The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-23
SOME NAVAJO LEGENDS.
STORIES OF THE oRIGIN OF THE
TRIBE AND OF THEIR HEROES.

Religious Views and Rites or the Navahoes-
Their acknowledgements ana Paint.
inrs-Ftrst Man ana First w~omnn-Tht
winged Creatures That became mankind.
Surgeon Washington Matthews Of tho retired
list OF the army has performed an interesting
and valuable labor in collecting and translatinR,
with notes and tribal melodies. various legends
OF tho Indian tribc commonly known as the
Navajocs, but by him preferably called tho Nava.
hoes, In an photography which, for the purposes
OF this article, may be followed. Messrs. HouSh.
ton, Mifflln & Co. publish the book for tho Amerl.
can Folk Lore Society. and tho Illustrations arc
of great usc in giving the reader a clear idea OF
these Indians and their life.
Tho Nnvahoos, as the elaborate introduction
OF DIR. Matthews explains, are q very numerous
tribe, living upon or near a reservation Of over
10000 SQUARE miles, mostly In New Mexico and
Arizona, at tho junction Of those Territories
with Colorado and Utah. AS a rule, they are In.
tclligcnt In looks; they mako an inartistic pot.
tory, inferior to that Of the Pueblos; excellent
baskets, silver ornaments OF n rude beauty ad.
mired by the whites, and, above all ,ywovon
blankets that have no equal among similar
work Of our nboriginos. They are inclined to
keep busy and tho beggnrs among them arc few.
When DIR. Matthews began his Investigations.
fifteen years ngo, he WINS assured that tho Nava.
'oSo "NAS oiibfinils th'ICh III TSIlklOn, III
traditions. and in poetic litoraturc: but ho soon
found out that they had plenty OF ccrcmonials
and myths. with songs composed according to
rules and relating 20 many subjects. Indeed,
the songs must be known TO the priest of tho
rite and his assistants in n most exact manner,
for an error made in singing a song may be fatal
to tho efficacy of a ceremony" There are hearers
listening who are experts. and who announce all
error as soon as made. whcreupon the f~ruitless
ceremony terminates abruptly. and the disap-
pointed multitude dispersos." 1t would be hard
on some Of our churches were the unsparing SO.
verities OF Navajo canonical criticism intro.
duccd here.
The women rarely sing, whereas among tho
ures OF speech. recognize tho valuo of antithescs,
and have some variety in music. There is no
supreme God In the Navajo religion, says DR..
Matthew'S, although the Sun God seems to have
some precedence. but he at first was only one Of
the people. and is far from omnipotent. Indeed.
the religion of the Navahocs reflects both their
social condition and their democratic form OF
government, where there is no highest chief, all
the chiefs being men of temporary and i'll -deined
authority. so that their gods, like their men,
stand much on a level of equality"
In this book, of the myths and legends select.
ed the first is the origin legend OF the tribe.
A"'o ioNA li c. "iiio ~ ubC
two incomplete rite-myths, told by men who arc
not priests, but OF the associated rites. Tho
origin legend begins with an already created
world; and IL the Navahoes have a story Of the
beginning Of all things the author has not heard
1t. The most revered deity seems to BIO
Estsanatlohi. or the Woman who Changes, or
rejuvenatcs herself, being probably Nature. and
properly the wife of the Sun. Made Of turquoise,
she is related to tho land. and her sister. Yolkai
Estsdn, or White Shell Woman. created or found
at the same time. but honored less. was made
from a white shell of the ocean, and so is related
to the waters. Then there arc their two chill
dren, war gods. whose chief mission is to destroy
the alien or hostile gods. and these last analogous
to the giants and ogres of other folk lore. Besides
the alien gods, there are the Tsindi, evil spirits
or devils. Some of the gods are local divinities.
There was a First Man and also a First Woman,
who still live in some form, being potent, i'm
mortal, and divine. Not only man, but every
animal. has his divine ancestral prototype, and
~zo0latry is important in Navajo worship.
The Navahoes have many ceremonies. some
nine days long and others very short. All the
great ceremonies which DR.. Matthews observed
were primarily for healing the sick, but other
desires were included. and among the minor GER
emonics are those for favoring the crops, for
bringing rain, for marriage, war, and so on. In
the worship are included sacrifice. painting.
masquerade, dance, prayer. and song. The sac
riiiccs are bloodless. and the kindly gods are cas-
lily propitiated. being. like their worshippers,
fond OF tobacco. and pricing n few feathers and
beads. To them are offered painted cigarettes
and sticks called ketan or kethawn. Then there
are pictures, made with pigments OF white, red,
yellow. black, and gray on a groundwork o! sand,
spread about three inches deep on the floor, and
varying from four to twelve feet in diametcr.
This is surely most transitory art. In the mas
querades men represent gods or other mystic
characters. wearing masks of sacred buckskin
or OF green leaves trimmed with spruce twiss.
They do not speak. but utter peculiar cries,
each god having his own; and the masquerader
becomes for the time q god. to whom prayers
may be addressed.
DIR. Matthews has, on the whole. a very favora-
bic Judgment OF the Shamans, or medicine men.
and especially as to their honesty OF belief in tho
religious side of their callings. As to the legends,
to which We must now turn. they are of course
greatly condensed here from their forms in tho
book before us.
THE STORY or THE EMERGESCR.
In the Navajo origin legend. at Tobilhaskidi,
in the middle OF the first world. there were three
tribes, consisting OF red ants, dark ants. dragon
flies. bats, six kinds of beetles, and two Of To-.
to The east lay TiehoItsodi. chief of the people
Frog; to the north, White Mountain, Thunder:
When the twelve winged peoples sinned and
quarrelled, the four chiefs around them were
wroth; and presently water poured In on them
on all sides, 80, that they started upward, cir
cling as they few and, finding a hole in the
The first world had been red, the second was
blue, and there dwelt the swallow people. These
made friends with the newcomers. but at length
found cause to quarrel with them. and so the
wanderers again flew Off, led by the locusts,
and, soaring, upward through a hole in the sky,
reached u third world, which was yellow. and
inhabited by the grasshopper people. A like
welcome. offence. and departure carried them
to the fourth world, mixed with white and black.
where in the distance were four great snow-gov.
cred peaks and also n race OF strange men called
kisani tPueblosl. Their land had neither rain
nor snow, and their crops were raised by irriga.
ton. They welcomed the wanderers. who re.
soyod to mend their ways and not TO make tho
kisani angry.
Then four mysterious beings, White Body,
Blue Body. yellow, Body: and Black Body. al
like present gods Of tho Navahoes. visited them,
and Black Body told them, in their own Ian
guage. that the four beings wished to make
more people. In form like themselves. "You
have bodies" he said. like theirs, but you have
the teeth, tho foot, and tho claws OF beasts and
insects. Tho new creatures are to have hanha