Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891
History
Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology: to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891
Navajo Indians -- Rites and ceremonies; Pueblo Indians -- Antiquities; Pueblo architecture
The theurgist occupied his usual seat, surrounded by his corps of
attendants. The man personating Naiyenesgony had his body and limbs
painted black. The legs below the knee, the scapula, the breasts, and
the arm above the elbow were painted white. His loins were covered with
a fine red silk scarf, held by a silver belt; his blue knit stockings
were tied with red garters below each knee, and quantities of coral,
turquois, and white shell beads ornamented the neck. The man
representing Tobaidischinni had his body colored reddish brown, with
this figure [Drawing] (the scalp knot) in white on the outside of each
leg below the knee, on each arm below the shoulder, each scapula, and on
each breast. This design represents the knot of hair cut from the heads
of enemies, and the style is still in use by the Navajo. The man wore a
red woolen scarf around the loins, caught on by a silver belt, and his
neck was profusely ornamented with coral, turquois, and white beads.[1]
Naiyenesgony and Tobaidischinni left the lodge, carrying with them their
masks. (See Pl. CXV, 1, 2, 3.) Bunches of pine boughs, which during the
forenoon had been made into wreaths by joining pieces together with
yucca in this fashion were [Drawing], laid across each end of the rug.
[Footnote 1: In the decoration of the bodies several men assisted,
but the personators of the gods did much of the work on their own
persons, and they seemed quite fastidious. The fingers were dipped
into the paint and rubbed on the body.]
[Inline drawings:
__
\/ scalp knot
/\
¯¯
III__III__III__III
III III III III wreath ]
After the two men personating the gods left the lodge the invalid
entered and took his seat on the rug with his back to the theurgist. Two
attendants dressed him with the wreaths, beginning with the right ankle;
a piece was then tied around the calf, thigh, waist, around the chest,
right wrist, elbow, upper arm, throat, forehead, then around the upper
left arm, elbow, wrist, thigh, left knee, calf, and ankle. Thus the man
was literally obscured with a mass of pine. He sat in an upright
position with the legs extended and arms falling by his sides. A chant
was sung by the song priest, and in a few minutes Naiyenesgony and
Tobaidischinni appeared. Naiyenesgony drew his stone knife in front of
the invalid over the forehead to the feet, then down the right side and
down the back and down the left side. He then began to remove the pine.
As each wreath was taken off the clusters were partly separated with the
stone knife. Tobaidischinni assisted Naiyenesgony by holding the wreaths
while they were being cut.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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