Part 16

415. Estsánatlehi had not been long in her western home when she began to feel lonely. She had no companions there. The people who had accompanied her thither did not stay with her. She thought she might make people to keep her company, so one day, when she had completed one of her dancing journeys, she sat down on the eastern mountain. Here she rubbed epidermis from under her left arm with her right hand; she held this in her palm and it changed into four persons,--two men and two women,--from whom descended a gens to which no name was then given, but which afterwards (as will be told) received the name of Honagá`ni. She rubbed the epidermis with her left hand from under her right arm, held it in her palm as before, and it became two men and two women, from whom descended the gens afterwards known as Kinaá`ni. In a similar way, of epidermis rubbed from under her left breast she created four people, from whom descended the gens later known as To`ditsíni; of epidermis from under her right breast, four persons, from whom descended the gens called Bitáni; of epidermis from the middle of her chest, the four whose descendants were called Hasli'zni; and of epidermis from her back between her shoulders, the four whose descendants were called Bitá`ni in later times.

416. She said to these: "I wish you to dwell near me, where I can always see you; but if you choose to go to the east, where your kindred dwell, you may go." She took them from her floating home to the mainland; here they lived for thirty years, during which time they married and had many children. At the end of this time the Twelve People (Diné` Nakidáta), or rather what was left of them, appeared among Estsánatlehi's people and said to them: "We have lost our sister who kept our house for us; we have no home; we know not where else to go; so we have come here to behold our mother, our grandmother. You have kindred in the far east who have increased until they are now a great people. We do not visit them, but we stand on the mountains and look at them from afar. We know they would welcome you if you went to them." And many more things they told about the people in the far east.

417. Now all crossed on a bridge of rainbow to the house of Estsánatlehi on the sea, where she welcomed them and embraced them. Of the Diné` Nakidáta but ten were left, for, as has been told, they lost their sister and their younger brother; but when they came to the home of Estsánatlehi she made for them two more people out of turquoise, and this completed their original number of twelve. She knew with what thoughts her children had come. She opened four doors leading from the central chamber of her house into four other rooms, and showed them her various treasures, saying: "Stay with me always, my children; these things shall be yours, and we shall be always happy together."

418. When the people went back from the house of Estsánatlehi to the mainland, all was gossip and excitement in their camp about what they had heard of the people in the east. Each one had a different part or version of the tale to tell,--of how the people in the east lived, of what they ate, of the way in which they were divided into gentes, of how the gentes were named, and of other things about them they had heard. "The people are few where we live," they said; "we would be better off where there are so many." They talked thus for twelve days. At the end of that time they concluded to depart, and they fixed the fourteenth day after that as the day they should leave.

419. Before they left, the Diné` Nakidáta and Estsánatlehi came to see them. She said: "It is a long and dangerous journey to where you are going. It is well that you should be cared for and protected on the way. I shall give you five of my pets,[189]--a bear, a great snake, a deer, a porcupine, and a puma,--to watch over you. They will not desert you. Speak of no evil deeds in the presence of the bear or the snake, for they may do the evil they hear you speak of; but the deer and the porcupine are good,--say whatever you please to say in their presence."

420. Besides these pets she gave them five magic wands. To those who were afterwards named Honagá`ni she gave a wand of turquoise; to those who later were called Kinaá`ni, a wand of white shell; to those who became To`ditsíni, a wand of haliotis shell; to those who became Bitá`ni, a wand of black stone; and to those who in later days became Hasli'zni, a wand of red stone. "I give you these for your protection," she said, "but I shall watch over you myself while you are on your journey."

421. On the appointed day they set out on their journey. On the twelfth day of their march they crossed a high ridge and came in sight of a great treeless plain, in the centre of which they observed some dark objects in motion. They could not determine what they were, but suspected they were men. They continued their journey, but did not directly approach the dark objects; they moved among the foothills that surrounded the plain, and kept under cover of the timber. As they went along they discerned the dark objects more plainly, and discovered that these were indeed human beings. They got among the foothills to one side of where the strangers were, and camped in the woods at night.

422. In spite of all the precautions taken by the travellers, they had been observed by the people of the plain, and at night two of the latter visited their camp. The visitors said they were Kiltsói, or Kiltsóidine` (People of the Bigelovia graveolens); that their tribe was numerous; that the plain in which they dwelt was extensive; and that they had watermelons getting ripe, with corn and other food, in their gardens. The people of the west concluded to remain here a while. The second night they had two more visitors, one of whom became enamored of a maiden among the wanderers, and asked for her in marriage. Her people refused him at first; but when he came the second night and begged for her again, they gave her to him. He stayed with her in the camp of her people as long as they remained in the valley, except the last two nights, when she went and stayed with his people. These gave an abundance of the produce of their fields to the wanderers, and the latter fared well. When the travellers were prepared to move, they implored the young husband to go with them, while he begged to have his wife remain with him in the valley. They argued long; but in the end the woman's relations prevailed, and the Kiltsói man joined them on their journey. In the mean time four other men of Kiltsói had fallen in love with maidens of the wanderers, and asked for them in marriage. The migrating band refused to leave the girls behind, so the enamored young men left their kindred and joined the travellers. The Kiltsói tried to persuade the others to dwell in their land forever, but without avail.

423. They broke camp at last early in the morning, and travelled all day. At night a great wind arose, and the bear would not rest, but ran around the camp all night, uneasy and watchful. The men looked out and saw some of the Kiltsói trying to approach; but the bear warded them off and they disappeared without doing harm. In the morning it was found that the men of the Kiltsói who had joined them on their journey had now deserted them, and it was supposed that in some way they were in league with their brethren outside.

424. The second day they journeyed far, and did not make camp until after dark. As on the previous night, the bear was awake, watchful, and uneasy all night. They supposed he was still looking out for lurking Kiltsói. Not until daybreak did he lie down and take a little sleep while the people were preparing for the day's march.

425. On the third night the bear was again wakeful and on guard, and only lay down in the morning while the people were breaking camp. "My pet, why are you troubled thus every night?" said one of the men to the bear. The latter only grunted in reply, and made a motion with his nose in the direction whence they had come.

426. On the fourth night they camped, for mutual protection, closer together than they had camped before. The bear sat on a neighboring hill, from which he could watch the sleepers, but slept not himself all night. As before, he took a short sleep in the morning. Before the people set out on their march some one said: "Let us look around and see if we can find what has troubled our pet." They sent two couriers to the east and two to the west. The former returned, having found nothing. The latter said they had seen strange footprints, as of people who had approached the camp and then gone back far to the west. Their pursuers, they thought, had returned to their homes.

427. They had now been four days without finding water, and the children were crying with thirst. On the fifth day's march they halted at noon and held a council. "How shall we procure water?" said one. "Let us try the power of our magic wands," said another. A man of the gens who owned the wand of turquoise stuck this wand into the ground, and worked it back and forth and round and round to make a good-sized hole. Water sprang from the hole. A woman of another gens crouched down to taste it. "It is bitter water," she cried. "Let that, then, be your name and the name of your people," said those who heard her; thus did the gens of To`ditsíni, Bitter Water People, receive its name.

428. When the people had cooked and eaten food and drunk their fill of the bitter water, they said: "Let us try to reach yonder mountain before night." So they pushed on to a distant mountain they had beheld in the east. When they got near the mountain they saw moccasin tracks, and knew there must be some other people at hand. At one place, near the base of the mountain, they observed a cluster of cottonwood trees, and, thinking there might be a spring there, they went straight to the cottonwood. Suddenly they found themselves among a strange people who were dwelling around a spring. The strangers greeted the wanderers in a friendly manner, embraced them, and asked them whence they came. The wanderers told their story briefly, and the strangers said: "We were created at this spring and have always lived here. It is called Maitó`, Coyote Water (Coyote Spring), and we are the Maídine`" (Coyote People). The Navahoes called them Maitó`dine`.

429. The travellers tarried four days at the Coyote Spring, during which time they talked much to their new friends, and at length persuaded the latter to join them on their eastern journey. Before they started, the Coyote People declared that their spring was the only water in the neighborhood; that they knew of no other water within two days' journey in any direction. On the morning of the fifth day they all moved off toward the east. They travelled all day, and made a dry camp at night. The next day at noon they halted on their way, and decided to try again the power of a magic wand. This time the white shell was used by a member of the gens to whom it had been given, in the same way that the turquoise wand was used before. Water sprang up. A woman of another gens said: "It is muddy; it may make the children sick." "Let your people then be named Hasli'zni, Mud People," cried voices in the crowd. Thus the gens of Hasli'z, or Hasli'zni, was named.

430. The second night after leaving Coyote Spring, darkness overtook the wanderers at a place where there was no water, and they rested there for the night. At noon on the following day all were thirsty, and the children were crying. The people halted, and proposed to try again the efficacy of a sacred wand. The wand of haliotis was used this time. When the water sprang up, a woman of the Coyote People stooped first and drank. "It is To`dokónz, alkaline (or sapid) water," she exclaimed. To her and her children the name To`dokónzi was then given, and from them the present gens of that name is descended. Its members may not marry with Maitó`dine`, to whom they are related.

431. On the night after they found the alkaline water, they encamped once more at a place where no water was to be found, and on the following day great were their sufferings from thirst. At midday they rested, and begged the bearers of the black stone wand to try the power of their magic implement. A stream of fine, clear water sprang up when the wand was stuck in the ground. They filled their vessels and all drank heartily, except a boy and a girl of the gens that bore the black stone wand. "Why do you not come and drink before the water is all gone?" some one asked. The children made no reply, but stood and looked at the water. The girl had her arms folded under her dress. They gave then to her and to her gens the name of Bitá`ni,[190] which signifies the arms under the dress.

432. The night after the Bitá`ni was named, the travellers slept once more at a place where no water was to be found, and next day they were very thirsty on their journey. In the middle of the day they stopped, and the power of the red stone wand was tried. It brought forth water from the ground, as the other wands had done, and all drank till they were satisfied; but no member of the gentes still unnamed said anything and no name was given.

433. After this they camped two nights without water. On the second noon they arrived at a spring in a canyon known to the Maídine` and called by them Halkaíto`, Water of the White Valley. They journeyed no farther that day, but camped by the water all night.

434. From Halkaíto` they travelled steadily for twenty-five days, until they came to a little river near San Francisco Mountain, and west of it. During this part of the journey they found sufficient water for their needs every day. They stopped at this river five nights and five days and hunted. Here one man, and one only,--whose name was Bainili'ni (Looks on at a Battle),--killed a deer, a large one, which he cut into small pieces and distributed around so that every one might get a taste.

435. From the banks of this stream they came to the east side of San Francisco Mountain, to where, beside a little peak, there is a spring that has no name. Here the travellers stopped several days, and built around their camp a stone wall that still stands.

436. The puma belonged to the gens that bore the black stone wand, and that was afterwards called Kinaá`ni. While the people were camped at this spring he killed a deer. The bear sometimes killed rabbits. The snake and the porcupine were of no use, but were a trouble instead, since they had to be carried along. The deer ran among the crowd and did neither good nor harm. The people lived mostly on rabbits and other small animals and the seeds of wild plants.

437. From the spring near San Francisco Mountain they travelled to Bitáhotsi (Red Place on Top),[191] and from there to Tsé`zintsidilya. Here they held a council about the big snake. He was of no use to them, and a great encumbrance. They turned him loose among the rocks, and his descendants are there in great numbers to this day. At Natsisaán (Navaho Mountain) they turned the porcupine loose, and that is why there are so many porcupines on the Navaho Mountain now.

438. They next went to the place now called Agála,[192] or Agálani, Much Wool, or Hair, and were now in the land of the Ozaí (Oraibes). They camped all around the peak of Agála and went out hunting. Some who wore deer-masks for decoys, and went to get deer, succeeded in killing a great number. They dressed many skins, and the wind blew the hair from the skins up in a great pile. Seeing this, one of the Honagá`ni proposed that the place be called Agála, so this name was given to it.

439. From Agála the wanderers went to Tse`hotsóbiazi, Little Place of Yellow Rocks, and from there to Yótso, Big Bead. On the way they camped often, and sometimes tarried a day or two to hunt. It was now late in the autumn. At Yótso they saw moccasin tracks, evidently not fresh, and they said to one another: "Perhaps these are the footprints of the people whom we seek." Now there were diverse counsels among the immigrants. Some were in haste to reach the end of the journey, while others, as the season was late, thought it prudent to remain where they were. Thus they became divided into two parties, one of which remained at Yótso, while the other (containing parts of several gentes) continued the journey. Soon after the latter was gone, those who remained at Yótso sent two messengers, and later they sent two more, to induce the seceders to return; but the latter were never overtaken. The couriers came to a place where the runaways had divided into two bands. From one of these the Jicarilla Apaches are supposed to have descended. The other band, it is thought, wandered far off and became part of the Diné` Nahotlóni.[193]

440. The last two messengers sent out pursued one of the fugitive bands some distance, gave up the task, and returned to Yótso. The messengers sent first pursued the other band. After a while they saw its camp-fires; but at such a great distance that they despaired of overtaking it and turned toward the San Juan River, where they found at length the long-sought Navahoes. These two messengers were the men, of whom you have heard before, who entered the camp of Big Knee at To`ye'tli while the dance of natsi'd was going on, and announced the approach of the immigrants from the west. (See par. 143.)

441. When spring-time came, the people who had remained at Yótso set out again on their journey; but before long some of the To`ditsíni got tired. They said that the children's knees were swollen, that their feet were blistered, and that they could not go much farther. Soon after they said this they came to a place where a great lone tree stood, and here they declared: "We shall stop at this tree. After a while the people will come here and find us." They remained and became the gens of Tsinsakádni, People of the (Lone) Tree, who are closely related to To`ditsíni and cannot marry with the latter.

442. At Pinbitó`, Deer Spring, some more of the gens of To`ditsíni halted, because, they said, their children were lame from walking and could travel no farther. Here they formed a new gens of Pinbitó`dine`, People of Deer Spring,[194] who are also closely related to To`ditsíni. At this place they wanted their pet deer to leave them, but he would not go; he remained at the spring with the people who stayed there. What finally became of him is not known.[195]

443. The main body of the immigrants kept on their way, and, soon after passing Deer Spring, arrived at Hyíetyin, where the people of Thá`paha had their farms. Big Knee was still alive when they came; but he was very old and feeble, and was not respected and obeyed as in former days. When Thá`paha and Hasli'zni met, they traced some relationship between the two gentes: their names had much the same meaning; their headdresses and accoutrements were alike; so the Hasli'zni stopped with Thá`paha and became great friends with the latter. Yet to-day a member of one of these gentes may marry a member of the other.

444. The bear was the last of their five pets which the immigrants retained. When they were done their journey they said to him: "Our pet, you have served us well; but we are now safe among our friends and we need your services no more. If you wish you may leave us. There are others of your kind in Tsúskai (the Chusca Mountains). Go there and play with them." They turned him loose in Tsúskai, and bears have been numerous there ever since.

445. Of the people from the west, there was yet one gens--that to which Estsánatlehi had given the wand of turquoise--which had no name. This nameless people did not stay long on the banks of the San Juan before they wandered off far toward the south. One day two men of the party, while hunting, came to a place called Tsé`nahapil, where there were high overhanging rocks. Here they saw the fresh prints of unshod human feet. They followed these tracks but a short distance when they beheld a man watching them from a rocky pinnacle. As soon as he saw that he was observed, he crouched and disappeared. They ran quickly behind the rock on which they had seen him and again observed him, running as fast as he could. "Why do you fly from us?" they shouted. "We mean no harm to you." Hearing this he stopped till they came up to him. Then they found he spoke the same language they did, and they addressed him in terms of relationship. "Where do you live?" they asked. "In a canyon high on the mountain," he replied. "What do you live on?" they queried. "We live mostly on seeds," he answered; "but sometimes we catch wood-rats, and we raise small crops." "We shall have many things to tell one another," said the hunters; "but your home is too far for our people to reach to-day. Tell your people to come to this spot, and we shall tell ours to come up here and meet them." When the hunters got home they found their friends cooking rabbits and making mush of wild seeds. When the meal was finished all climbed the mountain to the appointed place and found the strangers awaiting them. The two parties camped together that night and related to one another their histories and adventures. The strangers said that they had been created at the place where they were all then camped only seven years previously; that they were living not far off at a place called Natanbilhátin, but that they came often to their natal place to pick cactus fruit and yucca fruit. They said they called themselves Tsé`dine`, or Rock People; but the nameless ones gave them the name of Tse`nahapi'lni, Overhanging Rocks People, from the place where they met. With this name they became a gens of the Navahoes.

446. The Tse`nahapi'lni told their new friends that they had some corn and pumpkins cached at a distance, and they proposed to open their stores and get ready for a journey. They knew of some Apaches to the south, whom they would all visit together. These Apaches, they said, had some gentes of the same names as those of the Navahoes. Then they all went to where the provisions were stored, and they made corn-cakes to use on the journey. When they were ready they went to the south and found, at a place called Tsóhanaa, the Apaches, who recognized them as friends, and treated their visitors so well that the latter concluded to remain for a while.

447. At the end of three years the Tse`nahapi'lni went off to join the Navahoes on the San Juan. The nameless people stayed four years longer. About the end of that time they began to talk of leaving, and their Apache friends tried to persuade them to remain, but without avail. When they had all their goods packed and were ready to start, an old woman was observed walking around them. She walked around the whole band, coming back to the place from which she started; then she turned towards them and said: "You came among us without a name, and you have dwelt among us, nameless, for seven years; no one knew what to call you; but you shall not leave us without a name. I have walked around you, and I call you Honagá`ni (Walked-around People)."[196]

448. When the Honagá`ni got back to the San Juan they found that the Tse`nahapi'lni had been long settled there and had become closely related to Tlastsíni, Destsíni, Kinlitsíni, and Tsinadzi'ni. The Honagá`ni in time formed close relationships with Tha`nezá`ni, Dsiltlá`ni, Tó`hani, and Nahopáni. These five gentes are now all the same as one gens, and no member of one may marry a member of another.