the
dwellings of the yei.” “ It is well, my grandson,” said the yei. “ If you love us
better than your own people you may stay with us and we will plant gardens for
you.” Some of the yei then went out and planted for him corn, squashes, melons,
and beans, //astreyaki said to him: “Tell me which one of these houses you
would like to live in, and you may take one of the yebaad for a wife.” 60
answered : “ I will take a house for a dwelling, but I do not wish yet to wed any
of the women. Sometimes I will go around among them and visit them.” Be¬
sides the yei who dwell in the four rows of houses there were many more living
in cave-houses high up on the side of the canon. Looking up at these he observed
that many women were gazing out from the caves and from the windows of the
houses, and he sang a song to them.

78a — In twelve days from the time the corn was planted, the silk began to

2 I 2

form and the little squashes and melons had grown “ so big ” (sign : about the size
of a hen’s egg). So had told //astreyaRi that he had related all his adventures
to his youngest brother and had taught him concerning all the ceremonies, sacri¬
fices, pictures, songs, and prayers, //astyeyaki said : “Your brother has learned
all but one thing and that is how a certain picture is to be drawn.” The yei drew
the picture for So and said : “We will go to your brother’s home and draw this
picture and return the same day. There is no reason why you should sleep there
to-night.” No wept to think he would have to return again to his people, for he
had learned to love the yei.

781. — They all traveled — So and his six companions of old — on a rainbow,
from Tse‘gfhi toward Z^epe'ntsa. As they went along they often saw the heads
of yei, male and female, sticking out from under the roots of trees, from under
stones and from springs and swamps. When they got near his former home, his
companions said : “ There is the house of your people. Go thither and teach
your brother what we have shown you. We shall wait here till your return ;
come back to us when the sky is red.”

782. — When he met his brother he said : “ There is yet one thing more for

you to learn, it is a picture,” and he drew the picture for his brother. When he
had done he spoke again, saying : “ I draw this picture only to let you know

how the picture looks, but you must not try to draw it yourself. When you
have your dances, and sing your songs, you may make all the other pictures I
have shown you ; but not the one I show you now.” So the Navahoes do not
draw this picture now, and don’t even know what it was.

783. — So then said : “ Younger brother, I shall now leave you forever; you

will never see me again ; but when the summer comes you will watch for the
storms, and when you see the he-rain you will say, ‘ There is my brother,’ for I
shall be in the storm you behold.” As he spoke he disappeared and has never
since been seen except in the thunder showers of the summer.

III. The Stricken Twins

THE STRICKEN TWINS,

MYTH OF 7'0‘NASTSI//EG0 HATAl.

784. — This is a story about songs, which first became known to some of our
people who lived at a place called Inkestn/^onia4, which is south of and near
Tsehntyel,54 or Broad Rock in the Chelly Canon. They were learned from holy
people of the canon. Here in the woods, dwelt a family of five Indians : a
grandmother, her daughter, her daughter’s husband, and two children of these,
a boy and a girl. They were poor ; they had no sheep and no corn ; they lived
on woodrats, seeds, and wild fruit.

785. — The granddaughter, who was fourteen years old, but not yet a woman,
went out one day to the east of the lodge to hunt for /za.?kan, or yucca fruit.17 While
she was gathering the fruit, she heard a strange voice in the woods as if someone

were speaking to her in her own language. When she came home she related
the occurrence, but no one seemed to pay attention to her. The family thought
they had no neighbors. The next day she went to the south of the lodge, and
the third day she went to the west, to gather //a-dcan. On each occasion she
heard again the strange voice, and when she came home she told what had
happened, but no one heeded her.

786. — On the fourth day she went to the north, in the direction of Tse'intyel.
While she was gathering //ajkan under a cedar tree, she suddenly became aware
that someone was standing beside her, and looking up she beheld a man. It was
the //astaeyaki or Talking God of Tse'intyel, dressed in his mask and plumes
and garments of fine buckskin, just as //astreyaki is dressed in the Navaho cere¬
monies now. She was bashful and hung her head when she beheld the fine
stranger. “Why do you hang your head? Whence do you come?” he asked
her, although he knew all the time who she was and where she dwelt, and that
she was alone in the woods. Then he asked her many questions, but she only
hung her head and rubbed her feet together, as bashful virgins do when a man
speaks to them.

787. — He asked her these questions four times and on the fourth time he

added : “ Why do you not answer ? Are you deaf ? Are you so ugly that you
are loth to look up ?” At this she laughed and said : “ I fear to speak to you ;
you are such a fine man and a stranger besides.” He sat down under the cedar
tree near her, and said again : “ Whence do you come ? ” She answered : “ I have
lived in this neighborhood a long time.” Then in turn she asked him where he
lived, and she said : “ It is strange I have never seen your tracks in these woods,
nor the tracks of anyone but those of my own people.” “ I have been speaking
to you for four days,” he answered. “Why have you not seen me before ? My
home is in Tse'intyel. I have seen and known you for a longtime. I know the
time you started out to-day, and that is why I came over here to meet you. I
have come to seek you in marriage ; but I will not coax you or persuade you
against your wishes. If you do not wish to marry me, it is well.” She replied :
“ I have never been married before. We are not fitted for one another. You
are too fine a man for me. You are dressed in beautiful clothes, while I am
covered with poor rags. Then I fear my relations will scold me if I marry with¬
out their consent, and I fear to speak to them.” “You need tell no one about
it,” he said, “and I will do the same ; such is the custom among my people ; we
marry in secret and tell no one.” “ I am too poor to wed you,” she said again.
“ I have never been married and I fear I cannot keep the secret.” “ But I want
to marry you,” he persisted. “ It is for that reason I have sought you. No one
need ever know what we have done ” ; and so he continued to persuade her until
he had asked her and been refused four times. But at last she consented, and
they made mutual vows of secrecy. * * * *

788. — When //asUeyaki left her on this first occasion, she sat long and pon¬
dered on what she had done. She was filled with remorse and wept. She feared

to go home and face her parents lest they should learn her secret and kill her, but
at length she loaded her basket of /^a^kan on her back and went home.

789. - — When she got home her lips were parched in consequence of her anx¬
ious thoughts ; but she said nothing. They expected her to speak again of the
voices she had heard ; but she spoke not and they asked her no questions. Dur¬
ing the three following days she met //astfeyald again in the woods every day
when she went out to gather fruit ; but after the fourth meeting he came no
more. She kept her secret well ; but at length her people began to notice a
change in her appearance. Four months after meeting //astyeyaFi she felt
strange motions within her. She wanted to tell her sensations ; but all her rela¬
tions kept silence and no one led her on to speak.

790. — At the end of the ninth month twin boys were born to her ; and then

her relations, who had in the meantime removed their habitation, began to ques¬
tion her. “ When we lived at In^estn/zonia‘,” they said, “ on three different days,
when you returned from gathering /^ai'kan, you told us you heard voices in the
woods ; when you came home on the fourth day your lips were parched and you said
nothing. Was this the time when you knew the father of your children ?” She
made no answer. They kept this questioning up constantly for four days and
four nights, taking turns and keeping her from sleeping, thus hoping to force her
to tell her secret. At length she said that someone must have known her in her
sleep, and that she knew not who the father of her children was. Then
her grandmother threatened to kill her if she did not confess ; but her
brother thus pleaded for her : “ Ask her no more. Do not fret her to death

with questions. She knows no more than she tells you. Our numbers are few,
it is well they are increased ; there are two more men in the family ; let us be
thankful. Perhaps the rAgini (holy ones) have done this and perhaps they may
send us more.”

791. — After this they moved to various places in the neighborhood of their
first home — to Tse‘tlaha/4astn, to Kletsoidbza1 and to Ki/tsoibi//otyel, and they
lived in these places eight years while the boys grew to be fine-looking boys.
They looked much alike now and were of just the same height. At the age of
eight they began to wander a good deal from home. They often walked far
away and their people watched them closely lest they might some day wander too
far away and be lost. They watched them hard all summer and all winter.
Most of the time they made them sit behind the fireplace so that they could not
easily slip out unobserved ; but whenever they got out they were found again
far away.

792. — In the ninth year they had to watch them more closely than ever.
One day, about the time of the year when they were born, the boys one morning
asked permission to go out saying they would return soon ; but they did not
soon return and the elder people went out to bring them in. The latter sought
to follow the footprints of the boys ; they found four tracks of each leading east¬
ward from the lodge and there were no more, — there the trail ended. They then

hunted in different directions until sunset, when they gave up the search. They
came home very tired and lay down early ; but they could not sleep. The next
day they took an early breakfast and spent all the day searching for the boys, but
could not find them. They sought the boys again all day on the third day, but
in vain, and when they got home in the evening they talked for a long time over
the events of the day and they wondered how the tracks had ended so mysteri¬
ously and how the boys could have gone away and left no trail. On the fourth day
they hunted once more until sunset without success and when they returned to the
hut at night they said : “ Let us search once more for the children and if we do
not find them let us give up the search.” They remembered that when the children
were born, they had scolded the mother, threatening her life ; that only the plead¬
ings of the brother saved her, and that he then said he thought the twins might
be the children of one of the digim. Now they talked of all this and the mother
said she believed her children had gone to seek their father. On the fifth day
the family sought again for the children without success ; they returned weary to
the lodge some time before sundown and began to talk of the lost children.
While they were speaking the children suddenly entered the lodge, the elder
bearing the younger on his back — the one was blind, the other was lame.

793. — “ A/zalani, ^a^tsi'ni — Welcome, our children,” said the elders and they
wept and rejoiced over the returned ones. They asked the children where
they had been and what had happened to them, and the children told this story :
They had not wandered far from the lodge on the day of their departure
when they came to a rock-shelter where they sat down to rest. While they were
seated the roof of the shelter closed over and entrapped them. In the cave
thus formed they remained (as they now found) four days and four nights in
utter darkness. On the fifth day the rocks were opened by the god Hastsedil-
tsosi (pars. 824, 825,) and they were allowed to come out. Then they found that
one was lame and the other was blind, and they thought of the way of traveling
by which they came home, that the one who could walk should carry on his back
the one who could see. They thought it was //astyerthltsosi who had imprisoned
them in the rocks and cast the evil spell upon them.

794. — Now their people tried to cure the children by every means they
could think of ; they tried sage-brush and other herbs, but all without avail and at
last they abandoned all attempts as hopeless. In the meantime the children be¬
came a sore trouble to the family which had always been poor and found it diffi¬
cult to make a living for themselves. Here now were two grown children to be
provided for besides, who could gather no food and had to be attended as if they
were babies. They became at last weary of the children. They upbraided the
mother bitterly for having given birth to such progeny ; they implored her again to
declare who was the father of her children and they said to the children “ Be¬
gone. Go where you will, but leave us. Go far away and die somewhere.”
Then the children counseled together. “ Our people are weary of us,” they said.
“ What shall we do ?” The cripple said to the blind one : “ We must leave here.

2 16

You carry me out and I will guide you on your way. We shall pick berries while
we can find them. When the berries fail we shall play, and when we are too weak
to play we shall lie down and die.” “ Get on my back then,” said the blind one,
“and let us leave.” So the cripple mounted on his brother’s back.

795. — They left the lodge, traveled some distance to the east, and sat down
on the edge of a canon to rest. “ Here,” they said, “ we shall spend the night,
and in the morning we shall go elsewhere.” When they rose next morning they
thought they would have nothing to eat, but they soon discovered lying near
them two cakes made of the seeds of tlo/ahi ( Chenopodium fr emonti') baked in
the ashes. One said to the other : “ It is our father that has brought us this food.
Let us be thankful.” When they had eaten they counseled as to which way they
should travel that day, and they concluded to go to the south. The blind one
bade his brother to get on his back again ; they went to the south the same dis¬
tance that they had traveled the day before to the east, and they stopped for the
night. When they woke next morning about sunrise, the cripple turned on
his side and saw, within his reach, four fine ripe /za-skan fruit. He told his
brother ; they both gave thanks to the giver, lighted a fire, and roasted the
//a-sTan. After they had eaten they held another council and decided to go to
the west. They traveled in this direction till they came to the edge of a canon,
where they spent the night. When they rose on the fourth morning it was late ;
the sun had risen high. The cripple found lying near him four ears of corn in
the husks ; but the husks were partly opened and he saw that the first ear of corn
was white, the second blue, the third yellow, and the fourth had grains of all
colors. They gave thanks to the one who had given them the corn. They
lighted a fire, roasted the corn, and divided equally between them, taking two
ears each. It was //astireyald who had laid the food beside them every night
while they slept, and the corn which he now gave them was from the home of the
yei at Tse'intyel. All this time they did not go very far from their home and
they did not keep going in one direction, for they still hoped that some of their
relations might come looking for them. They held another council. “ You must
decide on the trail for to-day,” said the elder. “No,” said the younger, “you
must decide for you are the older brother.” They went that day to the north,
the blind boy carrying the cripple as usual ; but they did not yet go very far from
the hut for they still had hopes that their people might take pity on them and
seek them. When night came they lay down to sleep and said : “ To-morrow
we shall decide which way we shall travel.” All this time they had slept warm
every night, they knew not why ; but it was because //astyeyald had covered
them with Lra/ye/ be/kla^i, the blanket of darkness. In the morning, before they
woke, he came and took it off.

796. — It was nearly noon on the fifth day when they woke. The cripple, as
usual, was the first to wake. When he opened his eyes he saw near him a small
bowl, “ so big ” (about two inches) with something yellow in it which he supposed
to be a mush made of corn-pollen, and he tasted it. When each had eaten four

2 I 7

morsels of the mush he declared to the other that his hunger was satisfied and
that he cared to eat no more, although there was some food left in the little bowl.
The blind one asked : “ How much is left?” The cripple looked again and an- '

swered : “ It is as full as ever.” Then they began to talk about what they

should do with the mush in the bowl ; but while they were talking //ast.yeyal?i
came, unperceived, and took the bowl away. The boys hunted a long time for
the bowl and went a good distance from their camping-place to find it ; but they
could not find it, so they gave up the search and sat down to consider what they
should do next. “We have camped for four nights near the house of our kin¬
dred,” said one to the other, “yet no one has come to seek us as they used to
do. Truly they must have abandoned us.” Then the boys wept and the younger
said : “ You are the elder, you must say what we shall do now.” Then the elder
said : “ Let us go to the north, to Tse'gi (Chelly Canon). We have heard that
the digim dwell there. Perhaps they may take pity on us.” The blind boy took
the cripple on his shoulders and they traveled northward until they reached the
canon. They descended by a trail that led past some rocky pinnacles called
Tse'nesge/, and past Tsefintyel and they camped in the valley below Tse'Intyel
that night. They slept warm for their father as before, unperceived by them,
covered them with the blanket of darkness.

797. — In the morning, early, they were aroused by the distant call of
//astyeyaLi, “ Wu‘-hu‘-hu‘-hu ! ” The blind boy woke first. The call was re¬
peated, as usual, four times, each time louder, and immediately after the fourth
call 7/astyeyal?i, their father, appeared to them, and addressed them, saying :

“ Whence come you, my grandchildren ? ” He addressed them as grandchildren
although he well knew they were his own sons. The blind boy said to his
brother : “ Look well, and tell me what sort of a person this is who calls us his
grandchildren.” The cripple replied : “ It is none of our people. This man
wears beautiful plumes on his head and is dressed in fine clothes. He must be
one of the tffigmi.” “Look closer, younger brother,” said the blind boy, “and
tell me more about how he looks.” “ I am ashamed to look again,” said the crip¬
ple, “ he is so beautifuly dressed, he is such a grand man.” “ Whence come you,”
the holy one asked again and again. When he had asked for the fourth time
one of the twins replied: “We come from InYestn/zonia‘. There dwell our
mother, her brother, our grandfather and grandmother and great-grandmother.
Our people drove us out and told us to begone. We wept and came away.”
“And why did they drive you out?” asked //astyeyald. The twins then told
him their story: how they had wandered to the rock shelter ; how the shelter had
closed around them and held them fast ; how at length when the rocks were
opened they found that one was blind and the other lame ; how the blind boy
took the lame boy on his back, and how they found their way home. They told
what means had been tried to cure them and how their grandparents at last got
tired of them and drove them away. In few words they told the story of their
lives ; but when he asked them how they came to be disabled they could only

say they did not know. “ I will think if something may be done to help you,”
said //ast.yeyaki. He had in his hand a little bowl that, to the boys, seemed to
be the same bowl out of which they had eaten the day before ; it contained a
fine white meal called yis/e/kai.11 He bade the cripple mix a little water with this
and make a paste. The boys ate till their hunger was completely satisfied, yet
when they were done the bowl was as full as in the beginning ; but //astyeyaki
put it to his lips and emptied it with one lick of his tongue.

798. — He said then to the twins : “ See yonder great rock (pointing to Tse‘-
Intyel), on its east side there is an arch of rainbow. Touch the rock under the
rainbow arch and you may enter ; but tell no one who it was that showed you the
way. The //lgini (holy ones) dwell there.” Then he disappeared. The boys
went as they were bidden. They saw on the rock an arch of rainbow, but the bow
was only of two colors, and they saw no door under it ; but when they touched
the rock as they had been told to do, a door flew open and they passed through.
They came into a chamber where they saw no one ; but in the opposite wall they
beheld a door and over this there was an arch of rainbow of three colors. They
touched this door as they had touched the first wall and it flew open, revealing a
second chamber. They stood outside the door a little while and peered in, but
they saw no one, and entered. Then they observed in the opposite wall, another
door, and over this a rainbow arch of four colors (z‘. <?., a four-colored rainbow).
They passed through the third chamber and struck the door. When it flew open
it revealed another apartment. This, too, was empty, but in the opposite wall
was a door and over this a rainbow arch of five colors.14 The door was covered
with beautiful rock crystals that gleamed like stars. On beholding it the lame
boy cried out to his brother : “ This door shines so brightly that I fear to touch
it, and I am ashamed to enter such a beautiful house.” They stopped before the
door and counseled with one another for some time ; at last they said : “What
will it avail us if we return ? And perhaps this is the last door. Let us go on.”
So the cripple touched this door and it flew open as the doors before had flown
open. When they looked first into the fourth room they saw no one, but when
they had gotten to the middle of the room the cripple became conscious that they
were not alone ; looking around he found the place filled with the holy ones ; he
was ashamed and hung his head. The blind one stopped, for he heard voices.
The d mini knew the twins were coming- and were waiting- for them.

799. — The chief, //astye/zo^an, was talking. “ Which one among you,” he
said, “ has revealed to the People on the Earth 55 the way to our house ? These
are the first of them we have ever seen in our dwelling. It must be someone
here who has betrayed the path. Which one is it?” Nayenezgani, who was
there, said: “ It is not I.” 7o‘badmstj>fni, his brother, said : “ It is not I.” Then
//astyeokoi, Dsahakold-sa, Gazzaskiz/i, //astyebaka, //astyebaad, //astye/tyi,
//asty&zini and even //astyeyaki, the guilty one, each in turn denied that he had
revealed the way. “We have never visited or spoken with the People on the
Earth,” some said. Others said : “ Ask //astyeayuhi, he is a great rambler ; he

goes everywhere ; perhaps it is he who has told.” But //astyeayuhi spoke : “ It
is true, I go everywhere and travel far, yet I never met these people.” Some
accused //astyekiltsosi, saying he too was a great rambler, but he denied as
//astyeayuhi had done. They accused //astydekoz/i, but he denied it and said he
was a person fond of home who never traveled much. Some suggested that
To'nenili might be the guilty one, as he was a great buffoon and was always going
about and playing pranks ; but he declared his innocence. “ //astyeeltlihi is
another who travels much. Let him speak. Perhaps he had dealings with
these people,” said another ; but //astyeeltlihi denied that he had ever spoken
with the People on the Earth (Ni‘na/zoka/i/me‘).55 These mentioned were all
chiefs among the z/igfni, and when they had done questioning the chiefs they
questioned all of inferior degree who were present ; but all these too denied that
they had told any of the People on the Earth how the house might be entered.

800. — When the holy ones had all been questioned, //astye/zo^an began to
question the boys. “ Whence come you ? Are you holy people or are you
People on the Earth?” “We are of the People on the Earth,” the boys
answered. “We come from Inz/estyf/zonia‘, which is over in that direction (point¬
ing). We were born and reared there, and there dwell our mother, our uncle,
our grandfather, and grandmother.” The yei asked them how they came to be,
— the one blind and the other crippled. The children told the whole story of
their misfortune and wanderings ; how they were driven forth from their home,
and how they came to wander into the Chelly Canon. When they had finished
their story, //ast-ye/zo^an asked them (four times) which one among those present
had revealed to them the way to enter the home of the holy ones, but they replied
that no one there had told them. Then he asked : “ Why do you come to us ?
What is it that you want ? Of what were you thinking and of what were you
talking when you entered here?” “We came to find some one who would take
pity on us,” said the blind one. “ I came to have my eyes restored, and my
brother came to have his limbs restored as they were before the evil spell was
cast upon us.” “ I know not how to cure either the blind or the lame,” said
//astye/zo^an, “but here is Nayenezgani, who can cure you.” At this Nayenez¬
gani said he had not the power, but that his brother 7b‘bad,dstymi had.
7b‘bad,sistymi said he did not know how to cure these maladies but that
//astyeokoi did. They ail knew how to work the cure ; but they did not want to
take the trouble. So in turn each of the following gods, Dsahaz/old-sa, Gazzaski/i,
//astyebaka, Z/astyebaad, //astye/tyi, //astyeAni, Z/astyeyaki, //astyeayuhi, Z/astye-
Ziltsosi, Z/astyeeko/i, 7b‘nemli, andk/astye&ltlihi were called upon, and each in turn
denied his power to cure, Z/astye/zo^an turned to them all and said : “Are there
none among ye who can make the blind to see and the cripple to walk ? ” With
one voice they all said “ No,” though they all lied. Then he told the children of
a place called Tse'biniyi, near Tse'intyel, where holy ones also dwelt, among
whom they might find some one who could cure them. The blind boy took the
cripple on his back and departed.

801. — They went on toward Tse‘biniyi. As they were crossing an arroyo
the cripple saw some cactus with ripe fruit ; bidding his brother to stop, he dis¬
mounted and both set to eating the fruit. While they were eating the divine
ones of Tsehntyel sent word to those of Tse'biniyi that the strangers were coming
to them. When the boys approached the rock they saw a rainbow arch of two
colors ; they touched the rock under this arch and at once a doorway opened for
them. They stood a moment outside and the cripple peered in. “ How does it
look inside?” said the blind one. “The room is empty,” said the cripple “ It
looks just like the first room we entered at Tse'intyel, and on the opposite wall I
see a rainbow of three colors.” They passed through this vacant apartment,
touched the door under the rainbow, and the door opened as before to allow them
to pass. Thus they went through three chambers, as they had done at Tse'Intyel,
until they came to a shining crystal door under a bow of five colors, such as they
had seen at Tsehntyel. They touched this and entered the fourth apartment,
which at first seemed empty as before ; but when they reached the middle of the
room they found it filled with the holy ones, who had heard of their coming and
awaited them there. These seemed to the children to be just the same people
they had met at Tse'intyel and their father was among the number. He was in
hope that some of the other yei might do something to cure his children. This
was always on his mind and for this reason he went around from place to place
wherever they went. //astye/zo^an was speaking in an angry voice. He said :
“These are people who should never have been allowed to enter here. They
smell badly. They should be put out. What do you want from us ? (this to the
twins). If you wish to have your diseases cured why do you come to us? The
People on the Earth understand how to treat disease. Whence do you come,
and who told you there was a house here?” One of the boys replied that their
home was at Inz/estH//onia‘, and he went on to tell the whole of their sad story,
all over again. “We went to Tsehntyel to be cured but the divine ones there
said they could not cure us and sent us here. It was they who told us of your
house. Is there no one among you who can make the lame to walk and the blind
to see?” “No,” said //astye/zo^an, “among all the holy ones here there are
none who can help you ; but there are other z/igfni dwelling near who can help
you. Try those at Kininaekai ” (White House, par. 390). Hearing this the
twins departed.

802. — The sun was setting when they came out. While they were on the
trail that led to Kininaekai darkness fell on them as they reached an old ruin,
which was a ruin even in those ancient days, and here they lay down and slept.
When they wakened in the morning the cripple saw two ears of roasted corn, one
yellow and one white, lying beside them. He told his brother what he had found
and the blind one said : “ Let us thank the giver. You eat the yellow ear and I
shall eat the white one.” When they had eaten the corn he said : “ Let us
go on. We have nothing to hope from those we left behind ; they even gave us
nothing to eat. If those we are going to visit cannot cure us they may at least

22 1

take pity on us and give us some food.” The people of the White House had
been notified by their neighbors of the approach of the strangers ; they had held
a council and had determined to admit the boys into the houses at the bottom of
the cliff but not into those in the cave above. As the boys came around a jutting
cliff and came in sight of the White House, a great crowd was gathered to receive
them, at the bottom of the cliff, for those at the White House had heard of this
strange pair and their odd way of traveling. The father of the boys was among
the crowd. When they arrived where the crowd stood the cripple said to his
brother : “We are surrounded by a multitude of d'lgfni who are so beautifully
dressed that I fear to look at them. I fear to approach them ; ” but the blind one
made answer : “ It is of no use that we change our minds now. We cannot
go home, we have no home to go to.”

803. — The crowd opened for them and they entered one of the houses.
“ Why do you stand?” said one of the ^/lgini. “ Why are you not seated ? Sit
down and rest until the chiefs come down from Kininaekai. They may have
something to say to you.” In a little while the chiefs came and one of them was
accompanied by two sons and two daughters. “Who are these people?” said
one of the chiefs, “To what race do they belong?” Those standing around
replied : “We know nothing about them ; we know not whence they come ; we
have never seen such people before.” At length the father of the twins said : “ I
know something about them. They belong to a race called the Ni‘na//oka^ine‘, or
People on the Earth. Have you never heard of them?” The chief answered :
“ Yes they are something of that kind. I know what they are now.” Then turn¬
ing to the twins he said : “ What do you seek ? The People on the Earth
know nothing of this place. They never come down here.” “ Grandfather,”
said the elder boy, “it is not for nothing that we come this way.” Then he told
briefly the story of their lives and their misfortunes and ended by saying: “We
came hither hoping to find some one who could cure us.” “ Do you bring fine
beads with you ? ” asked the chief. “ Do you bring with you white shell ? Do
you bring turquoise ? Do you bring haliotis shell ? Do you bring cannel-coal ?
Do you bring rock crystal ? Do you bring tobacco ? Do you bring feathers of
the bluebird ? of the yellowbird ? of the eagle ? of the turkey ? ” And thus
he asked them, one after another, if they brought the sacred things which the
holy ones demanded for the treatment of disease (par. 235). To each question
the children answered “No,” and at last they said : “We bring none of these
things. We are poor. See how we stand. We have not even moccasins or
leggings to protect our limbs from the thorns of the cactus.” //asUeAo^an then
said : “ I know not how to cure your diseases ; but ask these people around you ;
some of them may know.” Then turning to the assembled crowd he asked :
“ Do any of you know how to cure the diseases of these children ? ” They all said
“ No,” except the father of the twins, who was present and he said nothing.
They all looked closely at the children but no one offered food. //asUe/zo^an
said : “ There is another place here which is the home of holy ones. It is the

branch of the canon that comes from the north and it is called LXtsxth aa‘ Red
Promontory. There perhaps they may help you.” Hearing this, the blind boy
took the cripple on his back and the two departed.

804. — The holy ones rose as their visitors left and then the voice of //astre-
yald, their father, was heard. He said : “ I am sorry none of you will help these
children. In every place they have been they have hoped that some one would
offer to cure them ; but no one offers.” They all listened to his voice and were
quiet. When he had spoken some one asked : “ Why do you plead for them ?”
He answered : “ Because they are things for us to pity. One is blind and he car¬
ries the helpless one who sees. They are poor, hungry and helpless. It makes
me sad to look at them. Some one should take pity on them. This is why I
spoke for them. The People on the Earth, I pity them all.” //astre/zo^an then
said : “ Surely we would take pity on them and cure them, but they bring not the
gifts which we must receive when we cure disease.” The twins did not hear
these remarks. They were far on their way returning when the last words were
said about them.

805. — They passed by Tse'biniyi on their way and one proposed that they stop
there again but the other said : “ Alas ! no. They would not help us before and
they surely will not help us if we try again.” As they passed, the people of Tse'biniyi
looked at them from their doors and windows and said : “ There go those people
returning who came to see us yesterday.” The people of Tsefintyel were also at
their doors and windows on the lookout for the strangers ; they thought the
twins were coming back to them ; but when the children got near Tsefintyel they
turned to one side and passed by. For as they approached Tsehntyel the cripple
said : “ Let us go back to Tsehntyel, we now draw near to it ” ; but the blind one
said : “ It would be of no use. They did not help us before and they would not
help us now.” “ I see the z/iglni at their doors,” said the one. “ They only
laugh and mock us,” said the other. So the children went on up to ZitriMaa* to
find out what kind of a place it was and if the people there would be kinder
to them than the others were. As they neared the place the cripple
saw that some people stood outside waiting for them. The z/igfni here had heard
that some of the People on the Earth were coming to visit them. This house was
in a cliff of red sandstone and it had rainbows to show where the doors were, like
those in the other houses they had visited. When they got near the house the
multitude had- disappeared and no one was to be seen. They went up, touched
the rock under the rainbow as they had done elsewhere and a door opened for
them.

806. — When they entered the first room they saw it was red, like the red
rock of the outer cliff ; but the room was empty and the boys talked between
themselves and said they thought no one lived there ; but soon they beheld a
rainbow arch on the opposite side and touching the wall under this a door opened
and they entered the second chamber. Crossing this they touched the wall under
another rainbow and soon entered a third chamber. On the opposite wall of the

third room there was no rainbow but a .ra'bitlo/ or sunbeam instead and under
this there was no crystal door as there had been in the other houses ; but the wall
was smooth and even, like the face of a cliff. They began to fear that no one
lived here but soon they heard the sound of voices beyond the wall ; they touched
it ; a door opened for them and they stepped into the fourth chamber. They
found the room filled with holy ones called //asud/td or Red Yei (par. 96).
The Red Yei were all standing as the boys entered and they looked down on
them. These holy ones were more numerous and finer looking than any they
had seen before and they had many young men and young women among them.
“ Who are these strangers who have come to see us ?” “ To what tribe do they

belong?” “Who knows them ?” Such were the questions which the Red Yei
asked of one another, and the answers were : “We know them not,” “We have
never seen such people before.” During the time the yei were talking, the blind
boy stood in the middle of the floor bearing the cripple on his back. The father
of the twins was present again and at length some one asked him if he knew who
the strangers were. He only answered : “ They belong to a race called the
Ni‘na/zokaZ/ine‘ or People on the Earth.” The chief then bade the boys to walk
around the room from the east, as the sun moves, back to the east again. He
bade them be seated in the center of the room and asked them why they had
come to visit the house of the Red Yei. “ I am blind,” said the elder boy, “my
brother is crippled. We hope that some one may take pity on us and cure us.
We have been sent here by the holy ones of Ivininaekai. Our mother has tried
all remedies she could think of, but has done us no good and has given us up to
die. We want to find some one who will pity us and cure us ; but besides we are
now very hungry and would thank you for something to eat.” “ Have you a
basket of turquoise?” asked the chief. “No” they answered, “we have not.”
“ Have you a basket of white shell ?” he asked, but again they said they had not.
Thus he went on and named one at a time all of the sacred gifts (par. 235) and
asked the twins if they had it ; but to each question they said “No,” and at last
they said : “ We are poor. We have nothing. We know not how to get these
things ourselves and there is no one who will give them to us.” “You must have
these things to offer us, or we cannot help you. I cannot cure your eyes if you
have not these things. I cannot cure your limbs if you have not these things,”
said the chief. “ But perhaps the //astre/zo^'an of Tse'intyel may help you and
here now among us is //astjreyaRi of Tsefintyel (indicating their father) ; perhaps
he may cure you. Besides, it is not our province to cure. We are the bearers
of the whip. We are the people of racing. It is our duty to punish those run¬
ners who lose in the race” (par. 96). Being again refused, the blind one took
the cripple on his back and set forth on his journey. As they left they heard
//astreyaRi saying to the chief of the Red Yei : “You should take pity on these
people ; they may be relations of yours.”

807. — They went toward Tsefintyel and soon after they were gone their
father quitted the house at ZitnMaa', and laid on the trail, where the boys must

pass, some branches of ^asUe/'a ( Lycium pallidum) covered with ripe fruit.
The boys ate of these berries till they were satisfied and continued on their
way. They went up to Tsefintyel and knocked on the wall under the rainbow
of two colors as they had done before, but the door did not open. They
knocked four times, harder each time, but still the door opened not. After
the fourth knock a voice was heard crying from within : “Who stands there?”
and one of the boys replied : “ It is we who have been here before, one bearing
the other on his back.” The voice from within cried out: “You cannot enter
here. Go over to Tse‘biniyi ; perhaps there they will let you in.” The twins
said, one to another: “It will profit us nothing to remain here. Let us do
as we are bidden. Let us go to Tse‘biniyi, perhaps there the door may open
for us.” When they got a little distance from Tsefintyel, the cripple looked back
and saw the people outside looking at them and laughing.

808. — They went to Tse‘biniyi and knocked as they had done at TseTntyel,
but the door opened not and no one spoke. Thus they knocked four times
and waited each time for something to happen. After the fourth knock a voice
within cried: “Who is it that wishes to enter?” and one of the twins replied:
“ It is two who were here before, one bearing the other on his back.” The
voice within called again to them saying : “You cannot enter here again. Go on
once more to Kininaekai, perhaps there the yei may open the door for you.” So
the twins went on to Kininaekai, to the place near the house at the base of
the cliff where they had met and talked with the rtfigini on the previous occasion.
Here they stood for some time hoping some one would come out to speak
to them ; but nobody coming, they sat down and waited a while longer.
At length they saw some one approaching. He was the Afastj-eyal/i of
Kininaekai. “Do you still loiter around here, grandchildren?” he said.
“ I pity you, I am sorry for you ; but there is no use in your staying in this
canon. All the holy ones are laughing at you, and none of them will help you.”
“Very well, our grandfather, we loiter around here only because we still hope
that some one may take pity on us. We have heard that the holy ones can
cure our diseases, and it is for this reason that we remain.” “It is no use,
your remaining here. We can do nothing for you. Leave this canon and
go elsewhere.” “It is well,” said they. “We shall do as you bid us.” When
they had thus promised //ast.yeyal/i, the cripple said to his brother : “ Elder
brother, you are the elder, say you which way we shall now go.” But the elder
brother would not decide, so they sat and counseled a long time about what
they should do. In the end they decided to go back to their old home
again, and they turned their faces toward In^estA/zonia'. When they had
gone a little way, the cripple looked back toward Kininaekai and saw the
people there, gathered outside of the houses, laughing at the twins and mocking
them. They slowly climbed the walls of the canon and went on to their old
home.

809. — From a distance their people saw them coming and said : “ Here are

those troublesome children coming back to us again.” When the children
arrived at the door of the hut their people forbade them to enter ; they told
them in angry tones to begone ; they did not even offer them anything to eat.
The children said one to another, “There is no use in our ‘trying to enter here.
Let us go back to ZitnMaa' again.” “ But what shall we do in the meantime
for something to eat?” “ Let us go where the /zastre?a ( Lycium berries) grew,
we may find some more berries there to eat.” They went back over a place
called ZitsoiYeza* (Yellow Earth Sticks Up). The sun set at a place where
they had encamped before and here they lay down and slept.

810. — At daylight next morning they were wakened by the voice of a yei.
It sounded as usual four times, each time louder and nearer, and after they
heard the last call, their father approached them. “There is no use in your
coming hither,” he said. “ The people here will never help you. Go to
Tse'^ini (Black Rock), the digim there may take pity on you and cure you.”
Then he gave them of yis?elkai (a fine white meal n) mixed with pollen in a
bundle about the size of the doubled fists, and a small yellow cup, of such size
as might be surrounded by the thumb and index finger. “ Do not use much
of this meal,” he said ; “ only so much as you may pinch up thus (with tips of
four fingers and thumb). Put it into the bowl and mix it with water. Should
you meet some one who asks you what you live on and where you get your
food, never show them these things, never tell them that you have them,
and should they find them on you, never say that //astreyaLi of Tse'intye
gave them to you.” Before he parted with them he said: “You will meet
me again in other places.” They had not gone far on their journey when
they found themselves near Tsefintyel again. The people of this place came
out to look at them and laugh at them, but //astyeyal/i did not laugh. He
said : “ You should not laugh at these poor children. Perhaps they are your
kindred.”

81 1. — At TseLini there were two houses in a black rock, one to the east,
another to the west. The children approached the one in the east, and saw a
rainbow of two colors hanging over a black door. They touched the door ; it
flew open and they entered a room whose walls were made of smooth pasAni or
cannel-coal. The room was empty. Then, as in the other houses, they passed
through two more doors and two more empty rooms, all lined with the black pas¬
sim until they came to the fourth door, over which hung a rainbow of five colors.
When they arrived at this door they heard voices on the other side of it. When
they entered the fourth apartment they had to descend a flight of four steps, so
when they reached the floor they found themselves near the middle of the room
and surrounded with an assemblage of digini of two kinds — the //astydsmi or
Black Yei and the Tmykagi. Unlike the yei at other places, these had no fore¬
warning of the approach of the twins and were not aware of their presence until
the children stood in their midst. The yei bade the children be seated and asked
them: “How did you know that there were houses here?” The children

remained silent. “ Did the d\gm\ of TseTntyel tell you ? Did those of Kininae-
kai tell you ? Did those of Zitn7/zaa‘ tell you ? We have heard of your visit to
these places. We have heard of the strange pair who travel around, one bearing
the other on his back. Tell us of your travels. Tell us what happened to you
at these different places.” The children spoke: “We have been to TseTntyel ;
we have been to Tse'biniyi ; we have been to Kininaekai at the foot of the cliff,
and we have been to Z,itn?/zaa‘. At all these places we met the holy ones but
they refused to help us and sent us on to another place. A second time we re¬
turned to every place, for they told us a second time to go to them ; but on our
second journey we were not even allowed to enter the houses. Voices from
within told us to go on. When at all places we had been told that on one could
help us, we left the canon and returned to our old home at In^estff/£onia‘ ; but
there we were driven away with angry words, by our own people. Then we came
here hoping that some of the holy ones at Tsefdni might take pity on us.” “At
what place were you, when they told you to come here ? Where were you when
you were told that your legs and eyes could be cured here ?” “ At every place

we were sent to another place. At last we were told to come here.” “ Did you
get anything to eat at the places you visited?” “ No, we got nothing to eat.”
“ Were you born, the one blind and the other a cripple ?” “ No, we were born

sound. We are twins.” “ Who was your father?” “ That is a question we have
asked our mother and she has told us she does not know.” Such were the ques¬
tions asked by the yei and such the answers given by the twins. Then the yei
said : “We can cure the eyes of the blind and the limbs of the lame, and the holy
ones you have visited should have the same power ; but there are certain gifts we
should receive before we can perform the cure. Have you white shell ? Have
you turquoise ? ” and thus he named all of the sacred things that the yei require.
To each question the children answered “ No” and when he had named them all,
they said : “We are poor, we have none of these things and we know not how to
get them.” “ Alas, we cannot cure you unless you bring these offerings with
you,” said the yei. “Go hence to Tse‘/za/?a/ (Fallen Rock) ; perhaps there they
may cure you for nothing. Here we cannot. There is no use in your waiting
here.” So the cripple mounted on the back of his blind brother and they went
away. See par. 102 et seq.

812. — They went along the edge of this Black Rock and they came to Beiki?-
>4alkai or White Lake ; thence they went to Nagoselini or Place-where-tobacco-
pipes-are-made,56 and thence to Sayitsosi or Slender Sand-hill which was a house
in those days. As they approached the house they met //aze/kai, White Squir¬
rel, who said to them : “ Do not seek to enter that house, you were not told to go
there, you were bidden to go to Tse‘/za/?a/. Keep on therefore until you find it.”
They went on in the direction of Tsozzsila, but as they approached it they met one
of the Saline or Bear People, who said: “ Do not come hither, this is the way
to Tsozzsila.57 Go on in that direction to Tse‘/za/?a/, as you have been told.” After
they parted with the Bear Man they went to Pe^/itjri'bigel, Queue of Red Knives,

and next they went to Tse/zaFa/. This name means Fallen Rock, for it appears
in this place as if a part of the mountain had dropped out. There was a little
open park in the woods at the foot of this mountain, and as the twins were cross¬
ing the opening the dwellers of Tse7zaFa/ beheld them coming. At this place
there was a //asts-eyaFi and a //asUe/zo^an, as there were at all the other dwell¬
ings of the holy people, and they were the chiefs. When the twins were observed,
//astreyaFi told //ast^eeFo7 i to go and meet the travelers and see who they were.
When //astyeeFoz/i met them he said : “Are you Ni'na/zokaFz/Ine ? ” and they an¬
swered : “ We are.” “ From what place do you come ?” he asked. “ We come
from a place called Tse7ini. It was the holy ones there who told us to come to
the place called TseVzaFa/.” “Sit here, then,” said the yei, “until I go back and
tell my people who you are that are coming to them.” When //astyeelzW i re¬
turned he related that the travelers were a strange pair who had been sent to them
by the gods of Tse'^ini ; that one was blind and one was crippled and that the
blind one bore the cripple on his back. “ Why do they come, and what shall we
do about their coming ? ” said the chief. “ They probably come here for a purpose
since they were sent here,” said the messenger, //ast see\/od i was then sent back
to walk in front of the twins and lead them in, — so he went over to them again
and they followed him to the house. They did not have any doors to open this
time, for //astyeeFoz/i, going in advance, opened the doors for them.

813. — They passed; as in other places, through three empty rooms and in the
fourth room they found the people assembled and waiting for them. The doors
of the different rooms had rainbows over them ; but besides a bow of five colors
the door of the fourth room had, on each side, dark kethawns (kez'an d i/yi'/).
The chief asked them to sit down and asked them to tell their story, who they
were, whence they came, and what they sought. The cripple briefly related their
history from the beginning and ended saying : “We have visited all these places
and in all we have been refused help. In the last place we visited they told us to
come here ; they said they thought you could help us, and so we have come in the
hope that you might do so.” //astreyaFi said: “The people at Tsefs'ini were
mistaken about me at least, 1 cannot help you ; but here is //astre/zo^an — perhaps
he may have the power to cure you.” But //astye/zo^an denied his power to heal,
and thus each of the other chiefs in turn, being asked, said they had not the power
to heal the children. The //astyeyaFi directed that they be taken out of the
house and be led around it sunwise until they reached the north ; that there they
be carefully directed how to get to 7dlntya and that they be told to go to that
place. All was done as he had bidden and the twins departed for 7oint.ya (Tu-
nicha Mountains).

814. — As they were approaching this place the people saw them coming,
while they were yet a good way off, and To'nemli, the Water Sprinkler, was sent
to meet them, to see who they were and, if they were the People on the Earth, to
bid them approach no nearer. When To'nenili met them he said : “ Who are
you? If you are of the Ni‘na/zokaF7ine‘ you cannot enter our house and must

come no nearer.” The children answered : “ We are truly of the Ni‘na/zoka77ine‘;
but we have already been in the houses of other divine ones. We have been in
Tse7m//a/ and the people there showed us the way to your house and told us to
come hither.” “Sit here then and wait,” said To'nenili, “till I return to my
people and tell //astyeyabi what you have said. Perhaps he will bid you to come
to him.” When To'nenili went back he told //astyeyabi what he had heard from
the children and he described them and the queer way in which they were travel¬
ing. “It is well,” said the chief, “bring the children hither. We have never
seen any of the People on the Earth and we would all like to know how they
appear.” 7o‘nenili went back to the children and led them to the house — he
going in advance. They did not need to open the doors on this occasion, either,
for 7o‘nenili, going before them, did this.

815. — They passed as usual through three empty rooms and through four
doorways. Over each doorway was a rainbow such as they saw in the other
houses. The last doorway was not only arched by a rainbow of five colors but
it had on one side a black kethawn and on the other a blue kethawn. The fourth
room in this abode was the handsomest they had seen yet in any of the abodes ;
the walls were lined with gleaming crystals that emitted a beautiful light, and
they found the room thronged with people who stared rudely at them, //astye¬
yabi bade them be seated and turning to those who sat around, said : “ Do not
look so curiously at the children. Wherefore do you stare at them so ? ” Then
he said to the children : “ I hear you are of the Ni‘na//oka//ine‘,” and the children
answered : “ We are.” “ And I learn that you come here from Tse‘//a/?a/.” They
replied : “ Yes, the /lgini of Tse7/aba/ sent us here.” “ And where do you come
from beyond that place ? ” he said. “We come from In/estyi7/onia‘ ; we were born
there,” they replied. “Were you born thus maimed?” he continued. “Was
one of you born blind and the other born lame?” “ No,” they said, “we were
born sound,” and then they went on and rehearsed the sad story of their lives as
they had often told it before. They named all the houses of the Yigini they had
visited and told how they had been repulsed there ; but they never told the things
that //astyeyabi of Tse'intyel had forbidden them to reveal. “ When we left
Tse‘^a/?a/ they told us to come here and that is why we are here now. We hope
you can cure us. We have heard you holy ones know everything. We were
happy in the old days when both of us could see and both of us could walk, and
we want to find some one who will restore us again as we were in those happy
days.” When they had finished their story 7/aste.yyabi said : “ The People on
the Earth have many things which we have not ; but which we would be glad to
have. They have cigarettes and enjoy the pleasure of smoking ; they have white
beads and turquoise and haliotis shells,” and thus he went on, naming as others
before him had named, the sacred things that the yei prized (par. 235). “ When

we heard you were coming we hoped you might be bringing these things with
you.” “ We are poor, we have nothing,” said the twins. “ Had we had these
things before, we need not have come so far as this. We have heard before that

the yei wanted these.” “ Why, then, have you come here, if you bring- not the
gifts with you. If you had these to offer we would cure you. There is still one
holy place you have not visited. It is called Tse'gihi ; go there and try what the
d\gim will do for you. Perhaps they will take pity on you and cure you for noth¬
ing.” To'nenili then led the twins out (//astreyabi had told him to do this) ; he
led them sunwise around the house until they reached the north. Thence he led
them to the top of a high hill ; here he pointed out to them the walls of a canon
far to the north, and he told them to mark the spot well, for there, said he, was
Tse'gihi.

816. — To'nenili left them and they went on from the top of the mountain till
they came near the canon. “ Are you sure this is the place ? ” said the blind one.
“Yes, I know this is the place that was pointed out to me,” said the cripple.
Suddenly and to their great surprise, the sun went down, for they had not noticed
how the day was passing, and it soon became too dark for them to travel. “ It is
night, elder brother,” said the cripple, “we can go no further”; and they lay
down to sleep south of the canon. Next morning the blind one awoke first, and
said : “ Younger brother, is it day ? ” “ Yes,” answered the other awaking ; “ the

sun has arisen.” “Are you sure this is the place they pointed out to you?”
“Yes, 1 am certain.” “ Is the canon far away ?” “ It is not many steps more,

elder brother.” The cripple then mounted on his brother’s back, and they went
on to the edge of the bluff overlooking the canon. Here they sat down, and the
cripple scanned carefully the chasm before him. It was very deep ; he could not
see the bottom ; the walls were deeply channeled where the water ran down', and
no trail could be seen. As he sat there looking and thinking, he saw a rainbow
slowly forming and stretching from the cliff on which they sat to a shelf of rock
on the opposite cliff. His attention was next attracted by the distant sharp
barking of a small dog. Carefully scanning the rocky shelf on the opposite side
of the gorge, he observed such a dog tied there. It was a watch-dog of the holy
people. //astyeyabi in his house also heard the dog barking, and he said : “ Our
dog never barks unless he sees something strange. Go forth, //astsbebobi,58 and
find out why he barks.” 7/ast.yeebobi went to where the dog was tied, but saw
nothing. He mounted the rocks a little higher, looked in the direction to which
the dog’s nose pointed and saw, at last, the boys seated on the opposite brow of
the canon. He had never seen such people as these before and, wondering who
they could be, he went down to his home to tell what he had seen. “ Why did
you not go to them and find out who they were?” said //astsbyabi. “Go now
and see them, and when you come back tell us.” Before the boys were aware
that any one was coming, //astsbebo/ i stood before them. “ Whence come you
and what people are you?” said the yei. “We come from 7oint.ya, and we are
the Ni‘na/^oka<Y/ine‘ or People on the Earth.” “We have never seen the People
on the Earth before. They know not this place. Whither are you going?’’
“ We are journeying to a place called Tse'gihi. At Tointya we saw //astyeyabi
and //ast-ye/o^an. They showed us the way hither and bade us come here.”

When the boys had made these answers, //asts-eel/od'i returned to his house
(which was on the same side of the canon the twins were on — the dog was tied
on the opposite side, that he might the better watch the approach to the houses)
and told what he had heard. “Are they fine-looking men? Are they well
dressed ?” asked //astfeyal/i. “ No,” replied the other ; “ one is lame and one is
blind ; they are lean and dirty, and clad in rags.” Then there was a council
among the yei. “ Shall we let them in ?” it was asked. “ Yes, let us allow them
to enter,” said many. “ We wish to see what the People on the Earth look like.”
//asts6eUodi was therefore sent back again to the boys, and told to walk in front
of them and lead them in. He went back and bade the boys follow him ; but he
told the cripple not to look backward as he advanced, to keep his eyes carefully
bent on the ground.

817. — They descended twelve steps down the side of the canon to the first
apartment, or house, twelve steps more to the second, twelve steps more to the third,
and twelve steps more to the fourth. The cripple saw not if there were doors to
the apartment ; he saw neither how they entered nor how they left them. He
was still bidden to keep his eyes on the ground as they entered the fourth room
— they knew not if there were doors, or how they entered — but when they got to
the middle of the room some one told them to sit down and look around them.
“ I shall sit down, but it is no use for me to try to look around,” said the blind
one, “for I can see nothing. You look around, younger brother, and tell me
what you see.” The cripple described the apartment to his brother. It was a
large square room with a high ceiling, at the top of the wall next to the ceiling
there was a horizontal painted streak (frieze)59 of yellow corn-pollen, and below
this there was a streak of blue as broad as the streak of yellow. Crystals were
set in the walls, to give light, and rainbows over doors. “ Whence do you come,
and why do you wander here ?” queried //astyeyal/i, when the twins were seated.
“We have been to Zointja. We went there to be cured — the one to have his
eyes restored, the other to have his limbs restored. They would not cure us
there, but told us to come to Tse'gihi, and perhaps we could be cured here.
Therefore we come to you. We have had a long and a painful journey.”
“ Where were you before you went to Zbintya?” asked the yei, and in reply the
boys related the story of all their adventures. “We have been driven forth from
one place to another. Some places we have visited a second time, and were not
even allowed to enter. At length we went to Zb in Era, and from Tointsa we
were sent to Tse‘gihi, the place where we now are and where we are telling the
story of our wanderings.” “Now,” said Hasts€ya\t\, “you have been to many
holy places, and have seen many holy ones. Where have you been told that
your eyes and your legs would be restored as they once were?” “We have
been to many holy places, but everywhere they told us that they could not help
us.” “ If the others could not help you, neither can we,” said the yei. But he
asked: “Have you white shell? Have you turquoise?” and thus he asked
them, as others had done before, if they had brought with them the sacrificial

things. To each question the boys replied “No,” and at last they said: “We
know of no way of getting them. How can we catch birds when one of us is
blind and the other crippled?” //astyeyabi then asked in turn each of the yei
present if he could cure the children, and each in turn said he could not. //as-
t.yeebo/i was then bidden to take the children out and show them the way to
Z^epe'ntsa, the San Juan Mountains. As he took them forth he made them
precede him, and he again bade them not to look around. This caution was
given lest the children, seeing the rainbows over the doors, might be tempted to
touch them.60 The yei took the children out to the place where he first met
them, here he made them walk around sunwise, stopped them in the north,
showed them where the San Juan Mountains lay, and told them to go there.
The cripple said : “ The mountains seem very far away.” “ But they are not,”

said the yei. “ Go there, and you will find the road is short.”

818. — They left him and went straight towards the mountains. He watched
them till he saw them entering a ravine on the mountain side and then he returned
to his house. They were toiling slowly up a hill when suddenly the sun set, and
they camped for the night where the darkness overtook them. In the morning
they were wakened by the cry of //astyeyabi : “ Wu‘hu‘hu‘hu.” They had heard
this before and knew it well. As before, it sounded faint and far at first, it
was repeated three times, each time louder and nearer, and soon after the
fourth call they saw //astyeyabi approaching them. He clapped his hands to¬
gether ; he put one hand over his mouth as if he were surprised,61 and he asked the
boys who they were and whence they came. They answered : “ We are People
on the Earth and we have traveled a long and weary journey.” Without
waiting for further questions they went on to relate the whole story to the yei.
“ We have been to all the holy places,” they said, “ and have been sent from one
place to another in hope that some one might take pity on us and cure us. At
the last place we went to they sent us to these mountains.” “ I am sorry for you,”
said //astyeyabi, “ I shall return to my home and speak to //astye/zo^an. I am
not the head chief there ; I can do nothing without consulting /fastseAogan.”
When he got back to his house, he said to the chief : “ Two of the People on the
Earth come this way. They desire to enter our house. What say you?”
“ H ow do they look ?” said Hastsekogan. “ Do they look grand and well dressed
(bigis) ?” “ No, they look repulsive and dirty (intyoye),” replied the other. “ I

understand that the People on the Earth have plenty of white shell and turquoise
and haliotis and pasAne and all the other things that we require. Do these two peo¬
ple come provided with them?” “ That I cannot answer,” said //astyeyabi. “ Re¬
turn then to them and ask them,” said the other, //astyeyabi named to them the
sacrifices that the yei demanded and asked the children if they had brought them.
“ Alas ! we have none of these things,” they replied, “ we are poor and helpless,
our people have driven us forth to die. We have hoped to find pity in the holy
places and to be cured without reward.” The yei bade them remain where they
were and promised to go back and speak once more for them, and tell that they

had none of the sacred things, but hoped to be -cured without paying. So he
went back and told this to Z/astre/zo^an. The chief said : “We will not let them
enter unless they bring the gifts. Besides, they are not the kind of people we
wish to come to us ; they are filthy and ragged. Go back to them and tell them
how they can get to 7o‘nihilm, where the water runs into the ground.- Bid them
to go there, and tell them they cannot enter here.” //astseyalA returned to the
children and told them all this. “ At To'nihilm,” he said, “are many of the holy
ones. It is there that 7o‘bad<3,istnni, //astreolZoi, the //asUebaka, the 7/asUe-
baad and the other relations of Nayenezgani dwell. There perhaps they may
cure the blindness and the lameness.” “ It is well,” said the cripple, “we will go
there and see if they will take pity on us ; ” so he got on his brother’s back and
they started. Z/astyeyalti climbed up on the summit of ZZepe'ntsa and watched
the boys till they got down into the valley of To'nihilm and out of his sight ; then
he went to his home and his people asked him : “ Whither have the children
gone?” He replied: “They have gone down into the valley at 7o‘nihilm.”
See pars. 692, 724.

819. — 7o‘nihili/z is a lake surrounded by mountains. The boys descended to
the shores of the lake on the northeast, and they walked sunwise around the lake
until they stood on its western shore. Then they looked back in the direction in
which they had come and they beheld three gods approaching them. These were
Nayenezgani, 7o‘bad,dst.nni, and //astoeoEoi. The gods approached them from
the east, one after another, they passed to the south and approached them from
that side and thus they did in the west and in the north, in somewhat the same
manner as these three gods to-day, in the ceremonies of the night chant, approach
the ailing man (par. 595). The cripple said to his brother : “ Three of the digim
approach us.” “How do they appear to you?” said the blind boy. “One is
black, one is red, one has a blue face and carries a quiver of puma skin.” When
the digi ni had encircled the children and come around again to the east, Naye¬
nezgani asked : “ Whence come you, my grandchildren ?” and they replied : “ We
come hither from ZZepentsa, our Grandfather.” “What people are you?” said
the god. “We are the People on the Earth,” replied the twins. “We came
first to Tse'gihi from a place called Inz/estn/zonia‘.” “We have heard of you at
Tse'intyel,” said the holy one, “the //astreyald at that place has told us about
you.” “We have been to all the holy places,” said the children and they named
all the places they had visited. “ They have been talking about curing us. They
have sent us from one place to another. At the last place to which we went they
would not let us enter, but sent us on here, and that is the reason we are here
now.” “We have heard of you,” said Nayenezgani again. “We have heard
that one of you could not see and that the other could not walk. We have some
thoughts of helping you, but you must go first to a place called Apahi'lgoj', and
there you will hear from us again.” This was the first time that no one had
mentioned to them any of the sacred articles, or asked them for these gifts.
//ast?eol?oi led the children to the top of a neighboring hill, pointed out to them

the bluffs that bordered the canon at Apahi'lgo^ and described to them carefully
the way to get there.

820. — “ Look close to all these things and mark well the spot to which we
are bound, my younger brother,” said the blind one. “ I have observed all the
landmarks,” said the lame one ; “ we shall surely get there,” and on they trudged
till they got to Apahi'lgo^. The lame boy said : “We have now arrived at the
place that was pointed out to us. We stand on the brow of a very deep canon.”
“ What does it look like ? Do you see any trail by which we may descend ? Do
you see the houses of the holy ones ? ” “I see neither house nor trail,” was the
answer. As he said this and glanced up the canon he became suddenly con¬
scious that a rainbow spanned the canon below him. He turned to look at this ;
the bow vanished as suddenly as it had appeared ; yet during the moment the bow
had lasted a yei had crossed the canon and climbed its walls. The moment the
bow disappeared this yei, called Hatdastslsx (par. 53), stood before the boys.
“ Are you the People on the Earth ? ” he said, “ Such people have never been seen
here before. They do not come this way.” “Yes,” said the boys, “we are the
People on the Earth. We are poor, we are unfortunate. Behold us ! We have
been to 7o‘nihilm to get cured and the people there have sent us here.” “ We
have heard of you from the other holy places,” said the yei, “ and that is the
reason I have come up here to meet you. Do you seek my dwelling ? Then
stand behind me.” He made a rainbow, they stepped on it behind him and in a
moment they found themselves far below, on the opposite side of the canon,
standing in front of a door over which hung two parts of a rainbow, — the yellow
and the green parts.

821. — The door opened before the yei and they passed into an empty cham¬
ber, on the opposite side of which was another door overhung by a rainbow of
three colors. As in other places they passed through three empty chambers in
all, and through doors over which hung rainbows, — there was a rainbow of five
colors over the last door. When they entered the fourth room they found it
thronged with people who awaited them there, and the boys stood until they
were bidden to sit down. Now it was one of the //astrebaad who spoke to them.
She asked them what people they were and whence they had come, and when
they had answered her, she said : “We have heard of you before. We have
heard of you at Tsefintyel. We have heard of you at Tse'bfni. We have heard
of you at Kininaekai,” and thus she named all the holy places which they had
visited. “ All the people in this room have heard of you. Now, tell us why you
have come to us.” “ We have come,” said the children, “ to be cured of our ail¬
ments. Every place we have visited we have hoped for the same thing. The
reason we have been to so many places is, that at no place have they sought to
help us, but have sent us on to another. We had a grandfather and a grand¬
mother once, but they got tired of us and sent us out to die.” “We have heard
that the People on the Earth know many things ; we thought they knew how to
cure the lame and the blind,” said the yei. The children answered : “ Our

grand-parents have tried every medicine they could think of to cure us, but all failed,
and they told us to go away.” Then the yei named the sacred things (par. 236)
and asked the children if they had them. The children said : “We have none
of these things. That is the reason we have visited so many places. We hoped
to be cured without bringing these gifts.” The //astrebaad paused a moment
and then said : “ We will think of what you have told us ; we will counsel about

it. At all the holy places you have visited they are now counseling about you.
You will hear from us again some time. You will know what our councils decide
to do. But while we are talking about you, you must go to Tse'ni/zo^an (a place
of cliff-houses) where the Dsahar/old^a, Fringe Mouths, dwell.” Hatdastslsi was
told to take the children away to the top of a neighboring mountain and show
them the way to Tse'nHo^an. He motioned to them to proceed and he followed
them. When he got outside he formed another rainbow ; they stood on this and
in a moment found themselves on the top of the mountain. Here the yei pointed
to a distant range of high cliffs and to a dark spot or hole on the face of the cliff
and said : “ Go straight over to that place. There are ^igfni dwelling there who

may cure you or give you advice what to do.”

822. — The children descended from the mountain into a canon, and followed
up the canon till they came to the spot which /datdastsisi had pointed out to
them. It was a great cave about half way up the face of the cliff. They saw no
way of getting there so they sat down to think about it. While they sat in
thought a sound like that of a rattle proceeded from the cave. Soon after, a
number of people appeared at the mouth of the cavern and then descended on a
rainbow to the foot of the cliff. One side of the body of each was colored
blue, the other side red ; their faces were of a natural tint. They had streaks of
lightning on their bodies. The boys sat facing the east. Three of the yei, a
//astoeyal/i, a Dsahaafold^a (par. 39) and a Yebaad, approached the boys from
the east, then retreating and moving sunwise they approached them in the south,
the west, and the north. When they got around to the east again they asked the
boys who they were and whence they came. When the boys had answered, the
yei said : “ There are few people who are admitted to the house of the Dsaha-

do\<\sa. You cannot enter here.” “ We come not of our own wish,” pleaded the
boys, “ we come because the yei of Apahilgo^' sent us here. Therefore we had
hoped you might let us enter. We have been to other holy places asked to be
cured of our ailments, but everywhere we have been asked if we had certain
things to offer (naming them). W e have told them we had them not, and we tell
you now that we have not these things and are not able to get them.” “ I am
sorry,” said //astyeyalti, that you have not these things. Had you had them you
might long ago have been cured of your ailments. But now you must go to
D&\)&hahat\n (Where Sheep Come Up, par. 661). They who live there know how
to cure blindness and lameness. Go to them and hear what they will say to you.
In every place where the holy ones dwell they are talking about you.” //ast^eyaki
himself went this time with the boys to show them their way. He pointed out to

them a high cliff of white stone and said to them : “ Go neither to one side nor to
the other ; let your path be straight for that cliff.”

823. — They went on till they came to the brow of the canon on whose oppo¬

site wall the white cliff arose. The cripple found that the walls of the canon were
terraced and that steep cliffs separated one bench from another. He saw no trail
by which they could descend ; but he soon perceived a rainbow that slanted down
from the brow to the bottom of the canon. “ Surely,” he thought, “ the people
here knew we were coming and are prepared for us.” The cripple soon heard the
rainbow rattle and saw it shake, and he heard a distant musical voice (it was the
voice of Gazzaskkzi, par. 46) crying “ Iyahazzga.” “ I hear a voice far down in
the canon,” said the cripple. “ I hear nothing,” said the brother ; “ what does the
voice say?” “It says ‘ Iyahazzga,’ ” replied the cripple. Four times this voice
was heard, nearer and clearer each time ; but it was not until the fourth call that
the blind boy heard it. After the fourth call the cripple said: “ Here comes some
one. He has horns on his head and a hump on his back. He bends over like an
old man, and walks slowly, leaning on a staff.” The yei approached the boys from
the east; he walked around them sunwise as other yei had done, approaching
them and retreating again in the south, the west, the north, and when he got
back to the east he turned to them and asked them whence they came. “We
come from Tse'ni/zo^an,” they replied, “and are on our way to Depehakatin. We
were told at Tse'ni/zo/an that we would find here a people called GazzaskiYi.
Tell us, are you one of these people ?” “ Yes, I am one of the Gazzaskiz/ i. If

you wish to enter my house get behind me on this rainbow,” said the yei. They
did as they were told and soon found themselves far down in the canon, standing
on a narrow ledge on the same side of the canon as that of the place from which
they started. The rocky wall before which they stood was steep and smooth.
No door was visible, but the figure of a Rocky Mountain ram was depicted on
the wall and under it was a white spot. The cripple said to his brother : “ Here
we stand on a small narrow ledge with a precipice above us and a precipice below
us, and no hole in the rock. I see not where we can go.” “ Hold your tongue,”
said Ga;zaskfi/i; he struck the white spot with his staff and a doorway opened
before them, disclosing a vacant apartment, into which the boys entered after
the yei.

824. — The walls of this room were smooth and no opening could be seen in
them ; but on the wall opposite to the one through which they entered there was
another picture of a mountain sheep (ewe) and under this a blue spot was painted.
The yei struck this spot with a staff and again a door opened. They passed
through another chamber in which they found no one. It was like the first in
appearance except that under the figure of the sheep (a ram) there was a yellow
spot. When the yei struck this, a passage opened into another empty chamber.
On the opposite wall of the third chamber there was a picture of rain and under
this a black spot. When Ga/zaskizA struck the black spot a doorway opened into
the fourth chamber and when they entered it they found it filled with people.

2 36

The walls of this room were beautifully decorated, and the cripple told his brother
that this was the most beautiful room they had yet entered. On the east wall
white clouds were painted and above them a white fog ; on the south wall blue
clouds and above them a blue fog ; on the west wall, yellow clouds and above
them a yellow fog ; on the north wall, black clouds and above them a black fog.
On the walls, too, there were objects like the heads of Rocky Mountain sheep
without bodies, but they looked as if they were alive ; on the east there was a
white ram’s head ; on the south a blue ewe’s head ; on the west a yellow ram’s
head, and on the north a black ewe’s head. On the horns of the white head in
the east there was crooked lightning ; on the horns of the blue head in the south
was straight lightning ; on those of the yellow head in the west was crooked
lightning and on those of the black head in the north was straight lightning.
On each wall there was a large crystal stone which emitted light and made the
room bright, and with each stone there was a special charm or remedy to cure
disease : in the stone of the east there was a remedy for blindness ; in that of the
south a remedy for lameness ; in that of the west a remedy for deafness, and in
that of the north a remedy for the crooked face (lateral facial paralysis). They felt
as they stood in the room, as if rain were falling on them. They felt
a sense of mist and moisture.*2 After a long time of silence one of the yei said
to the cripple : “ Have you seen everything ? ” and the boy answered : “ Yes I have
seen all.” The yei then said : “ There are certain articles (naming them) which
we demand of you. All the men here, young and old, know how to cure the
blind ; but they must have these articles or they cannot do it. If you come,
bringing these, we can cure you ; if you bring them not we cannot cure you.”
The cripple said : “ We bring them not, we are poor and helpless. We know not
how to get them.” “ Then,” said the yei, “ we will counsel about you. At all
the other holy places they are talking about you now. Go from here to //ast se-
z/aspin, where dwell the //astrez/iltsosi or Squeaking Yei, who squeak like mice.
You think you have been to all the holy places but you have not ; there is one
more place for you to visit. Go there before you give up trying and see what
these people will say to you.” The chief who spoke told the GazzaskWi who
brought them in to take the boys out again. He opened the walls and closed
them again with a touch of his staff. When they passed out under the sky they
got on a rainbow, in the order in which they got on before ; and before they
knew what had happened to them, the boys found themselves back on the brow
of the canon, at the spot whence they came. Here GazzaskWi pointed out to the
cripple some rocky pinnacles which rose on a distant plain and bade him go there
and be careful not to pass beyond the pinnacles.

825. — The boys went as they were told and sat down at the base of one of
the pinnacles. No one had told them what they should do when they got here,
but now Little Wind (Ni'ltriaH) whispered to them : “ Hold your heads down

and look not up, or you will be whipped.” They did thus and immediately heard
the squeaking, mouse-like voice of the yei. He came so fast you could hear the

wind rushing by him and he bore in his hand a scourge made of four leaves of
yucca. He ran around the boys four times, sunwise, stopped and ran around
them again, four times in the opposite direction. For this reason it is that one
of the kethawns made for these gods, in the rites of this day, has a spiral line
passing around it four times sunwise while the other kethawn has a spiral line
passing four times around it in the opposite direction. He stopped in the east
and turning to the boys asked them who they were. They replied that they were
the People on the Earth. Said the yei : “ You are the first of your kind that
ever came here. We have never seen people like you before. Who sent you
hither and what do you come for ? ” “ We come from Z^epe/za/a^m, and we come

to be cured. It was the Gazzasku/i who sent us here and showed us the way.
We do not come here of our own notion.” “ Did the GazzaskiTi tell you you must
not look at me ?” said the Squeaking Yei. “ He did not tell us so,” they said.
“ Then why do you look down ? Why do you not look up at me ? ” “ We heard

the great noise of your coming. We feared you and dared not look up.”
“ Where did you come from first ? What tribe of the People on the Earth are
you?” “We come from In<Zest,ri/zonia‘.” Thus he questioned them and thus
they answered him. Then he said : “ The holy ones themselves fear us. Even
they must be whipped before they can enter our house. For this reason very few
of them ever visit us. You had better go to some other place. We are cruel
people who dwell here. We whip every who comes near us. Go yonder to
Tsotsi/ (Mt. San Mateo) on whose summit the //astyeayuhi dwell. I know not
what they will say to you there ; but I bid you go.”

826. — The cripple mounted on his brother’s back and they set out for Tsotsi/.
They got in time to the foot of the mountain and then they slowly climbed to the
top. There is a hollow place at the top of the mountain like a bowl (or a crater).
They sat on the edge of this hole. As they sat they heard a loud noise as of a
great wind approaching and soon a violent tempest began to blow. The wind
grew stronger and stronger and the sand and dust grew thicker and thicker in the
blast until the cripple could not see an arm’s length before him. At the height
of the storm //astyeayuhi and //asts-eeltlihi appeared before the boys, coming out
of the storm. One holy one said to the other : “ I wonder what these two strange
boys are sitting here for. One is blind and the other is crippled, yet they have
climbed to the mountain top.” The two gods, like the //astyez/iltsosi, bore
scourges and they were just as fond of whipping. The boys said they were
Ni‘na/zokaz/z/ine that they had just come from //ast ^e^/aspin and that the people
there had sent them. “They told us that //astyeayuhi and //asUeeltlihi live
here. Perhaps you are they of whom we were told.” “ Why came ye here,” said
the gods, “and what do you desire?” “ We have been to many holy places,” said
the boys (naming them in the order in which they had visited them), and at each
place we hoped to have our eyes and our limbs restored to us as they were before ;
but at each place they sent us to another place and at the last place, //ast.rerf'aspm
they sent us here, and that is why we are now at the top of Fsotsi/.” 1 he yei

said : “ He who spoke to you at //astye/aspin, was mistaken. We do not make
cures for the People on the Earth. You might have been cured elsewhere, but
not upon Tsotsi/. We who live on this mountain whip those who enter our
dwelling and those who enter once belong to us forever. They never can leave
us or return again to their people. There is no use in your staying here. Go
down to the foot of the mountain (pointing to the southwest) and there you will
find a place called Tse'n/aspin. Holy ones dwell there ; but we know not what
they may say to you.” Then they pointed out to the boys the way to Tse'n/aspin
and the boys departed.

827. — As the yei of Tsotsi/ and the yei of //astreTaspin whipped their visitors
and the former also held their visitors captive, they were seldom seen by the other
yei and rarely had intercourse with them, so they did not know when the boys
were coming to them, and the yei of Tsotsil sent no message to those at Tse'n-
/aspin that the twins had gone there ; yet the latter had heard from friendly yei
of the wandering boys, were on the lookout for them, and from afar saw the boys
descending the mountain. The //astyeyal/i of this place told //aste/pahi to go
out and meet the boys on their way. When he met them he asked them whence
they came and whither they were going. They replied that they had been to see
the //asHeayuhi on Tsotsi/, that the latter had sent them to Tse'n/aspin and to
this place they were going. The yei said : “ I come from Tse'n/aspin ; my people
have already heard of you and of your visits to the other holy places. Follow
me.” The house at Tse'n/aspin was covered with black cloud, the door was of
black cloud, the black cloud extended to where they stood and held on it a rain¬
bow. They stood on the rainbow and soon found themselves at the door of the
house.

828. — //astye/pahi had in his hands two fox skins ; he held them together in

front of him and then pulled them apart ; as he did so the curtains of clouds rolled
back from the doorway and the three entered a vacant room which they crossed,
the yei leading. In this way they passed through four doorways and three vacant
rooms. The second doorway had curtains of blue cloud ; the third had curtains
of black fog and the fourth, curtains of blue fog. The fourth room was full of
people who were standing and talking to one another. The twins were told to sit
down, //astyeyalti questioned them, they answered him, and this was what they
said : “ Whence do you come?” “ We come from the summit of Tsotsi/ where
we met //as Lye ay u hi.” “ Have you been elsewhere? Is that your home?” “ It
is not our home. We made but a short stay there. We were reared this side of
Tsefintyel at a place called In/estyHonia‘.” “ Did the People on the Earth rear
you ? Was your mother one of them ?” “ They reared us and our mother was

one of them.” “ Were you born maimed as you are?” “We were born sound
and well.” “ Who was your father?” “We have asked our mother that ques¬
tion and she has told us she did not know.” “ How came you, the one to be
blind, the other crippled ?” he continued. Here the boys told the story of how
their misfortune befell them, how their relations had tried to cure them without

avail and had driven them forth to die ; they told all their wanderings among the
holy places and named them, and they told how the holy ones had refused to cure
them unless they gave certain articles which the twins did not possess and knew
not how to get. “ We have heard of you at these places,” said the yei. “ We
have heard of you as the pair who traveled, one bearing the other on his back.
At what places were you offered food ? ” “We have never been offered food,” said
the boys. “You have been to many holy places,” said the yei, “ but there is one
more place for you to visit. Perhaps we will see you again. Perhaps you will
yet find out who your father is. The other holy place is Tj&rkai.88 There dwell
//astyeyald, Haststkogan and many other holy ones.” When he had said this, he
told //astre/pahi to take the boys to Akikanas/ani (Hosta Butte) but not to go to
the top of the Butte, as the Bear People were there and they might delude the boys
to enter ; but to go around it and from the opposite side to show the boys where
T.m.?kai was. //astre/pahi guided the boys as he was bidden, showed them where
the hill of T^iukai rose in the distance and told the boys to go straight there.

829. — When they crossed the canon of Bahastla the people of TALskai saw
them and said : “ Here they come, the blind boy carrying the cripple.” When
they reached T6‘ka.tsi they were again seen and the people at TABkai said :
“ They come now from 7o‘/zatA” When they got to the foot of the mountain
at TABkai, 7b‘nemli the Water Sprinkler was dispatched to go down and meet
them. When the cripple saw the yei coming, he said : “ The old man we met at
Tse‘/za/?a/ approaches us.” The yei walked around the boys saying, “ Yuw yuw
yuw yuw,” something like the yelping of an Indian dog. He put his hand
over his mouth and asked, in astonishment: “ Are you not cured yet?” He
carried a wicker bottle garnished with spruce twigs and filled with water; pouring
a little of the water into the hollow of his hand, he sprinkled it on the path they
were to travel in the direction of T.yuBkai, Instantly the clouds gathered, rain
began to fall, and a rainbow formed ; 7o‘nenili took the lead ; the boys got behind
him on the rainbow and in a moment they found themselves up at T.yiBkai, stand¬
ing outside of a door (or curtains) made of black cloud.

830. — 7o‘nenili held up together before his face his water jar and a fox-skin; he
pulled these apart and as he did so the curtains of cloud rolled away and they all
passed between these into an empty chamber. As in other houses the boys had
visited before, there were three empty chambers and four doors. The curtain
doors of the second chamber were of blue cloud, those of the third chamber were
of black fog and those of the fourth chamber of blue fog. When the boys entered
the fourth room they found there z/igini of all kinds. They entered at the east
and were led all around the room before they were told to sit down. The holy
ones of T.yiBkai knew who they were and all about their history, for the holy
people at the other places had told these things ; yet they asked the boys all the
questions that had been asked at the other holy places, for they wished to hear
how the boys would tell the tale themselves, and the boys answered as they
had always answered before. When the boys had finished their story the yei

asked : “ Have you the dark kethawn (ke/an dllyll) and have you the blue
kethawn (ke?an dotXi'z) that belong to us ?” “ We have them not,” said the twins.
“ Have you white shell ? Have you turquoise?” (and so on, naming the sacred
articles). “ Neither have we any of these,” said the twins. " One of us is blind ;
the other is lame ; we are poor ; we have no way of getting them.” “ You have
traveled far,” said the yei, “ and have visited many places, but all was of no use,
and there is now no other holy place for you to go to. It was because you did
not have the sacred offerings that you have failed. Had you had the offerings
you would have been cured. There are many digi ni in this house but they know
not how to cure you. The people of Tse'intyel are now talking about you and
are trying to find a way to cure you. All the chiefs of all the holy places you
have visited are assembled in council and you will meet them there. When you
leave here, go straight to Tse'intyel and go not back to your mother’s home.”
To'nenili now led the boys out and to the top of T^ikkai and he pointed out to
them Tse'intyel and showed them the way to get there. He said : "On your
way avoid carefully the place called 7b‘kil/o, and go to the south of it. Avoid
also the place called Ni'/zaltsi's (Hole in the Ground) and go to the south of it ;
the Bear People live there. Avoid also the place called Dsi/<7asaani and go to
the north of it. The Bear People and the Deer People both live there.”

831. — The children went as they were directed, and when they had passed
Dsi/kasaani they took the direct route from there to Tse'intyel. When they
reached Kiltsoibila^otyel the holy ones at Tse'intyel saw them approaching.
The chiefs of the holy places had already gathered and were in council. They
were talking about their T/asts-eyaki (who was not present at the council), of why
he had pleaded the cause of the children and why he had said : “ Perhaps they
are relations of yours.” The boys came down the path of Tmapani.64 When the
yei saw the way they were about to descend, they placed certain weapons
on the trail to see if the boys would pick them up. Dsaha<7old^a laid his bow
first ; it was the bow of darkness, made of black wood with sinew on the back.
He laid with it two arrows of great potency made of a wood called tse'iski'H and
feathered with quills from an eagle’s tail. TVzatlatn Dsahakoldza (Fringe Mouth
of the Water) next laid on the trail his bow made without sinew, of the wood
called tseVkani and two arrows which were made of tsintli'zi (. Fendleria rupicola )
and plumed with feathers of the atse-/itsoi or yellow-tail ( Buteo borealis).
TTastseokoi laid her weapons next upon the trail. Hers was a good bow made of
wood called atli'nbigestn. Her arrows were made of reed and plumed with small
eagle feathers. The quiver and bow-case were laid with these and this is why the
quiver is now always carried by 7/astreokoi in the ceremonies. Lastly 7/astse-
yaki (father of the twins) laid down a poor bow of cedar with the leaves left on
the end, and arrows of rose which were tipped with a harder wood and plumed
with owl-feathers. These four gods laid their weapons down in different places
along the trail and went home, while To'nenili hid himself on the bluff where
he could observe the trail and see which set of weapons the boys would take.

832. — As they came along the path the cripple cried out : “ Oh, elder brother !
Here in our path lies a beautiful black bow with sinew on the back and two beau¬
tiful arrows that point to the east. Let us take them.” “Alas !” said the elder
brother, “ they are too fine for such poor people as we. We must not take them,
they are not intended for us.” When they came to the next pile the cripple
cried : “ Here on our trail lies another bow with arrows that point to the south.”
“And how do these appear?” said the elder. “They are beautiful and well
wrought, but not so fine as the first,” said the other. “ The arrows have points
of stone and are plumed with the feathers of the yellow-tail.” “ Ah, these are also
too good for us ; we must not lift them,” said the blind boy. When they came to
the third lot of weapons the cripple again called to his brother saying : “ Once
more a bow lies on our path and with it are two arrows whose heads point to the
west.” “What do these look like?” said the elder. “They are beautifully
formed,” said the younger, “ and a beautiful bow-case and quiver of puma-skin
lie beside them.” “ Even these are too fine for us,” said the blind boy. “ We
must not take them. They are not for us.” When they came to the fourth lot
of weapons the cripple called again to his brother : “ Another bow lies on our
path with arrows that point to the north ” ; and the blind boy asked : “ How do
these appear ? ” The younger brother answered : “ They are rudely formed ; the
bow is of green cedar from which the leaves have not even been cut off ; the
arrows are tipped with wood, not stone, and they are trimmed with owl-feathers ;
they are poor.” “ Then they are suited for poor people. Let us take them,”
said the elder, crouching down and picking the weapons up from the ground.
When To'inenli beheld this from his place of watching, he hastened back to
TseTntyel and told the chiefs, in council, what he had seen. Then //astye-
Aogan turned to //astreyal/i saying : “ Why have you not told us that these were
your children ? Why have you denied them and let them wander all over the
land hungry and disappointed? Had you told us who they were, they might
have been cured long ago.” 65 //astrayRi replied : “ At one place I told you that
perhaps they were kindred of yours. Could I have more plainly said they were
my children ? Why did you not understand me ?” Still the chief upraided him.
“ Why did you let them starve ? Had we known they were of our own people
we would at least have given them food and not have let them go forth from
our doors hungry.” Hasts&kogan then said to Gazzaskiz/i : “You own all the
(wild) sheep. Take one over to T^aapani and leave it there for the boys to kill.”
(For the yei supposed the boys had been fasting all the time and they knew not
of the miraculous food their father had given them). So, at a place on the trail
where there was a black spot on the rock, a sheep was placed standing for the
boys when they should come along.

833. — Soon, as they advanced, they espied the sheep not far away. The

cripple said : “ There is a Rocky Mountain sheep near our trail. Shall we not

kill it ?” “ Alas ! ” said the blind boy, “ our arrows are not sharp enough and our

bow is too weak.” “ Still, let us try,” said the other ; “ it sees us not. Perhaps

we may creep closer to it.” “Tell me, then, which way to walk and where to
stop,” said the elder. They advanced slowly closer and closer to the sheep ; the
cripple whispered to his brother to stop ; he drew his bow and let fly. The arrow
struck the sheep on the temple and bounded back, yet the sheep fell and moved
not. The boys went up on top of the rock where the sheep lay, and found it
dead. Ga«ask!<afl was watching them from a hiding-place in the rocks, and when
he saw the boys had killed the sheep he went back to Tseflntyel to relate what he
had seen. Nayenezgani was sent out with his big knife to skin the sheep, for the
yei knew the boys had no knife, and he was told to cut for the boys and give
them to keep a piece from the end of each horn, — about a finger’s length, — the
gristle from each ear, the water from each eye, a strip of skin from the nose and
forehead including the nostrils, and the two tendones Achillis. Nayenezgani
traced with his knife down the median line of the sheep’s body, uttering his
peculiar low groans as he did so ; he cut the skin along the lines he had traced ;
he removed the skin and he cut out the parts he had been told to take. When
he had done all this the boys said they had no fire to cook the food, therefore
when he went back to Tse'intyel he told the yei that the boys had no way of
making fire, and //asts'&dni was sent to make fire for them. He carried with him
a burning brand of shredded cedar bark, such as the god carries to this day in the
rites of /o‘nastn/£ego hati-l (pars. 104-107) ; he went to where the boys were, built
a fire for them, and said : “ When you have eaten your fill come over to Tsefin-

tyel ; but before you start gather all the meat you have left, fold it back in the
skin, and leave the bundle back on the rock where you shot the sheep (there it
was to come back to life again). “Thanks, our uncle,” said the boys ; “we have
long hungered for meat.” When they had finished their meal, they did as they
were bidden and went on toward Tse'intyel. When they got to the floor of the
canon, they heard a voice saying: “Come hither.” It was the voice of a bat;
but at the same time Ni'ltnaH, Little Wind, whispered to them : “ Listen not to
the voice, but go on to Tsefintyel.” But the voice persisted in saying : “ Come
hither,” and Little Wind kept on saying : “ Heed not the voice, but go to Tsefin-
tyel.” The boys kept on, and as they neared TseTntyel the yei sent the father to
meet his children. When he came to them, he said : “ My children (ye who

were born for me), I am your father. If I have failed to say so before now it
was not my fault. Your mother bade me be silent.”66 The cripple said to his
brother : “ My elder brother, here is the yei who met us before several times ; he
who first told us to go to Tsefintyel, he who gave us the white meal and the little
bowl to mix it in, and now he calls us his children.” “Yes,” said the yei, “ I am
your father. It was I who gave you the meal and the bowl, and you did not go
hungry on your way, but had plenty to eat. I am glad you have come back here.
We have counseled about you. You will yet be cured. The blind will be made
to see and the cripple to walk. Follow me!” And they went after him to
Tsefintyel.

834. — There were many people standing outside when they entered. The

first, and second, and third rooms, which were empty when the boys visited the
place before, were now thronged, as was also the fourth room. The yei shook
hands with the children6' and bade them welcome, saying: “You had a hard
time with us before and were cruelly treated, but we knew not you were our
kindred.” And those who stood near called them by various terms of relation¬
ship. One said, “ My sons,” another said, “ My grandsons,” another, “ My younger
brothers,” others, “ My cousins,” “ My nephews.” The apartments and doors were
so crowded that the boys had scarcely room to pass through. In the middle of
the floor in the fourth room were spread naskaw or embroidered blankets, such as
the Oraibes make. After the boys had been made to walk around the room sun¬
wise they were made to sit on these blankets with their faces to the east, and
then //astye/^o^an spoke to them : “I could not help you before because I did
not know you were my children. This is why you have gone without profit to
all the holy places (naming them in the order visited). Had your father not
denied you it would have been different.” Then he told them why the different
sets of bows and arrows had been laid on their path, and how they found out by
the weapons they took who their father was.65 The yei ordered some of the food
called yis?elkai to be mixed for the children, and he said to the people : “ Gaze

not upon them while they eat ; if you do they will be bashful and will not eat all
they want.” The food was given to them in a small yellow bowl, which seemed
scarcely to hold a mouthful, but they both ate from this bowl until they were
satisfied, and then the bowl was as full as in the beginning. They handed the
bowl back- to their father, saying: “We can eat no more.” He emptied the
bowl with one sweep of his finger, and it remained empty. “ Where shall we
cure these boys?” said one; “shall we do it here or at Kininaekai?” “ Let us
take them to Kininaekai and do it there,” said another ; and this is what they
decided to do. Their father, //astyeyaLi, was bidden to go in advance, leading
the children, and the whole crowd started for Kininaekai. They wanted to see
them cured just for the same reason that the Navahoes now go in crowds to wit¬
ness a great healing ceremony. They all went first to the north side of the canon,
to the foot of the cliff, and they stopped there a while to talk about the ceremony
of cure. Some proposed to have the ceremony performed just where they stood;
but the father of the children said : “ Let us not be in haste. Let us g o on with

care. Let us try to make a sure cure. It is my fault that the boys have traveled
so far and suffered so much. Now, let us do the best we can for them.”

835. — After talking a while they all agreed to make a sweat-house such as is
made to-day in the rites of kledse //a?a/. The sweat-house was built ; it was
adorned on top with pictures of the rainbow and the lightning ; the light of a
rock crystal was made to shine into it ; twigs of spruce were placed on the floor
for the boys to sit on, and four hot stones were put in to make the room hot. Be¬
fore the blind boy went into the sweat-house they put into his eyes a mixture
made of the water from the eye of a sheep and a plant or medicine called nake?i«.
Before the cripple went in the tendones Achillis of the sheep were pressed to his

limbs, and the juice of a plant called azenaoL/kdrtfe (chewed, par. 304) was spit
upon them and rubbed in. After the boys entered, the opening of the sweat-house
was covered with curtains or blankets of blue cloud, of black mist and of blue mist,
and the yei charged the boys strictly on no account to talk in the sweat-house.
“If you get too warm and want to come out, touch the curtain with the hand.”
The lodge soon grew very hot and the boys began to perspire freely ; after a little
while the blind one became conscious of a faint light streaming in under the cur¬
tains and the cripple felt he could move his legs a little. Their joy was so great
that they forgot what the yei had told them. “ Oh ! younger brother,” cried one,
“ I see.” “ Oh ! elder brother,” cried the other, “ I move my limbs.” In an in¬
stant the rainbow, the lightning, the curtains of cloud and mist, and the sweat-
house itself vanished and left the boys sitting on the open ground with nothing
but the four stones beside them and the spruce-twigs under them, the one as blind,
the other as lame as ever. The yei were angry, /TastreyaLi their father and
//astre/fo^an said to them : “You are fools. You were bidden not to speak. It is
your own fault if you are not cured. You must have no ears that you did not
hear. Perhaps that is why the Yiglni have driven you away from their houses —
because you would not listen to what was said to you.” Though the people
around still called them their children, they upbraided them ; they said, “ It would
have cost you nothing to be cured ; but you have broken the charm by your own
folly. Now you will have to pay and all the holy ones here demand the sacred
articles they have always demanded, and these must be both good and beautiful.
(Here the articles are all mentioned again, par. 236.) These holy ones have been
calling you their children ; that is the reason we would have cured you without
pay.” Ah ! had these boys kept quiet in the sweat-house that day our people could
now all have their diseases cured without paying for the cure ; but because they
spoke and had to pay, the Navahoes have, ever since, been obliged to make gifts
in order to be cured. “ Go anywhere now. Go where you will, only begone,”
said the yei.

836. — So the poor blind boy told his brother to mount again on his back.
They walked in sadness down the canon and mourned for what they had done.
They now knew not what way to go nor what trail to take ; they had no purpose ;
they wept as they walked along and as they wept they began to sing. At first they
sang only meaningless syllables ; but after a while they found words to sing. They
cried to music and turned their thoughts to song. The holy ones still stood
grouped behind them, and, hearing the song, said one to another: “ Why do they
sing ? ” “I wonder what they are singing about ? ” and they sent the father of the
children to bring them back. When //astreyaLi overtook them he said, “ Come
back, the yei wish to see you again and speak to you.” The blind boy replied,
“ I shall not go back. They have told us, in anger, to begone. They are only
making fools of us.” But the cripple urged : “ Let us return once more and find
out what they wish to say.” When they returned some one asked them : “ What
were you singing as you went along ?” They answered : “ We were not singing.

We were crying.” “And why did you cry?” “We cried because you bade us
go away and we knew no longer where to go.” The yei still persisted : “ What
kind of a song did you sing? We surely heard the words of a song,” and the
boys said: “We were not singing, we were crying.” When the yei asked this
question for the fourth time the cripple spoke : “ We began to cry, and then we
sang; we turned our cry into a song. We never knew the song before. My
blind brother made it up as we went along, and this is what we sang :

From the white plain where stands the water,

From there we come,

Bereft of eyes, one bears another.

From there we come.

Bereft of limbs, one bears another.

From there we come.

Where healing herbs grow by the waters,

From there we come.

With these your eyes you shall recover.

From there we come.

With these your limbs you shall recover.

From there we come.

From meadows green where ponds are scattered,

From there we come.

Bereft of limbs, one bears another.

From there we come.

Bereft of eyes, one bears another.

From there we come.

By ponds where healing herbs are growing,

From there we come.

With these your limbs you shall recover.

From there we come.

With these your eyes you shall recover.

From there we come. See pars. 944, 945.

837. — When the yei had heard the boys’ song they counseled once more and
at last they said : “ We must never turn our children out again, blind, crippled
and helpless as they are,” and they said to //astreyal/i of Tse'Ani, “ Send them
to Ayakini (the Moki towns) and to ZMla^o^an 68 and tie up for them the things
they are to use there.” He tied up, each in a separate bundle, the four following
things: (1) a living kangaroo rat (naas?e) ; (2) tms\ a worm; (3) niyol, the
wind — a talisman to produce wind ; (4) four migratory grasshoppers (nahas-
tragi). These he wrapped in a black cloud and put in a pouch that hung on one
side. Thus they instructed the boys : “ Go to the Mokis and let the rat loose in
their fields ; he will scratch up the seeds and they will see that their crops will be
destroyed if they do not get rid of him ; then they will give you valuable presents
to kill the rat or take him away. When you have taken the rat away the corn
will grow well ; but when it is a hand’s breadth above the ground turn your worm
loose in the fields ; he will begin to eat the tender shoots ; then they will give you

presents to get rid of the worm. When the corn puts forth its tassel take out the
wind, and let it loose ; it will blow the corn down, and when they see their crops
again in danger they will give you more presents to still the wind. When the
ears begin to fill, turn out the grasshoppers to devour the crops ; then they will
give you things of value to call away the grasshoppers. But be careful not to call
these in too soon — not till you get all the things you have demanded. First get
four unwounded buckskins, and in these you will place the other articles according
as you get them, baskets, feathers and all.” They gave the boys a short rainbow,
about a finger’s length, to keep, and they gave an arched rainbow, about eight
paces long, for them to travel on. They bade the boys go down the Chelly till
they came to the mouth of the canon, and then to //a//astyel. They laid the
rainbow down, bade the boys stand on it, the cripple to shut his eyes for a little
while and then open them.

838. — The boys stood on the bow ; their father gave a puff of wind and the
bow started. The bow stopped for a while ; the cripple opened his eyes and
found that they were a little way from Kininaekai. After this he kept his eyes
open to the end of the journey. The bow went by jumps or frequent stops along
the road they desired to go. In a little while they came to //a/^astyel. They
had been bidden, when they started, to go to the western end of the first Moki
mesa, to the last town (Walpi), and they kept on with the rainbow to near the
foot of the cliff there. The Mokis saw them coming and said : “ Two ugly creatures
approach us. We know not what they are.” When the boys got to the foot of
the mesa, where the trail begins to ascend, the people on top could see them no
longer. Then the twins folded up their rainbow, put it in their pouch and climbed
the hill to Walpi.

839. — When they arrived at the top of the mesa the Mokis gathered around
them, threw small stones and pieces of filth at them and mocked them. One
stuck his finger in the blind boy’s eye and asked him why he couldn’t see. The
boys tried to enter a house, but the Mokis would not let them. The people
brought out broken fragments of food in baskets ; but when the boys tried to
help themselves, the baskets were snatched away. Thus did the Mokis continue
to tease the children. They staid around the villages four nights, during which
the Mokis gave then no shelter and nothing to eat ; but they had the magic bowl
their father had given them to eat from and they had the blanket of darkness to
cover them at night and keep them warm. During this time the people of the
villages were planting their corn. Every day they went down to their fields in the
valley and the boys went with them, although the Mokis continued to tease them
— to offer them food and take it away again.

840. — At the end of the fourth day, when the Mokis had planted their crops,
the boys remained in the fields for awhile after the planters had gone home, and
turned their rat loose. Then they went up and slept on top of the mesa. When
the Mokis went down in the morning to visit the fields they saw where the rat had
begun his mischief and they came back howling : “ Our crops will be ruined, the

rats have .gotten among them.” The rats multiplied in one night and became
very numerous. The Molds tried to catch the rats, to destroy them. They tried
to dig them out, to drown them out, to trap them ; but they kept on increasing
and eating up the seeds. Every day they replanted the hills where the rats had
been at work ; but when they visited the fields on the following day they found
their seeds again destroyed. This went on for four days. The old men and the
old women returned weeping from the fields and saying : “ Alas ! we shall have
no food to eat in the winter that is coming.” Then the chiefs of the Mokis held
a council, and some one spoke saying: “ We hear that the People on the Earth
know many things. There are two of them here among us now. Let us call
them into our council ; perhaps they may help us.” The young men laughed at
this and said : “ They are blind and crippled ; they are poor and ugly ; they can
know nothing.” But the old men said : “ It is no harm to ask them. Let us try.
All our own ways have failed.” So the chiefs went to the twins and asked them
if they knew of any medicine that would drive the rats away. The blind boy
answered, “ I am blind and can do nothing. Perhaps my brother knows some¬
thing that will help you.” One of the chiefs said : “ The corn belongs to us all.
If you help us, every one will give you something, and you shall have all the
tse‘as^e (paper bread, par. 223) you want to eat.” “ It is well,” replied the crip¬
ple ; “ we shall try to help you.” Then the chief called aloud to the people and
bade them bring tse'as^e, to bring an unwounded buckskin (par. 257) and any
valuables they did not need, and place these beside the boys as gifts ; to bring
/janikai (meat and corn boiled together) and plenty more of their best food.
When they had eaten their fill, the boys said : “ We will go down into the fields ;
but when we go the Mokis must retire to their houses ; no one may look down to
see what we are doing. If any one glances at us over the edge of the mesa it will
spoil all our work, it will undo what we have done.”

841. — The boys went down into the fields, caught four of the rats, wrapped
them up in a dark cloud, put them in their pouch and came up again on the mesa
where the Mokis were. They told the chiefs to tell the people that no one must
go down into the fields for four days and four nights, and that no one must even
look down during that time. The chiefs then told the boys to go round among the
people and eat anywhere they chose ; that they would be welcome at any house.
The Mokis now became very kind to the twins. At the end of the fourth night,
the Mokis went to their fields ; they found that their corn had grown a hand’s
breadth in height ; that all their other crops were doing well ; and they saw no
more tracks or traces of the rats ; the animals seemed to have all disappeared.
When the Mokis returned from the fields they thanked the boys, saying: “ Our
corn, our beans, our squashes, our melons, are all growing well.”

842. — For a while after this, the Mokis were very thankful and very kind ;
but they soon forgot the good services which the boys had rendered them,
thought they would need nothing more from them, and began to annoy them
again ; they would poke incandescent sticks in their faces ; they would throw

dirt on them ; one would push over another so that he would fall on the boys ;
they would poke fingers in the boys’ eyes, and at last they refused to give them
food. The boys got weary of this, left the Molds and set out for 77^ala//o^an.
While the boys were crossing the valley the people of Moki gathered on the brow
of the mesa, laughed at the boys and made vulgar jokes about them.

843. — When the twins arrived in 77/ala^o^an the people there received them
as the people of Moki had done, with ridicule and contempt. Food and objects
of value were offered to them and then snatched away and all the tricks that were
played on them at Moki were played on them again at Z/zala/zo^an. The people
at this place were now busy hoeing their corn which was about a span high. The
boys followed the people to the field and at sunset or thereabouts, when the till¬
ers went home, and the fields were all deserted, the boys turned their worm loose
among the corn. When they went back to the pueblo that night the people
would give them no place to sleep in the houses, so they slept outside on a pile of
ashes.

844. — When the people went out next morning they found their young corn

infested with worms that were gnawing the roots. All the people in the village
who were able to walk — men, women and children — went to gather the worms in
bowls and baskets and they worked all day until after sunset — then they went
home. The corn that was gnawed all withered at the tops. This destruction
and this labor of the people kept on for four days, at the end of which time,
scarcely a hill of sound corn could be seen. There was weeping and wailing in the
pueblo. The people cried : “We shall starve this winter, for the worms have
eaten all our crops.” A council was held and some one arose in the council and
said : “ We have heard that these boys who are among us, the blind one carrying
the cripple, banished the rats from the fields of the Mokis ; perhaps they can do
something to chase away the worms that now destroy our crops.” The young
men, like the young men at the Moki towns, laughed at these words, saying :
“ They are blind and crippled, they are poor and ugly, they know nothing” ; but
the elders said : “ It is no harm to ask them. Let us try what they can do.”

Then one of the principal chiefs among the men and one of the principal chiefs
among the women went together to seek the boys, and meeting the latter begged
them to help in driving away the worms. The blind boy said : “ I know nothing
and can do nothing, for I am blind ; but ask my brother who can see, perhaps he
can help you.” “ What will you ask us in return for chasing these worms ?” said
the chiefs. “We are all crying for our corn. Destroy the worms and you shall
have all you want to eat, you shall be welcome at every hearth.” The cripple de¬
manded first two unwounded buckskins, which when he got he spread out as he
did also the skin he got from the Mokis. One skin was to receive food and the
other the various jewels, baskets, feathers and other valuables which he next de¬
manded and received. The people brought them, too, a great mess of meat
stewed with corn and alkan, or sweet bread (par. 221).

845. — The boys then told the chiefs as they had told those of Moki, that the
people must remain in their houses, and not look toward the field while the boys

were at work and that after their return the people must not visit their fields, or
go in the direction in which they lay or look toward them. After these orders
had been announced from the housetops, the boys went among the corn, caught
four of the worms, wrapped them in dark cloud, put them in their pouch and re¬
turned to the village. At the end of the fourth night after this the people of
TMla^o^an visited their fields. They found that their corn had sprouted about
a hand’s breadth in height and that the beans, squashes and melons had also
grown well above the ground. Indeed it was not necessary to visit the fields to
see that all was well again, for those who stood on the hill-tops near the village
could observe that the field looked green once more. The people returning from
the fields boasted about their crops. Some said : “ My corn is so high ” (making

signs) ; others said : “ Mine is higher than that” ; and thus they talked, but all
said that not one more worm could they see. While the corn was still in danger
of being lost the people were very kind to the boys ; but as soon as they thought
it was out of danger, again they began to persecute the twins in various ways as
the people of Moki had done, and at last, after four days of this torment, they
even refused them food,

846. — After the end of the fourth night, the boys went down into the fields
with the people ; when the latter returned in the evening to the village, the boys
remained behind and planted the wind in the ground. After this the wind blew
so hard for four days that it broke the young corn and blew it prostrate. Again
all the people of the town, who were able to work, went into the fields. They
raised shelters of weeds to the windward of the hills of corn and set up stones to
keep the windbreaks in position, but these did not preserve the corn from the
great force of the storm. The old men said to the younger men : “We bade you
to be kind to these boys and not to persecute them ; but you would not heed us
and now again our crops are being destroyed.” Two of the chiefs among the
women and one of the chiefs among the men now went to the boys, and calling
them affectionately “ our grandchildren,” begged them to assist in stilling the
storm. Four times they begged the children and four times the latter refused to
help them, saying : “ Your people laugh at us and torment us. We are poor and
ugly. What do we know about the wind and how to stop its blowing?” While
they begged the boys the women petted and caressed them. '‘You People on
the Earth55 know much; you can still the wind for us as you chased away the
worms,” they said. At length the boys yielded and said : “We will try to help
you ; but you must give us all that we ask for. When we helped you before you
paid us in old rags, in cast-off articles of clothing, in scraps of food. We will take
such things no longer, we must have things new, fine, valuable, and we must have
the best and freshest of your food. On the first occasion we had two unwounded
buckskins from you, now we want three more,” and then the boys demanded all
the sacred articles which the yei had told them to get among the people of the
pueblos. The three chiefs returned to the council and told there what the boys
had said and what they demanded : “ We live on corn,” they said. “ If the corn

is destroyed we die. These boys promise to save us if we give them these deer¬
skins and jewels and feathers. If we have no corn we shall have no mush, or
sweet bread or paper bread, or stews of corn and meat or any of the savory
dishes that are made out of corn. Therefore, we should give the boys what they
ask for, in order that they may stop the wind.” The people then went forth and
began to lay down their treasures before the boys. They first spread the three
deerskins and on one of these they piled paper bread and other articles of food, and
on the other skins they piled clothing, baskets, precious stones, feathers, pollen,
and all the other treasures that the boys had asked for. Yet they did not put the
best that they had on these buckskins, just as we do not give away the best we
have, if we can help it.

847. — The boys now having told the chiefs to instruct the people, as they
had instructed them before, went into the fields, dug up the wind they had
planted, wrapped it in black fog, tied the bundle with a rainbow, put all in their
pouch and went back to T ^ala^o/an. At the end of the fourth night, after this,
when the restrictions placed by the boys had ended, the people visited their fields
once more. The storm had ceased, the corn was all straight again and nearly in
tassel, the squashes, beans and melons were all in blossom. “You should be
thankful to these boys,” said the chiefs to the people. “ You should laugh at them
no more. You should cease to annoy and revile them.”

848. — During the days of their trouble the people of the village were very

good to the boys, they invited them to eat in every house ; but after the winds

had ceased and the crops had begun to flourish again, they no longer invited the

boys to help themselves from the bowls. They began to revile and curse the

boys ; “ \ti.hoX.s\nd\ !69 Go to the Devil’s place. Inrt’aznaal ! May you die ! We

shall take away from you the fine things we have given you. We shall kill

you” ; such were the words they said. It was the young men of the town who

counseled to rob and kill them ; but the chiefs said : “No. Let them depart in

peace ; but they must depart.” Boys of their own age shot at them with blunt

arrows so as to hurt but not to wound them. The twins hung around the village

and stood all this abuse for four days, and then they made up their minds to go

back across the valley to the villages of the Mokis.

849. — When they arrived at Ayakini the Mokis were hoeing their corn which
was now in tassel and the boys went with the laborers to the fields. There the
youths of Moki teased the maidens — pointing to the twins they said : “ There are
husbands for you.” The boys said to one another: “We have only one more
kind of medicine — that is our grasshoppers ; let us see what they can do.” After
sunset, when the laborers went home, the boys went to the center of the fields.
They picked out a stalk immediately to the east of the center and in its tassel
put a grasshopper. To the south of the center in a tassel of corn they put
another grasshopper ; to the west of the center they put a third grasshopper, and
to the north a fourth. This done, they returned to the mesa and slept on the
edge next to the cornfields that night.

850. — During the night the grasshoppers increased and did great destruc¬
tion ; they ate off the leaves and the silk of much of the corn, and they ate the
covering from the stalks. When some of the Mokis descended to the fields in
the morning, as it is always their custom to do during the growing season, and
found the fields swarming with grasshoppers and saw what damage had been
done, they howled like wolves. This is a common signal among these people ;
they use it to call the people together from a distance in time of danger and
even when they kill a deer. After the call was sounded many more people came
down from the mesa ; when these were shown the grasshoppers and the injury
which had been done they were sent off, young and old, to gather cedar bark, to
make fires in order to smoke the pests out. But this plan did not work well ;
the grasshoppers would rise from the place where the smoke was and settle down
immediately in some other part of the field where there was no smoke instead of
leaving, as the Mokis had hoped they would do. They tried the smoke all day
without success.

851. — Early next morning the boys heard a herald crying on the housetops.
He gave orders that all people, even to the smallest children, that were able to
walk, should go to the fields that day. The children, he directed, should catch
grasshoppers, put them in baskets, carry them beyond the fields and kill them,
while the men were to remain in the fields tending the fires and chasing the
grasshoppers with branches. Thus the people toiled all day, yet, by the second
night the grasshoppers had spread not only over the fields of Ayakini, but
over those of Z/zala/zo^an as well. At A/zala/zo^an the people were evidently
doing the same as those of Moki, for the smoke of their fires could be seen
across the intervening valley. The twins had an easy time up on the mesa
all day ; they did not go down into the fields ; but sat in the sun and enjoyed
the sight of the Mokis fighting the grasshoppers. Perhaps they whistled
through their teeth.

852. — Next morning they again heard the crier on the house-tops bidding
the people to go out and do as they had done the day before. On the previous
day they had gathered bark and branches for their fires ; but to-day they
gathered grass and greasewood and all sorts of inflammable herbs. But for
all their work the grasshoppers did not leave or diminish, and at night there
was little left of the corn but the stalks. Meanwhile the smoking was going
on over at Z/zala/zo^an, as actively as ever, and the twins sat on the brow of
the cliff and watched and rested. Some of the people came home very late
that night, for they had worked as long as there was light to see, and they ate
their suppers and went to bed very tired. Many said : “ There is no use in
going back to the fields to-morrow. The pests have eaten all the leaves and
have begun on the stalks. They will devour these tomorrow, and there are
more of them now than ever.” The chiefs did not sleep at all that night, so
great was their anxiety ; but they determined not to give up, and bade the crier
call to the people again next morning.

853. — On the fourth morning some had given up all hope, refused to go
to the fields and staid at home ; others were reluctant, but went at the ^entreaty
of the chiefs. When the people went to the fields, the stalks of corn had
disappeared, nothing was left but short stumps, and the grasshoppers were busy
even on these. The watermelon vines, squash vines, and beans were similarly
devoured. By noon the corn was all gone to the roots. All the laborers went
home, disheartened, before the sun was half way down the west and told the
old women what had happened. These began to wail : “ Alas for our little
children ; they must starve and die, for we have no corn wherewith to feed
them.”

854. — There were sad councils that night which lasted all night at the Moki
towns and at ZMla^o^an. The young men, as well as the old, joined in the
councils. Thus they spoke in the council: “Only the roots of our corn and
beans are left, starvation and death are before us. All the methods that we
have used in past years to drive away the grasshoppers we have tried this
time, but without avail. We have made more smoke, we have killed more
grasshoppers, we have worked harder than ever we did before ; but the
grasshoppers increase in numbers. They have conquered us. What shall
we do?” At length someone said: “Where have the twins gone, the blind
one bearing the cripple?” and the answers came: “We saw them on the brow
of the cliff this morning as we went to the fields”; “We saw them on the
side of the mesa this morning. Perhaps they are now asleep among the rocks.”
A crier was sent to the housetops to call out and find what had become of
the boys. The first chief cautioned the people : “ Never frighten these boys
again. Torment them no more. Curse them no more. You have done
wrong.” The chiefs had now begun to suspect that the boys had brought the
grasshopper plague on them in revenge for bad treatment. The second chief
said : “ Ever since these boys came among us we have had misfortune. If I
find them in the morning I shall kill them and throw their bodies down over
the cliffs.” Several of the young men who heard this announcement were
rejoiced and shouted: “That is what should be done with the boys! Let us
fling them down over the cliffs !” Then a gray-haired old woman spoke : “ We
would be fools to kill them. If they have destroyed the crops, perhaps they
can save them as they did before. Let us first beg them to help us as they
did when the rats troubled us, and if they refuse or are unable to help us,
then it is time to talk of killing them.” The first chief said : “ The words of
the woman are wise.70 I think as she does. Let us first ask the boys if they
can help us. They did it before ; they may do it again.” The chief of
TMla^og-an was at this council with some other head men of that place. He
said : “ It might not be lucky to kill them. If they have the power to bring
on these plagues and the power to stop them, perhaps if we killed them we
would never raise crops any more.” At last, all agreed to the proposals of the
first chiefs. No one slept that night.

855. — Early in the morning the crier on the housetops inquired for the boys.
They had slept during the night under a ledge of rock on the side of the mesa
next to the fields, and were discovered at last on the side of the mesa near where
they had slept. Early, too, the people of the Moki rose and ate their breakfast,
and then sent six of the head men and six of the head women to the boys to talk
with them. The old woman who interceded for them on the previous night was
the first to speak. After she had embraced them and called them by tender
names — “my children, my grandchildren,” etc., — (and this made the boys feel
proud) she said : “ You came to our help when the rats were eating our corn ;

you helped us again when the worms were destroying it ; you saved us once more
when the wind was blowing our corn down ; you can help us now when the grass¬
hoppers are devouring it. Drive away the grasshoppers from our fields and we
shall be your friends forever. No more shall our young men and boys annoy
you ; no more shall they curse and revile you ; no more shall you go hungry ; no
more shall you sleep on the cold rocks without a blanket. You shall live as our
own people live. Whenever you enter a house food shall be set before you,” and
she made them many other good promises. The boys replied : “ Thrice before

have you made us just such promises as these, and thrice we have saved your
crops from being lost ; but as soon as your danger was over you forgot all your
fine promises ; you mocked us, you laughed at us, you tormented us, you drove
us out of your houses, you did not give us a scrap of food to eat nor a blanket to
cover us when we slept at night, out of doors, on the cold bare rocks of the
mesa.” Then the first chief repeated all the promises of the woman, and assured
them that the Mokis would not again forget their word. He continued : “ We

are People on the Earth like yourselves.55 We are not afigini. Help us this once
more and you shall be forever after treated as one of ourselves. This is the chief
among the women ; I am the chief among the men. We pledge you our word :
hereafter you shall be to us as our own children.” The other ten members of the
delegation came forward and repeated all the promises that the first two had made,
not only for all the people but each for himself personally, and all embraced the
children and called them by the names of relationship. The boys responded :
“ We have heard all this before. We know now how much you mean of what
you say. Were we to kill the grasshoppers and save your crops again, just as
soon as you felt safe you would look kindly at us no more. You would shoot
blunt arrows at us, throw dirt on us, poke your fingers in the eyes of the blind
one, and refuse us food and shelter. Besides, there is no use in your coming to
us, we know nothing about grasshoppers.” But the chiefs repeated all their
promises over and over again, and ceased not to implore their aid. Four times
the boys asked : “ Are your words true ? ” and four times the chiefs responded :
“ Our words are true. We speak for the whole people. The rest must keep the
pledges that we make. What we promise, all the people promise,” “If we help
you this time,” said the boys, “ we want no more scraps or leavings of food, we
want no second-hand clothes, we want no more inferior things, we must have the

best of everything. First, we must have four more large and fine unwounded
buckskins, and we must have an abundance of other skins, doeskins, fawnskins,
antelope skins, and furs. We must have turquoise ear-drops as long as the finger,
besides turquoise of lesser size. We must have beads of all kinds. We must
have fine necklaces containing shells of all kinds, the best of coral and cannel-coal.
We must have woven fabrics of all kinds — the best from everybody’s house. We
must have the five jewel baskets,” and then the boys demanded all the rest of the
sacrificial things that the yei required, saying : “All these things must be of the
best. Now, give us these and we will try to save what is left of your corn.”
“ Stay, then, where you are,” said the chiefs, “while we return to our people, tell
them what you demand, and ask people whom we know have these things to give
them up.” A chief went back to the village and harangued the people. He re¬
peated all that the boys demanded. He asked first for the sacred buckskins, then
for the common skins, and after these for the other articles. Many were reluctant,
and refused to give; but the chief said : “Fear not to give them. When the
boys have chased away the grasshoppers and saved the crops, we will kill them
and get all our wealth back again.” When they were told they should get their
hard wealth — their beads — back again, they were satisfied and began to lay them
down. They put them in pots, carried them out and emptied them on the buck¬
skins. The boys tied up the other treasure also, including the fine food. Then
they made the chiefs stand guard over the treasures (there had been some thefts
on the previous occasions).

856. — They repeated all the previous instructions, telling the people to hide
and not look toward the fields during their absence, and then the boys went down
into the fields, where they had placed the first four grasshoppers. They ap¬
proached the eastern grasshopper from the east. Going sunwise they approached
the southern one from the south, the western one from the west, and the northern
one from the north. They folded them all in a black cloud, tied the bundle with
a long band of rainbow (much pantomime on the part of the story-teller), and put
the bundle in their pouch. After they had done this they said a prayer ; they
prayed that the Mokis might have all the corn, all the black clouds, all the
abundant rains, and all the harmless lightning they desired. A moment later the
boys were on top of the cliff at the villages ; they had come up on a trail of rain¬
bow. “ Go back to your houses now,” said the boys to the chiefs who were
guarding the property. “ You shall have plenty to eat this year ; you shall have
abundant black clouds ; you shall have abundant rains ; you shall have beneficent
lightning. We have prayed for all these things for you. But you must keep
your word to us and feed us well. We shall abide with you here for a while and
eat with you, and the people must not visit their fields nor look toward them for
four days and four nights.” During these four nights the people could not sleep
for they were anxious about their wealth, lest the boys should escape with it ; yet
they were anxious about their corn, too, and feared to injure the boys lest the
spell which the latter had cast on the grasshoppers might not work.

857. — On the morning after the fourth night, the people went down to their
fields and found their corn as good as ever. The ears were forming. The melon
vines had grown long and little buttons of melons had appeared on them ; so with
the squash vines. The beans were in blossom. Rain was falling on the farms of
Moki and on the farms of 77/ala/<:oJfan. As soon as the rain began to fall on
themselves the people of Moki came home, and when they returned the boys had
their goods all wrapped up so tightly with a band of lightning that they formed
a very small package. The Mokis had visited the fields before breakfast ; when
they returned the chiefs bade them eat in haste, as they intended, immediately
after eating, to kill the boys and get back all their property. While the people
were eating, the boys were on the edge of the cliff walking from place to place ;
but they were closely watched all the time, for the chiefs had placed guards
outside to observe them till the others finished their meal.

858. — Suddenly the boys disappeared from the edge of the mesa and the
watchers ran back announcing this to the chiefs. “ Run and see whither they
have gone,” was the order. In a moment the messengers returned, crying:
“ They are already at the foot of the mesa.” The people rushed forth from their
houses with clubs in their hands, and ran down the side of the mesa after the boys.
When the pursuers got to the edge of the first ravine, on the trail the boys had
taken, the fugitives had reached the top of a low rise just beyond it. When the
crowd reached the top of this rise, expecting to find the boys just on the other
side of it and to overtake them in a moment, they found to their astonishment
that the boys were a long way off. When out of sight of their pursuers the boys
cast their rainbow before them and went rapidly forward. While in sight, they
moved slowly, for the blind boy could only walk with the cripple on his back.
The Mokis ran fast, meantime, and when the boys had ascended the next rise
their pursuers were but about thirty paces behind them ; but when the latter
mounted the ridge the fugitives were at least four hundred paces ahead. By this
time the Mokis began to throw the sweat from their faces and many of them got
tired and abandoned the chase ; yet whenever the boys were seen they were
slowly walking. The Mokis continued to pursue them up the neighboring valley
and in the direction of the Chelly Canon. When they came to a place called
Zi^naikai, White Horizontal Smoke, most of them became exhausted and gave
up the pursuit ; but a few kept on till they arrived at T-yg'tySlsaka^, Lone Oak,
and here the last one threw himself on the ground exhausted. “ Farewell, my
beautiful beads ! Farewell, my precious necklace ! Farewell, my rare turquoise
basket ! You are gone forever ; I shall never see you again.” Such were the
cries the baffled pursuers uttered. But the boys did not hurry, they seemed to
the waiting group they left behind to go more slowly than ever. The group at
White Smoke remained there, hoping soon to see their comrades return, bringing
their valuables with them ; but when their friends came back empty-handed, the
people who had stayed at White Smoke, too, began to weep and cry farewells to
their lost property as those at Lone Oak had done. From the latter place the

boys went toward Kininaekai on their rainbow by jumps. At Tse‘hesUiVahaska‘,
where there is a lake, they stopped to drink and eat some of their paper bread
and other delicacies which they had obtained from the Mokis. They went
next to a place called where there is a wall of stone. When they

passed through a gap here, the holy ones of Kininaekai saw them coming and
//astre/zo^an sent //ast.feelz'odi to meet them in THnlf Valley.

859. — When //astrdel/odi met them he asked them what they had done.
They answered : “We have done all that we were told to do and we have
returned laden with the best of jewels and with all the sacred things we were
bidden to get.” “ I shall return to my kindred before you, and tell them this,”
said the yei. “ If you bring all the things we have demanded of you, perhaps you
may be cured.” When //ast.yeelz'odi returned and told his story to his kindred,
//astre/zo/an said: “We rejoice to hear they have an abundance, and that
everything they have is of the best. We must divide with our neighbors. Go
out to all the other holy places and tell the people to come in.” When the boys
arrived at Kininaekai they did not enter any of the houses ; they stopped at the
bottom of the cliff where they found a crowd gathered to meet them.

860. — The yei spread a blanket on the ground for the boys to sit on ; 7/as-
tyeyal/i came down from his house, went where the boys sat, and asked them what
they had done. The boys related all their adventures and told at greatest length
all the trouble they had had in getting home. “ What, O father, were your
thoughts about us while we were gone? We have suffered much and escaped
many dangers in getting these things for you ; but we have gotten all that you
commanded us to get ” ; and they mentioned by name all the treasures they carried
“ ’Tis well,” said the old man ; “ now you shall have your eyes cured and your limbs
cured, and you shall walk as well and see as well as you did before the evil spell
was cast upon you.” The digini of Litsitka.a‘, being the best runners, a courier
was sent to them with news of the boys’ successful return, and they were
asked to spread the news to all the other holy places. Soon the holy ones from
many places assembled at Kininaekai — the young gods hoped to get a share of
the jewels and the elders hoped to get a smoke. They had sent word to the
//asUe^ini or Black Gods to hasten their coming, as they are the keepers of the
fire and as they travel slowly. They stop to make a fire often on their journeys,
and lie down to rest at the fire before they move on again (par. 111). On this
occasion they did not arrive until sundown on the fourth day after they were sent
for, and the z/igmi had to wait their coming. When the Black Gods arrived, all
the gods were present, and then they held a council to determine if the promised
healing ceremony should be held at Kininaekai, at Tse'intyel, or where it should
be held. They talked all night about this. Some one said : “ Kininaekai is an
unlucky place for the boys. We began the rite here before and it was broken.
If we begin here again something unfortunate may happen. Let us go else¬
where.”

861. — It was decided to go to Tse'intyel, and in the morning they all set out

25 7

for that place, the boys walking in the middle of the crowd. They all walked to
the low hills that skirt the foot of Tseffntyel, near the place where the two creeks
join,54 and here they chose a place where the ceremony was to be performed,
//astye/zo^an of Tsehntyel then asked if anyone had brought with him the neces¬
sary medicine, but all answered that they had left their medicines at home. He
told them their assistance would not go unpaid, that all who helped would receive
presents for their help. “ Go home and get your medicines,” he said. “ Return
here at the end of four nights and in the meantime spread the news of the coming
rite again, so that those who have not heard before may hear now, but send no
message to the //astyetso, Great Yei, and Kli'^tso, Great Serpent. They are
evil ones who must not know what we intend to do.” He said to the boys : “ Go
back to your home at IiWestsi7/onia‘ and see once more how your kindred there
will greet you. But tell them not what has happened since last you left them.
Tell them not that you have found your father or that the holy ones have
promised to cure you.”

862. — The boys left Tsehntyel as they were bidden, and got back to InTes-

tyf/^onia', where their mother dwelt. As they approached the house their uncle
saw them a little way off and cried out : “ Here come these ugly boys again. I

supposed they had starved to death long ago ; but still they live, and again they
return to us. Let us drive them away.” Their grandmother came out and
advanced to meet them. “Begone!” she said. “We chased you away before.
Why do you return to us? We wish never to see you again. Go far away and
starve.” One of the boys, hearing this, said to the other : “ I am sorry we came
back. We have heard cruel words we did not expect to hear.” But the other
replied : “ I feel neither sorry nor ashamed. We came not here of our own

wish. It was the holy ones who sent us, and we did right to listen to them.
Our mother and her people do not want us to be of the People on the Earth.
Let us go back to the holy ones and remain with them forever.” Yet for all
these brave words their minds were sad and they sat down and wept. When
they had dried their tears, one said to the other : “We must never go back to
our mother’s lodge again. Let us return at once to Tsehntyel where they have
promised to cure for one his eyes, and for the other his legs. Some day we may
be able to do a service for the holy ones. Some day they may ask us.” So the
one mounted upon the back of the other, and they set out on their return journey.

863. — When they got back to TseTntyel their father asked them : “ What

did your people say to you at your home?” He named each one of their rela¬
tions and asked what each one said. “ Our grandmother met us at a distance
from the house,” they answered, “and forbade us to approach nearer. She told
us we were dirty and ugly, that they were tired of us, and she bade us begone.
She alone spoke to us. The others came not near us.” “ Look no more at your
mother or at your mother’s people,” said the yei. “ When we have cured you,
we will find a place for you. We have sent word to all the holy places you have
visited. A great crowd will be here to-night.”

25B

864. — The boys remained all day down near the bank of the stream. About
sundown the crowd began to gather. At the foot of the rock of Tsehntyel the
council was held as to how the ceremony should be conducted and how the
medicines should be prepared. The medicinedodge for this occasion was built of
stone ; its ruins may still be seen near Tsefintyel ; but the Navahoes now build the
medicine-lodge of wood and earth. After the council was ended at night they
made and sacrificed circle kethawns (par. 300 et seq .). Thus ended the work of
the first day.

865. — (The rest of the myth is taken up mostly with a description of the
rites, given with a certain incompleteness which indicates that it is intended for
the ears of those who have already witnessed the rites and understand the
allusions of the speaker, without a full description of all the work. As the rites
are described in another place more fully than the narrator of this myth gave
them, it is considered unnecessary to repeat this part of his tale ; but some incidents
will be here mentioned, which are strictly mythical or belong to that form of the
ceremony known as Ahnastd^ego //a^a/ (pars. 648-649). The whole of the myth of
The Stricken Twins accounts for the origin of this form, or its introduction among
the Navahoes.)

866. — On the morning of the second day cigarettes were made for the Owls,
for Aga'hoa* Tsilke, for //astreyald and for //astyeafiltsosi. When these had
been sacrificed the sweat-house was constructed. Its frame was made of two rain¬
bows : one, a female, extending from north to south and the other, a male, ex¬
tending from east to west (plate II, A). They covered this frame with a black
cloud and curtained the doorway with an unwounded buckskin and a black fog.
Mortals cannot build such a sweat-house as this, so to-day we do the best we can
by making one of the sticks and clay and painting a picture of the rainbow on
the outside. The medicines used were troltsin (par. 215), kled^e aze (par. 203),
rtT'tsos (par. 213), and nakedn (par. 345) and besides they used the parts of the
mountain sheep which the boys had killed. The nakedn was mixed with the
water from the sheep’s eye and put in the eyes of the blind boy, with instructions
to him not to let it drop out. They were told with many warnings not to talk in
the sweat-house and reminded of their former folly in the sweat-house near Kin-
inaekai. //asUeyal/i and //astyebaad were designated to treat the boys, and
those divine ones, when the songs of the sweat-house were done, approached
from the east and threw aside the curtains. //astreyald with a downward sweep
of the hand beckoned the boys to come forth and motioned to them to sit on
embroidered Moki blankets which had been spread for them. //astyeyald made
massage on the blind boy, holding two black plumed wands with the tip of the
sheep’s horn in the right hand and two black plumed wands with the strip of
skin from the sheep’s nose in the left hand, //astoebaad operated on the cripple
holding two blue wands and a tendo Achillis of the sheep in each hand. When
the whole party returned from the sweat-house to the lodge, the boys were placed
first on a Moki blanket. The cripple now felt as if he could stretch out his limbs,

but as he had been told to say nothing about his feelings or his treatment till all
was done, he kept silent. After the pollen was administered two unwounded
buckskins were spread with their noses to the east ; a picture of the Pollen Boy
was drawn on each skin and one of the boys was placed sitting on each. There
they prayed to Dsahakold.a'a of Tse'ni/zo^an on the east; to Gazzaskiki of De pe-
hahat'm on the south, to TTastye/zo^an of Kininaekai on the west, and to T/astye/-
tyi of Lltsti/iaa1 on the north, that the eyes of the blind and the limbs of the
lame might be restored as they were before. The boys were then both clothed
with the evergreen dresses and the masks of antelope skin, as is done to-day (par.
357 et seq .) masks were made from the skins of two young twin antelopes which
To'nenili captured at Dsi/kasani, Porcupine Mountain. Nayenezgani and
Tb'badzlstyini, cut off the evergreens with stone knives and after the fragments of
the dresses were carried out all lay down to sleep.

867. — On the morning of the third day, after six kethawns had been made
and buried in the usual form, two ditches were dug and that form of the sweat
known as ko/znike was used on the boys. No pictures were drawn ; but the
same medicines were used as on the previous day and the same treatment em¬
ployed by the same gods. While they were sweating, unwounded buckskins and
black clouds were put over the boys, and underneath them, in the order named,
from below upward, were the following seven substances : juniper leaves, pinon
leaves, spruce leaves, Gutierrezia, a plant called tse'aze, Boutleloua grass and win¬
ter-fat (par. 255). T/astyeyaki sang the Asa/ini Bigi'n or Songs of the Long Pot.
When the yei tried to cure the boys before near Kininaekai they intended to do
it in one day, but now they had no such intention. At night the boys were each
clothed in six hoops made of the materials the same as those on which they lay
while taking the sweat, as is done to-day. When these hoops had been removed
and torn to pieces the work of the day was done. See par. 419.

868. — On the fourth day, before sunrise, some went out and tied a white
downy eagle-feather to the top of the pinon sapling that was selected to remove
the masks in the ceremonies at night. Then cigarettes were made for T/astye¬
yaki, Dsahakold.s'a, Gazzaskiki, T/astye/tyi, Hatdastslsx, H ’asty&stfni , To'nenili,
T/astyekiltsosi and four of the Tsek/zakepe or Rocky Mountain sheep. After
these were planted they made a sweat-bath the same as on the first day ; except
that they built it to the west of the medicine-lodge. After the sweat was
done, the cripple was able to walk by himself to the medicine-lodge but not
strongly and the blind boy could distinguish light more plainly than he had
done before. Their father collected the yucca which was to wash them in
the afternoon. T/astyeekodi and To'nenili collected the earth from the center
of a field — each bringing earth for a different boy — which was to be used
in making the circles of mud. To'nenili collected the water and T/astyeekodi
collected the spruce twigs. With all these, two mud platters were made as they
are made to-day (par. 437). A turquoise basket was placed in one of the circles
for one of the boys and a white shell basket in the other circle for the other

boy. //astyeyald and //astye/zo^an ofTse'biniyi made the lather, each in a sepa¬
rate bowl. As they began to work it up //astr&s'ini began to sing the TAa/ye/
Bigi n or Darkness Song as it is sung at the lather-making to-day (par. 439). When
the boys had been washed in the suds and rinsed off in clean water they got on
the Moki blanket and were dried with corn-meal while the Estsanatlehi Bigi'n
was sung. It was //astyeAni who applied the pollen to the vital parts, /Zastyei-
yaffi it was who cut the pinon tree that had been adorned with an eagle-feather
in the early morning, and it was 7o‘nenili who dug the hole between the boys in
which the tree was planted. To'nenili put a mask on the blind boy, while //as Ue-
ebodi put one on the cripple. //astyeyabi sprinkled the meal and //astyebaad
planted the tree. The tree was bent and tied to both masks, first to the blind
boy’s and then to the cripple’s and when it flew back it drew both masks with it.
The tree was taken out and deposited by the gods who had planted it. In the
meantime, at Tsefintyel they were preparing the supper of many dishes which is
eaten on the fourth night. The virgin boy and girl who mixed the cold gruel for
the communal feast that came later and sprinkled the masks were children of
//astjre/o^an. 12 unwounded buckskins were spread for the masks and the
treasures which the boys had brought from Moki. These filled the turquoise
basket and four other sacred baskets to overflowing. A haliotis basket, a black
basket and a crystal basket were filled with all the different kinds of pollen that
came from Moki. These baskets were laid behind the masks and Moqui blankets
were spread over them. About midnight the song of Hyibezna was sung and
the masks were shaken as we do it in these days (par. 469, 470). It was //ast.ye-
yal/i who made the smoke and blew it on the masks. Singing was kept up all
night until daylight ; then another bowl of lather was made for //astyeyabi to
wash his head before he set out on his journey to take kethawns to 7bintya.

869. — On the morning of the fifth day, when //astyeyabi returned from burying
the kethawns, the yei uncovered the baskets that contained the jewels, feathers
and pollen and found that all these things had increased marvelously during the
night. Now all the wealth which the boys had brought from Moki was divided
among the assembled yei. The division, for justice sake, was made by four —
//astye/zq<7an of Tsefintyel who sat in the east, //astyeyabi of Tse'intyel who sat
in the south, /Zastye/zq^an of Kininaekai, sitting in the west, and //astyeyabi of
Kininaekai, sitting in the north. From the hands of these /Zastye/zq^an of T.yu.y-
kai gave out the spoils to the males who stood around and //astyebaad of T.yu.y-
kai gave them out to the females. Owls, foxes and other animals were there and
each got a share. But //asUeAni, the chanter, got more than all the others. He
got a share of the jewels equal to that of any other and in addition he received
five sacred baskets, six unwounded buckskins and the embroidered blankets.
He got, too, most of the feathers and the different kinds of pollen.72

870. — Z/astyetso and Klibtso,73 the evil ones, lived in a house near that of
//astyeAni, and the insect Dontso stood guard for them. His usual place was
at the smoke-hole of their house, where there were two big black rocks ; now he

was in the medicine-lodge watching the division of the treasures; but he was so
small that no one observed him.

871. — As soon as the division was completed Dontso ran home and got up
to his place on top of the lodge. As he did so some dirt fell on the floor below
where //astyetso was sitting and the latter was angry. It was because he and
A'li'^tso were so inclined to wrath that they were not invited in when the treasures
were divided. But the insect told //astyetso what he had witnessed in the medi¬
cine-lodge and named all the precious things he had seen divided, //astyetso
rose from his bed and asked where this took place. The insect replied that he
had seen it in a medicine-lodge at the foot of Tsehntyel. The Great Snake,
hearing this, rose in anger and said : “Why was I not invited ? Let us go over
there. Come with me.” But //astyetso said : “ No, I would do better to go
alone. I have a better mind than you. I can speak better. I shall go alone to
these holy ones and tell them what I think of their conduct.” On the north side
of the door there was a black fog, on the south side a black cloud. The cloud
was folded with lightning inside. As soon as //astyetso pulled back the cloud to
pass out lightning flashed, thunder pealed and rain fell. As he ran down on the
black rocks toward Tse'intyel it rained on his path and the lightning struck in
all directions around him, smashing trees and rocks. When the people in the
medicine-lodge beheld the violent storm they said : “ //astyetso is coming ; ” they
were alarmed and all fled to TseTntyel except four — the two boys, their father
and //astydsini, the chanter. The boys and their father were alarmed though
they fled not; but /ZastyeAni was not afraid. He said : “ I fear not //astyetso.”
As the latter approached the lodge the lightning struck violently all around it.
//astyeHni had possession of fire. That is why he did not fear the one that was
coming.

872. — Z/astyetso ran into the lodge where the four were and roared in an

angry voice: “ I hear you have had a great dividing of treasures among you.
They were given out freely to all ; but I got none. Why did you not invite me
to come and get my share ? ” “ All that you have heard is true,” said //astyeyal/i,

“ and if you are angry I will give you a smoke ; that is all you wish for ; you do
not care for the turquoises and other precious things ; they are of no use to you.”
Hearing this //astyetso spoke to the storm cloud : “ My cloud, I have been promised
a smoke. Cease to rain and cease to lighten.” The cloud withdrew itself a little
way off toward the side from which it had come; but it still staid threaten¬
ingly near, though the rain ceased to fall and the thunder was heard no more,
//astyeyalti then made for his visitor a cigarette which he painted black, filled
with mountain tobacco,7 sealed at the end with moistened pollen and lit with the
sun. When the visitor had smoked he received a goodly store of finished beads
and a bag of tobacco, //astyetso was a chanter too ; but he knew only seven
songs. //astj-eHni gave him twenty songs and //astyeyal/ gave him ten ; so that
he had now thirty-seven songs to sing when he treated the sick, //astyetso said
he was thankful for what he had received ; that the songs would help him in his

healing rites ; that he would enjoy smoking the tobacco ; that the jewels would
look well upon him, and that he did not care to possess the other things that
came from Moki. They told him he must divide with Wli'.ytso. He said : “ It is
well. I have nothing more to do here. Go on, my children, treat the twins well.
Farewell my grandchildren,” and departed. He went over to where the black
cloud hung. As soon as he was hidden under its folds the thunder began again
to roar and the lightning to flash, and these continued until he got within the
door of his house.

873. — When //astyetso had gone home, //astyeyalzfi sought the runaways,

bade them return to the medicine-lodge and told them what had happened while
they were gone. When all had returned to the lodge there was another council
and this was what they said : “ Our boys can now see and walk as well as ever ;

but they are not altogether restored as they once were ; their backs are bent,
their limbs are crooked; their hardships have deformed them. We must not let
them stay as they are ; we must make handsome men of them.” They spread
two embroidered Moki blankets on the floor and made the boys stand on them.
They asked to whom should fall the task of straightening them out. After much
talk it was decided that the two daughters of //astye/zo^an of Tsefintyel should
perform it. The maidens being called they came and stood facing the boys, not
close at first, but a little distance off, — the elder facing the one who had been blind,
the younger, the one who had been crippled. The plumed wands (par. 279)
were handed to the girls ; — the blue wands to the younger who stood in the south
and the black to the elder who stood in the north, — and the girls advanced and
pressed the wands to the trunks and limbs of the boys. Behind the girls as they
wrought stood two sons of //astye/zo^an of Tse'intyel, brothers of the girls, erect
and comely youths, which it was intended that the twins should be made to resem¬
ble. When the girls had finished the massage with the plumed wands the twin
boys were changed in form and feature, they became tall and straight and fair to
behold and looked like the sons of Afastye/zo^an.74 Then the girls said, pointing
to the twins : “ Behold our ugly brothers ! See how ugly we have made them ! ”
And this is why, to this day, a Navaho maiden speaks of her younger brother as
her ugly brother, no matter how fair he may be to look on. After their forms
had been straightened their father brought them some clothes. For one he
brought white mocassins, white leggings, buckskin pantaloons, an embroidered
shirt, a head-dress decorated with eagle-plumes, a necklace of white beads and
ear-drops of turquoise. For the other he brought embroidered mocassins and
leggings, fringed buckskin pantaloons, an embroidered buckskin shirt, a head¬
dress trimmed with the feathers of the yellow-tail, and jewels the same as those
brought for his brother ; an embroidered blanket was given to each. When the
twins were arrayed in all these fine garments they looked so much like the hand¬
some sons of //astye/zo^an that it was difficult to tell one pair from another.
The boys then left the medicine-lodge and went to another house.

874. — When it was dark the yei said : “ Let us turn down the basket and

sing ” (par. 291). “ Come on the trail of song,” called the crier from the door of

the lodge. The boys returned, the basket was turned down and the singing be¬
gan. The boys were seated in the middle of the lodge ; but when they saw the
other yei crowding in through the door to hear the songs, they were seized with
tsiditia' (hypnotic convulsions). The yei said: “We must not go on with the
singing while the boys are in this condition, we must cure them first,” so they
stopped the song and bade the father and TWnenili to undress the twins. They
were laid on their sides with their faces to the east, a buckskin was spread over
them. //astf&srlni arose and sang a song, and he then proceeded to treat the boys as
the shaman to this day treats those who fall into the trance in the medicine-lodge.
When the twins recovered from their trance they took their seats in the lodge
and the yei began again to beat the basket and sing. When the singing was
done, the basket was turned up. The evil influences that had gathered under it
were blown out through the smoke-hole of the lodge, the fragrant ykd\d\x\\l was
burned for the boys to smell and the work of the night was done.

875. — On the morning of the sixth day, T/astreel/odi and To'nenili went out
early to get the pieces of sandstone of different colors and the charcoal which
were to be powdered and used in making a picture. After they returned others
went to work and ground these substances to powder between hard stones. Then
the yei spread out over the floor of the lodge a black fog on which to paint
the picture. “Truly,” they said, “The People on the Earth can never draw
their pictures on a fog ; but they can spread sand on the floor and that will do as
well.” Several now went to work ; the picture of Ai/neole (plate VI) was drawn
and the plumed wands were set around it. The twins were summoned and the
picture was sprinkled and all the ceremonies performed on it as they are done to
this day. When these were over, the sheet of fog, with the picture on it, was
folded up, carried out of the lodge and thrown away under a tree.

876. — The yei who were not at work in the lodge spent the day mostly in
sports and those who worked joined them when the rites were done. They
played the game of seven chips, n&nzoz and many other games. They ran foot¬
races. On all these sports they made bets and the betting was high. At dark
the call to song was heard at the door of the lodge, the basket was turned down
and the Ai/neole Bigi'n or Songs of the Whirling Sticks, 14 in number, were sung.
As the last song was finished the basket was turned up ; then the twins were
fumigated and the work of the day was done. The boys did not sleep in the
medicine-lodge that night though others did.

877. — On the morning of the seventh day a black cloud was spread on the
floor of the lodge and on this was drawn //astye/^o^an beyika/, or the picture of
the House God.75 It was //astye/zo^an who was to treat the twins to-day, and
while the painting of the picture was goirig on he prepared himself. He did not
remove his clothes ; he only whitened his hands and he left the lodge concealing
his mask under his blanket. There was no bowl of water in the center of the
picture and there were therefore no acts connected with the bowl, otherwise the

observances were much the same as those of the day before. A stalk of corn
was painted in the center of this picture as it is done to-day and the boys were
placed sitting, one on each side of this pictured stalk on a level with the lowest
ear. In these days only one person is usually treated at a time and he is seated
directly on the cornstalk. When he had completed the massage of the boys he
shouted once into each ear of each boy thus giving four shouts. In these days,
when only one person sits on the picture the god shouts twice into each ear and
thus gives four shouts. When //astye/^o^an departed, the boys were fumigated
as before, — two coals being placed before each to receive the incense ; the cloud
picture was taken out and thrown on the ground, under a tree, north of the
picture of the previous day.

878. — Those who worked not in the lodge, spent the day again in sports and
in gambling. After dark the basket was turned down and forty-three songs were
sung. Forty of these were //asUe/^o^an Bigi'n, or Songs of the House God, but
besides these, three songs were sung at the turning up of the basket drum.
Again the boys were fumigated and left the lodge. Had the yei planned to
have a dance of the naak/^ai on the last night, the dancers would now have gone
out and practiced on the ground in front of the lodge ; but as there was to be no
such dance, all lay down and went to sleep.

879. — On the morning of the eighth day a black fog was spread on the floor
of the lodge and DsahaFold.s’abe yika/ or the picture with the Fringe Mouths, was
drawn even as it is done in the medicine-lodges of the Navahoesto this day (plate
VIII). The ceremonies connected with the picture were like those of the day
before. The ceremonies on the twins outside of the lodge were performed by
//astyeyal/i, Dsahartfold-sa and a Yebaad (par. 577). When the fumigation was
done and the coals extinguished the black fog on which the picture was drawn
was thrown away a short distance to the north of the picture of the previous day.
The afternoon was again spent in games. At night the Dsaha^old^a Bigi'n, or
Songs of the Fringe Mouths, were sung. These are 12 in number and in addition
to these there is one song for turning up the basket, making 13 in all sung during
the night. At the close of the songs the boys were again fumigated and left the
lodge to sleep elsewhere.

880. — On the ninth morning all rose earlier than usual. A black cloud was
laid out for the picture of this day — the //astydsinibe yika l or picture with the
Black God. Hastyeel/odi brought in the bark of a lightning-stricken tree, with
two leaves of yucca ; of these was formed the hdaiolytl or bundle of fuel which
//astyezini was to carry that day on his journey. Four cakes of blue corn-meal
(naneska<A) made into one bundle were also provided for him and with these two
bundles he set out. When he returned to the lodge, nearly at sunset, the twins
were standing side by side, facing the east — the one who had been blind being
north of his brother. The twins were bidden to lie down as the god approached
and he walked over them as is done in the ceremonies to-day. The boys then
entered the lodge, followed by //asty&sini who performed ceremonies on them

and on the picture. Then he left the lodge to take off his mask. When he
returned all the spectators departed to their homes. The sun had now set.
(Pars. 102-1 16).

881. — At dark the call to song was again heard and the twins entered the
medicine-lodge. On this occasion they sat in the northwest part of the lodge
after passing around the fire sunwise from the door in the east. All night the
singing was kept up and the boys sat in the lodge not being allowed to sleep
during the whole time.

882. — Early in the morning a buffalo-robe was spread to the east of the lodge
door with its head pointing east. The boys were placed standing on this, while
the masked gods performed a ceremony of succor. These gods were //ast^eyal/i
from T-rtEkai, Dsahaufold.s'a from Tse'ni/^o^an and Gawaski^i from Z^epe/za/^a/i^.
All the other gods who performed rites of succor on the boys went to the west
when they had done ; but these gods departed to the east. When they were
gone, the boys and the chanter returned to the lodge and smeared their chins
with corn-meal. The four final songs were sung, and as the last was finished the
basket was turned up. It was now daylight and the boys returned to the lodge
where they had slept. The last thing done was to dispose of the yucca drum¬
stick. The fibres of which it was made were unwound to the accompaniment of
song, straightened out, laid together butt to butt, taken toward the east, put
lightly in the forks of a tree and sprinkled with meal and pollen, while the prayer
was said (par. 295). This ended the healing ceremony.

883. — After the ceremony was over another council was held among the yei

to decide what should be done with the boys. Some proposed that they should
stay with their father ; but others said : “ It is not well that they should remain

among us for they belong to the People on the Earth.” At last it was decided
to put the boy who had been blind at Tse'rt'esd.sdi (sandstone pinnacles near Fort
Defiance) where he should control the thunder storm and where the people might
pray to him when they wanted rain ; and to place the other at Tse'ni/zoki'.g (near
Navaho Springs) where he should become AfinPyasi/ai, the guardian or god of
animals. The boys dwell at these places still.

884. — But before they went to their new homes they tarried for a while
among the People on the Earth and taught them the rites which they had learned
from the holy ones’of the Chelly Canon.

PART IV.

Texts and Translations.

IV. Songs

SONGS.

GENERAL  REMARKS. 

885.  — The  task  of  recording  these  Navaho  songs  is  not  easy,  and  when  they 
have  been  satisfactorily  reduced  to  writing  the  labor  of  translating  them  is  beset 
with  many  difficulties.  It  is  often  no  easy  matter  to  determine  the  meaning  of  an 
English  song  from  hearing  it  sung.  The  difficulties  are  increased  in  a  strange 
language.  The  Navaho  poets  greatly  distort  their  words  to  make  them  fit  their 
tunes.  They  employ  all  figures  of  euphony  defined  by  our  writers  besides  some 
to  which  our  terms  do  not  well  apply.  A  word  is  often  distorted  in  Navaho  song 
so  as  to  become  homophonous  with  a  totally  different  word  in  prose  and  thus  the 
student  may  be  led  far  astray.  The  shamans  themselves  often  differ  in  explain¬ 
ing  such  terms.  Many  archaic  words  appear  in  the  songs  for  which  the  Navahoes 
have  only  traditional  meanings  or  none.  Many  meaningless  vocables  are  intro¬ 
duced  for  the  sake  of  meter  and  rhyme  and  such  vocables  are  as  essential,  and 
must  be  repeated  as  faithfully,  as  the  most  significant  words. 

886.  — Among  written  tongues,  known  to  thousands  of  the  most  learned 
scholars,  in  translating  from  a  dead  to  a  living  language,  or  even  in  translating 
from  one  living  language  to  another,  particularly  in  poetry,  the  work  is  often 
unsatisfactory  and  subject  to  much  criticism.  The  best  poets  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  tongue  may  not  make  their  meaning  clear  to  the  most  intelligent  English 
readers.  Our  scholars  differ  as  to  the  interpretation  of  many  passages  in  Shake¬ 
speare.  Recognizing  these  facts,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  translations 
from  an  unwritten  savage  language,  which  follow,  are  offered  as  perfect.  But 
they  are  the  result  of  long  and  careful  study,  aided  by  the  most  learned  Navaho 
singers  and  by  the  best  English-speaking  and  Spanish-speaking  interpreters  whose 
services  could  be  procured.  Many  times  the  combined  knowledge  of  all  these 
have  failed,  and  the  author’s  own  understanding  of  the  etymology  of  the  Navaho 
language,  obtained  during  a  period  of  twenty  years’  study,  had  to  supply  the 
deficiencies. 

887.  — He  simply  offers  the  work  as  the  best  he  can  do.  But  here  stand  the 
texts.  Perhaps  when  the  present  pagan  cultus  of  the  Navahoes  is  dead,  when 
“  I  want  to  be  angel  ”  has  supplanted  “  Hykfezna  ”  in  the  worship  of  this  people, 
some  student  of  the  language  more  skillful  than  the  author  may  arise  to  inter¬ 
pret  more  correctly  the  spirit  of  these  songs. 

888.  — Another  difficulty  with  Navaho  songs  is  that,  without  explaining,  they 
often  allude  to  matters,  which  the  hearers  are  supposed  to  understand.  They  are 
not  like  our  ballads  —  they  tell  no  tales.  He  who  would  comprehend  them,  must 
know  the  myths  and  the  ritual  customs  on  which  they  are  based. 

889.  — Although  there  are  some  separate  songs  for  special  occasions,  the 
majority  of  the  songs  of  this  ceremony,  as  well  as  of  other  ceremonies  practiced 
by  the  Navahoes,  are  what  the  author  has,  in  previous  works,  called  songs  of  se¬ 
quence.  Such  songs  are  divided  into  sets,  which  must  follow  one  another  in 
an  established  order,  and  the  songs  within  each  set  must  be  sung  in  a  certain 
order.  To  change  the  order  would  be  considered  inimical  to  the  success  of  the 
ceremony.  Some  of  these  songs  are  sung  during  the  progress  of  the  ceremony, 
and  a  certain  set  may  be  appropriate  to  a  particular  rite  ;  but  a  majority  are  re¬ 
served  for  the  last  night,  when  they  are  sung  inside  the  medicine-lodge  (pars. 
643-645).  Then,  it  is  customary  to  finish  some  sets,  which  have  been  sung  in 
part  during  the  previous  days,  as  well  as  to  sing  certain  sets  that  belong  to  the 
last  night  only.  Not  all  the  songs  of  sequence  are  sung  even  on  the  last  night, 
if  time  be  wanting ;  but  those  omitted  by  the  shaman  are  repeated  in  his  next 
ceremony,  to  the  exclusion,  perhaps,  of  others.  The  rules  governing  songs  of 
sequence  are  very  intricate  and  we  cannot  explain  them  all. 

890. — The  following  is  a  list  of  the  songs  of  sequence  sung  on  the  last  night, 
in  the  order  of  their  occurrence,  with  the  Navaho  name  of  each  set,  a  free  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  same  and  the  number  of  songs  in  each  set : 

1.  Atsa‘/ei  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  First  Dancers, 

1 2. 

2.  Tse'ni  Gisi'n, 

Songs  in  the  Rock,  or  Cave  Songs, 

3.  A  i/neo/e  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Whirling  Logs, 

1 2. 

4.  A'sa/ini  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Long  Pot, 

5.  T^a/ye/  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Darkness, 

6.  Dsaha^old^a  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Fringe  Mouths, 

1 2. 

7.  Gtmaskiafi  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Humpbacks, 

1 2. 

8.  De pe  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Bighorns, 

9.  Naffii  Gisi'n, 

Suspension  Bridge  Songs, 

1 2. 

10.  Taike  Gisi'n, 

Farm  Songs, 

1 2. 

11.  Tse‘  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Rock, 

12.  IffiiP  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Thunder, 

13.  Aga'hoa  Gisi'n, 

Songs  on  High,  Summit  Songs, 

14.  //astsd/zo^an  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  House  God, 

15.  //astsdsini  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  the  Black  God, 

16.  Nayenezgani  Bigi'n, 

Songs  of  Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods, 

17.  Yikafgin, 

Daylight  Songs, 

18.  Bena  Z/a^a/i, 

Finishing  Hymns, 

4 • 

Total  songs  of  sequence  1 

of  last  night, 

891. — The  following 

is  a  list  of  some  of  the  songs  of  sequence  sung 

on  the 

preceding  days,  but  not  repeated  on  the  last  night : 

India*  Bigl'n,  Songs  of  the  Plumed  Wands,  32. 

TsS'nitd^o^-an  Bigl'n,  Songs  of  the  Red  Rock  House,  10. 

HodixXat  Gisi'n,  Songs  in  the  Trembling  Place,  7. 

AniRani  Bigl'n,  Songs  of  the  Grasshoppers,  5. 

Dsi/  Bigl'n,  Songs  of  the  Mountains,  6. 

//astreyald  Hogan  Bigl'n,  Songs  of  the  House  of  the  Talking  God,  12. 

Total,  72. 

Total  of  both  lists,  324. 

892.  — In  addition  to  these,  there  are  sets  of  songs  sung  before  the  last  night, 
in  which  the  number  of  component  songs  is  not  known,  and  there  are  single  songs 
for  special  occasions.  These  together  bring  the  total  number  up  to  about  400. 
Texts  and  translations  of  only  30  are  given  in  the  present  work,  although  the 
author  has  recorded  many  more.  In  some  sets,  a  number  of  the  songs  are  so 
much  alike  —  differing  only  in  music,  in  arrangement  of  words,  or  in  meaningless 
syllables — that  it  was  believed  it  would  not  be  instructive  to  publish  more  than  one 
or  two  samples.  Some  of  the  songs  have  been  published  in  previous  works. 

893.  — It  must  require  much  study  on  the  part  of  the  unlettered  shaman,  with 
unlettered  teachers,  to  commit  to  memory  all  these  songs,  with  their  meaningless 
vocables  and  their  various  tunes,  and  to  remember  the  proper  order  in  which  they 
must  be  sung.  But  in  the  latter  part  of  his  labors  his  recollection  is  assisted  by 
myth.  Connected  with  these  rhymes,  are  tales  which  give  clues  to  their  order. 
Some  of  the  myths  recorded  in  the  present  work  serve  this  purpose.  There  is  a 
version  of  the  Origin  Legend  3  into  which  songs  of  sequence  of  another  ceremony 
are  introduced.  But  some  of  the  sets  have  their  own  special  myths  to  explain 
their  meaning  and  indicate  their  order.  A  vast  amount  of  mythic  lore  pertains  to 
this  ceremony,  which  has  not  been  recorded. 

894.  — Usually  a  Navaho  sacred  song  has  a  prelude  to  each  stanza  and  two 
kinds  of  reiterated  endings,  one  for  the  verse  and  one  for  the  stanza.  For  con¬ 
venience  in  this  work,  the  former  is  called  the  burden  and  the  latter  the  refrain. 
Preludes,  burdens  and  refrains  are  often  meaningless,  or  of  doubtful  meaning. 

895.  — Many  of  these  songs  have  been  sung  by  Indians  into  the  phonograph, 
and  the  cylinders  are  now  preserved  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
in  New  York.  The  number  of  each  cylinder,  where  the  song  has  been  thus  pre¬ 
served,  is  given  after  the  text,  in  the  following  pages.  The  late  Prof.  John  Corn- 
ford  Fillmore,  has  noted  the  music  from  several  of  the  phonographic  records. 
Some  of  his  melodies  have  appeared  in  “  Navaho  Legends.” 

896.  — In  his  book  entitled  “Navaho  Legends,”3  and  in  his  papers,  “The 
Mountain  Chant:  A  Navajo  Ceremony,”13  “Navajo  Gambling  Songs”20  and 
“  Songs  of  Sequence  of  the  Navajos,”54  the  author  has  discussed  the  subject  of 
Navaho  poetry  at  greater  length.  To  these  works,  the  student  who  desires 
further  information  is  referred. 

2/2 

AGA‘A/OA‘  GISI'N.  SONG  ON  HIGH  or  SUMMIT  SONG.  No.  i. 

897. — Aienayazz. 

Yanehoho  halanae'ee  (four  times). 
Yanehoho  hazzaiazz  (twice)  eazzazzazz. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  Aga‘/zoa‘az/e,  z/asizfni  eee, 

From  a  high  place,  he  stands  above,  high, 

2.  //asUeniayuhi,  z/asizfni  eee, 

//astreayuhi,  he  stands  above, 

3.  “  Nitsesi  digi'ngo,”  z/asizfni  eee. 

Your  body  is  holy,  he  stands  above. 

Yanehoho  haneazzaina  (twice)  yanehehe  yazzaiazz. 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Niyakizz/zosaz/e, 

From  a  house  below, 

2.  //asUeneistlfzze, 

z/asizi'ni  eee, 

he  stand*  above,  or  high, 

z/asizfni  eee, 

Z/astreyalZi,  he  stands  above, 

3.  “  Nitsesi  z/igi'ngo,”  z/asizi'ni 

Your  body  is  holy,  he  stands  above. 

(Repeat  refrain). 

eee. 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

898. — From  a  place  above,  where  he  stands  on  high, 
//astreayuhi,  where  he  stands  on  high, 

(Says)  “  Your  body  is  holy,”  where  he  stands  on  high. 

From  a  house  below,  where  he  stands  on  high, 
//astreyaki,  where  he  stands  on  high, 

(Says)  “Your  body  is  holy,”  where  he  stands  on  high. 

899.— One  idea  the  hymnist  seeks  to  express  is,  that  the  gods,  in  response 
to  prayer  and  sacrifice,  descend  from  their  lofty  homes  to  cure  the  patient,  and 
when  they  do  so,  assure  the  patient  that  his  body  is  holy,  i.  e.,  that  he  is  cured, 
//astreayuhi  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  work.  The  name  of  //astyeistlizz, 
apparently  a  form  of  //asUeyalz'i,  has  not  been  heard  by  the  writer,  except  in  the 
songs.  Another  idea  conveyed  is  that  the  first  named,  and  superior,  god  dwells 
on  top  of  a  high  cliff,  while  the  inferior  god  lives  in  a  cliff-house  below  the  sum¬ 
mit,  yet  high.  Kin,  or  km,  means  a  stone  house  or  pueblo  dwelling.  This  is 
the  first  song  sung  on  the  first  night.  Cylinder  No.  7. 

KE7AN  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  THE  KETHAWNS.  No.  i. 

FIRST  SONG  SUNG  IN  PAINTING  CIGARETTES. 

900. — Bia^i  yeyeyey ezz  ka /  /zaz/anis/e  (repeat). 

Its  little  one  (no  meaning)  now  it  is  prepared. 

eazzazzazzazz  eheheheazz  a/za/zazzaiee. 

l  Prelude  and 
refrain. 

(All  meaningless). 

1.  //asUene/zo^ani,  ka/  /zaz/anis/e. 

//ast.re^on'an,  now  it  is  prepared. 

2.  NaholnH  biam,  ka/  /zaz/anis/e, 

Tell  its  little  one,  now  it  is  prepared, 

i.e.,  little  messenger, 

3.  Biked^e  ka/  niltsabaka,  ka/  /zaz/anis/e, 

Toward  its  trail  now  rain  male 

4.  Ka/  na‘yilaz/o/e/go,  ka/ 

Now  where  it  will  hang,  now 

now  it  is  prepared, 

/zaz/anis/e. 

it  is  prepared. 

(Repeat  prelude). 

5.  //asUeneyal/ihi, 

ka/ 

/zaz/anis/e. 

-Z/astreyal/i, 

now 

it  is  prepared. 

6.  Ke/ani  biaA, 

ka/ 

/zaz/anis/e, 

Kethawn  its  little  one, 

now 

it  is  prepared, 

7.  Biked^e  ka/ 

niltsabaad,  ka/ 

/zaz/anis/e, 

Toward  its  trail  now 

rain 

female,  now 

it  is  prepared, 

8.  Ka/  na‘yilaz/o/e/go,  ka/  /zaz/anis/e. 

Now  where  it  will  hang,  now  it  is  prepared. 

901.  — A  free  translation  of  this  song  is  given  in  paragraph  320.  Na‘yila 
refers  to  the  resemblance  of  an  approaching  shower  to  a  hanging  curtain.  For 
the  meaning  of  he-rain  and  she-rain  see  par.  16.  As  //asUehoz’an  is  mentioned 
first  and  is  associated  with  the  he-rain,  while  //asUeyal/i  is  mentioned  second 
and  associated  with  the  she-rain,  it  shows  that  the  former  is  here  considered  the 
superior.  See  par.  32.  Cylinder  68. 

KE7AN  BIGPN.  SONG  OF  THE  KETHAWNS.  No.  5. 

A  TOBACCO  SONG. 

902.  — Aheye  hooe  hooooe  ho  (twice). 

Aheyeyeho  aheyeyehoe  azzazzazz  (etc.); 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  Ka/ 

na/o 

/itsoi 

yee 

msYm. 

Now 

tobacco 

yellow 

with 

I  am. 

2.  Ka/ 

bi/an  i 

tyeli 

yee 

nisYm. 

Now 

its  leaf 

broad 

with 

I  am. 

3.  Bi'la/a 

dotWzi 

yee 

m  s\\n. 

Its  blossom 

blue 

with 

I  am. 

4.  Taaya 

Ake 

holon'o^o 

O 

naj-a, 

nagai 

yee 

Under  the 

my  feet 

it  has 

I  walk, 

that 

with 

leaf  (?) 

my  trail 

Aheyeyehoe  aheyeyeho  aheyeyehoe  azza;za;?a?z  aie. 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

n  islin. 

I  am. 

2.  Ka/  bi/ani  tsozi  yee  n isYm. 

Now  its  leaf  narrow  with  I  am. 

3.  Bi'la/a  dsi/kaii  yee  ms\\u. 

Its  blossom  mountain  white  with  I  am. 

(The  rest  as  in  stanza  I.) 

903. — For  free  translation  see  par.  322.  There  are  four  stanzas  in  the 
whole  song,  each  of  which  refers  to  a  different  kind  of  tobacco.  Concerning 
these  four  kinds,  see  note  7.  The  first  stanza  probably  refers  to  Nicotiana  pal- 
meri ;  the  second  refers  to  Nicotiana  attenuata ,  the  dsi/nato,  or  mountain  to¬ 
bacco  of  the  Navahoes.  The  third  and  fourth  stanzas  have  not  been  recorded. 
The  first  word  in  the  fourth  line,  Taaya,  is  said  to  have  no  meaning,  but  in 
poetic  form  it  might  mean  under  the  leaf.  If  such  were  the  case,  the  free  trans¬ 
lation  would  have  to  be  modified.  Ye,  here  pronounced  yee,  is  translated,  with, 
but  it  might  be  more  exactly  rendered,  by  means  of.  Cylinder  70. 

ketAn  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  THE  KETHAWNS.  No.  7. 
904. — Aienaazz. 

a/nanalgeluie  (repeat). 

he  crosses  on  it  to  me. 

TTa/akeyugaieee 

(Doubtful) 

H  eananan 

(Meaningless).  J 

1.  T^egi  naye/zolaie  keyunani  a/nanalgelie. 

Chelly  Canon  across  from  the  other  side  he  crosses  on  it. 

2.  Kloozos  dotWzi  nam/i‘  a/nanalgelie. 

A  slender  string  blue  stretching  horizontally  he  crosses  on  it. 

3.  Ke/ani  dotWzi  nam/i‘  a/nanalgelie. 

Kethawn  blue  stretching  horizontally  he  crosses  on  it. 

Eheyeyeazz. 

(Meaningless). 

II.  N 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  T-regi  naye/zolaie  keyunani  a/nanalgelie. 

Chelly  Canon  across  from  the  other  side  he  crosses  on  it. 

2.  Kloozos  /akafe  nani/i‘  a/nanalgelie. 

A  slender  string  white  stretching  horizontally  he  crosses  on  it. 

3.  Ke/ani  dilyiTi  nani/i‘  a/nanalgelie. 

Kethawn  dark  stretching  horizontally  he  crosses  on  it. 

-  Prelude. 

905. — For  free  translation  see  par.  330.  The  following  story  of  the  shamans 
explains  the  meaning  of  this  song.  In  old  days  there  was  something  like  a 
spider’s  web  (a  sort  of  suspension-bridge)  hanging  across  the  Chelly  Canon  at 
the  Monuments  or  Captains  (one  of  the  monument  rocks  is  now  called  Nasd^e, 
the  Spider)  and  the  holy  ones  of  the  canon  used  to  cross  on  this  bridge.  There 
was  a  blue  string  or  bridge,  on  which  //asGeayuhi  crossed,  and  a  white  string  on 
which  //asGeyal/i  crossed.  Poetic  licenses  are  taken  with  many  words  in  this 
song,  thus:  naye/zolafena/zolai,  kloozosdddzos,  nani/‘nantf‘,  a/nanalgelie 
a/nanalgel.  Cylinder  71. 

KE/An  BIGTN.  SONG  OF  THE  KETHAWNS.  No.  10. 

906. — Nfeogo  niye  yeyeyeye 

In  a  beautiful  (meaningless) 

way 

Heazzazzazz  eyeye  yeyeazz. 

(Meaningless). 

nayilniyahi- 

again  with  he 
arrives. 

-  Prelude. 

r.  //asGene/zo^ani  yeyeyeye  nayilniya*. 

7/ast.fe/io^an  (meaningless)  again  with  he  arrives. 

2.  Naholn!/  biad  yeyeyeye  nayilniya*. 

A  message  his  little  one  (meaningless)  again  with  he  arrives. 

3.  Biked^e  nlltsabakai  ka7  nayfiniya‘/ole/. 

Toward  its  trail  rain  male  now  again  with  he  will  arrive. 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  //as  Gen  ey  aid  hi  yeyeyeye  nayilniya*. 

/ZastreyalZi  (meaningless)  again  with  he  arrives. 

2.  Ke/ani  biad  yeyeyeye  nayilniya*. 

Kethawn  his  little  one  (meaningless)  again  with  he  arrives. 

3.  Biked^e  nlltsabaa/i  ka/  nayilniyadfole/. 

Toward  its  trail  rain  female  now  again  with  he  will  arrive. 

907. — For  free  translation  see  par.  333.  In  this,  as  in  the  first  Kethawn 
Song,  a  superior  position  is  assigned  to  //asGe/zo/an.  //asGene/zo^ani  and 
//asGeneyaldhi  are  poetic  forms.  NaholniC  biasi  is  more  correctly  translated, 
little  tell ;  but  that  means  a  little  message,  for  the  kethawn,  with  its  symbolic 
paintings  and  accompaniments  is  not  only  a  gift  to  the  god,  it  is  a  message  to 
him.  Cylinder  74. 

//ASTNEYAL  71  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  //ASTNEYAL/I.  No.  1. 

— T\,  t\ 

bena.roie ;  /,  t\ 

bdnai'oie  (twice). 

This,  this 

with  I  walk  ; 

this,  this 

with  I  walk. 

>-  Prelude. 

Bena^aio 

ade 

kolane. 

With  I  walk 

(?) 

(?) 

1.  Ka t  //astreyal/ihi  bena^oie. 

Now 

//asLeyal/i  with  I  walk. 

Bike 

ela 

benai'oie. 

His  feet 

these  are 

with  I  walk. 

3- 

BiUa7 

ela 

benai'oie. 

His  limbs 

these  are 

with  I  walk. 

4- 

BltSlS 

ela 

bena^oie. 

His  body 

this  is 

with  I  walk. 

5- 

Binf 

ela 

bena^oie. 

His  mind 

this  is 

with  I  walk. 

Bine 

ela 

bena.soie. 

His  voice 

this  is 

with  I  walk. 

7- 

Atse 

alkai 

nakh7a/a 

beitsos 

bena^oie. 

Eagle 

white 

twelve 

his  plumes 

with  I  walk. 

A’ltsi'd^ 

e 

/iozoq-o 

O 

benajroie. 

Me  before  toward  happily,  in  a  beautiful  way  with  I  walk. 

9- 

Aiket/e 

hozogo 

bena^oie. 

Me  behind  from 

in  beauty,  happily 

with  I  walk. 

IO. 

Yiki'gi 

hozogo 

benaxoie. 

Me  above 

in  beauty,  happily 

with  I  walk. 

A'iyagi 

//O^OgO 

benaj'oie. 

Me  below 

in  beauty 

with  I  walk. 

Ainat/altso 

hozogo 

benaj'oie. 

Me  around  all 

in  beauty 

with  I  walk. 

13- 

Sawanagai 

bike 

hozogo 

bena.ro 

In  old  age 

trail 

in  beauty 

with  I  wa 

wandering 

Nhdmgo 

benaj'oie. 

It  is  I,  I  am 

with  I  walk. 

Same  as  stanza  I,  except  that  in  the  1st  line  //astre/iio^an  is  substituted  for 
//astreyalti,  the  8th  and  9th  lines  are  transposed,  and  so  are  the  10th  and  1  ith. 

909. — For  free  translation  see  par.  336.  Bena^oie  is  a  poetic  form  of  bena.ra. 
Ela  is  a  form  of  ala‘.  Cylinder  86. 

77/A‘DZ£  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  THE  SWEAT-HOUSE.  No.  1. 
Called  also  TSE'NI  GISFN  or  SONG  IN  THE  ROCK. 

910. — Aina. 

Ya^awane  eeee 

1.  Tse'niUf//o^ 

an  la7e, 

Rock  Red  House  there, 

2.  Yi'la/ani 

yayego  ; 

I  am  there 

(no  meaning); 

3.  EnB//ae 

yayego 

Half  way  in 

(no  meaning) 

(seven  times  repeated) 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

2Lna.na.il  aie. 

2  77 

4.  Tsano/zani 

I  have  arrived 

5.  Tsi'na/ani 

The  corn-plant 

yayego. 

(no  meaning). 

hyiz/ezna 

shakes,  stirs 

anananan  aie. 

(no  meaning). 

(Same  as  stanza  I,  except  as  follows)  : 

1.  Tha'dotW  zhogan  \at€. 

Water  Blue  House  there. 

5.  Nanisee  hyu/ezna  anananan  aie. 

Plants,  vegetation  shakes,  stirs  (no  meaning). 

91 1. — A  free  translation  is  given  in  par.  338.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
some  special  mythical  explanation  for  this  song  exists,  but  none  has  been  ob¬ 
tained.  For  Tsd'nitd/zo^an  see  par.  568.  The  Blue  Water  Flouse  is  said  to  be 
a  pond  or  lake  below  the  Red  Rock  House  ;  but  the  name  may  be  introduced 
here  for  the  sake  of  antithesis.  TWna/ani^tn/  natan.  Nanise  signifies  all  kinds 
of  plants,  vegetation.  One  informant  said  that  the  third  line  meant  idm'haya, 
or  the  thunder  comes  up.  Cylinder  84. 

THA'DZE  BIGTN.  LAST  SWEAT-HOUSE  SONG. 

One  of  the  set  of  TSE‘NI  GISLN  or  SONGS  IN  THE  ROCK. 

912. — Aiena. 

DoWwoooe,  z/oliwazzazzazze  (twice), 
i/oliwazzazzazze  (three  times)  azzazzazze. 

(Prelude.  Do  li  =  bluebird). 

1.  Tse'nitd/zo^an  la/e 

Red  Rock  House  there 

2.  TAna/atso  /zanisad-Mn 

Corn-plant,  great  it  grows  out 

3.  EhyeFi  bRazAa'yego 

On  both  sides  -its  ears  join 

/zanisa  n  ana  zze, 

it  grows  (meaningless), 

/zanisazz  azzazze, 

it  grows, 

Zanisazz  azzazze, 

it  grows, 

4.  Bltngai  itdgo 

Its  silk  is  red 

5.  Lanan  tfizz 

In  one  day 

6.  Keanazzz/ildHTgo 

/zanisazz  azzazze, 

it  grows, 

nizfiyigo  /zanisazz 

it  ripens  it  grows, 

/zanisazz  azzazze 

azzazze, 

azzazzazz. 

Increasing  rapidly  it  grows. 

ZZoliwazzazzazze  (twice)  azzazzazz  aie. 

(Refrain.  Do\\  =  bluebird). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Tha'dotWzhogan  la t€ 

Water  Blue  House  there 

/zanisazz  azzazze, 

it  grows  (meaningless), 

2.  Ebe^kanitso  //anisacEm  hamsan  anan&, 

Squash-vine,  great  it  grows  out 

it  grows, 

3- 

Ehyelti 

nianigo 

Zanisaw 

ana  n€, 

On  both  sides 

close  together  it  grows, 

4- 

Bila/a 

/itsoigo 

//anisaw 

anan€, 

Its  flower 

yellow 

it  grows, 

5- 

Za«a« 

kle 

ni/fyigo 

liamsan  a?ian€, 

In  one 

night 

it  ripens 

it  grows, 

KeanaWild,slygo 

Zanisa/? 

anan€  ananan. 

Increasing 

rapidly 

it  grows. 

(Repeat  refr 

ain). 

913. — For  free  translation  see  par.  342.  DoW  is  the  bluebird,  Sicilia  arctica 
or  6".  mexicana.  DoXvxan  is  a  poetic  expression  referring  to  the  voice  of  the 
bluebird.  TMna/atso  =  tM/-nata/z-tso.  Other  words  are  modified  for  poetic 
reasons.  Cylinder  87. 

DSIL  BIGTN.  SONG  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

9 14.— Belanamaa  belana^doo  (repeat). 

(Prelude.  Belanaraaa  =  bl/  naja,  with  him  I  walk). 

Hod\g\xX\ 

la/eye 

ye  belanad'aaa, 

Hodxgim 

la/eye 

ye  belanaAaaa, 

A  holy  place 

therein 

a  god  with  him  I  walk, 

3* 

TsisnadM'nie 

ye 

belanai'aaa, 

Tslsnadzl'ni 

a  god 

with  him  I  walk, 

4- 

Dsi/nan/ai 

nan/anie 

:  ye  belanamaa, 

Mountain  chiefs 

a  chief  of 

a  god  with  him  I  walk, 

5- 

Sa;/a  nagaiie 

ye 

belanamaa, 

In  old  age  wandering 

a  god 

with  him  I  walk, 

Bike  Zo^oni 

bineye 

Ayee  ye  belana.?aaa. 

The  trail  of  beauty 

his  mind  (?) 

with  this  (?)  a  god  with  him  I  walk. 

3.  Tsotsi'/iee  ye  belanamaa. 

TsdtsT/,  San  a  god  with  him  I  walk. 

Mateo  Mt. 

(The  rest  as  in 

stanza  I). 

3.  ZZokooslit/ie 

ye 

belanamaa. 

San  Francisco  Mt. 

a  god 

with  him  I  walk. 

(The  rest  as  -in 

stanza  I). 

IV. 

3.  Ztepe'ntsaie 

ye 

belanaj'aaa. 

San  Juan  Mt. 

a  god 

with  him  I  walk. 

(The  rest  as  in 

stanza  I). 

(Repeat  prelude  and  add)  :  Kolaga  aina. 

915.  — For  free  translation  of  this  song  see  par.  352.  For  reference  to  sacred 
mountains  see  note  2.  The  expressions  Sazza  nagai  and  Bike  kozonl  are  found 
in  various  songs  and  prayers,  usually  at  or  near  the  end.  Occasionally  they 
come  in  one  line  as  in  the  //astjeyal/i  Bigi'n,  par.  908,  but  more  commonly  they 
are  separated  in  two  contiguous  lines  as  in  this  song.  Poetic  licenses  are  often 
taken  with  the  words.  Sa/za  nagai  means  literally,  he  wanders  or  travels  in  old 
age  ;  or  we  might  say,  old  age  wanders.  Bike  /lozonl  signifies,  his  trail  of  ter¬ 
restrial  beauty,  his  happy  trail,  feet  or  footprints.  But,  liberally  translated,  the 
two  expressions  joined  mean  a  happy  old  age  and  they  are  used  as  a  prayer  or 
benediction  for  such  good  fortune,  as  when  we  say  :  “  Long  life  and  happiness  to 
you,”  or,  “  May  I  live  along  and  happy  life.”  In  different  connections,  it  has  been 
found  advisable  to  translate  these  words  with  different  English  equivalents. 
Cylinders  94,  95. 

NAYENEZGANI  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  NAYENEZGANI. 

SUNG  AT  THE  APPROACH  OF  THE  WAR  GODS. 

916. - — H oyeyeye  yina  /,  /zoyeyeye  yina/, 

Z7oye  yina/,  /zoye  yina/,  /zoye  yinaaa  /, 

Niyo  /zoyeyeye  yina/,  /zoyeyeye  yina/, 

Hoye  yina/,  /zoye  yina/,  niyo. 

(Prelude.  Hoyi    a  place  of  the  yei  or  gods.  Yina/    he  strides  forward.  The  rest  is  meaningless). 

1.  Ka/  Nayenezgani  yina/. 

Now  Nayenezgani  strides  forward, 

advances. 

2.  Aga‘z/a/zoza‘  yi//za‘  yina/, 

The  high  summits  among  he  strides, 

H oyeyeye  yina/. 

In  a  place  of  gods  he  strides. 

(Refrain  much  like  prelude). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Kat  7o‘bad,sist.nni  yina/, 

Now  7’o‘badzlst.rini  he  strides, 

2.  Nikez/a/zoza‘  y\thi!‘  yina/. 

The  low  points  among  he  strides. 

(Repeat  refrain). 

917.  — For  free  translation  see  par.  368.  Yina /  conveys  the  idea  that  the 
god  strides  from  summit  to  summit — that  he  advances  thus  striding.  Cylinders 
38  and  98. 

NAYENEZGANI  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  NAYENEZGANI.  No.  9. 

918.  — Yoliwazz  azzazz  (etc.). 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  Nayenezgani, 

Nayenezgani,  Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods, 

2.  Ka t 

Now 

MmsTzlfgo. 

that  I  am. 

3.  Ti'ohanoaie 

The  Sun  Bearer 

4.  S\l  hanatahasgo, 

arises, 

m7a/a//a.9go, 

journeys, 

ina^a/za^go, 

goes  down, 

mna/a/iasgo  ; 

remains  ; 

With  me 

5.  su 

With  me 

6.  S\/ 

With  me 

7.  Sit 

With  me 

8.  Tosoeda 

He  sees  me  not 

ahena  ahena. 

(meaningless). 

i.  To'bad^istnni. 

7o‘bad2lst.rini.  Child  of  the  Water. 

3.  Klehanoaie 

The  Moon  Bearer 

(The  rest  as  in  I.) 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

919. — The  Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods, 
That  now  am  I. 

The  Bearer  of  the  Sun 
Arises  with  me, 

Journeys  with  me, 

Goes  down  with  me, 

Abides  with  me  ; 

But  sees  me  not. 

The  Child  of  the  Water, 

That  now  am  I. 

The  Bearer  of  the  Moon 
Arises  with  me, 

Journeys  with  me, 

Goes  down  with  me, 

Abides  with  me  ; 

But  sees  me  not. 

Cylinders  39  and  93. 

NAYENEZGANI  BIGEN.  A  SONG  OF  NAYENEZGANI. 

920. — Na  /o‘lina 
He  ATlina 

ATlina  A>‘linaa‘ 
/0‘lina  /odinaa* 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

ATlina  ^odinaa1. 
a«a;£he‘he‘. 

1.  Ka t  Nayenezgani  jinkdmgo. 

Now  Nayenezgani  that  am  I. 

2.  Ai/a-sTs-eke, 

Wherever  I  wander, 

3.  •S’ltsfi'd.s'e 

Before  me 

4.  Tsin  ni/az/eskafgo. 

Wood  scattered  around  white. 

5.  Ayole/ego 

He  makes  it 

6.  Ailagaa^ini 

I  cause  it 

yeny&ny&n  ; 

(meaningless)  ; 

azzazzhe‘he‘. 

(meaningless). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Ka/  7b‘bad,sist.nni  jinfalrngo. 

Now  7’o‘badzlstrini  that  am  I. 

2.  Ai/a.ra.feke, 

Wherever  I  wander, 

3.  Aikesafe 

Behind  me 

4.  7o‘  nitat/eskaigo. 

Water  scattered  around  white. 

(5  and  6  as  in  stanza  I). 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

921.  — I  am  the  Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods. 

Where’er  I  roam, 

Before  me 

Forests  white  are  strewn  around. 

The  lightning  scatters ; 

But  ’tis  I  who  cause  it. 

I  am  the  Child  of  the  Water. 

Where’er  I  roam, 

Behind  me 

Waters  white  are  strewn  around, 

The  tempest  scatters  ; 

But  ’tis  I  who  cause  it. 

922.  — The  fourth  line  of  the  first  stanza  refers  to  trees  recently  stricken  by 
lightning  and  showing  the  white  wood  where  they  are  rent.  The  word  for  light¬ 
ning  does  not  appear  ;  but  the  shamans  explain  that  lightning  is  meant,  so  the 
word  lightning  is  inserted  in  the  fifth  line  of  the  free  translation.  The  fourth 
line  of  the  second  stanza  refers,  say  the  shamans,  to  water  beaten  to  foam  by 

high  winds.  Although  no  equivalent  for  wind  appears  in  the  text,  the  word 
tempest  is  added  in  the  fifth  line  of  free  translation  to  make  clearer  the  meaning 
of  the  song.  Many  meaningless  syllables  are  omitted  from  the  text.  Words  are 
much  changed  for  poetic  reasons,  thus  :  Ailtb'/m,  I  did  it  or  caused  it,  is  changed 
to  •S'llaga.y/mi.  For  Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods  and  Child  of  the  Water  see  pars. 
73-88.  Cylinders  39  and  93. 

TNAOKl'S  BE//AKINALDZO.  TO  SWEEP  THAOKl'S  OFF  ITH. 

923.  — Aina. 

Eye  i'ye‘  (four  times). 

Naheye  naheye  azza/zawawai  een. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  //o-sani  ;  A'wane  nayayaie  a/zhazze. 

The  corn  comes  up  ;  the  rain  descends  (meaningless). 

2.  Na.ro we,  na.rowe  a/zha zze. 

I  sweep  it  off,  I  sweep  it  off  (meaningless). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Aiwani  ;  /zo.s'ani  nayayaie  azzha/ze. 

The  rain  descends  ;  the  corn  comes  up  (meaningless). 

2.  Narowe,  najrowe  azzhazze. 

I  sweep  it  off,  I  sweep  it  off  (meaningless). 

924.  — For  free  translation  see  par.  370.  The  words  /za'/zo-sane,  .nhiwane, 

appear  together  in  many  songs  of  this  ceremony  and  are  sometimes  the  only 
significant  expressions  of  a  song.  Traditional  meanings  are  assigned  to  them  ; 
their  etymology  is  not  evident.  The  former,  although  apparently  related  to 
hozom ,  noting  terrestrial  beauty,  is  said  to  mean,  the  corn  comes  up,  or  the  corn 
grows,  and  the  latter  to  signify,  the  rain  descends.  They  are  varied  much  for 
prosodic  reasons.  The  abbreviated  forms  given  in  this  song  are  rare  ;  those 
given  above  in  this  paragraph  are  the  most  usual.  The  redundant  /za'hwEanaha 
and  Ahiwanaha  are  sometimes  heard.  For  other  forms  see  lines  14  and  17  of 

the  Atsa‘/ei  Bigi'n,  par.  931.  It  is  a  common  feature  of  the  songs,  as  in  this 

song,  to  have  the  words  transposed  in  different  stanzas.  Cylinders  38,  98. 

AKAN  BENATSA  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  THE  MEAL  RUBBING. 

\ 

A  SPECIAL  SONG  OF  ESTSANATLEHI. 

925.  —  i  Bitsi'si  nanogan. 

His  body  it  is  rubbed  away. 

2.  EstsanatlehBi  nandRan. 

By  Estsanatlehi  it  is  rubbed  away. 

3.  Na/an  a/kaiye  nanogan. 

Corn  white  with  it  is  rubbed  away. 

4.  Bikenaga^be  nanogan. 

Its  roots  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

5.  Bi/ala/ai'be  nanogan. 

Its  leaf-tips  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

6.  Ka^  bit/a/o'be  nanogan. 

Now  its  dew  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

7.  Bitsela^aibe  nanogan. 

Its  tassel  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

8.  YAt  hadXtxnbo.  nanoean. 

o 

Its  pollen  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

9.  Kat  bfafetsebe  nanogan. 

Now  its  grain  made  of  it  is  rubbed  away. 

10.  Sa/za-nagaibe  nanogan. 

In  old  age  wandering  it  is  rubbed  away, 
made  of 

11.  Bike-^o^obe  nanogan. 

Its  trail  of  beauty  it  is  rubbed  away, 
made  of 

926. — For  free  translation  see  par.  442.  Prelude  and  many  meaningless 
syllables  are  omitted.  A/kaiye  (third  line)=:/akaiye.  Metathesis  is  frequent  in 
Navaho  songs.  Three  other  stanzas  are  the  same  as  this  except  that  corn  of 
other  colors  is  mentioned.  Cylinder  105. 

HYI£>EZNA.  WAKING  SONG. 

SUNG  IN  SHAKING  THE  MASKS  DURING  THE  VIGIL  OF  THE  GODS. 

927. — Hyiafezna  (four  times). 

He  stirs  (prelude). 

I.  Bi'Ma  /^ayolka/i  hyit/ezna  (twice). 

Among  the  lands  of  dawn 

2.  //ayol  bXthadXtim 

Dawn  its  pollen 

0* 

Ka/ 

sana 

nagafe 

Now 

in  old  age 

wandering 

4- 

Kat 

bike 

hozom 

Now 

his  trail 

beautiful 

he  stirs. 

hyirtfezna. 

he  stirs. 

hyit/ezna. 

he  stirs. 

hyp/ezna. 

he  stirs. 

Hyi^eznai,  hyWeznai,  hyi^ezna. 

He  stirs,  he  stirs,  he  stirs. 

The  remaining  stanzas  —  there  are  eighteen  in  all  —  are  like  the  first,  except 
in  the  1st  and  2d  lines  as  follows  :  (The  burden,  hyp/ezna,  twice  repeated,  ends 
every  line.) 

1.  YA!tha  na//otsoi. 

Among  place  of  horizontal  yellow,  evening  land. 

2.  Na/^otso  bXt/iadit'mi. 

Evening  land,  its  pollen, 

the  west, 

Ka/ 

//asUeyal/ihi. 

Now 

A'astjeyal/i,  Talking  God. 

Ka/ 

biltso  /akafe.  • 

Now 

his  skin  white. 

mantle 

IV. 

Ka/ 

//asUe/zqtrani. 

Now 

//astj-e^qn-an,  House  God. 

Ka/ 

/lapanakai'e. 

Now 

loin-cloth  white. 

V. 

Ka/ 

Dsahat/old.s'ai. 

Now 

Dsahar/oldaa,  Fringe  Mouth. 

Ka/ 

eti'n  di/yl'li. 

Now 

bow  dark. 

VI. 

Ka/i 

Ga«ask!7/i. 

Now 

GawaskWi,  Humpback. 

Ka/ 

na/ozis  /akai'e. 

Now 

tobacco-bag  white. 

VII. 

Ka/i 

//atdastsVsl. 

Now 

//aA/asUI'-ri. 

Ka/ 

yiske  /akai'e. 

Now 

leggings  white. 

VIII. 

il 

Ka/ 

//asUebakai'. 

Now 

A^astrebaka,  Male  Divinity. 

Ka/ 

yut/i  al///asai'e. 

Now 

soft  goods  of  all  kinds. 

IX. 

Ka/ 

//astyebaadi, 

Now 

jYastrebaad,  Female  Divinity. 

Ka/ 

l'nkliz  alMasafe.  ' 

Now 

jewels,  brittle  things  of  all  kinds. 

X. 

Ka/ 

Nayenezgani. 

Now 

Nayenezgani,  Slayer  of  Alien  Gods. 

Ka/ 

biZ/^at/eld.S'aT. 

Now 

his  stone  necklace. 

XI. 

Ka/ 

7o‘bad,sistrini. 

Now 

7b‘bad2lst.rmi,  Child  of  the  Water. 

Kaii 

biUatlo/i. 

Now 

his  ear-pendants. 

XII. 

Ka* 

//astreolloi. 

Now 

//asUeolAii,  Shooting  Goddess. 

Ka/ 

naj/uitsoi. 

Now 

puma. 

XIII. 

Kai 

//astrel/trfhi. 

Now 

//as  t-re/Ui ,  Red  God. 

Kali 

yo/itsfhi. 

Now 

red  beads,  coral. 

XIV. 

Kal 

//astreLsi'ni. 

Now 

//astjezlni,  Black  God. 

Kali 

yo/akaie. 

Now 

white  shell  beads. 

XV. 

Kali 

To'nenI'li. 

Now 

7o‘nenili,  Water  Sprinkler. 

Kal 

lo'/anastrihi. 

Now 

mixed  waters. 

XVI. 

Kal 

TAohanoafe. 

Now 

Trohanoai,  Day  Bearer. 

Kali 

//at/a/ei. 

Now 

pendant  of  haliotis. 

XVII. 

Kal 

Klehanoai'e. 

Now 

Klehanoai,  Night  Bearer. 

Kali 

l//adiseli. 

Now 

pendant  of  shell. 

XVIII. 

Kal 

Estsanatlehi. 

Now 

Estsanatlehi,  Woman  Who  Chang 

es. 

Kali 

nanisehi. 

Now 

vegetation,  plants  of  all  kinds. 

928. — For  free  translation  see  par.  470.  Hyitrtfezna,  translated,  he  moves,  or 
he  stirs,  is  usually  said  of  vital  movements  only.  It  is  said  when  a  man  or 
animal,  previously  at  rest,  shows  signs  of  life.  Although  the  masks,  in  the  rites, 

are  shaken  by  the  shaman,  they  are  supposed,  in  a  poetic  or  religious  sense,  to 
move  of  their  own  accord.  The  word  is  related  to  the  name  for  life-pollen, 
i’yiafezna  (par.  187).  For  explanation  of  the  dawn  pollen  and  the  evening  pol¬ 
len  (stanzas  I.  and  II.)  see  par.  190.  For  the  expressions  Sawa  nagai  and  Bike 
hoz6x\\  see  par.  915.  Cylinders  1,  2,  3,  also  65,  66,  67,  and  187,  188,  189.  The 
song  is  so  long,  it  took  three  cylinders  to  record  it. 

ATSA'ZEI  YE£>A£>IGLE.S. 

SUNG  WHEN  THE  FIRST  DANCERS  PAINT  THEMSELVES  WITH  GLE5. 

929. — E'azzanlye  yelo  z/iglni 

(No  meaning)  with  a  holy  one 

ha\d\g\6s 

paints  himself, 
applies  gle.r, 

kola  nina. 

(no  meaning). 

Km* 

Ni'ltsa  A-dke 

yelo  t/igini  /zaiAigldr 

Now 

Rain 

Boy 

with  a  holy  one  paints  himself 

Ka  / 

bitsis/akaa 

ka/ 

kosz/i/yi'/i  yelo,  etc.  (as 

Now 

the  surface  of  his  body 

now 

cloud  dark  with. 

3- 

Ka/ 

bitsis/akaa 

nitsabEole  yelo,  etc. 

Now 

the  surface  of  his  body 

mizzling  rain  with. 

4- 

Ka  / 

bitsis/akaa 

ka/ 

/oTfedle  yelo,  etc. 

Now 

the  surface  of  his  body 

now 

water  bubbles  with. 

5- 

K  a/ 

bike/a/aa 

ka/ 

/abi/ae  yelo,  etc. 

Now 

his  toes 

now 

to  the  ends  with. 

Ka  t 

bi/a/aa  /o'asa 

dilyV/l  yelo,  etc. 

Now 

his  finger  tips  water  pot 

dark  with. 

7- 

Ka  t 

bitsis/akaa 

atsa 

a/sosi  yelo,  etc. 

Now 

the  surface  of  his  body 

eagle 

feathers  with. 

(Repeat 

prelude). 

930. — For  free  translation  see 

par.  603. 

kola  nina. 

(no  meaning). 

ATSA'ZEI  song. 

SUNG  OUTDOORS  DURING  THE  DANCE. 

931.- — i.  Ohohoho  ehehehe  heya  yeya. 

2.  Ohohoho  ehehehe  heya  heya. 

3.  Howani  howowowowow  owe. 

4.  Howani  howowowowow  owe. 

5.  Howani  hoa  howani  ho. 

6.  Howani  hoa  heya  heahi  oowe. 

7.  Heya  heahi  ooho.  ' 

a 

8.  Ohohoho  heya  heahi  eheyeyfyayea. 

9.  Oahoa  hoa  howoa. 

/ 

19.  Eyeheyeheye  ohoaho. 

11.  Eyeheyeheye  ohoaho. 

1 2.  Eyeheyeheye. 

13.  Hibl  niye  /zabi  niye. 

//a^o^anaha  .nhiwanaha. 

The  corn  comes  up  the  rain  descends. 

i5- 

THna/aa 

bi'/niya. 

The  corn  plant 

with  it  arrives. 

Aiaheoo 

afaheo. 

i7- 

Aihiwanaha  //ohe^anaha. 

The  rain  descen 

ids  the  corn  comes  up. 

7o‘biaA 

bi'/niya. 

The  child-rain 

with  it  arrives. 

Aiaheoo 

aiaheo. 

Ohohoho 

ehehehe  heya  heya. 

1 5- 

Nanisee 

bi'/niya. 

Vegetation 

with  it  arrives. 

Z/zaz/itini 

bi'/niya. 

Pollen 

with  it  arrives. 

(The  rest  as  in  stanza  I). 

(All  vocables  without  interlinear  translations  have  no  meaning). 

932.  — For  free  translation  and  remarks  see  par  617.  For  To'biasi  see  note 
22.  For  information  concerning  the  words  in  lines  14  and  17  see  par.  924. 
Cylinders  8,  9,  and  127,  128. 

ATSAYEI  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  THE  FIRST  DANCERS. 

FIRST  SONG  SUNG  INSIDE  THE  LODGE  ON  THE  LAST  NIGHT. 

933.  — Owowowowowowe  (repeat). 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  Yu/a  kodonil  yego. 

Above  it  thunders  (no  meaning). 

2.  Nod^e  nadizkez  yego. 

In  your  direction  for  you  he  thinks. 

3.  Nod^e  nac/itsa‘  yego. 

In  your  direction  for  you  he  rises. 

4- 

Ka/ 

niki'niya 

yego. 

Now 

to  your  house. 

5- 

Na7zoz/eya  ya 

yego. 

For  you  he 

approaches. 

Ka/ 

no/zaniya 

yego. 

Now 

he  arrives  for  you. 

7- 

Ka/ 

no/aniya 

yego. 

Now 

he  is  at  the  door. 

Nihyili/zya  ya 

yego. 

He  enters  to  you 

9- 

Yuna 

z/eya 

ya 

Yuni,  place  he  approaches, 
behind  the  fire 

10.  Bigel 

giyiya 

yego. 

His  special 

he  eats. 

article,  dish 

1 1.  Nitsis 

hAtaya 

yego. 

Your  body 

is  big,  strong. 

12.  Nitsis 

digin 

•p 

Your  body 

holy 

now  I  say, 

Owowowowowowe 

(repeat). 

An3.n3.na.nAna.n6. 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

i.  Yuya 

Ziodonil 

yego. 

Below 

it  thunders. 

(The  rest  as  in  stanza  I). 

934. — For  free  translation  see  par.  644.  Cylinders  42  and  125. 

ATSA'ZEI  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  THE  FIRST  DANCERS.  No.  6. 

935. —  1.  Tsu/a  Jia'aAsde  nocke  de ya. 

Truly  from  the  east  to  us  he  approaches. 

Nogan 

dilyl'liye 

nod^e 

d6ya. 

Trumpet 

black,  with 

to  US 

he  approaches. 

3- 

DotWzi 

biad 

yika 

deya. 

Turquoise 

little 

for  it  he  a 

pproaches. 

4- 

Dsaaafe 

my  a 

haie. 

Hither 

he  has  arrived 

W 

5- 

Dsaat/e 

hold 

haie. 

Hither 

is  some 

(?) 

Tsu/a 

13‘aAsde 

nod.s’e 

deya. 

Truly 

from  the  west 

to  US 

he  approaches. 

Nogan 

dotWziye 

nod^e  deya. 

Trumpet 

blue  with 

to  US 

he  approaches. 

3- 

Zhlkd.fi 

biad 

yika 

deya. 

Smooth  shell 

little 

for  it  he 

approaches. 

4* 

Dsaat/e 

niya 

haie. 

Hither 

he  has  arrived 

(?)■ 

5- 

DsAade 

hold 

haie. 

\ 

Hither 

is  some 

(?)• 

936. — This  song  is  said  to  refer  to  some  of  the  four  gods  represented  by  the 
First  Dancers  (par.  607),  who  come,  one  from  the  east  and  one  from  the  west 
for  the  gifts  of  turquoise  and  shell  offered  to  them.  Aogan  is  said  to  be  the 
name  of  a  wooden  trumpet  or  flute  formerly  used  in  the  ceremonies ;  but  it  is 
much  like  the  Navaho  word  for  “  my  house.”  One  shaman  declared  that  this 

song  is  sung  also  in  the  rites  of  yoi  //a/'a/  or  the  bead  chant.  The  last  line  seems 
to  mean,  Here  are  your  sacrifices.  Take  them.  If  one  is  looking  for  tobacco 
and  you  offer  him  yours,  you  say,  dsazzfe  holo=here  is  some.  Prelude,  refrain 
and  meaningless  vocables  are  omitted. 

O 

BENA  HA  TALI.  FINISHING  HYMN.  LAST. 

937. — Afena. 

Niyeooo  niyeooo  niyeazzazzani. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  //alkaiz/eya  A5‘saka  azzazzazz/i — 

From  the  white  valley  water  lies  (meaningless)— 

2.  Tsilkeyo  z'ooklaaz/a — 

Young  man  believes  not — 

3.  Bigel  ana'gleaj-go 

His  sacrifice  prepared 

4.  Kaz"  nayet/oa^-go, 

Now  he  picks  up  (a  short  thing), 

5.  Aigebe  kaz"  inz/azz/otlizz. 

With  that  now  he  heals. 

6.  Aigebe  ka/  nikeyo  asehe  kaz?  naniz/one. 

With  that  now  your  people  thanks  now  give  you. 

N  iyeazzazzazzaie. 

Niyeooo  niyeooo  niyeooo  niyeazzazzani  (repeat). 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  //altsoz/eya  /o‘sila‘  azzazzazzz'i — 

From  the  green  valley  waters  lie  in  pools  (meaningless) — 

2.  T-rikeyo  /ooklaaz/a — 

Young  woman  does  not  believe — 

3.  Bige/  ana‘glea.rgo 

His  sacrifice  prepared 

4.  Kaz?  nayez/ole/go, 

Now  he  will  pick  it  up, 

5.  Aigebe  ka/  inz/azz/otlizz. 

With  that  now  he  heals. 

6.  Aigebe  kaz*  nikeyo  a^ehe  ka t 

With  that  now  your  people  thanks  now 

(Repeat  refrain). 

naniz/one. 

give  you. 

938. — For  free  translation  see  par.  645.  Antithesis  is  a  favorite  figure  of 
the  Navaho  poets,  and  this  song  contains  an  antithesis  which  we  often  find  in 
their  compositions  (See  par.  945) — a  contrast  of  landscapes,  of  the  beginning 
and  end  of  a  stream  in  the  Navaho  land.  The  story  of  many  a  stream  in  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  is  this  :  It  rises  in  a  green  valley  in  the  mountains  where 

it  forms  a  series  of  little  ponds,  connected  by  a  small  rivulet,  and  flows  down  to 
the  lower  plains,  where  it  spreads  into  a  single  sheet  of  water  and  sinks.  Its 
surplus  may  never  reach  the  sea,  or  reach  it  only  in  a  very  rainy  season.  This 
lake  may  be  of  good  size  during  the  summer  rains  ;  but  as  the  dry  season  ap¬ 
proaches  it  shrinks,  leaving  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  a  white  saline  efflores¬ 
cence  called  alkali  in  the  West.  This  “  alkali  flat  ”  is  the  Baikal  of  the 
Navahoes.  The  green  mountain  valley  is  the  //altso  mentioned  in  the  song. 
The  adjective  /l'tso  contained  in  this  word  means  yellow  ;  but  it  also  designates 
a  light  yellowish  green.  The  composite  flora  gives  a  yellowish  tint  to  the 
mountain  meadows.  The  male  is  associated  with  the  sterile,  unattractive  alkali- 
flat,  in  the  first  stanza,  while  the  female  is  named  with  pleasant  mountain 
meadow  in  the  second  stanza  (see  Symbolism  of  Sex,  pars.  16  and  17).  Some 
meaningless  syllables  have  been  omitted  from  the  above  text.  Some  words  are 
modified  for  prosodic  reasons.  Cylinders  49  and  1 1 7.  For  other  Finishing 
Hymns  hear  cylinders  47,  48,  and  119. 

A  SONG  OF  THE  VISIONARY. 

SUNG  WHILE  TRAVELING. 

939. — i.  Aga‘(/a/^ozai‘  thsosi.. 

On  a  place  above  among  I  walk. 

2.  //as/seayuhi  biniAki  hwifalm. 

Afastreayuhi  beside  him  there  am  I. 

3.  S’ltsi'd.s'e  ho yona‘, 

Before  me  one  walks, 

4.  Aike-sz/e  /zoyona*, 

Behind  me  one  walks, 

5.  Alnf‘i  hwiulm. 

In  the  middle  there  am  I. 

1.  Nike</a/kozai‘ 

On  a  place  below 

2.  //asHenetlfhi 

///aua. 

among  I  walk. 

bml'.yki 

AfastreyaLi  beside  him 

3.  S'lkej’t/e  ho yona‘, 

Behind  me  one  walks, 

4.  Aitsi'd^e  ho yona‘, 

Before  me  one  walks, 

5.  Alnfii  hwildm. 

In  the  middle  there  am  I. 

hwiulm. 

there  am  I. 

940. — For  free  translation  see  par.  676.  Here  is  another  of  the  many  in¬ 
stances  of  antithesis  to  be  found  in  these  songs.  Meaningless  syllables  are 
omitted  from  this  text. 

A  SONG  OF  //ASTSEYAL  71. 

SUNG  BEFORE  EATING. 

941. — Aienaa;j  ooooe  ode  ode. 

Aienaaw  ooooe  eeeeahi  ananan  aie. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  Aga‘dahoza\‘  thaxsa  klego  00  woananan ; 

On  a  place  above  among  I  walk  at  night  (?)  (meaningless) ; 

2.  //astyeayuhi  ka t  sogam 

my  house 

7/ast.reayuhi  now 

3.  Aiyagi  na‘hwfna‘ 

Above  me  he  moves  along 

Ananan  eee. 

(Meaningless). 

yayeyooo 

(meaningless) 

niinine1. 

(meaningless). 

942. — It  would  seem  that  there  should  be  another  stanza  antithetic  to  this  ; 
but  it  has  not  been  recorded.  For  free  translation  see  par.  677. 

SONG  OF  THE  VISIONARY. 

HIS  SONG  OF  RECOGNITION. 

943.  — 1.  Aga‘/£oyoa‘  nagane  MnFa‘, 

A  place  above  he  traveled  for  me  I  think, 

2.  //astyeayuhi  nagane  Anna1. 

//astreayuhi  he  traveled  for  me  I  think. 

3.  Nitsis  digim  ka?"  Mini*.  ■ 

Your  body  holy  now  is  with  me. 

1.  Niyake//oza‘  nagane  MnNa‘, 

A  place  below  he  traveled  for  me  I  think, 

2.  //astyeneatlm  nagane  Mnisa*. 

//astreyal/i  he  traveled  for  me  I  think. 

3.  Nitsis  digim  ka/  Mink. 

Your  body  holy  now  is  with  me. 

944.  — Free  translation,  par.  679.  Meaningless  syllables  omitted. 

SONG  OF  THE  STRICKEN  TWINS. 

945.  — Aienanan. 

Eeee  niya  (three  times)  ananeean. 

(Prelude.  Ni'ya  =  we  arrive). 

1.  //alkairt'eye  /o'sakaa  lade  niya. 

From  the  white  valley  water  standing  alone  from  there  we  arrive. 

2Q2 

Binai 

e'An 

nahyPke,  lade 

niya. 

His  eyes 

none  one 

bearing  another,  from  there 

we  arrive. 

3- 

BitsaA 

e'An 

nahyPke,  lade 

niya. 

His  limbs 

none  one  bearing  another,  from  there 

we  arrive. 

4- 

Aze 

han\es\ye 

to ‘  hav\\es\ye, 

lade 

niya. 

Medicine 

where  appears 

water  where  appears, 

from  there 

we  arrive. 

5.  EsAyebeye  nina  na/zostlmye,  lade  niya. 

With  this 

6.  EsAyebeye 

With  this 

your  eyes  recover,  restored  again,  from  there  we  arrive. 

nityai  na/zostlbzye,  /a  de  niya. 

your  limbs  recover,  from  there  we  arrive. 

Y  eananeean. 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  7/altsoYeye  7o‘sila‘a  /a de  niya. 

From  the  green  valley  water  in  a  chain  of  pools  from  there  we  arrive. 

Bitfa/i 

e'tin 

nahyPke, 

lade 

niya. 

His  limbs 

none  one  bearing  another, 

from  there 

we  arrive. 

o- 

Binai 

e'An 

nahyfike, 

lade 

niya. 

His  eyes 

none  one 

bearing  another, 

from  there 

we  arrive. 

4- 

To' 

hames'xye 

aze  liames'iye, 

lade 

niya. 

Water 

where  appears 

medicine  where  appears, 

from  there 

we  arrive. 

5.  EsAyebeye  na/^ostlbzye,  /a de  niya. 

With  this 

6.  ’  EsAyebeye 

your  limbs  recover, 

nina  na/iostlmye, 

from  there  we  arrive. 

fade  niya. 

With  this  your  eyes  recover,  from  there  we  arrive. 

(Repeat  refrain). 

946. — For  free  translation  see  par.  836.  The  singers  are  supposed  to  ex¬ 
press  the  idea  that  they  have  traveled  all  over  the  land  from  high  green  moun¬ 
tain  tops  to  low  desert  plains  searching  for  remedies  and  have  been  vainly 
promising  one  another  that  such  remedies  would  be  found.  For  a  discussion  of 
the  words  in  the  first  lines  of  both  stanzas  see  par.  938.  In  this  song,  as  in  many 
others,  whole  lines  and  words  within  lines  of  one  stanza,  appear  in  another,  but 
in  a  different  order.  As  usual,  many  words  here  are  changed  from  their  ordinary 
forms  for  prosodic  reasons.  Thus  the  last  word,  na/^ostlmye  appears  ordinarily 
as  na/zastle,  or  with  the  first  syllable  joined  to  a  preceding  word,  as  in  the  ordi¬ 
nary  prayer  ending,  hozona  Castle  (see  par.  963).  Na  signifies,  again. 

ASA71NI  BIGTN.  SONG  OF  THE  LONG  POT.  No.  1. 

947- 

-Ahe  hoe  hoe  hooe 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  //a'hwEane,  Ahiwane, 

The  corn  comes  up,  the  rain  descends, 

2.  64hiwane,  //a'hwEane, 

The  rain  descends, 

3.  Mosel 

The  water  trickles 
(on  the  leaves). 

the  corn  comes  up, 

mosel. 

the  water  trickles. 

(repeated). 
osAnie  eee ! 

O  long  pot ! 

osAnie  eee ! 

O  long  pot  ! 

(The  same  as  stanza  I.,  except  that  lines  1  and  2  change  places). 

948. — The  name  asa^ini  or  esa/ini,  changed  here  by  commutation,  syncope 
and  paragoge  to  os^inie,  is  applied  to  a  long  earthen  pot,  no  longer  used.  A 
whole  squash  could  be  cooked  in  it.  There  was  a  god  also  who  bore  this  name 
(par.  734).  For  remarks  on  lines  1  and  2  see  par.  924.  The  meaning  of  mosel 
is  traditional.  The  meaning  of  the  song  is  obscure  and  may  depend  on  some 
myth  not  obtained.  Cylinder  13. 

ASA  TIN  I  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  THE  LONG  POT.  No.  2. 

949. — Oi  ohowowi  (etc.)  wf‘ya;z  wi‘ya n. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  TAlna/aatsoi, 

The  great  corn-plants, 

2.  Bi/hakoua-leoi. 

Among  I  walk. 

3.  SVtau  bi't/Hni‘-gola‘  ; 

My  corn  I  speak  to  ; 

4.  Ai'd^e  da'dilm'se  oi. 

Toward  me  it  holds  its  hands  out. 

Wi‘ya  n  wkyaw. 

(Meaningless  refrain). 

1.  Epei'kanitsoi. 

The  great  squash  vines. 

(The  rest  as  in  stanza  I.). 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

950. —  r.  My  great  corn-plants, 

2.  Among  them  I  walk. 

3.  I  speak  to  them  ; 

4.  They  hold  out  their  hands  (leaves)  to  me. 

1.  My  great  squash-vines, 

2.  Amonor  them  I  walk. 

o 

3.  I  speak  to  them  ; 

4.  They  hold  out  their  hands  to  me. 

951. — That  is  to  say:  I  and  my  crops  greet  one  another.  Untranslated 
syllables  have  no  meaning.  Many  meaningless  vocables  omitted.  Cylinder  13. 

YIKAIGIN.  DAYLIGHT  SONG.  No.  12. 

952. — Bi'za  holoone.  bi'za  hold  (repeat)  bi'za  hold,  bi'za  holo. 

(Prelude.  Bi'za  holo  =  he  has  a  voice). 

Tsi/zayilk 

:anigo 

nfdla 

ani‘. 

Just  at  dawn 

Sialia 

calls. 

Ayajr 

dolWzie 

bi'za 

hold, 

Bird 

blue 

his  voice 

has, 

3- 

Bi'za 

holonigo 

bi'za 

hozo, 

His  voice 

he  has 

his  voice 

beautiful,  melodious, 

4- 

Bi'za 

//ozonigo, 

hwfihe  inlf‘. 

His  voice 

beautiful, 

glad 

it  flows. 

5- 

DoIsl 

ani‘ 

do  la 

ani‘  i  a  n  ee,  (etc.). 

Sialia 

calls 

Sialia 

calls  (meaningless). 

(Repeat  prelude). 

1.  Tsfna/zotsdi  do\a.  ani‘. 

Just  at  evening  twilight  Sialia  calls. 

2.  AyaT  trolga/ie  bi'za  hold. 

The  bird  trolga/i  his  voice  has. 

(The  rest  as  in  stanza  I.). 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

953.  — He  has  a  voice,  he  has  a  voice. 

1.  Just  at  daylight  Sialia  calls. 

2.  The  bluebird  has  a  voice, 

3.  He  has  a  voice,  his  voice  melodious, 

4.  His  voice  melodious,  that  flows  in  gladness. 

5.  Sialia  calls,  Sialia  calls. 

He  has  a  voice,  he  has  a  voice. 

1.  Just  at  twilight  Sialia  calls. 

2.  The  bird  trolga/i  has  a  voice. 

3.  He  has  a  voice,  his  voice  melodious, 

4.  His  voice  melodious,  that  flows  in  gladness. 

5.  Sialia  calls,  Sialia  calls. 

954.  — The  Navaho  poets  appreciate  the  value  of  rhyme  ;  but  they  usually 
secure  it  by  the  addition  of  meaningless  syllables.  In  this  song  we  have  rhyme 
without  distortion  of  words  or  meaningless  additions  to  the  final  words  of  the 

ZD6W,  changed  here  to  do  la,  is  the  ordinary  Navaho  name  for  the  blue- 

verses. 

bird,  Sialia  avctica  or  Sialia  mexicana ;  it  is  here  translated  Sialia  because  in 
the  second  line  of  stanza  I,  the  bird  is  called  Aya^  dotWzi,  which  means,  literally 
bluebird.  Ti-olga/i  is  a  bird,  not  identified,  that  sings  in  the  evening.  Another 
song  of  this  set — Yikaigin,  Daylight  or  Dawn  Songs — similar  in  meaning  to  this 
song,  but  differing  from  it  in  music,  is  given  in  “  Navaho  Legends,”  3  page  28. 
Cylinders  41  and  106. 

TSAZYEZ  BIGI'N.  SONG  OF  THE  DARKNESS.  No.  2. 

955- — Aiena. 

Aio  aio  aid  aia  (etc.)  ya  haia  n  haia  n. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  //a'hwLani 

/  / 
eee, 

Ahiwani 

r  / 

eee. 

The  corn  comes 

up, 

the  rain  descends. 

2.  Esamoos 

/  / 
eee, 

esamoos 

/  / 
eee. 

It  foams, 

it  foams. 

(Same  as  stanza  I.,  but  reversing  the  order  of  words  in  the  first  line). 

956. — This  is  sung  during  the  rites  of  the  amole  bath  (par.  439).  Esamos 
refers  to  the  foam  on  the  infusion  of  yucca  root.  For  an  explanation  of  the 
words  in  the  first  line  see  par.  924.  Cylinder  1 10. 

TSALYEL  BIGFN.  SONG  OF  THE  DARKNESS.  No.  3. 

957. — Aiena. 

Hoonen  nohonen  noha  (repeat)  nohazzazzazz. 

Neye  neye  azzazzazz  (repeat)  aiazzazzazzaie. 

(Meaningless  prelude). 

1.  6Yka  doll  z/eya,  Aka  doYi  z/eya. 

For  my  sake  bluebird  approaches,  for  my  sake  bluebird  approaches. 

2.  //azzfraz/ima,  //a‘hwLane  eee ; 

The  rain  sprinkles,  the  corn  comes  up. 

3.  //azz^az/ifna,  Aihiwane  eee. 

The  rain  sprinkles,  the  rain  descends. 

Eeee  azzazzazzaie. 

(Same  as  I.,  but  reversing  order  of  lines  2  and  3). 

958. — //azz^az/ina,  changed  by  epenthesis  in  the  song,  is  said  to  be  an  ar¬ 
chaic  word.  It  means  that  the  rain  comes  in  occasional  heavy  drops  as  it  some¬ 
times  does  at  the  beginning  of  a  shower.  See  par.  924.  Cylinder  no. 

SlZNEOZE  BIGEN.  SONG  OF  THE  WHIRLING  LOGS,  LAST. 

959. —  1.  Anil/ani  de yaya. 

Grasshopper  arrives. 

//a‘aa  sde 

deyaya. 

From  the  east 

arrives. 

3- 

Taetsohi 

de  yaya. 

The  great  corn 

arrives. 

4- 

7o‘biaH 

rf'eyaya. 

The  child-rain 

arrives. 

5- 

ddohozogo 

de  yaya 

In  a  way  of  beauty  arrives. 

Anil/ani 

de  yaya. 

Grasshopper 

arrives.  • 

Ia‘a  sde 

de  yaya. 

From  the  west 

arrives. 

3- 

Nanisee 

deyaya. 

Vegetation 

arrives. 

4- 

rAaditim 

Yeyaya. 

Pollen 

arrives. 

5- 

ddohozogo 

de  yaya. 

In  a  way  of  beauty  arrives. 

960.  — A  free  translation  of  this  song  is  unnecessary.  For  the  meaning  of 
/oTiasi  see  note  22.  Many  meaningless  syllables  are  omitted.  Hear  cylinders 
11,  12,  for  four  Songs  of  the  Whirling  Logs.

IV. Prayers

PRAYERS.

GENERAL  REMARKS. 

961.  — The  prayers  of  this  ceremony  are  numerous  and  many  of  them  have 
been  collected  and  translated  by  the  author  ;  but  the  texts  of  only  four  are  given. 
These  illustrate  the  general  character  of  the  prayers,  in  which  there  is  often 
much  sameness.  The  most  interesting  prayer  of  the  ceremony  is  that  of  the 
Atsa‘/ei  repeated  at  the  beginning  of  the  outdoor  rites  of  the  last  night.  As  the 
text  and  translation  of  this  (or  one  of  its  four  parts,  rather)  is  given  in  “  Navaho 
Legends”3  it  is  not  presented  in  this  work;  but  the  free  translation  appears  in 
par.  613. 

962.  — The  most  of  the  prayers  are  of  a  kind  which  we  designate  as  dialogue 
prayers.  Such  supplications  are  given  out  by  the  shaman,  one  sentence  at  a 
time  ;  after  each  sentence  he  pauses  to  allow  the  patient  to  repeat  it.  Thus  said, 
these  invocations  sound  much  like  Christian  litanies  ;  but  they  differ  from  litanies 
in  these  respects :  the  devotee  repeats  the  exact  words  of  the  priest  instead  of 
giving  a  response  and  the  congregation  does  not  join. 

963.  — These  dialogue  prayers  all  have  at  or  near  the  end  the  words  ddozona 

/zastle  (Hozo  na^astle,  or  Hozona.  /^astliw,  as  sometimes  pronounced)  meaning,  It 
is  done  in  beauty,  It  is  finished  happily,  which  is  analogous  to  the  Christian  amen. 
If  a  prayer  is  divided  into  parts  or  sections,  like  those  of  the  first  prayer  which 
follows,  Hozona.  //astle  is  repeated  twice  only  at  the  end  of  each  section,  until  we 
come  to  the  last ;  at  the  end  of  the  completed  prayer,  it  is  repeated  four  times. 

964.  — Navaho  prayers,  then,  have  some  features  in  common  with  Christian 
orisons,  yet  they  show,  in  their  spirit,  no  indication  of  the  influence  of  Christian 
teaching.  They  are  purely  pagan  compositions  and  are  evidently  of  ancient 
origin.  Only  in  one  of  the  following  prayers  (par.  981),  is  there  any  evidence  of 
modern  growth  ;  this  is,  where  the  shaman,  praying  for  his  own  benefit,  asks  for 
sheep,  horses  and  beeves. 

965.  — The  usual  scheme  of  a  dialogue  prayer  is  this  :  The  name  of  the  god 
addressed  is  mentioned,  flattering  attributes  are  sometimes  added,  and,  if  there 
are  other  individual  gods  of  the  same  name  (as  in  the  case  of  //astyeyalA)  his 
residence  may  be  specified.  He  is  told  that  sacrifices  have  been  prepared  for 
him,  and  he  is  asked  to  remove  the  spell  of  disease.  At  once  (whether  a  cure  is 
effected  or  not),  he  is  assured  that  it  is  removed,  and  exulting  expressions  of  re¬ 
covery  follow.  Then  the  god  may  be  asked  to  bestow  various  blessings  on  the 
supplicant  and  on  his  kindred. 

966.  — In  addition  to  the  dialogue  prayers,  the  shaman  repeats,  on  different 
occasions,  monologue  prayers  for  his  own  benefit  and  that  of  his  people  ;  but  not 
for  the  cure  of  the  patient.  One  such  prayer  is  here  given  (par.  981).  No  god 
is  named  in  it,  and  there  is  no  mention  of  a  sacrifice.  The  most  elaborate  mono¬ 
logue  Indian  prayer  the  author  ever  heard,  has  been  published  under  the  title 
“The  Prayer  of  a  Navajo  Shaman.”9  This  interesting  composition  is  not  in 
the  form  of  a  supplication, — although  it  is  intended  for  one, — but  is  in  the  form 
of  a  narrative. 

967.  — Besides  saying  the  audible  monologue  prayers  the  shaman  often  prays 
in  silence  ;  so  does  the  patient,  and  so  do  others  who  participate  in  the  rites  or 
are  merely  present  in  the  lodge.  Some  of  the  occasions  on  which  such  mental 
prayers  are  especially  appropriate,  have  been  mentioned.  Monologue  prayers 
may  be  formulated  or  extempore. 

968.  — In  addition  to  the  lengthy  prayers,  there  are  a  number  of  formulated, 
short,  devotional  expressions — benedictions  or  ejaculations  they  may  be  called — - 
which  are  used  when  kethawns  are  deposited  and  on  various  other  occasions. 
Texts  and  translations  are  given  of  the  more  common  of  these  benedictions.  See 
pars.  985-989. 

PRAYER  FOR  KETHAWNS  OF  THE  SECOND  DAY. 

FIRST  PART.  PRAYER  TO  THE  OWL  GOD. 

969.  — i.  Naestya. 

Owl. 

2.  Nigel  Dla‘. 

Your  sacrifice  I  have  made. 

3- 

Nat/e 

hila‘. 

For  you  a  smoke 

is  prepared. 

4- 

Sike 

saaditYd. 

My  feet  for  me  restore  (future). 

5- 

.Sitsa/ 

saaditYd. 

My  lower 
extremities 

for  me  restore. 

^ltsis 

saaditYi/. 

My  body 

for  me  restore. 

7* 

^Si'ni 

^aa<7itli/. 

My  mind  for  me  restore. 

^Ine 

saaditU/. 

My  voice  for  me  restore. 

9- 

Tadists'm 

xiaadiWX  saaddol. 

This  very  day 

your  spell  for  me  take  out. 

Tadists'm 

naalil  jaani'nla1. 

This  very  day 

your  spell  for  me  is  removed. 

.SitsacUe 

/ahi'nt/inla1. 

Away  from  me 

you  have  taken  it. 

1 2. 

Nizago 

M'tsa1  nenla*. 

Far  off 

from  me  it  is  taken. 

*3- 

NizaP'O 

O 

nastlm. 

Far  off 

you  have  done  it. 

Adistsm 

nadedesta/. 

To-day 

I  shall  recover. 

x5- 

Adistsm 

d-ahat/a^ol/o1. 

To-day 

For  me  it  is  taken  off. 

Adistsm 

sit  aha  d  inoke/. 

To-day 

my  interior  shall  become  cool. 

i7- 

.5’1/aha 

nezkazgo  tsidesa/. 

My  interior 

feeling  cold  I  shall  go  forth. 

.ST/aha 

nezkazgo  na-yat/o. 

My  interior 

feeling  cold  may  I  walk. 

19.  Toya/yehigo  nasado. 

No  longer  sore  may  I  walk  (or,  I  walk).16 

20.  Tb-yohotfWelmgo  nasado.  > 

Impervious  to  pain  may  I  walk. 

.Si/ahago 

solago 

nasado. 

My  interior 

light 

may  I  walk. 

^ana1 

nLvlmgo 

nasado. 

My  feelings 

lively 

may  I  walk. 

23- 

Hozogo 

nasado. 

Happily, 

may  I  walk. 

in 

terrestrial  beauty 

Hozogo 

kosdilyil 

^enahotlet/o. 

Happily 

clouds  dark 

I  desire  (may  I  have)  abundant. 

25- 

Hozogo 

O 

senahaltVndo  d-enahotlet/o. 

Happily 

abundant  showers  I  desire. 

Hozogo 

nanise 

•fenahotlet/o. 

Happily 

vegetation 

I  desire. 

2  7.  Hozogo 

tlv&dxXXn  .yenahotlez/o. 

Happily 

pollen 

I  desire. 

28.  Hozogo 

dato'  j'enahotletfio. 

Happily 

dew  I  desire. 

29.  Hozogo 

nasado. 

Happily 

may  I  walk. 

30.  Hozogo 

da^re  elki'd^e 

a‘  hwemVo. 

Happily 

(not  translated). 

31.  Aitsi'd-se 

hozodo. 

■  1 

Me  before 

May  it  lie  happy,  or  beautiful.  J  Transposed  in  second 

32.  Aikeufe 

hozodo. 

and  fourth  parts. 

Me  behind  i 

may  it  be  beautiful. 

33.  Aiyagi 

hozodo. 

Me  below 

may  it  be  beautiful. 

34.  TTikl'gi 

hozodo. 

Me  above 

may  it  be  beautiful. 

35.  Aina 

ufaltso  hozogo 

nasado. 

Me  around 

all  beautifully 

may  I  walk. 

36.  //o^dna 

/zastle. 

In  beauty 

it  is  finished. 

(happily)  again 

37.  Hozona 

/zastle. 

In  beauty  again 

it  is  finished. 

SECOND  PART.  PRAYER  TO  ZTASTNE AYUHI. 

970.  — o.  Aga‘/zoagi. 

High  above. 

i.  //astyeayuhi. 

7/asUeayuhi. 

24.  Hozogo  aWi/yi/  .renahotlez/o. 

Happily  mists  dark  may  I  have  abundant. 

(31  and  32  transposed.  The  rest  as  in  the  first  part). 

THIRD  PART.  PRAYER  TO  AfASTAEYAL 7T. 

971.  — o.  Niyakegi. 

Beneath. 

1.  //astyeyald. 

•//astfeyal/i. 

(The  rest  as  in  the  first  part). 

FOURTH  PART.  PRAYER  TO  THE  TALKING  (ECHOING)  ROCK. 

972.  — 1.  Tse'etlfhi. 

Tse'yaPi*,  Talking  Rock. 

(The  rest  as  in  the  second  part,  except  that  at  the  end  “  Hozona.  Castle  ”  is 
peated  four  times). 

973.  — For  free  translation  see  pars.  325-328. 

PRAYER  FOR  KETHAWNS  OF  THE  THIRD  DAY. 

FIRST  PART.  TO  THE  TALKING  GOD  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  FOR  THE 

FIRST  LONG  KETHAWN. 

974.— i.  Kininaekaigi. 

House  of  Horizontal  White 
(White  House)  in. 

2.  //ayo/ka/  nai/ilnaha. 

The  morning  light  he  rises  with. 

3.  //ayo/ka/  yi/na/i/aha. 

The  morning  light  he  moves  with. 

4.  Z/astreyal/i. 

Talking  God. 

5.  Nigel  Ula‘. 

Your  sacrifice  I  have  made. 

Na/e 

hila‘. 

For  you  a  smoke 

is  prepared. 

7- 

//ake 

JiaadXxXd. 

His  feet,  or 

for  him  restore 

the  feet, 

(as  they  were). 

Hatsat 

haadXxXxl. 

His  lower 

for  him  restore 

extremities 

(future). 

9- 

//atsis 

JiaadXxXd. 

His  body 

for  him  restore. 

Ham 

haadXtWl. 

His  mind 

for  him  restore. 

Hwine 

haadXtWl. 

His  voice 

for  him  restore. 

1 2. 

A/Istrm 

naalil  haadxlol. 

To-day 

your  spell  for  him  take  out. 

i3- 

Tadlism 

naalil  Zaanenla*. 

This  very  day 

your  spell  for  him  is  removed. 

//atsacke 

/ahi'n/inla*. 

Away  from  him  you  have  taken  it. 

!5- 

Nizago 

//atsa‘nenla‘. 

Far  away 

from  him  it  is  taken. 

Nizago 

nastlm. 

Far  away 

you  have  done  it. 

l7- 

Hozogo 

nadodotal. 

Happily 

he  shall  recover. 

Hozogo 

//a/^ada/ol/o‘. 

Happily 

for  him  it  is  taken  off. 

Hozogo 

^a/aha  /moke/. 

Happily 

his  interior  shall  become  cool. 

//a/aha 

/*onezkazgo  Xndzagado. 

His  interior 

feeling  cold  may  he  move  around. 

2 1. 

Ho  zona 

/zastli72  (/zastle). 

In  beauty  again 

it  is  finished. 

Hozona 

hastlin. 

In  beauty  again  it  is  finished. 

23.  Hozogo  nasdido  Mtsowe. 

In  beauty  may  you  walk  my  grandchild. 

24.  Hozolel  koo/e. 

It  will  be  beautiful  thus. 

SECOND  PART.  TO  THE  HOUSE  GOD  OF  THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  FOR  THE 

SECOND  LONG  KETHAWN. 

975. — 2.  Na/^otsoi  naif/ilnaha. 

The  evening  light  he  rises  with. 

3.  Na/zotsoi  yi/nat/i/aha. 

The  evening  light  he  moves  with. 

4.  Hastse/iogan. 

House  God. 

(The  rest  as  in  the  first  part). 

THIRD  PART.  TO  A  MALE  DIVINITY,  FOR  THE  FIRST  SHORT  KETHAWN. 
976 — i.  Bi/nazdotWz. 

With  blue  face. 

2.  //astrebaka. 

Male  divinity. 

(From  the  5th  to  the  last  lines,  inclusive,  the  same  as  the  first  part). 

FOURTH  PART.  TO  A  FEMALE  DIVINITY,  FOR  THE  SECOND  SHORT 

KETHAWN. 

977.  — 1.  Bi/nidsotsoi. 

With  yellow  under  chin. 

2.  //astyebaad. 

Female  divinity. 

(From  the  5th  line  to  the  last,  inclusive,  the  same  as  the  first  part). 

FIFTH  PART.  TO  A  MALE  DIVINITY,  FOR  THE  THIRD  SHORT  KETHAWN. 

978.  — (All  the  same  as  the  third  part). 

SIXTH  PART.  TO  A  FEMALE  DIVINITY,  FOR  THE  SECOND  SHORT  KETHAWN. 

979.  — (Same  as  the  fourth  part,  except  that  the  words  Hozona.  /^astlm  are 
repeated  four  times  instead  of  twice). 

980.  — For  free  translation  see  pars.  383-387. 

MONOLOGUE  PRAYER  OF  THE  SHAMAN  DURING  THE  VIGIL  OF 

THE  GODS  (par.  472). 

981.  — 1.  Hozo  Bohatindo. 

In  beauty,  may  (I)  dwell, 

happiness, 

2.  Hozogo  nas&do. 

In  beauty  may  I  walk. 

3.  Hozogo  i-aha^oi  Boh-aXxndo. 

In  beauty  my  male  kindred  may  (they)  dwell. 

4- 

Hozogo 

j'ezani 

ke/zatmz/o. 

In  beauty  my 

female  kindred 

may  (they)  dwell. 

5- 

Hozogo 

i'uikel 

na/zalz'izzzz'o. 

In  beauty  my  young  men 

may  it  rain  on. 

Hozogo 

.meke 

na/zalz'kzz/o. 

In  beauty  my  young  women 

may  it  rain  on. 

7- 

Hozogo 

.rinantahi 

nahaltiudo. 

In  beauty 

my  chiefs 

may  it  rain  on. 

Hozogo 

nkyi  na/zalAzzz/o. 

In  beauty 

us  may  it  rain  on. 

9- 

Hozogo 

nkyi  nan/az/o. 

In  beauty 

(for)  us  may 

1  corn  grow. 

T/l2id\t\n 

kehyetigi 

na/zaldCzdo. 

Pollen 

in  the  trail  of 

may  it  rain  on. 

Ni'yitsi'd^e 

hozogo 

nahaldmdo. 

Before  us 

in  beauty 

may  it  rain  on. 

1 2. 

Ni‘yikez/e 

hozogo 

nahalt'mdo. 

Behind  us 

in  beauty 

may  it  rain  on. 

13- 

Ni‘yiya‘ 

hozogo 

na/zalAVzz7o. 

Below  us 

in  beauty 

may  it  rain  on. 

H- 

Ni‘yit.nga 

hozogo 

naha\t\ndo. 

Above  us 

in  beauty 

may  it  rain  on. 

1 5- 

Ni‘yinaz/e 

z/altso 

hozogo  na h 

Around  us 

all 

in  beauty  may 

Hozogo 

nasado. 

In  beauty 

may  I  walk. 

1 7- 

Yuz7i  sosaz/o. 

Soft  goods  may  I  acquire. 

1 8.  Inkli'z  sosaz/o. 

Hard  goods  (jewels)  may  I  acquire. 

19.  L\n 

Horses 

20.  Depe 

Sheep 

21.  Beka^i 

Beeves 

22.  Sazza. 

In  old  age 

23.  Bike 

Trail 

24.  Nijrliwgo 

Lively 

sosaz/o. 

may  I  acquire. 

sosaz/o. 

may  I  acquire. 

sosaz/o. 

may  I  acquire. 

nagak 

wandering. 

hozo. 

beautiful. 

nasado. 

may  I  walk. 

PRAYER  TO  THE  WAR  GODS  AND  THE  GODDESS  OF  THE  CHASE. 

FIRST  PART.  TO  NAYENEZGANI. 

982. — 1.  Nayenezgani. 

Slayer  of  the  Alien  Gods. 

2.  Nigel 

Your  sacrifice 

ula‘. 

I  have  made. 

3.  Naz/e 

hila‘. 

For  you  a  smoke 

is  prepared. 

4.  /Tike 

saaditYi/. 

My  feet  for  me  restore  (future). 

5.  Nit-ra/ 

saaditYd. 

My  lower 

for  me  restore. 

extremities 

6.  NltSlS 

saaditYx l. 

My  body 

for  me  restore. 

7.  .5Yni 

saaditYi/. 

My  mind  for  me  restore. 

8.  S'ine 

saaditYd. 

My  voice 

for  me  restore. 

9.  Adistsm 

naali/  saadWo/. 

To-day 

your  spell  for  me  take  out. 

10.  Adistsm 

naali/  .yaani'nla*. 

To-day 

your  spell  for  me  is  removed. 

11.  S’ltsad^e 

/ahi'nz/inla‘. 

Away  from  mi 

:  you  have  taken  it. 

12.  Nizago 

ntsani'nla*. 

Far  off 

from  me  it  is  taken. 

13.  Nizago 

nastlm  (or  na/zastli/z), 

Far  off 

you  have  done  it. 

14.  Hozogo 

nadedesta/. 

Happily,  in  a 

I  shall  recover. 

beautiful  way, 

15.  Hozogo 

sahadadodo ‘. 

Happily 

from  me  it  is  taken  off. 

16.  Hozogo 

M/aha  d  Inoke/. 

Happily 

my  interior  shall  become  cool. 

1 7.  Hozogo 

tsid&sa/. 

Happily 

I  shall  go  forth. 

18.  Hozogo 

nasado. 

Happily 

may  I  walk. 

19.  7ara/yehigo  nasado. 

No  longer 

sore  may  I  walk. 

20.  7arohot/oz/elnigo  nasado. 

Impervious  to  pain  may  I  walk. 

21.  S'l/ahago  solago  naj'at/o. 

My  interior 

light  may  I  walk. 

22.  Nana* 

nfoli/zgo  nasado. 

My  feelings 

lively  may  I  walk. 

23.  Hozogo 

nasado. 

Happily 

may  I  walk. 

24.  Hozona 

Castle  (or  /zastlm). 

In  beauty  agai 

n  it  is  finished. 

25.  Hozona 

/zastle. 

In  beauty  agai 

n  it  is  finished. 

SECOND  PART. 

983. — (Same  as  the  first,  except  that  the  first  line  consists  of  the  name  of 
To'badsistsmi,  Child  of  the  Water). 

THIRD  PART. 

984. — (This  has  the  name  of  //asDeol/oi  for  the  first  line.  After  that  it  is  the 
same  as  the  first  part  to  the  23d  line,  inclusive.  Then  the  prayer  ends  thus)  : 

24.  Aitsi'd.se 

Me  before  toward 

25.  Aiket/e 

Me  behind  from 

26.  Aiyagi 

Me  below  in 

27.  Aiki'd^e 

Me  above  toward 

hozogo 

nasado. 

happily,  in  beauty,  may  I  walk. 

nasado. 

may  I  walk. 

najat/o. 

may  I  walk. 

na.sa.do. 

may  I  walk. 

hozogo 

happily 

hozogo 

happily 

hozogo 

happily 

28.  Aina 

nfaltso 

hozogo 

nasado. 

Me  around 

all 

happily 

may  I  walk. 

29.  Sana 

nagaf, 

bike 

hozo. 

In  old  age 

travel 

his  trail 

beautiful. 

30.  Nis/Iwgo 

d\sn\‘ 

I  am  lively 

I  say. 

31.  Sa/za 

nagaf, 

bike 

hozo. 

In  old  age 

travel 

his  trail 

beautiful. 

32.  Nasistle. 

Again  I  am  done, 

or  finished,  I  am  well  again. 

33.  34.  35.  36-  ^ozona 

In  beauty  again 

Cylinders  6,  77,  and  78. 

Castle 

it  is  finished. 

(repeated  four  times). 

985. — Hozodo. 

May  it  be  terrestrially  beautiful,  happy.

IV. Benedictions

BENEDICTIONS.

986. — Hozogo 

nasado. 

In  a  beautiful 

may  you  (or  I) 

or  happy  manner 

walk. 

987 — HozoXol 

ko^e  jiBowe. 

It  will  be  beautiful 

thus  my  grandchild. 

IV. 

988. — HozoXol 

ko/e. 

It  will  be  beautiful 

thus. 

Hozogo 

na^at/o  ko^e  Atsowe. 

In  a  beautiful  manner  may  you  walk  thus  my  grandchild. 

989. — There  are 

other  forms  embodying  the  same  ideas 

favorite  passages 

of  the  prayers,  such  as  those  given  in 

Cer- 

(second  person),  may  be  used  as  parting  benedictions  among  friends  and  relations. 
An  old  man,  in  making  a  benediction,  such  as  III.  and  IV.,  may  say  Jitsowe,  my 
grandchild,  to  a  young  man  ;  but  a  young  man  must  say  -ntraf,  my  grandfather, 
to  an  old  man.

IV. Notes

Notes.

Remarks. — Some of the information contained in the following notes has already appeared in
the notes of “ Navaho Legends ” 3 and in the text of that and other works by the author ; but its
repetition here could not be avoided without greatly impairing the value of the work. In a few
cases, we have even repeated the exact words of the previous notes, fearing that we could not im¬
prove on them. On the other hand, most of the material is new.

1. North of the San Juan River, in Colorado and Utah, are a number of canons abounding in
ruined cliff-dwellings. Tse’gihi is one of these canons ; but the author does not know which. It
is often mentioned in the myths as the house of numerous yei or gods who dwelt in the cliff-houses
in ancient days. They are thought to still abide there unseen. The name, which means, Among
the Rocks or, In the Cliffs, resembles closely, both in sound and sense, that of Chelly Canon in Ari¬
zona. Chelly is but a Spanish spelling of Tse’gi, Tseyi, or Tj-eyi, the Navaho name, which often
takes different forms, g and y being interchangeable, also s and s. The Navaho for “in the Chelly
Canon ” is Tseyigi. The two names are easily confounded.

2. There are many mountains in the Navaho land which are supposed to be the homes of
divinities and therefore sacred. But there are seven of an especially sacred character and four of
these seem to be regarded as of the highest sanctity. The seven sacred mountains are these :
Tsisnadzi'ni, which is believed to be Pelado Peak, north of the pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico ;
Tsotsi/, which is San Mateo Mountain, otherwise called Mount Taylor, New Mexico ; ZtokoshV,
which is San Francisco Mountain in Arizona ; Ztepe'ntsa, which is the San Juan Mountains in Colo¬
rado ; Dsi/nao/i/ and Tyolihi, which have not been identified, and AkufanasAini, which is Hosta
Butte in New Mexico. The first four named are those of the highest sanctity and the ones most
frequently mentioned in the myths. They are considered as bounding the Navaho land, although
Navaho camps may be found beyond, and the Navaho reservation is far within their limits. Ac¬
cording to the myths they were once closer together and formed the boundaries of the habitable
world. Tsisnadzi'ni is the sacred mountain of the east. Although San Mateo and San Francisco
mountains are almost in the same latitude, the former is regarded as the sacred mountain of the
south. The latter is the sacred mountain of the west. San Juan is the sacred mountain of the
north. Whenever, in this work, we speak of the “ Navaho land ” we mean the country bounded by
a line which just includes these four mountains.

3. Navaho legends, collected and translated by Washington Matthews, etc. Boston and New
York. Published for the American Folk-Lore Society by Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1897.
Pp. VIII, 299. The Origin Legend of the Navahoes is given in this work.

4. As stated in note 2, the Navaho sacred mountain of the south is Tsotsf/. The name
might, for etymological, but not for phonetic reasons, be better written Tso’dsI/. It is derived from
tso, great, and dsi/, a mountain. It is called, by the Mexicans, San Mateo ; but on September 18,
1849, it was named Mount Taylor, “in honor of the President of the United States,” by Lieut. J.
Id. Simpson, U. S. Army. On the maps of the U. S. Geological Survey, the whole mountain mass,
to which it belongs, is marked “ San Mateo Mountains ” and the name “ Mount Taylor ” is reserved
for the highest peak, which is 11,389 feet above sea level and about twelve miles distant, in a direct
line, east by north, from McCarty’s Station on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.

5. Yeitso, whose name, derived from yei and tso, signifies Great Yei, genius or god, was the
greatest and fiercest of the anaye, — the alien or inimical gods. He is mentioned in many myths ;
but is described most particularly in the Origin Legend.3 He was an anthropophagous giant, who
sought to devour the children of the Sun, but they eventually overcame him. His home was at

TsotsI/, or San Mateo Mountain,4 from the summit of which he descended every day to drink at a
lake near the present village of San Rafael. Here he was slain by Nayenezgani and scalped by
Tb'badaistrini.

6. The Navahoes, like most other North American tribes, have a tradition that they originally
came to the surface of this world from a lower world — that their origin was subterranean. They
now endeavor to locate the place of this mythological emergence. They say it is in a small lake
surrounded by precipitous cliffs ; that near the centre of this lake, there is a small conical island,
with a hole in its summit from which something projects that looks like a ladder ; and that this is
the hole through which they came up. Beyond the bounding cliffs four mountain peaks, often re¬
ferred to in the sacred songs, are said to rise. The Navahoes fear to visit the shores of this lake ;
but climb the surrounding hills and view the waters from afar. The place is called Afadainai and
Ni/myosLadse, names which may be freely translated, Place of Emergence or, Land Where They
Came Up. The description would answer fairly for Crater Lake in Oregon ; but the Navahoes
place their natal lake in the San Juan Mountains. Efforts have been made, without success, to de¬
termine which of the many lakes in the San Juan Mountains contains the Ni/myastradae. See
“Navaho Legends,”3 page 219.

7. The tobacco of commerce is never used by the Navahoes for filling sacred cigarettes or for
other sacred purposes ; for these they employ some species of Nicotiana, or true tobacco, indigenous
to the southwest. According to their myths, songs, and plant-lore they are acquainted with four
native species of Nicotiana , two of which have been identified, viz., N. attenuata and N. palmeri.
The former, called dsi'/na/'o, or mountain tobacco, grows sparsely but widely in all the mountains of
the Navaho country at altitudes of 7000 feet or more. The latter, called Aepenafo, or sheep tobacco,
has been found by the author in one locality only — in the Chelly Canon, at the foot of a high preci-

Fig. 19. Knots used in tying sacred objects.

pice in which were the ruins of a great cliff -house. It grew abundantly and might have been a ves¬
tige of ancient cultivation. The two other kinds, called gloina/o, or weasel tobacco, and kosna/o,
or cloud tobacco, by the Navahoes, have not been identified. N. attenuaia is the species used
mostly in the ceremony of the night chant.

8. At the time this was written it was hoped that names might be found for the simple knots
or hitches used by the Navaho medicine-men in making their kethawns ; but all efforts to find
terms have failed. They are not described or figured in any of the dictionaries or encyclopaedias
consulted. Specimens were sent to the Naval Academy at Annapolis in the hope that some “an¬
cient mariner ” there might help us ; but no one was found who could name them. They are illus¬
trated in fig. 19. Let us call a the Navaho knot and b the holy hitch.

9. The prayer of a Navaho shaman. (In American Anthropologist, vol. ii, no. r, pp. 1-19.
Washington, January, 1889.)

10. Tieholtsodi is a god (or demon, according to the point of view) of terrestrial waters.
Although commonly named in the singular, the Navahoes seem to believe in many divinities of this
class. The chief dwelling of the god, or, perhaps we should say the dwelling of the chief god, is in
the Atlantic Ocean. In the first world, he was chief of the great water of the east, and so he is in
this, the fifth, world. But the myths indicate that a Tieholtsodi is supposed to dwell in every per¬
manent spring and every permanent river. He has his counterpart in the U«kte/H of the Dakotas
and the water-gods of other Indian tribes. He is described as much like an otter in appearance,
with a fine fur ; but with horns like a buffalo. A picture of him is said to be made in a dry-painting
of the ceremony of Ziozoni /xa/a/ ; but the author has not seen it. He is one of the oldest of the
gods. He existed before the Sun or the Moon deities, before Estsanatlehi, the war-gods, or First
Man. To recover his young, which were stolen by Coyote, he caused the deluge which drove the
people from the fourth world to this world and he threatened this world with flood until the stolen
children were restored to him. A satisfactory analysis of his name has not been procured.

xi. In addition to these, there are foods described in the myths which are still sometimes
prepared; these are : 1. ATanikaf, a dish of meat and corn boiled together. 2. Naneskaafi or nanes
tid\, round corn-cake, with a hole in the middle, made of a stiff dough and baked on hot coals. 3.
Yis/elkaf, a fine white meal made of corn which is first boiled, then husked, and then ground.
4. Nistxaiakan.

12. The Mountain Chant : a Navaho ceremony, by Dr. Washington Matthews, U. S. A. (In
fifth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 379-467, Washington, 1887.)

13. Navaho houses, by Cosmos Mindeleff. (In seventeenth annual report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, part 2, pp. 475-517, Washington, 1898.)

14. For reasons given elsewhere (pars. 16-17) the rainbow is considered a female deity or
goddess. The Navahoes say there are five colors in the rainbow and some aver that each color is a
different individual. According to this theory there are five rainbow goddesses. They say the
bows are covered with feathers which give the colors. In the dry-paintings, the rainbow is usually
depicted with a head at one end, and legs and feet at the other. The head is always square to show
that it is a female. Three colors only have been seen in the body of the bow, which is red and blue,
bordered with white. In the sweat-house decoration depicted in plate II, fig. B, a rainbow symbol
is shown with a head at each end, indicating that each separate band of color represents a separate
goddess. In the decoration depicted in plate II, fig. A, the symbol is shown with five tail feathers
of a chicken-hawk at one end, and five of a magpie at the other. In one of the dry-paintings of the
mountain chant the rainbow is depicted as terminating at one end with five eagle plumes, at the
other with five magpie plumes, and decorated near its middle with plumes of the bluebird and
the red-shafted woodpecker. (See “ The Mountain Chant,” 13 p. 540.)

15. Hyina biltsos, breath feather or life feather, is a feather obtained from a living bird. The
term is especially applied to the small downy feathers of the golden eagle, which are supposed to
possess many virtues and are used for many sacred purposes. The eagle breath feather is one of the
smaller contour feathers of the bird, having very little dark color at the tip and being mostly white.
Unless the hyporachis is well developed the feather is not used. To procure a good supply of these
feathers, the Pueblo Indians capture young eagles in the nest and rear them in captivity. The
Navahoes often purchase their feathers from the Pueblos : but they also catch the adult birds in traps,
pluck them, and set them free, in the manner witnessed by the author, among the Indians of the
North, thirty years ago.

16. The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago,
July, 1893, etc. Chicago, 1898, pp. 246 and 247.

17. Perhaps yucca should have been described under the head of medicines ; but it is doubtful
if remedial properties are assigned to it, even mythically. It is used as a detergent. The Navahoes
say that the gods are cleanly — averse to foul sights and repulsive odors. Hence the patient must be
clean, who expects a visit from succoring gods, and at times, as on the fourth night, when the vigil
of the gods is kept, the shaman and his assistants must be clean, also. The following four kinds of
yucca are mentioned in the myths and grow in the Navaho land : r st, tsasi or ha^kan, Yucca baccata
(Torrey) ; 2d, tsasitsoz or slender yucca, Yucca g/auca (Nuttall), Yucca angustij olia (Pursh) ; 3d,
yebitsasi, or yucca of the gods, probably Yucca radiosa (T release), Yucca data (Engelmann) ; 4th,
tsasibi/e, or horned yucca, which seems to be but a stunted form or dwarf variety of Yucca baccata ,
never seen in bloom or in fruit by the author. Tsasi is used as a generic name. All kinds are
employed in the rites, sometimes indifferently, at other times only certain species maybe used. All
have, in their leaves, long tough fibres which are useful in the arts and are much employed in the
rites, in making objects where strings or thread are required. All have saponine in their roots ;
but the root of Yucca baccata seems richest in this substance. The roots are called /alawor, or
foam, by the Navahoes and amole by Mexicans and Americans ; these names are sometimes
applied to the entire plant. To prepare the yucca bath, the root is well contused, soaked and
thoroughly mixed in water; by whirling twigs in the solution a lather is raised. In this book, the
solution is called suds. One species, Yucca baccata , has an edible fruit, called 7/a.rkan, from hos,
thorny, and kan, sweet. This name is sometimes applied to the whole plant. The fruit is eaten
raw and made into a tough dense paste or jelly both by Navaho and Pueblo Indians. The first and
second kinds grow abundantly in the Navaho country ; the third and fourth kinds are rarer.

18. The often-used terms ytk/i and yudi al//$asai are here commonly translated, goods and goods
of all kinds. The late Mr. A. M. Stephen translated them “soft-goods” in contradistinction to
inkli'z or “ hard-goods ” (see note 19) with which they are often named, in contrast or connection, in
song, prayer, and story. His translation has merits and is sometimes adopted in this work. The
terms, it would seem, were originally applied to furs, dressed skins, and textiles ; but of late years,
their significance has been extended so as to include most articles purchasable in a trader’s store.

19. Inkli'z, or intli'z, as an adjective, means hard and brittle, as a noun it denotes hard and
brittle substances. Inkli'z alMasai means hard and brittle things of all kinds. These terms particu¬
larly refer to shells, turquoise, colored stones, and cannel-coal, used for ornamental purposes. The
late Mr. Stephen translated these expressions “hard-goods” (see note 18). In this work they are
commonly rendered by the English words, jewels, and jewels of all kinds.

20. Navaho gambling songs. (In American Anthropologist, vol. ii, no. 1, pp. 1-19, Washing¬
ton, January, 1889.)

21. In the winter of 1883-4 while at Fort Wingate, New Mexico, I made arrangements to
attend a ceremony of the night chant at a point some 14 miles from the post. When the time came
for me to depart, I was detained by professional duties. A member of the Regimental Band of the

3 1 1

13th Infantry, Sergeant Christian Barthelmess, who took a deep and intelligent interest in ethno¬
graphic studies, expressed a desire to go. I obtained for him a short leave, gave him a mount, and
arranged with the Indians for a kindly reception for him. He arrived at the medicine-lodge on the
ninth day of the ceremony, saw the outdoor rites of the afternoon and the outdoor dance at night.
He observed well, and wrote an excellent account of what he saw, which was published in a German
paper of Chicago, Der Westen, in January, 1884.

22. The word /6’bia.si is often heard in the Navaho songs. It means literally, little water, or
child-water ; but in this work it is translated child-rain. When a heavy drop of rain falls into a
pool, a reactionary splash rises at the point of impact. The Navahoes liken this to an act of
impregnation (or believe it to be such perhaps). The descending water is regarded as the male
element ; the pool, as the female element ; the ascending splash as the offspring, which is therefore
called child-rain. We must carefully distinguish this name from that of the god 7o‘bad,dst.n'ni or
Child of the Water.

23. 7/ia‘tsini was, according to the Navaho Origin Legend,3 the fourteenth gens which came
to form the Navaho nation. It derives its name from a place called T'hatsi which lies west of the
location of the old Navaho settlement on the San Juan. Some translate this Red Water, others
say (as noted in the Origin Legend) that it means “ Among the Red (Waters or Banks).”

24. Bi/a/ja/ini means literally, His Imagination, His Visions; but it is here freely translated
the Visionary. One informant sometimes pronounced the name Bela/mtini. It is a common as
well as a proper noun. It is said of one who claims to have mysterious visions or hear mysterious
voices — a mystic, a medium.

25. This word is said to mean the edge of an adobe wall, the edge of an arroyo, the top of a
perpendicular bank. It has also been recorded Pis/a.

26. Tji'ni means “they say.” Some Navaho story tellers place this word after almost every
sentence until the listener is weary of it. Trine is simply a variant of tri'ni used for melodious
repetition.

27. lgangis/ia]/ele, He Picks on the Back, designates the crow, which is said to pick out the
spinal marrow between the vertebral joints. A/ekei/asi/ahi, He Sits between the Horns, designates
the magpie. These are poetic or sacred names. The ordinary term for magpie is a‘a‘i and that for
crow is kagi ; both of which are onomatopes.

28. This is a purely pagan expression, yet it has an interesting resemblance to something which
a profane Christian might say under similar circumstances : “ What, the Devil, has happened to the
deer ? ” The following is the text of the exclamation : T.ri'na'i /'7/a‘go ni pi n daz\\?i ?

29. Hatal\ Natloi, from whom this song was obtained, said it was a good song to sing before
you rise in the morning if you intend to travel alone that day. He is accustomed to sing it on such
occasions and then to pray, believing that if he does so, all will be well with him during the day.
He prays that all may be beautiful or happy before, behind, above, below, and all around him, that
day. He does not pray thus every morning, but there are some Navahoes who do. They usually
pray more when traveling than when staying at home. If a man has bad or portentous dreams, a
shaman and assistants sing and pray for him four nights. On the fourth night, the bikle songs are
sung and the singers go home.

30. Ni‘ye'lni or nihye'lni is an owl. Dr. Chas. W. Richmond of the National Museum, having
examined a wing-feather, pronounced the bird Bubo virginianus pallesceus , or western great horned
owl. TsDbDoi, or the shooting bird, is also described as an owl.

31. The necessity of paying shamans for their instructions, as well as for their treatment, is
often inculcated in the myths.

32. Tse'intyel, or Broad Rock, is a high perpendicular cliff, near the junction of Monument

Creek with Chelly Creek in the Chelly Canon. It rises more than 1000 feet above the floor of the
canon on the south side. In plate V, fig. C, it is shown to the right of the picture behind one of
the monuments, a bird flying over it. There are ruins in its neighborhood.

33. The Navaho name for this tale is, Ai/n^o/e Pa/zdni A/a/a/, the Story and Song of S l/neo/e.
The latter word is said to mean, It whirls with me. This is the pronunciation and definition of
A/a/d/i Natloi and others. Noting from another informant, the name was recorded as Tsineo/e and
translated Whirling Wood (Logs, Sticks). The lake or whirlpool where the whirling logs are said
to be is called AWnihilm, or Waters that Flow Around.

34. The story of Na/i'nes///ani, He Who Teaches Himself, the Self Taught, is told in “ Navaho
Legends.”3 Like the hero of this story, he is said to have floated down the San Juan River in a
hollow log.

35. The three kinds of wood used for these plugs have some mythic relation, not fully investi¬

gated, to three ceremonies of the Navaho shamans. To the kledse /;a/a/, belongs the cedar ; to the
atsozi /;a/a/, the cliff-rose ; to the yoi the cottonwood. These ceremonies are associated and

much alike. A priest of one ceremony may borrow material from a priest of another.

36. In former days, when the Navahoes wished to cross the San Juan they made such a
sacrifice as this to the waters, above the place where they intended to cross. Then they thought
they could cross safely. If a man is nearly drowned and is ill as a result, or if he dreams of drown¬
ing, such sacrifices are made to the water ; but no cigarettes are made.

37. The things he hoped mostly to learn were these : 1. Ai/neo/e yika /, or picture of the
whirling logs. 2. Taiklri yika/, farm picture, called also na/anbe yikd/, or picture with the corn.
3. AAatladze DsahaAoldsabe yika/, or picture with the Fringe Mouths of the Water. 4. A song for
the trance or spasm which seizes the patient in the lodge. 5. A prayer for the same. 6. The
Songs of the InAid/ or Plumed Wands.

38. In this, as in most other rite-myths, the youngest brother in a family is represented as the
one who learns the songs and becomes the shaman, although he may not have been the discoverer
or originator of the rites. It is the custom now among the Navahoes to make the youngest son the
/«a/a/i, no matter what ceremony is selected for his study. They say he is the most intellectual
member of the family and has the best memory. This is not a compulsory law; but a general cus¬
tom. If an elder brother wishes to become a chanter, no one can prevent him. NakiesUai means
a purulent secretion on the eyelids ; every youngest brother is thus called.

39. This is described as a hogback near the modern town of Fruitland in New Mexico.

40. This name denotes a broad flat place sloping down to the river.

41. Could you make it rain that way now ? A/a/a/i Natloi was asked. He replied, “ Yes. If
we got the true mixture of all kinds of water, threw it four times upward, and sang the proper songs,
rain would surely fall” [Here he sang the Rain Songs, not very musical], “We do not sing these
songs when we treat a patient. If we did, it would rain all the time during the ceremony. If it
snows for five or six consecutive days and we get tired of it we do this : we get an earthern pot ;
heat spruce leaves ; put them around it ; put the pot on the fire ; collect a large double-handful of
snow from each of the four quarters ; melt it in the pot, and scatter the water to the four quarters
of the world, blowing audibly after it.” The narrator said he had often tried this and never failed.

42. The author possesses, of this dry-painting, a rude diagram from which the following de¬
scription is made. There is a bowl of water in the centre and the anthropomorphic rainbow in the
periphery on three sides — south, west, and north. Within this there are 16 divine figures in four
groups of four figures each, with their feet toward the centre. One group is east, another south,
another west, and another north of the central bowl. Each group stands on the sunbeam raft — a
line of blue and a line of red, bordered with white — and consists, going sunwise, of a AfasUeyal/i, a
yebaad, or goddess, a DsahaAoldza, and a second goddess. Four stalks of corn extend from the

3*3

water to the rainbow — a black stalk in the northeast, a white stalk in the southeast, a blue stalk in
the southwest, and a yellow stalk in the northwest. Each cornstalk has three white roots. When
the rest of the picture is finished, four footprints are drawn in meal, leading from the southeast
edge to the centre of the picture : four plumed wands (black) are set up to the north and four
(blue) to the south of the picture All the elements of this painting, except the sunbeam rafts, may
be seen in the colored illustrations of this book. In general appearance the painting resembles
somewhat that shown in plate VI.

43. This picture is called alke/a naaz/a yika / or al^an /a//etdze yika /, names which are said to
signify, those- above-one-another picture. It has on three sides the anthropomorphic rainbow
within which are 28 divine figures disposed in four rows, of seven each, their heads directed to the
east. The first row, that farthest west, consists of ATastfeyal/i (in the north) and six yebaka, all
dancing toward the north, on a black cloud (black line or band). The second row consists of
Ao’nenili (in the north) and six yebaad, all dancing toward the south, on a blue cloud (blue line or
band). The third row is like the first, and the fourth row, that farthest east, is like the second ;
but the dancing-ground for these two rows is called mist instead of cloud. This picture has some
general resemblance to that shown in plate VII ; the most notable difference being that the former
has four rows of dancers and the latter but two. The author is in possession of a diagram of this
dry-painting. Afa/a/i Natloi, from whom most of the above information was derived, says that he
has made, or caused to be made, this picture but three times in his whole professional career.

44. Names for the forgotten picture are : naak/zai tlani yika/, picture of many naak/zai dancers;
yika/ tlani, many pictures, and nakiz/a/a /ahaz/Zzani yika/, picture of dancers in twelve rows.

45. Some shamans say that the corn grew on the shores of the lake, and the picture seems to
indicate this idea.

46. This is like the picture of the whirling logs, shown in plate VI, but it has four additional
symbols radiating from the centre ; a symbol of tobacco in the southeast (west of the white corn),
one of bean in the southwest, one of squash in the northwest, and one of wa, or bee-weed ( Cleome
pungens ), in the northeast.

47. In many of the myths it is represented that crops grown in the gardens of the gods, or by
men from seed obtained from the gods, grow, ripen, and increase with fabulous rapidity.

48. Na/an biki'/ /oi/za.f/a, no sleep over the corn, or, freely translated, vigil of the corn.

49. A/e//zaieni, Between Horns Dead, the magpie, I^azzgisieni, On Back Dead, the crow.
Comparing this with note 27, it will be seen that the poetic or religious names, while nearly similar
in meaning, differ in form in the two myths. The suffix eni or ni is often by the Navahoes added
to the names of the dead; it is equivalent to our expression “ late.”

50. The ke/an yal/f, or talking kethawn, is made of willow. It consists of two parts each
about four inches long. One is black and represents a god or /Yastrebaka. The other is blue and
represents a goddess or A/astrebaad. They are bound together with a string on which is a bead of
white shell. A picture of this object is given in “ The Mountain Chant,” 12 fig. 59. Perhaps there
are other forms of talking kethawns.

51. Here we have a definite statement that there are four war-gods ; that Aeyaneyani and
Tsowenatlehi are distinct myths. See par. 76.

52. The following brief description of these kethawns has been recorded : Each is a span
long ; all are painted white ; two are sprinkled with specular iron ore ; one of each pair represents
the male, the other the female ; one has, attached to it, a cotton string a natural yard in length.
This string secures to the body of the kethawn three feathers of the bluebird and three feathers of
the yellow warbler (one from tip of wing, one from base of wing, one from tail). Beads are strung
on the string and to its distal end a turkey feather and an eagle feather are attached.

53. “ A disease exists in Zuni, which Mr. Cushing, freely translating the Zuni name, used to
call the ‘warps.’ It consists of a gradually increasing, symmetrical, antero-posterior curvature of
the spine, which, when it reaches completion, after years of progress, brings the knees in close
proximity to the chest and renders walking impossible. The patient is obliged to go around on
short crutches and is reduced to a helpless condition, his only useful occupation being the knitting
of stockings. The disease is not accompanied by abscesses or sinuses, and the general health of the
afflicted person is not seriously impaired. It is said that on the first appearance of the malady, if
the patient will permit himself to be tied night and day to a straight board, he may avoid the worst
consequences ; but either this is not an infallible remedy, or there are some who have not the forti¬
tude to submit to it, for the writer has seen at least half a dozen sufferers in the pueblo of Zuni, all
adults and mostly males.” The above remarks are from a work by the author entitled, “ Human
Bones of the Hemenway Collection” (Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. vi, p. 172).
In the same connection we describe diseased vertebrae excavated by the Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition in Arizona and New Mexico, that probably belonged to patients who
suffered with “ warps.” This disease is said to exist among the Navahoes ; but it must be rare —
the author has never met with an example of it among them.

54. Songs of sequence of the Navajos. (In Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. vii, no.
xxvi., pp. 185-194, Boston and New York, July-September, 1894.)

55. Ni’na//oka</</ine‘, contracted into Na//oka^Ine‘ and Ninoka</ine‘, means People Standing
on the Ground and is here translated People on the Earth. By this term, it is thought, the Navahoes
designate the whole Indian race, as distinct from whites, Chinese, and other foreign races, and, in
the myths, as distinguished from divinities. The word D Ine‘ is applied to the whole human race
(although it is also the name proper of the Navahoes), and is sometimes used even in speaking of
gods. The Hidatsa Indians of North Dakota had a term of similar significance (Amaka No^paka,
People on the Earth) to especially designate the Indian race ; it included all tribes. If such a term
has been found in other Indian languages, we are not aware of it. Dr. Albert S. Gatschet tells me
he knows of none.

56. The Navahoes no longer make pipes and rarely use them, — the cigarette is their favorite, —
but the pipe was once seen employed in the rites, and there are many traditions that pipes were
formerly used and made by the Navahoes. Old broken terra-cotta pipes are sometimes picked up
in the Navaho land. This place where pipes were made is said to be somewhere near Washington
Pass.

57. Tsonsila is the name of two high wooded buttes, about 25 miles north of Fort Defiance,
in Arizona, near its eastern boundary line. Washington Pass separates them. The name, which
signifies Stars in a Row, and has been translated Twin Stars, is of mythic origin. In recent govern¬
ment maps they are called Sonsala Buttes.

58. Very little has been found out about the god ZZastfeelA>6ntso is one which stridulates at the
approach of a storm, hence his association with these gods.

74. This is but one of many accounts, in the Navaho myths, of men changed in appearance
and beautified by means of magic rites. In the myth of the mountain chant it is the Butterfly
Goddess who appropriately makes the transformation.

75. This picture was once seen by the author, painted on the floor of the medicine-lodge ; but
the sketches and description were lost. It consisted of four rows of figures chiefly representations
of the god Jdastse/iogan.

76. The suffix do seems usually to indicate desire. It is commonly translated in this work
by the English potential auxiliary, may ; thus, nasado is rendered, may I walk But in some cases
the context makes this translation of such doubtful propriety that in former works we have often
rendered, in the indicative, words ending in do, thus, na-raZo, I walk.

77. Plates VI, VII, and VIII are from paintings by Mr. Delaney W. Gill of Washington,
copied under the supervision of the author from rude drawings by the latter. They have often
been submitted to shamans for observation and comment, to meet with invariable approval. The
blue and red colors in the plates are somewhat more brilliant than the corresponding colors of the
original dry-paintings ; but the general effect is much alike in both. Pictures of the same subjects,
differing somewhat from these in detail, have previously appeared in the following work : — ■
“Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and mythicals and paintings of the Navajo Indians,” by James
Stevenson. (In eighth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 229-285, Washington, 1891).