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
There’s a god on each side.
Now the Holy Young Woman
Is the god on top of the blue mountain,
With her blue notched stick,
The implement of her dance, her magic wand.
226. This song is said to refer to that part of the myth where it is
related that the prophet, flying from the Ute, climbed a hill which was
transformed into a mountain. (Paragraph 38.) Each mountain was supposed
to have a holy one on it, who could, by means of his notched stick,
produce the metamorphosis. The mountains were not necessarily colored
black and blue, but are thus described to indicate that they lay north
and south of the prophet’s path. (Paragraph 171.)
227. TWELFTH SONG OF THE HOLY YOUNG MEN.
Eāīèa qàla éla yaináhe, oöhè.
Eāīèa qàla éla yainooò yaaà yooò [three times],
Eāīèa qàla éla yainà, qàla èla qainàhe oöhè.
1. Dsil ilhyíli inlòooò yaaà yooò,
2. Tsintsoï ¢ilhyíli inlòooò yaaà yeeè.
3. Ci cigèlgo yainà,
Qala éla qainàhe oöhè.
4. Dsil çolíji inlòooò yaaà yooò,
5. Tsintsoï ¢ilhyíli inlòooò yaaà yeeè,
6. Ci cigèlgo yainà,
Qala éla qainàhe oöhè.
228. _Translation._--1, 4. Dsil, mountain; çilhyíl, black; çolíj, blue.
2, 5. Tsintsò, a notched stick used in ceremonies to make music; inlo
(inla‘), they lie there (two long hard things lie). 3, 6. Cigèl, my
ultimatum, my desideratum (said of the peculiar sacrifice which belongs
to each god), something I (the god) will have and accept nothing in
place of it, my special sacrifice.
229. _Free translation._
There lie the black mountains;
There lie the black sticks;
There lie my sacrifices.
There lie the blue mountains;
There lie the blue sticks;
There lie my sacrifices.
230. This is supposed to be a part of the instructions which the Holy
Young Men and Holy Young Women gave to the prophet. The tsintso is made
of cherry, which grows only on high mountains in the Navajo country. The
sticks are painted black and blue. (See paragraph 171.) The song alludes
to all these facts.
231. EIGHTH SONG OF THE YOUNG WOMEN WHO BECOME BEARS.
Ço¢igìni¢a oyàhe, oöhè,
Ço¢igìni¢a oyà oyà ooyàya
Hāīyàya hāīyàya hāīyàhe, oöhè.
1. Kaç Tsilkè-¢igìnië ço¢igìn¢a hāīyàhe, oöhè,
2. Bitsintsòië ië ço¢igìn¢a hāīyàhe oöhe,
3. Tsí¢a bialìlië bíja-ye¢igìnië, oyà oyà, oyàya,
Hāīyàya hāīyàya hāīyàhe, oöhè.
Ço¢igìni¢a oyàhe, oöhè,
Ço¢igìni¢a oyà oyà ooyàya,
Hāīyàya hāīyàya hāīyàhe, oöhè.
4. Kaç Tcikè-¢igìnië ço¢igìn¢a hāīyàhe, oöhè,
5. Bitsintsòië ië ço¢igin¢a hāīyàhe oöhè,
6. Tsí¢a bialìlië bíja-ye¢igìnië, oyà oyà, oyàya,
Hāīyàya hāīyàya hāīyàhe, oöhè.
232. _Translation._-- Ço¢igìni¢a, ço¢igìni¢a, he is not a god; it is not
holy; it is not divine. 1, 4. Kaç, now; tsilkè, young man; tcikè, young
woman; ¢igìni, holy, supernatural. 2, 4. Bitsintsòi, his great notched
stick. 3, 6. Tsí¢a, verily; bialìli, his implement of the dance or rite;
bíja-ye¢igìni, his treasure which makes holy; his magic wand.
233. _Free translation._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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