DeerEating certain parts of deer will cause illness: head; nosebleed and head swelling, heart; bleeding, digestive; turn into a snake. Pg. 42 Navajo Chantway Myths, 1957; Katherine Spencer.Don't urinate on a deerskin. You'll clog up. Pg. 84 Navajo Taboos; 1991, Ernie Bulow.Deer and elk, as also animals allied to them, are hunted for their hides and sinew, which figure largely in the manufacture of the costume and ceremonial appliances. Pg. 139 An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navajo Language; 1910, The Franciscan Fathers.Deer and
rare game (dini') are symbolical of hunting power and methods-stalking, killing
and butchering, propitiation of the animal spirit, and restrictions. Though
hunting is almost extinct, having been supplanted by pastoral pursuits, it still
occupies a major position in the ritualistic pattern (Hill 1938, pp. 96ff.;
Goddard, p. 162; Matthews 1887, pp. 391-2; 1897, Navajo Religion, Vol II; Gladys A. Reichard, 1950 |