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
that come not from spoken words, but come to all, that people may have
the blessings of corn pollen, and that tongues may speak with the
softness of corn pollen.
SECOND CEREMONY.
A rug was laid in front of the theurgist. Four medicine tubes were
placed on the rug, the one to the north end being white; the second one
black and red, a white line dividing the two colors; the third one,
blue; the fourth, black. The white tube was an offering to Hasjelti; the
red, to Zaadoltjaii; the blue, to Hostjoboard; the black, to Naaskiddi,
the hunchback. The tubes were filled as before described. These tubes
were begun and finished by the same person. (See Pl. CXVI.) When the
tubes were finished they were put into corn husks and bits of cotton
cloth; tiny pieces of turquois, white shell, abalone, and archaic black
beads having first been placed on the husks and cloths. The four turkey
plumes with barred tips that lay upon the rug were subsequently placed
upon the tubes. These parcels were sprinkled by the song priest with
corn pollen, and after closing them he placed them in the hands of the
invalid, who sat at the northeast corner of the rug facing east. The
song-priest sat before him and said a long prayer, which the invalid
repeated. At the close of the prayer an aged attendant received the
parcels from the theurgist and placed them to the soles of the feet,
palms, etc., of the invalid. They were afterward placed to his mouth and
he drew from them a long breath. The old man carried the parcels south
over the brow of a hill and deposited them in secluded spots about 4
feet apart, repeating a brief prayer over each one; he then motioned
toward the east, south, west, and north, and returned to the lodge.
During his absence the choir sang; in the meantime the fire in the lodge
was reduced to embers.
THIRD CEREMONY.
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