Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-02-09
AQueer
Heaven Just For
Indians

Indian. When ne dies he expects not to to some
magic shining land where the deer always slee~V
and plentiful but to travel to the north where he will live
forever in strange dim land continuing the pursuits of
his life earth.
He will herd sheep have plenty of ceremonals"
tthe Navahos love ceremonals) mysterious sort of
eternal twilight that will from the but from
some source he does not define
Or. Leland c. Wyman Professor the
Physiology Department of the Boston University School
Medicine who began study Of Indian lore IL years
ago and since 1852 has been doing research among the
Navajo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona explains the
Indian idea of life after death
THE reason they know there will be light from the
after death" he explained lis that the to them
is god, god in mans form. What see in the sky
not the but the suns shield turquoise shield
polished bright may not look it, carried
the he strides the every day
There many legends Of the He the
earth course ancient times the father of the
twin gods He shining white buckskin
had fair face and golden hair The mother of the twin
gods Changing Woman the most beloved of the
Navajo gods Not the most powerful but the most beloved
"Of course Changing Woman not the suns wife
He has wife Once the twin war gods went to heaven
and the away and they let the story out of the
bag There was good deal of trouble"
Changing Woman named because she represents
the Navajo idea of the eternal changing Of the world
the shift Of the the growing up of and
Now she lives forever great island in the West
provided for her by the
The Indian thinks that after ne dies he will travel to
the north 90 a steep high cliff till finally he
will TO sand bank at the bottom The sand bank
will be the beginning of the great dim endless plateau
that world located is like the European concept of the
world when believed to be fiat.
Just IL belief among white people thai
when they die they will find and be able to recognize
their friends Heaven the Indian believes that the
dead look they did in life.
He believes too. that the spirit dead person the
soul the ghost-the { cindi the Navahos call itmay
o the world of the living.
The Navajo frequently sees the cindi a per-
for the Z cndi may take the form of mouse az
owl small ball of fire, simply dark shape To
the Navajo ghost is dark shape instead Of white
a to the White Man
r. cindis evil spirits necessarily. according 10
the Indian beliefs But most Of the illnesses 70 which the
Indians fall prey ascrbed to having in contact
with a cnd
To cure such illnesses ceremonias are held for cere-
monias the Navajo to many problem The
percentage of Indians cured by ceremonias is almost
high the in civilized society DR.. Wyman says.
believes is because Navahos able to many
minor aimentupset stomachs and mild intestinal dis
orders-with herbs the herbs administered
ceremonial is held and the ceremonial gets the credit
Also many an Indian who knows he has
tact with down with bad of nerves,
which is easily cleared up by the ceremonial
Concerning the ideas Of the Indian on the afterVord,
DR.. Wyman said there IAN interesting uniformity
among $4,000 Navahos scattered reservation of
20 900 square miles
Last summer DR. Wyman spent a month home of
Navajo family observe the ceremonals designed
drive away evil spirits the famed Evil-way Ceremonias
against the results Of cindis and other sources
In collaboration with DR.. Clyde Kuckholm. Associate
Professor Anthropology at Harvard University Dr.
Wyman during the past eight years has studied Navajo
healing ceremonials
With DR. KlucIholm. he studied and systematzed
Navajo chants and ceremonias, on which he and DR..
Kluckholm have written reports published by the
American Anthropoogcal Association. DR.. Wyman is
compiling another memoir
thoughtful Nsvahos have gone further than their
brother tribesmen in explanation of the soul.
They of the good spirit" of that leaves his
time of death the breath of man. to speak
death. the breath and to few of the Navahos
that significant OF the departure of the soul speak
as the cindi might be the ghost.
They believe that the whors Of the fingertips
hair hack NJ fhe tho MIA
where the soul will leave the body at death