Mountain Chant a Navajo Ceremony
by Washington Matthews
Category: History

"The ceremony of dsilyídjeqaçàl, or mountain chant—literally, chant towards (a place) within the mountains—is one of a large number practiced by the shamans, or medicine men, of the Navajo tribe. I have selected it as the first of those to be described, because I have witnessed it the most frequently, because it is the most interesting to the Caucasian spectator, and because it is the best known to the whites who visit and reside in and around the Navajo country." Contents: Myth of the Origin of DsilyídjeQaçàl Ceremonies of DsilyídjeQaçàl First Dance (Nahikàï) Second Dance (Great Plumed Arrow) Third Dance Fourth Dance Fifth Dance (Sun) Sixth Dance (Standing Arcs) Seventh Dance Eighth Dance (Rising Sun) Ninth Dance (Hoshkàwn, or Yucca) Tenth Dance (Bear) Eleventh Dance (Fire) The Great Pictures of DsilyídjeQaçàl First Picture (Home of the Serpents) Second Picture (Yays and Cultivated Plants) Third Picture (Long Bodies) Fourth Picture (Great Plumed Arrows) Sacrifices of DsilyídjeQaçàl Original Texts and Translations of Songs, &c. Songs of Sequence First Song of the First Dancers First Song of the Mountain Sheep Sixth Song of the Mountain Sheep Twelfth Song of the Mountain Sheep First Song of the Thunder Twelfth Song of the Thunder First Song of the Holy Young Men, or Young Men Gods Sixth Song of the Holy Young Men Twelfth Song of the Holy Young Men Eighth Song of the Young Women Who Become Bears One of the Awl Songs First Song of the Exploding Stick Last Song of the Exploding Stick First Daylight Song Last Daylight Song Other Songs and Extracts Song of the Prophet to the San Juan River Song of the Building of the Dark Circle Prayer to Dsilyi' Neyáni Song of the Rising Sun Dance Prayer of the Prophet to His Mask Last Words of the Prophet