Part 1

Chapter 13,530 wordsPublic domain

NAVAHO LEGENDS

COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED

WASHINGTON MATTHEWS M.D., LL.D.

MAJOR U.S. ARMY, EX-PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, ETC.

WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, ILLUSTRATIONS, TEXTS INTERLINEAR TRANSLATIONS, AND MELODIES

BOSTON AND NEW YORK Published for The American Folk-Lore Society by HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14 1897

Five hundred copies printed, of which this is No. 199

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction 1

LEGENDS.

The Navaho Origin Legend.

I. The Story of the Emergence 63 II. Early Events in the Fifth World 76 III. The War Gods 104 IV. Growth of the Navaho Nation 135

Nati'nesthani 160

The Great Shell of Kintyél 195

Notes 209

Bibliographic Notes 276

Melodies 279

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE PAGE

I. Navaho Gods as represented in the dry-paintings Frontispiece II. San Francisco Mountain, Arizona 63 III. Distant view of San Mateo Mountain, New Mexico 76 IV. Nayénezgani 104 V. El Cabezon 114 VI. Lava flow in the valley of the San José, New Mexico 118 VII. To`badzistsíni 134

FIGURE

1. Manuelito (portrait) 3 2. Mariano (portrait) 4 3. Jake the Silversmith (portrait) 5 4. Tánapa (portrait) 6 5. Hádapa (portrait) 7 6. Navaho man (portrait) 9 7. Navaho man (portrait) 10 8. Navaho skull, flattened at occiput 11 9. Navaho baby-case or cradle 12 10. Conical lodge with storm-door 13 11. Hut of logs 14 12. Hut built partly of stone 15 13. Summer houses 16 14. Medicine-lodge 16 15. Sudatory 17 16. Sacred basket 18 17. Sacred basket 19 18. Silver ornaments 20 19. Woman spinning 21 20. Ordinary loom 23 21. Loom for weaving diagonal cloth 25 22. The White House 36 23. Talking kethawn 39 24. Circle kethawn 40 25. Kethawns (sacrificial sticks and cigarettes) in basket 43 26. Mask of yucca 46 27. Mask of Hastséyalti 47 28. Mask of yébaad or goddess 48 29. Picture of silnéole, a dry-painting of the night chant 49 30. Alíli or show ("dance") of the nahikáï 52 31. Hatáli Natlói (portrait) 57 32. The shaman Hatáli Nez (Tall Chanter) (portrait) 59 33. Trail of Estsánatlehi (diagram) 148 34. Trail of turkey approaching his master (diagram) 171 35. Trail of man and turkey (diagram) 173 36. Ruin in the Chaco Canyon, probably Kintyél 195 37. Circle of branches of the rite of the mountain chant 206 38. Natural bridge, near Fort Defiance, Arizona 227 39. Yucca baccata 228 40. Drumstick made of yucca leaves 229 41. Diagram of bow-symbol on left leg of the personator of Nayénezgani 253 42. Diagram of queue-symbol on left leg of the personator of To`badzistsíni 253

Map of the Navaho country 1

NAVAHO LEGENDS.

INTRODUCTION.

PREFATORY REMARKS.

1. The legends contained in this book are those of the Navaho[1] Indians, a tribe living in the southwestern portion of the United States; mostly in the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona, but partly in the States of Colorado and Utah. A definite reservation of over 12,000 square miles has been set apart for them; but in every direction, beyond the borders of this reservation, isolated families and small bands may be found dwelling, either temporarily or permanently, in localities where there are springs, streams, pools, or artificial reservoirs of water. Some have taken up homesteads--or have otherwise acquired a legal title to lands beyond the borders of the reservation; others are merely squatters. A brief description of these Indians--their arts, religion, ceremonies, etc.--is included in this introduction, in the belief that, if the reader possesses some knowledge of the Navaho before he begins to read the tales, he may have a better understanding of the latter. But much more information, of interest to the ethnographer, will be found in notes. Some items in the introduction could not properly have appeared in the notes, as there was nothing in the tales to suggest them. Other items might perhaps as well have been transferred to the notes; the decision to put them in the introduction was often arbitrary.

2. Title of Book.--In selecting a title for this book, the word Legends was chosen, rather than Myths, for the reason that the tales contained herein, though mostly mythical, are not altogether such. In the Origin Legend, the last chapter, "The Growth of the Navaho Nation," is in part traditional or historical, and it is even approximately correct in many of its dates, as has been shown by Frederick Webb Hodge in his paper on the "Early Navaho and Apache."[301]

HOME OF THE NAVAHOES.

3. The land which the Navahoes occupy is arid, though not an absolute desert. The precipitation at an altitude of 7,000 feet amounts on an average to only 14.10 inches during the year (at lower altitudes it is less, at higher altitudes greater), and this is generally confined to two short seasons of moisture separated from one another by months of absolute drought, which, except in specially favored localities, would destroy any of our ordinary field-crops. But there are small spots, far apart, where irrigation can be practised, and there are other places, apparently deserts, which no white man would think of cultivating, but where Indians raise meagre crops of corn, squashes, and melons.

4. Soil.--He who stands on the brow of the mesa at the Indian pueblo of Walpi, in Arizona, may unravel one secret of Indian agriculture in the arid region, and learn why ancient ruins may be found in the most desolate parts. Six hundred feet below him stretches a sandy plain which at most seasons of the year seems almost an absolute desert; yet in summer it is green with rows of dwarf corn. Little rain falls on it and there is no irrigation; yet the corn grows and furnishes a return which repays an Indian, at least, for his labor. Through the plain runs a gully which at certain seasons drains the water from a high table-land beyond. The water does not all flow off, but in part settles under the sandy surface, and keeps the subsoil moist throughout the year. By planting deep, the Indian farmers reach this moist subsoil, and place their seeds where the long drought cannot destroy them. On the side of the mesa, peach-trees flourish, with hidden moisture that comes out between the rocky strata at the mesa's edge. Localities similar to those described are found in the Navaho land, and similarly used by the Navaho for farms and peach orchards. The myths make frequent allusions to such farms or gardens.

5. A few fields have recently been made by white men in the high meadows of the Zuñi Mountains at altitudes above 8,000 feet, where potatoes, oats, barley, and garden vegetables are raised without irrigation; but farming at such altitudes was never tried by the Navahoes, and they knew nothing of cultivating the crops named above. Beside their aboriginal crops, they have for a long time raised a little wheat. Potatoes grow wild in the Navaho country.

6. Mines.--Fortunately for the Navahoes, no mines of precious metals have yet been discovered on their reservation; although for years past rumors of such discoveries have from time to time been circulated, and unwelcome prospectors have frequently invaded their territory. For many years previous to 1892 the principal attraction lay in the Carrizo Mountains.[2] A legend of a mine called the Lost Adam, and of miners murdered in these mountains, had circulated long through Colorado mining camps. Troubles between intruders and Indians became so frequent and threatening in this region that General McCook, then commanding the Department of Arizona, which included the Navaho reservation, determined to make an expedition and settle, if possible, the question of the existence of valuable mines in the Carrizo Mountains. A commission, consisting of Gen. A. McD. McCook, U.S.A., ex-Gov. John L. Barstow of Vermont, and Prof. J. G. Allyn of New Mexico, was appointed. The commission entered the mountains with a mounted escort in May, 1892, and invited prospectors who had previously visited the region to come and show where the mineral lay. They came, and then it appeared they had staked off various claims and given them felicitous names such as the western miners know how to coin,--the "Lucky Bill," the "Boggy Snoggy," etc. Specimen ores were collected from every point where they were seen, and submitted to careful expert examination; but all proved worthless. Some fine gold has been found in the sands of the San Juan River,[3] within the Navaho reservation; but it has not been found profitable to work for it.

7. Surface--Forests.--The surface of the country over which the Navahoes are scattered varies in altitude from 4,000 feet, or less, in the valley of the Colorado, to over 11,000 feet in the high peaks of Tsisnadzi'ni,[52] San Mateo,[54] San Francisco,[56] and the San Juan[58] range, which traditionally border their land. In the central and more thickly inhabited portion the highest eminence is in the Tuincha Mountains, 9,575 feet. The average altitude is about 6,000 feet. The country consists mostly of great plains and of plateaux or mesas. While the lower levels, except in the bottom-lands of the constantly flowing rivers, are destitute of trees, the mesas, at altitudes of from 6,000 to 7,000 feet, are well covered with low forests of piñon (Pinus edulis), red cedar (Juniperus virginianus) and juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). At altitudes of 7,000 feet white pine (Pinus ponderosa) is sparingly found; but at altitudes of 8,000 feet or more it grows abundantly and attains a good size. Spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) is found in shaded valleys, and on northern hill-slopes above 7,000 feet, but it does not form an important part of the forest. It is an essential element in certain rites. Cottonwood (Populus monolifera and P. wislizenii), aspen (Populus tremuloides), oak (Quercus gambellii), oak-bark juniper (Juniperus pachyphloea), and other trees grow less abundantly.

8. Pasturage--Flocks and Herds.--While the Navaho Indians cultivate the soil, it is evident, from what has been said, that they do not do so to any great extent. Their crops furnish but a small part of their subsistence. But their sterile country is fairly well adapted to the raising of sheep and goats. These form their chief food supply, and the former their principal source of wealth. With the money received for their wool they purchase flour and other provisions from the white traders, as well as various articles of luxury and utility. They possess many ponies and ride a great deal. They raise a few neat cattle.

9. As domesticated sheep and goats were unknown in America previous to the discovery by Columbus, and were unknown in New Mexico previous to the expedition of Coronado in A.D. 1540, it follows that the Navahoes have not been shepherds for many centuries. It would appear from their legends that it is not many years since they have become a prosperous and wealthy people (and such they now are, for savages); that in old days they were even poor hunters; and that they lived largely on the seeds of wild plants and on small animals that they caught in fall-traps. How meagrely they were dressed and equipped the legends also tell us. (See pars. 382, 384, 391.)

POPULATION.

10. No exact census of the tribe has ever been taken, and it would not now be an easy task to take one, because the Navahoes are scattered so widely and over such a wild and rugged territory. Their low huts, built in tangled cedar-woods or in regions of scattered rocks, are often so obscurely hidden that one may ride through a cluster of a dozen inhabited houses thinking there is not an Indian within ten miles of him. When the Navahoes were held in captivity at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, from 1863 to 1867, they depended for subsistence mostly on rations supplied by the United States, and then these captives, at least, could be accurately counted. There were in 1867 7,300 in captivity.[298] Owing to desertions on the one hand, and additional surrenders on the other, the numbers varied from time to time.

11. But while the majority of the tribe were prisoners of war, it is well known that all were not captured during General Carson's invasion in 1863, but that many still roamed at large while their brethren were prisoners. The count of the prisoners, therefore, does not show the strength of the tribe.

12. Perhaps the most accurate census ever taken was that of 1869. "In November of 1869 a count was made of the tribe, in order to distribute among them 30,000 head of sheep and 2,000 goats. Due notice was given months before, and the tribe was present. The Indians were all put in a large corral, and counted as they went in. A few herders, holding the small herds that they had then bunched on the surrounding hills, were not in the corral. The result of this count showed that there were less than 9,000 Navahoes all told, making a fair allowance for all who had failed to come in. At that time everything favored getting a full count; rations were issued to them every four days; they had but little stock, and, in addition to the issue of the sheep and goats, there were also two years' annuities to be given out. The season of the year was favorable, the weather fine, and they were all anxious to get the sheep and goats and annuities."[268]

13. In 1890 a count of these Indians was made as a part of the Eleventh Census of the United States.[297] Before the count was begun, the writer was informed by one of the enumerators that the plan to be employed was this: The Navaho country was to be divided into a number of districts, and a special enumerator was to be sent to each district at the same time to visit each hut and take the number of each family. Whether this method was carried out, the report of the Eleventh Census does not tell us. But this plan, while probably the best that could be employed at the time with the means allotted, was very imperfect and admitted of numerous sources of error, of which two may be specified. Many huts might easily be passed unnoticed, for reasons already given, and this would make the enumeration too low. Many families might easily have been counted in more than one district, for the Navaho frequently shifts his abode, and this would make the count too high. The result of this enumeration was to give the tribe a population of 17,204 for that year. White men, living in the Navaho country at the time, generally considered the estimate excessive. If the count of 1869 be approximately correct, that of 1890 is probably not. It is not reasonable to suppose that by natural increase alone--and no other source of increment is known--the tribe should have nearly doubled in twenty-one years. It would require birth-rates much higher and death-rates much lower than those commonly found in Indian tribes to double the population in that time. The Indian mother is not prolific.

14. The Navahoes say that during their captivity they had much sickness and diminished in numbers; but nothing has been found in official reports to corroborate such statements. All who have any intimate knowledge of the Navahoes agree that they have increased rapidly since they were restored to their ancient homes in 1869. During nearly fifteen years that the author has had opportunity to observe them, he has noticed no marked signs of physical degeneration among them. Their general health and their power of resisting disease appeared about as good in 1894 as in 1880. Consumption and scrofula, those greatest enemies of our reservation Indians, have not yet begun to trouble the Navahoes. The change from the rude hut to the close stone house, which is rapidly going on among this people, is likely to affect their health in the future, and probably not for the better. Fortunately for them they have little fancy for stoves, but prefer open fireplaces such as the Pueblos and Mexicans use. In the year 1888, while the writer was absent from New Mexico, they had an epidemic of throat disease, the precise character of which has not been ascertained. They say that about 800 people died that winter. During the winter of 1894-95 they suffered from scarcity of food,--an unusual experience for them, and the government had to assist them. An increased mortality ensued, which undoubtedly would have been much greater had it not been for the prompt action of their agent, Maj. Constant Williams, U.S.A., in securing supplies for them.

RACIAL AFFINITY--APPEARANCE.

15. The Navahoes are usually regarded by ethnologists as being, by blood as well as by language, of the Dèné or Athapascan stock, and such, probably, they are in the main. But their Origin Legend represents them as a very mixed race, containing elements of Zuñian and other Pueblo stocks, of Shoshonian and Yuman, and the appearance of the people seems to corroborate the legend. There is no such thing as a general or prevailing Navaho type. The people vary much in feature and stature. Every variety of Indian face and form may be seen among them,--tall men with aquiline noses and prominent features, such as we find among the Crows and Dakotas; dwarfish men with subdued features, such as we see among the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona, and every intermediate variety.

16. The countenances of the Navahoes are, as a rule, intelligent and expressive; some are stern and angry, some pleasant and smiling, others calm and thoughtful; but seldom are any seen that are dull and stupid. These characteristics are to be noted among the women as well as among the men. The social position of the Navaho women is one of great independence; much of the wealth of the nation belongs to them; they are the managers of their own property, the owners of their own children, and their freedom lends character to their physiognomies.

PORTRAITS.

17. Fig. 1 is a picture of Manuelito, who for many years was the most influential chief among the Navahoes. Latterly he lost much of his influence in consequence of his intemperate habits, though he was regarded as a sage counsellor till the time of his death, which occurred in 1893. When he was gone, an old Indian, announcing his death to the writer, said: "We are now a people without eyes, without ears, without a mind." Fig. 2 represents another chief of much influence named Mariano, who also became addicted to drink in his old age and died in 1893. Fig. 3 shows a very intelligent and trustworthy Indian, a silversmith, known as Jake among the whites, but called by the Navahoes Náltsos Nigéhani, or Paper-carrier, because in his youth he was employed as a mail-carrier between Forts Wingate and Defiance. He it was who communicated to the author version B[306] of the Origin Legend. He practised a short medicine rite, was an adept in singing sacred songs, and often led in song in the great rites. His silver-work was in great demand, and he worked hard at his trade. In 1894 he accompanied a circus through the Eastern States, with his workshop as a side-show; but the journey proved too much for him--he died of heart disease on his return to New Mexico. Fig. 4 is a portrait of a Navaho woman named Tánapa, who took her hair out of braid preparatory to standing before the camera. Fig. 5 is a woman named Hádapa, whose smiling face is introduced as a contrast to the stern brow of Tánapa. Figs. 6 and 7 are Navaho men whose names have not been recorded. The expressions of their faces are in marked contrast.

CRANIA.

18. As a rule the crania of the Navahoes are brachycephalic, and very few are dolichocephalic. The shortening seems to be due to a flattening in the occipital region (fig. 8). The author is of opinion that this is caused by the use of the baby-case, with a hard, unyielding wooden back (fig. 9), in which the Navaho women carry their infants. This flattening of the Navaho occiput has been the subject of some controversy. It is true that the cradle is padded to a slight extent; but the padding consists of the bark of the cliff rose (Cowania mexicana), called by the Navaho awétsal, or baby-bed, which forms a rather rigid pillow. True, again, when the baby is carried on the mother's back, its head often hangs forward and does not come in contact with the back of the cradle or the pillow; but most of the time the child lies on its back, and its tender occiput is subjected to deforming pressure.

LANGUAGE.