The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-07-16
EUPERsTITIOUS.
Strange Beliefs and Fears Of the
Peaceful Navajo Indians.

| 0O1
Strange Beliefs and Fears Of the
Peaceful Navajo Indiana.
The present-day Indian, If not coz
sidered menace to society, is looked
upon as a charge on the body polite,
and we frequently hear that the only
good Indian is the dead one, yet there
are exceptions.
The tribe of Navajoes whose reser-
| walton in New Mexico and Arizona bor-
ders ON southeastern Utah and south
| western Colorado, numbers nearly f.
COO souls. They are a pastoral peo-
pie, herd1ng sheep, goats and horses
over their great arid ranges and In a
small way cultivating corn and other
grains. Except when excited by fire.
water, the are peaceable and to a de-
gree Industrious. The women are not
able blanket weavers and the men are
silversmiths Of no mean ability.
OF late years the Navajoes have
been quite successfully employed as
section hands on western railroads, and
as fruit gatherers in the orchards and
workers in the sugar-beet fields they
have given great satisfaction.
Like all Indians, their besetting sin
is monte" Give an Indian the price
Of his hire and he will quit work until
it Is gambled away. They are polyg-
amous people, having no religion, and,
like all aborigines, are superstitious,
believing in all kinds of signs and
workings Of supernatural powers.
Although the Navajo reservation adj
where so many Cliff Dweller ruins are
found, it is with difficulty that Ma
vajo can be induced to act as guide
to the ruins. When one is found will
ing to show the way he cannot be in
duced to remain in the immediate vi
cinity and when night comes on he
moves miles away.
A curious tradition, and one account
ing perhaps for their adherence Of
the Cliff Dweller region, is that ages
ago, when the Cliff Dwellers and their
enemies were engaged in an extermi-
mating warfare, the former were finally
driven into a mighty river and, drown
ing, the souls of the Cliff Dwellers
were transmitted into the bodies Of
fishes And from that time to this
Navajo cannot be induced to eat fish.
Another legend, no less curious, re-
lates to the Ship Rock. About 35 miles
1,,n To-. nd
within the borders of their reservation,
situated in the midst Of the desert,
stands famous rock called Ship Rock,
which looms to the height of 1900 feet
above the surrounding plain. 1t rises
from the center Of an immense and
gradually sloping mound, which gives
1t a towering appearance and it's out
lines can be seen for many miles in
various directions.
The rock derives it's name from its
appearance when seen from a certain
direction, whence it resembles full
rugged ship stranded and petrifed. The
Indian legend is that in the dim and
misty past they had their habitation
q
ocean and that the rock was situated
in their ancient country. Once upon
time, the tribe being closely pressed by
it's enemies and in danger of total an
Inhalation, the survivors climbed into
the cracks and crevices Of the great
rock and implored it for protection.
The supplicatiOns were heard and
shortly the rock began to move. 1t
crossed innumerable wastes, gradually
reached the ocean which it crossed,
traversed more wastes and deserts and
finally arrived at its present resting
place, when the refugees sprang from
its bosom. Thus the tribe remained
upon the face Of the earth.
The ranks Of the tribe are being de.
pleted, and before a great many years
the good Ship Rock will be obliged to
gather up the people and go another
long voyage in order that the tribe Of
the Navajo may be perpetuated among
| the tribes of the earth.