Navajo Birds Tree of Life Pictorial Rug - Helena Begay (#52)

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Small Birds
Ayazh, or ayazh altqas'ai, various small birds, is a general name for the smaller varicolored birds which have no special name. They are said to have been produced from the feathers of the monstrous eagle, tsenahale'. Their feathers, and those of the blue and yellow bird are added to the ket'an, prayersticks, to the masks, and otherwise. More about this legend

Various Birds
The greater number of waterfowl and shore birds are sacred. The Navajo do not eat them, with the exception of the turtledove. More about this legend

Corn
The Supernaturals also warn him of taboos connected with the use of corn. It should not be cooked until it is ripe nor eaten before it is fully cooked, or frost and floods will damage the crop. In the "vigil of the corn" ceremony the corn is fed with dried meat; if it were to be fed with corn it would thus consume itself, just as feeding meat to the masks would cause men to eat each other. When giving this warning Talking God refers to the time that ugly woman fed corn to the corn with result that " the people starved and men ate the flesh of other men."? More about this legend

Tree of Life
The Tree of Life is one of the most unique and interesting of Navajo myths and legends. It is an interpretation of where the people came from, their beliefs in the progression and movement of life, connections with their surroundings and the involvement of their deities. It is a metaphor for who they are and the life they lead. At the base of the corn plant there is a symbol for the emergence or ?center of all things?? More about this legend

Weaving
After the medicine woman told the people about the prayersticks she told them that there was a place in the underworld where two rivers crossed. It was called ni tqin'kae tsosi, fine fiber cotton (Indian hemp). There were two persons who brought the seed of that plant, they were spiders. They said that the people were to use the plant instead of skins for their clothing. So this seed was planted in the earth? More about this legend

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