The Mountain Chant, A Navajo Ceremony: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 379-468Matthews, Washington
Religion
The Mountain Chant, A Navajo Ceremony: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 379-468
Matthews, Washington
Mountainway (Navajo rite); Navajo Indians -- Rites and ceremonies
174. The FOURTH PICTURE represents the kátso-yisçàn, or great plumed
arrows. These arrows are the especial great mystery, the potent healing
charm of this dance. The picture is supposed to be a fac simile of a
representation of these weapons, shown to the prophet when he visited
the abode of the Tsilkè-¢igini, or young men gods, where he first saw
the arrows (paragraph 47). There are eight arrows. Four are in the
center, lying parallel to one another--two pointing east and two others,
alternate, pointing west. The picture is bordered by the other four,
which have the same relative positions and directions as the bounding
serpents in the first picture. The shafts are all of the same white
tint, no attention being paid to the colors of the cardinal points; yet
in drawing and erasing the picture the cardinal points are duly honored.
Among the central arrows, the second from the top, or north margin of
the design, is that of the east; it is drawn and erased first. The next
below it is the arrow of the south; the third is that of the west. The
one on top belongs to the north; it is drawn and erased last. The heads
are painted red to represent the red stone points used; the fringed
margins show the irregularities of their edges. The plumes at the butt
are indicated, as are also the strings by which the plumes are tied on
and the notches to receive the bowstring.
175. The ground of this picture is crossed with nebulous black streaks.
These were originally present in all the pictures. I have omitted them
in all but this, lest they might obscure the details of the reduced
copies. It has been explained to me (although in the myth it is
expressly stated only in one case, paragraph 40) that all these pictures
were drawn by the gods upon the clouds and thus were shown to the Navajo
prophet. Men cannot paint on the clouds, but according to the divine
mandate they do the best they can on sand, and then sprinkle the sand
with charcoal, in the manner indicated, to represent the cloudy scrolls
whereon the primal designs of the celestial artists were painted.
SACRIFICES OF DSILYÍDJE QACÀL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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