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Horses are kept for breeding, riding, and driving purposes. They are rarely fed, being turned out at large after use. Even when at work little or no feed is provided, as the Navaho is indifferent to the needs of his horse. Yet they thrive where others of their kind might starve, and in addition give remarkable tests of endurance. Pg. 145
Horse racing with light betting is frequently indulged in. On festive occasions betting is very heavy, losses being sustained with as much indifference as gains are accepted with joy and laughter. The Navajo is as cheerful a loser as he is a winner, and often stakes his most treasured possessions on a single issue. A fleet horse is better cared for than the usual run of horses, and is often practiced and trained long before the race. Pg. 154
When the
Holy People first made the horse, it was a complete thing, but it would not
come to life. They tried to get it to rise up on its strong legs, but it would
not rise. Caterpillar was asked to help. "How can I help?" he asked.
"You know," one of the Holy People said, "where the sacred flints
are kept." "Yes, this is true. But I am slow getting around."
Then the Holy People prayed over Caterpillar and he became Butterfly. Swiftly
he flew to the Mountain Where Flint Is Kept, and gathering four flints, he returned
to the Holy People and put the flints into the hooves of the horse. The great
horse stirred, quivered, came to life. Then it surged, leaped into life, struck
the air with its hooves, and galloped off into the clouds. "Look,"
a Holy Person said,"the horse makes the marks of Butterfly when it dances
on its hooves." And it has been that way ever since. Pgs. 175, 176
Five Horses: The five horses of the Sun Father are a way of telling time, Navajo
style. White shell and pearl horses represent dawn, turquoise is noon, red shell
is sunset, and jet or coal is night.
The horses'
hoofs are hada huniye (agate), the banded male stone. The hair of the mane and
tail is called nltsa najin, little streaks of rain. The mane is called e alinth
chene. Horses' ears are the heat lightning, that which flashes in the night.
The big stars that sparkle are their eyes. The different growing plants are
their faces. The big bead, yo tso, is their lips. The white bead is the teeth.
Tliene delne' dil hilth, a black fluid, was put inside horses to make the whinny.
Pg. 13
Sandoval told Goddard that the horse's hoofs have stripes because they were
made of mirage (variegated stones) and because the rainbow went into the making
of its very gait. Its mane came from a small rain cloud, and its tail from black
rain, while its intestines came from water of all kinds. Some of nature's most
majestic forces and elements went into the composition of its head. Sandoval
related that "distant lightning composed its ears. A big spreading twinkling
star formed its eye and striped its face." The face itself was formed of
living plants, and the growing vegetation that made up its face illuminated
it at night. Large sacred beads composed its lips, and its teeth would not "wear
out quickly" because they were formed of the Navajo's treasured white shell.
Sandoval's mythical horse was indeed a forceful and beautiful creature when
it neighed, the sound really came from a black flute inside its mouth. Moreover,
Sandoval supplied Goddard with some additional information about the horse's
body, which is not included in the O'Bryan recording. It seems that red stone
was used to produce the horse's heart, sunrays its bridle, and that even the
dawn played a role in making up its belly, thus dividing it into two parts one
black and one white, which meant that it belonged to both day and night. Pg.
14
"Here they are, those with which in time to come (people) will live,"
he said .......... He opened a door toward the east, they say. The place was
so large that it extended as far as one could see .......... At the entrance,
white shell was prancing about, they say, white shell in the likeness of a horse
.......... Gracefully doing like this, lifting its foot continually, it was
prancing about, they say. All of different kinds, white shell horses extended
off in great numbers .......... A great amount of mist-like rain falling on
them continuously, they extended off in great numbers .......... Blue birds
fluttered over their heads, they say. The myth tells us that after showing Turquoise
Boy these holy white horses in the first enclosure, Mirage Man continued his
tour with a visit to another wing of the place, built just like the eastern
one, but facing the south this time. In this place, a great turquoise horse
tied with a handsome turquoise-blue rope was prancing about at the entrance,
and from him had sprung the many blue horses which stood behind as far as the
culture hero could see. The youth could also see that rainbows formed an arch
over the sky around the blue horses while blue swallows fluttered over them,
doubtless empowering the horses with the speed and endurance they contained
in their blue feathers. The birds also symbolized the happiness and the immortality
surrounding Sun's herd. Again, the horses were enveloped by a mist, which only
intensified their beauty. Now, there remained only two other enclosures a western
one and a northern one, and as before, Mirage Man showed the youth these places
too. Basically, they resembled the other two, except that the horses, roped,
and birds inside each one differed entirely in coloration. The western horses
and the things surrounding them were yellow, while the northern horses and the
things surrounding them were spotted. Pg. 21
The Navajo and Apache also have directional color associations for certain stones
and shells, which, because of the religious significance attached to them, play
important roles in their mythologies, ceremonies, customs, and beliefs. These
stones and shells are also commonly associated with the cardinal horses, as
the above myth illustrates in its references to the horses of white shell and
turquoise. A fine example of this association is supplied in some information
which the Navajo named Hatali Natloi gave Matthews. Hatali Natloi said that
the first white horse was made of white shell, the first iron-gray horse of
turquoise, the first black horse of cannel coal (jet), the first piebald horse
of haliotis shell, and the first red (sorrel) horse of red stone (carnelian).
Thus, horses, according to their colors, are called after the different substances
of which the Navajo believe the cardinal horses were made. For that reason,
the Navajo speak of turquoise or gray horses as dolizi lin, red stone or sorrel
horses as bastsili lin, cannel coal or black horses as baszini lin, and haliotis
or spotted horses as yolkai lin. Pg. 21
Navajo mythology expresses this same regard for the white horse and often describes
the sun and moon deities riding about on their elegant, milk-white steeds. In
the foregoing myth, it will be noted that the white horse occupies the east,
his most common cardinal position in Navajo mythology, for the Navajo frequently
associate white with the color of dawn or early morning light, which banishes
the shadows and mysteries of night. Because of this association, it is said
that a Navajo who owns a white horse feels himself fortunate and believes he
will have no bad luck when he rides it. Sun's dawn horse plays a prominent role
in a version of the myth concerning the Twin War Gods' visit to their father's
house, which Maud Oakes recorded from a famous Navajo scout and medicine man
named Jeff King. King told Oakes that at the beginning of time the Navajo's
first holy beings chose this white horse for the young sun deity to mount each
morning as he carried his burden of light into the sky. He told too of how the
Twins, at a much later time, saw this horse at the deity's home in the other
world and of how they met their previously unknown sister Sun's daughter who
helped their father catch his horse every day. "Each morning," she
would shake "a rattle to call the white horse for Sun to ride," he
explained. Implying a change of its color with a change of its cardinal position,
King also said that Sun's horse "moves around as it faces the four directions."
Pg. 22
Most versions of the Navajo myth concerning Sun's courtship of Changing Woman
( a goddess sometimes referred to as White Shell Woman ) say that when Sun first
appeared to woo her, he was dressed in white and chose to ride his splendid
white horse, which sported a bridle and a saddle of the same color. The deity's
choice of the white horse for this occasion signifies something else this time.
First of all, Sun and his horse are attired in white to complement the theme
of whiteness surrounding White Shell Woman. But more important is the purpose
of Sun's visit to the goddess, who was them but a girl out gathering seeds.
He wishes to instruct her as to how she might accomplish conception. The fact
that Sun insisted on white dress for both himself and his white steed at this
particular time "apparently differentiates," as Reichard says, "the
naturally sacred from the profane." Newcomb lends support to such an interpretation
by identifying white as "the color of purity and of the spirit" qualities
commonly associated with the goddess whom the Navajo picture as being almost
entirely above reproach. - Moon's horse is addressed third in a prayer to the
holy horses in the Navajo ceremony known as Flint Way; it is called "horse
of the moon, who puffs along the surface of the earth." Pg. 23
The Navajo, on the other hand, usually place their black horses at the north
rather than at the east. This northern cardinal horse represents the night sky
and is called Sun's "black jewel" horse in one Navajo myth .......
If a "horse has white stockings, he also sees by (means of) them."
Pg. 26, 27
Red Horse: Sometimes the Navajo use him as a substitute horse in their color
circuits and pair him with black to indicate such dangerous things as dark skies.
Accordingly, a Navajo tradition says that Sun mounts either his red horse or
his black horse "when the heavens are dark with storm." Pg. 27
The Cardinal Horse that Navajo mythology values most is the turquoise of blue
horse. Much of the association that the black cardinal horse has for the Apache,
the turquoise has for the Navajo; for this is the mythical horse the Navajo
think of as being Sun's favorite the one he rode all day. Undoubtedly, that
is why Mirage Man, as mentioned earlier in connection with the Navajo myth,
kept sun's turquoise horse behind the second door of the other world corral
the door which opened to the south. In the color circuit employed in this myth,
the blue to the south "signifies" to use Gladys Reichard's words "the
bright blue sky of day." Thus, it seems consistent to reason that the Navajo
would extend the association a step further and think of the sun as a deity
riding his blue horse across the sky all day. Pg. 27, 28
Two Navajo songs for good luck with horses picture for us their idea of the
mythical turquoise horse. One song says that as he moves along, he does not
raise dust; only glittering grains of mineral , of the sort the Navajo use in
religious ceremonies, fly behind his speedy hoofs. When he gallops, sacred pollen
surrounds him as dust would an ordinary horse. Through the pollen, he seems
enveloped by mist,........ The other song, which the elder of the Twins is said
to have sung for good luck in the Navajo version of the horse race around the
world, extols, in the youth's own words, the powers of the mighty blue stallion.
Here is the way part of it goes:
The turquoise horse prances with me.
From where we start the turquoise horse is seen.
The lightning flashes from the turquoise horse.
The turquoise horse is terrifying.
He stands on the upper circle of the rainbow.
The sunbeam is in his mouth for a bridle.
He circles around all the people of the earth
With their goods.
Today he is on my side
And I shall win with him.
Many intimate
glimpses of the sun with his favorite horse are given in Navajo mythology. First
of all, sun was ever mindful of the needs of his powerful turquoise stallion,
which was larger than an ordinary horse. 80 One of the deity's first remarks
after he had been created and put in the sky concerned the care of his majestic
blue horse. As he went on his initial trip across the heavens, Sun looked for
a nice place to pasture his mount at the noon hour. Approaching the center of
the sky, he discovered a likely spot and said: "The blue horse that I ride
will eat there."............ Apparently, though, the turquoise horse was
well pleased with the unusual kind of pasture Sun chose for him. The first of
the Navajo songs discussed above describes him "neighing joyously"
as he stands on precious hides of all kinds which are spread out across the
sky to symbolize clouds. There in that cloud pasture, he feeds on the tips of
lovely new flowers and drinks of four mingled waters from a stream which connects
with the four regions of the world.
80. Matthews, Navaho Legends, p. 233, n. 118. Another Navajo myth mentions Sun
showing the Twins a huge horse which he kept under "a trap door in the
center of the floor" of his house. Though the color of this horse was not
given, he was described as being "like a team horse with hoofs about a
foot in diameter." See Fishler, In the Beginning, p. 71. Pgs. 29, 30
The Navajo and all the Apache groups usually place the yellow mare at the western
cardinal station, since they commonly associate its coloration with the various
hues of yellow seen in a sunset or in early evening light. The "abalone
shell in the likeness of a horse," which the Navajo Mirage Man is said
to have kept behind the third door of the sun's corral, is the sacred shell
associated with this horse in myths and ceremonies by all the Southern Athapascan
people. Sometimes called ear shell, abalone is spiral shaped, lined with mother-of-pearl,
and perforated along its outer edges. The Navajo expression for abalone is "the-particular-one-that-is-iridescent,
the-one-whose-various-colors-scintillate." Oyster shell is also a common
substitute for this shell. The earthly models for this mythological horse are
a yellowish brown sorrel, a coyote dun, or a Palomino. Pg. 33
The last kind of horse found among the Navajo and Apache cardinal herds is the
horse of two colors the dappled, the spotted, or the pinto. Such animals frequently
appear at the north in color circuits of the ..... Navajo; The haliotis shell
of many-colored flecks, which resembles the abalone in texture, is often used
in myths and ceremonies to signify spotted horses. So is agate. Sometimes the
word "spotted" is substituted by the words "sparkling,"
"glittering," or "variegated" in Navajo and Apache myths
and tales about this horse. In ceremonies when such a color impression is intended,
either mixed jewels tiny fragments from all the sacred stones are used, or else
a type of stone called "mirage stone." Mirage stones are white, gray,
yellowish-striped stones, which are shiny when polished, causing a magnified
reflection of a number of colors. For instance, the Navajo refer to certain
types of quartz as "mirage rocks," and in one Navajo myth, some small
stone horse fetishes of different colors, called "Mirage Quartz Rock Horses,"
are shown the Twins by a supernatural being named Frog Man. Pg. 37
The Navajo Mirage Man, who was himself a combination of colors, expressed the
same sort of regard to Turquoise Boy when he was showing him around the sun's
corral. Implying the climactic nature of the fourth time, the Navajo myth states
that the old man showed Turquoise Boy the horses he valued most when he opened
the last door of the corral the door which led to the "spotted horses"
with "the white eyelashes." In a similar way, Frog Man, who in another
Navajo Myth was acknowledged by Sun as knowing as much about the breeding of
fine horses as anyone in the gods' world, treasured the "Mirage Quartz
Rock Horses" he kept in a ceremonial basket. It was said that Frog Man
"raised all kinds and colors of horses, sheep and goats," and that
he, like the sun's corral-keeper in the other myth, was formed also from a mirage
substance quartz rock, in this case. However, Navajo traditions say that their
horse-loving sun deity prized his paints, his dappled and his spotted horses
too so much, in fact, that he kept an entire cardinal herd of them. Those who
saw these beautiful horses must have had a rich experience, for one glimpse
at them in a Navajo myth is enough to convince us that they combined all the
colors Sun most enjoyed on the may good horses he rode in each of the quadrants.
According to the myth, "to the east were ones with white bodies with all
kinds of blue designs and spots. To the south was a blue one with white spots
and all kinds of designs. There were also horses with white finger marks with
a blue background. To the west was a yellow one with black and white spots,
while to the north was a black one with a yellow-reddish nose and white spots
all over it." Pg. 38
Fortunately, the things the goddess needed to create the first horses for mankind
were already at the new residence. Inside this palatial hogan were four horses
made of jewel substances, belonging to each of the directions, and in the center
of these stood a stately jet horse "at the root of a perfect cornstalk
. . . . . . On the cornstalk's top sat a black songbird." Like everything
else in her western home, the goddess's cornstalk was modeled after the one
Sun kept at his eastern home. A better idea of what it looked like and what
purpose it served can be had by examining the one belonging to Sun. According
to a description Goldtooth supplied Fishler, Sun's cornstalk grew in the center
of a basket which he kept on a shelf in the center of his house. Inside the
basket were also some pieces of turquoise, all types and colors of corn, and
four horse fetishes facing the cardinal directions and surrounding the cornstalk,
on which hung two ears of corn, most probably representing the male and female
sexes, since this is what they ordinarily symbolize in Navajo myths. The sacred
stone and shell horse fetishes "ate the corn pollen that fell from the
corn tassels," Goldtooth said. They were tied to four posts which also
stood inside the basket, facing the four directions. Sun and moon designs were
carved on each post and attached to each were eagle feathers and rattles of
precious stones and shells. "There were rattles made out of white bead
on the pole to the east, turquoise rattles to the south, oyster shell rattles
to the west, and jet rattles to the north." Perhaps the white rattles were
the ones that Sun's daughter used each morning to summon Sun's white horse,
a daily chore mentioned previously. Goldtooth said that when Sun himself shook
the rattles of white bead, the horse fetishes tied to the poles of the four
directions "would also begin to rattle and move just as if they were alive."
In fact, this was how the fetishes got their exercise, he noted, adding that
Sun also shook the rattles "to give pep and energy to all animals, plants,
bushes, trees and all things upon the earth." Pg. 57
A white shell basket stood there. In it was the water of a mare's afterbirth.
A turquoise basket stood there. It contained the water of the afterbirth. An
abalone basket full of eggs of various birds stood there. A jet basket with
eggs stood there. The baskets stand for quadrupeds, the eggs for birds. Now
as Changing Woman began to sing the Animals came up to taste. The horse tasted
twice; hence mares sometimes give birth to twins. One ran back without tasting.
Four times, he ran up and back again. The last time he said, "Sh!"
and did not taste. "She will not give birth. Long-ears (Mule) she will
be called," said Changing Woman. The others tasted the eggs from the different
places. Hence there are many feathered people. Because they tasted the eggs
in the abalone and jet baskets many are black.
O'Bryan's text, again more detailed and much clearer, supplies the missing links
of the Goddard version:
After the White Bead Woman's chanting, the four horses began to move, the white-bead
horse fetish, the turquoise horse fetish, the white-shell horse fetish and the
banded stone horse fetish. These four stone fetishes were made into living horses.
Life came into them and they whinnied. Then the White Bead Woman took the horses
from her home. She placed them on the white bead plain, on the turquoise plain,
on the white bead hill, and on the turquoise hill. Returning, she laid out four
baskets the white bead basket, the turquoise basket, the white shell basket,
and the black jet basket. In these she placed the medicine which would make
the horses drop their colts. The White Bead Woman then went outside and chanted,
and down came the horses from the hill; but instead of four there came a herd.
They circled the home, and they came to the baskets and licked up the medicine
with one lick. Now some of the horses licked twice around the baskets; so once
in a long while there are twin colts. But the horses that licked out of the
black jet basket licked more than once, and they have many colts. Then out of
the herd there came one with long ears. She snorted and jumped away; and the
second time she approached the basket she snorted and ran away. So she was not
to have young, either male or female. It was planned that the fetishes of the
horses were to be laid in the center of the earth, in a place called Sis na
dzil .... Pg. 61
A Navaho on foot was no menace to the Puebloans, but a Navajo or tribe of Navajos on horseback was a different equation. No longer were they a subservient race. They could strike, raid, and be away before the stone house dwellers could string their bows and shoot their arrows. The possession of horses brought a golden era of prosperity to the tribe. They stole sheep and goats from the Mexicans; from the Puebloans they stole corn and beans to plant in their own extensive fields, and wherever possible, they took women and children into slavery. The wealth of a clan was counted by the size of the flock of sheep, and for every man, woman, and child there was a horse to ride. Pg. xxiii
Since the horse was not indigenous to the western hemisphere, its arrival brought a wholly new way of life to most of the Indian tribes. It came to signify power and speed and wealth. Pg. 62
The acquisition of the horse had a profound effect upon Navajo culture. Not only did increased mobility enlarge the range and frequency of contact with non-Navajos, but also it altered the character of social relations within the tribe. It was now possible to visit more frequently and to attend ceremonial events from much greater distances. Thus, the audiences at ceremonials became larger, and this in turn may have led to the elaboration of the ceremonies themselves.
Well, what did you come for, the white sheep, perhaps?
No. Not the white sheep.
The black sheep? No.
The spotted sheep? No.
The red sheep? Not the red sheep.
The sheep with the thin bladed horns?
That was the sheep he cherished above all.
Winifred Kupper, The Golden Hoof, 19-21.
It may have been a relief to the Sun that the Twin War Gods asked an even loftier boon, for obviously he had the sheep ready for the People as soon as they were created. Pgs. 38-39
Cows, sheep and horses were originally obtained through raids upon the neighboring Pueblos and Mexicans, and later through rations issued by the Government. At present practically every family is possessed of a flock of sheep in addition to a band of cattle and horses, making their condition one of comparative affluence. Pg. 143
In the
last fifty years, well within the memory of man, the character of the Navajo
terrain had noticeably changed. Where formerly there had been broad smooth plains
covered with thick grass of which the best was grama or "buffalo"
grass, the plains were now gutted by sharp gullies, some small, others large
like the arroyo near which the sheepdip stood. Through them the water ran and
cut away the soil whenever it rained, making the crevices always larger. The
white people called this "soil erosion" and said it was due to overgrazing.
They explained that the large number of sheep owned by the Navajo and the goats
were even more harmful had eaten the grass so close that even the roots were
destroyed. So short and sparse had they become that they no longer held the
soil, and it became loose and easily washed or blown away. At first the Whites
had strongly urged the Navajo to diminish their herds, and this year had required
a pro-rated reduction, the number to be determined by the count taken at dipping
time. Pgs. 9-10
The rangers did not like goats. They said they ruined the range, but Dezba and
her people liked them because they lived on less and coarser forage than the
sheep, and because they were good leaders of the herd. The Whites despised the
meat, for they said it was strong and tough. The Navajo did not find it too
strong and thought one felt satisfied longer after a meal of tough meat. Although
it was hard to spin, Dezba liked to use mohair for weaving. It was stronger
for warp, and when used for weft, gave a soft outline to the pattern which was
unusually attractive. Pg. 13
Sheep and goats also had a major impact upon the Navajos and their way of life. The Navajo had begun to take sheep and goats during their raids on Spanish settlements in the early seventeenth century, but it was probably not until the end of this century that they began to herd these animals after intense contact with the Pueblos, who understood Spanish animal husbandry. In the late 1700s and early 1800s the Navajo population began increasing because these animals furnished such a dependable food supply. Sheep and goats and their products also provided a medium of exchange for European-produced goods. Navajos learned the art of weaving from the many Pueblos who lived among them following the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Weaving quickly became a part of Navajo culture. By 1795, Navajo weaving had become so highly prized that one writer of that time described their weaving as "finer than that of the Spaniards."
The Navajo hogan is more than just a place to eat and sleep and the concept of it as a "home" bears little resemblance to a white person's attitude toward his dwelling place. The hogan is a gift of the gods and as such it occupies a place in the sacred world. The first hogans were built by the Holy People of turquoise, white shell, jet, and abalone shell. The round hogan is symbolic of the sun and its door faces east so that the first thing that a Navajo family sees in the morning is the rising sun .... Father Sun, one of the revered of the Navajo deities. The construction of a new hogan is almost always a community affair. Once completed, the new hogan is consecrated with a Blessing Way rite whereby the Holy People are asked to "let this place be happy." The positions of persons and objects within the hogan are prescribed in the legends: the south side of the hogan "belongs" to the women, the north to the men. The male head of the family, and any distinguished visitors, sits on the west side facing the doorway. The placement of all persons and seating arrangements during ceremonials or other important events are prescribed in considerable detail. If a hogan is struck by lightning it is considered chindi bewitched and is deserted. It is also deserted if a death occurs within and the body is removed through a hole broken in the north wall the direction of evil. Pg. 15
The Navajo house is devoid of any decoration. Still, in the description of the legendary prototypes of the various hogans, the Navajo selects all that is gorgeous, splendent and precious in nature for their construction. The poles of the conical hogan, for instance, were made of precious stones, such as white shell, turquoise, abalone, obsidian (cannel-coal), and red stone, and were five in number. The interstices were lined with four shelves of white shell, and four of turquoise, and four of abalone and obsidian, each corresponding with the pole of the respective stone, thus combining the cardinal colors of white, blue, yellow, and black into one gorgeous edifice. The floor, too, of this structure was laid with a fourfold rug of obsidian, abalone, turquoise, and white shell, each spread over the other in the order mentioned, while the door consisted of a quadruple curtain of dawn, sky blue, evening twilight and darkness. As a matter of course the divine builders might increase its size at will, and reduce it to a minimum, whenever it seemed desirable to do so. Pg. 328
Many Navajos live in frame houses today, but it is still common to see a hogan in association with a house or by itself. Two types of hogan exist: the nearly obsolete, conical forked-pole [male] hogan, which the Navajo brought with them into the Southwest, and its replacement, the larger and more substantial round-roofed [female] hogan, which may be circular, hexagonal, or octagonal in shape. Built to ritual specifications, the hogan faces the rising sun. Many Navajos still have a summer camp near their cornfields and a more substantial winter camp, which they occupy after the harvest.
Some Navajos
conceive of the earth's surface as being covered by an enormous transparent
hogan of the older, conical, forked-pole style, with the Sacred Mountains at
its cornerposts. Talking god stands at the doorway, which faces the east, while
Calling God is at the west. The hogan is a living entity, with the smokehole
as its breathing hole; this is where prayers emerge and rise to the heavens.
The first hogan, constructed after the Emergence into the present world by the
diyin dine'e near the rim of the Emergence Place, was not only the site for
the creation of many elements of the present world, but also a model of the
cosmos. It was in the hogan of Creation that Black God produced and placed the
stars in order to beautify the "dark upper" or sky. Both the shape
of the hogan and the required directional movement within it are associated
with the sun. The hogan was built in the shape of the sun because "the
sun being the source of heat, light, and protection from the evils abroad at
night symbolizes the qualities that were desired for the home." The doorway
faces east to catch the blessing of the first rays of sunlight. The Navajo word
for east, ha'a'aah, reflects the order inherent in the repetitive diurnal motions
of the sun, for this word mans literally "a roundish object [the sun] moves
about regularly." The required directional movement after entering the
hogan is the sunwise circuit, which also reflects a recognition of the motions
of the heavens. The hogan has been called a master encoding, or a diagram of
the Navajo cosmos. The first hogan was conceived, planned, and constructed by
the diyin dine'e who decreed that the Earth Surface People should follow the
plan of this first hogan with its posts at the four cardinal directions and
east-facing doorway. The main poles of the hogan are to be picked up in the
sunwise order, with two stones of the sacred jewel associated with each direction
embedded in the ground next to each pole. Sacred jewels are condensed symbols
intimately related to sacred colors, directions, places, and entities. Although
the hogan is never physically subdivided, it is conceptually divided according
to directional orientation: four forked upright posts are named for each of
the directions while the interior space is divided into areas that include the
eastern, southern, western, and northern, recesses, and possibly "sky center,"
and area in between the fireside and western recess. One Navajo eloquently explained
the sacredness of the hogan:
The hogan is built in the manner of this harmony. The roof is in the likeness
of the sky. The walls are in the likeness of the Navajo's surroundings: the
upward position of the mountains, hills, and trees. And the floor is ever in
touch with "the earth mother." The hogan is comprised of white shell,
abalone, turquoise, and obsidian, bringing the home and sacred mountains into
one sacred unit. The home is also adorned with the dawn, the blue sky, the twilight
and the night the sun in the center as the fire . . . . . The hogan is a sacred
dwelling. It is the shelter of the people of the earth, a protection, a home,
and a refuge. Because of the harmony in which the hogan is built, the family
can be together to endure hardships and grow as a part of the harmony between
the Sacred Mountains, under the care of "Mother Earth" and "Father
Sky." Pgs. 92-94
Her house, which was one of the four in the cluster, was the largest, for it was used as the ceremonial hogan when necessary. Dezba's brother, Lassos-a-warrior, was an important leader of curing ceremonies, often called "sings," and there were many occasions when one of them was held at her home. The ceremonies required a special house, preferably a large one, and Dezba lived in this one. When for five on nine days, it was needed for religious purposes, she moved out and lived in one of the other hogans for the time. She considered it no inconvenience to do so, for the fact of having a "sing" in the house brought blessings and good fortune to it. Pg. 19
Gradually
I learned that there are no villages or towns on the reservation. The only time
you find Navajos together in large groups is during one of their ceremonies.
Families travel many days to participate in these. In addition to his aversion
for community dwelling, the Navajo settles in one spot for no more than six
months, if that long. He moves his family, his cattle, and his other belongings
up and down the mesa land. This is especially true of the Indians in the western
section of the reservation. The Navajo spends the summer season on the lowlands,
living in the chahao, a temporary shelter loosely built of shrubbery. In winter
he lives on the highlands in a permanent hogan solidly built of juniper logs
and covered with sand-mud. Since the entrances always face east, Navajo dwellings
serve as compasses, and one need never worry about getting lost when a hogan
is in sight. These one-room windowless houses, with a smoke hole through which
the family hopes the smoke will escape, give protection against snow and cold,
not uncommon in this desert country at altitudes of six to nine thousand feet.
In the evening the family gathers around the open fire in the center of the
hogan. The fire produces little light and much smoke, and since there is no
other illumination, the Navajo cannot occupy himself with anything that requires
good lighting. It is impossible to read by the firelight, and , of course, unless
he has been educated in the American schools, the Navajo cannot read. So he
entertains himself and his family with stories, legends, and myths. They are
told quietly, with naive gestures and picture-words; and the narratives are
colored with his belief in gods, spirits and chindi (ghosts). The Navajos have
no Shakespeare, Virgil, or Homer, but much of their poetry is truly beautiful.
They have no Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart, but they chant single verses with fiery
zeal and poetic expression. They have no Crusaders, Knights of the Round Table,
or Daniel Boone, but they have god heroes who have slain fantastic monsters
and giants and who even today protect the Navajo against evil spirits and the
evil eye, and help him when he is in difficulty.
If anyone is about to die, the family moves out of the hogan, leaving the patient
to the medicine men. The Navajo believes that the hogan becomes haunted when
a human being dies in it. Therefore the family or the medicine men try to get
the dying patient out of the building before it is too late to save the home
for future use. I have seen a number of abandoned hogans, their doorways blocked
with stones and special holes knocked out in the north sides through which the
corpses were carried out by medicine men for burial. Sometimes instead of just
abandoning the hogan, they burn and level it. This indirectly serves as a prophylactic
measure. Other traditional practices are even more effective barriers to epidemics.
For instance, they break all the earthenware and cut up the household blankets
so they may never be used again. Near the grave of the dead man they kill his
best riding animal, after decorating him with his saddle and all of his trappings.
Practically everything that may have come in contact with the sick person is
destroyed to keep his chindi, or in our language the infecting bacteria, from
harming others.
When a Navajo gets sick, his family and friends literally run away, leaving
him to the ministrations of the medicine men. In the event that the sick person
has a contagious disease, this custom provides a pretty thorough quarantine.
the medicine men, by the way, are supposed to possess the power of keeping chindi
away from themselves while they are freeing the patient from them.... The Navajos
have no undertakers and no coffins.
Always situated near a spring or waterhole, the hogan is hectagonal in shape
almost circular, in fact. Juniper logs, graduated in length and diameter, are
placed parallel on top of each other, so that, as the walls rise, the room grows
smaller near the top. There is no furniture only a sheepskin to sit on and,
perhaps, a few plain cooking utensils, including the highly prized coffee pot.
The hogan is the center of family life, and the Navajo spends most of is time
there, even though it is such a simple structure and contains little. He is
anxious that his hogan and his family be unmolested by men or evil spirits.
He hopes that his wife and all of his children will have enough to eat. He prays
that his hogan will not be visited by sickness or "enemy ancestors."
To make sure that all his desires and hopes will be realized in his hogan, he
prays and performs ceremonies before he moves into it. Unfortunately, the ceremony
of hogan dedication is no longer faithfully practiced by every Navajo. The manner
of building and the dedication ceremony demonstrate how friendly, deeply religious,
poetic, and playfully humorous the Navajo is. All neighbors and friends voluntarily
participate in the building, so that it is finished in one day and is ready
for the dedication before sunset. The wife sweeps out the new hogan while her
husband builds the first fire in the middle of the floor directly under the
smoke hole. She goes out of the building, pours white cornmeal into a basket,
and hands it to her husband, who then enters the hogan and, in a certain prescribed
order, silently rubs a handful of the dry meal on the five principle timbers
which form the frame. Then, with a sweeping motion from left to right, he sprinkles
the meal around the outer circumference of the floor, saying in low measured
tones:
"May it be delightful, my house,
From my head my it be delightful,
To my feet may it be delightful,
Where I lie may it be delightful.
All above me may it be delightful,
All around me may it be delightful."
He next flings a little of the cornmeal into the burning fire, saying: "May it be delightful and well, my fire." Then he tosses a few handfuls up through the smoke hole, saying:
"May it be delightful, Sun, my Mother's ancestor,
May it be delightful as I walk around my house."
He sprinkles a few more handfuls on the fire, saying in a subdued voice:
"May it be delightful, my fire,
May it be delightful for my children,
may all be well,
May it be delightful with my food and theirs,
may all be well,
All my possessions, may they increase,
All my flocks, may they increase."
By this
time it is dark. The womenfolk, who during the day have been cooking, and the
men, who have been attending to other details, begin entering the hogan. They
help to bring in the family possessions. Sheepskins are spread over the floor;
a blanket is suspended over the doorway; more logs are added to the fire. The
men squat around the fire; the women sit in a group a little farther away. Food
is served. Everyone is tired. They say little and in very low voices. But all
of them are happy. The man and wife are happy because now they are the possessors
of a building where they will be raising their family. The relatives and friends
are joyous because they have done a good deed.
A few days later they hold a housewarming party. The occasion has a more solemn
meaning, too, since if it is not observed soon after the hogan has been competed,
bad dreams will plague the dweller, toothache will torture them, evil influences
from the north will descent upon them, diseases will visit them, and the hogan
will be haunted. So the shaman is invited to sing ceremonial house songs when
all their friends from the neighboring canyons and mesas will be present. There
will be feasting, smoking, gossip, and talk by the hour. The shaman will sing
in a drawling voice and the men will join in. They will sing songs to Estsanatlehi,
Goddess of the West, and Yolkai Estsan, Goddess of the East, to the Sun, Dawn,
and Twilight, to the Light and to the Darkness, to the six sacred mountains,
and to many other deities. They will sing other songs to keep evil spirits coughs,
sorcerers, and ghosts away. When the songs are finished at dawn, the visitors
will round up their horses and go home, happy that all's well that ends well.
Pgs. 181-185
Each member of a family has a stipulated place within the hogan - the unmarried men at the south, the single women at the north; the bed of the senior married couple joins the male and female sides of the house at the west. In the ceremonial hogan [or shade] the men usually sit at the south, the women at the north; patient and chanter sit at the rear - that is, at the west side behind the fire. If there are variations on this plan, they are due to ritualistic requirements. For example, the patient of the Shooting Chant, male or female, sits alone at the south side of the hogan during the 'short singing' of the first three nights.
Frequently, though not invariably, certain dieties have characteristic stations
with respect to others. Talking God, as a leader, had the front position when
he traveled with a group on one of the supernatural conveyances. He stood on
a rainbow at the front while xa ctce'oyan stood at the back, and the accompanying
group of Holy People, or the hero they conducted, stood between them. In the
Night Chant, Talking God at the front was aided by Water Sprinkler at the rear,
while visionary, whom they were escorting, was between. When the gods took Self
Teacher to the underwater world, Water Sprinkler guarded the front and Black
God the back; thus protected, Self Teacher was led safely out from the home
of Water Monster.
Even the body position of deities may be distinctive. People in myth are told,
for instance, that Black God, though so old he can scarcely walk, may be recognized
by his upright sitting posture. They find him sitting with one leg hanging limply
over his knee, a posture signifying aloofness, which must be overcome by the
proper approach of those asking a favor. The same pose is assumed in life by
a Navaho whose feelings have been hurt; usually he takes up a position half
sitting, half reclining in front of the fire, 'among the ashes,' a place ordinarily
avoided. His position and attitude indicate that some member of the family must
guess at the offense under which he feels himself suffering and make restitution
to bring him to a normal frame of mind and, incidentally, to his proper place
in the family circle.
In the House Blessing song of the Shooting Chant the following sequence is mentioned:
east post, west post, south post, north post, outside layer of earth on the
roof, the layer of bark that holds the layer of earth, the back of the interior,
the center [symbol of the fireplace], and the place of the metate just north
of the door. The places indicated in prayer include those just named, but extend
the locality somewhat. The singer asks blessings for the patient: from the hogan
roof, through the inside of the house sunwise around the fire, and out the door
to the immediate vicinity of the dwelling, where the gods protectingly encircle
it, and farther to the plants, trees, and rocks. The space indicated is safe
for the patient because it is circumscribed, but it is universally extended
when the prayer includes Mountain Woman, Water Woman, various birds, and many
distant sacred localities.
Navajo Religion, Vol I; Gladys A. Reichard, 1950
Homes (xo'yan)
have been mentioned as characterizing deity. Several good descriptions of the
Navaho home are available. The following notes concern concepts centering about
the home (and house) and the house blessing.
The houseposts, according to the Shooting Chant myth, were originally of agate
arranged in the flint-armor colors, black at the east, blue at the west, yellow
at the south, pink at the north, and white at the top or central portion. It
was decreed that in the future the posts should be of oak instead of agate.
Today the oak sprigs of the house blessing represent the posts.
In the Eagle Chant myth, the description of the first house prescribes cleansing
and song. The construction of the house was simultaneous with the making of
the eagle trap; both were done with ritualistic care (Mindeleff, pp. 475-517;
Reichard 1944d, pp. 3, 5, 17, 51; Shooting Chant ms.; Matthews 1887, pp. 399,
400, 407, 408; 1897, pp. 161, 164, 168, 185, 204; 1902, pp. 47, 168, 192, 206,
210, 230; Newcomb 1940b, pp. 54, 57, 58-60).
House blessing (xo'yan yilzi'h, xo'yan da'atlic) is an initial rite of all ceremonies.
It consists of laying new oak sprigs in the hogan (or shade) walls at the cardinal
directions, sprinkling the places with corn meal, and singing. The blessing
of a new home is more elaborate, being a rite or ceremony in itself, a part
of the general Blessing complex. The songs and prayers, addressed to Sky, Earth,
and Rain, are necessary to happiness in the new home. Four songs are required,
twelve may be sung; two prayers are the minimum, six may be chanted.
The mountains, inhabited by Talking God and xactc'e'oyan, were the first homes;
after the Blessing rites, they became hogans-the foregoing are JS's notes of
summary, given me when he presided at the dedication of the new stadium at Gallup
(Kluckhohn-Wyman, pp. 76-7; Goddard, p. 151; Reichard 1944d, p. 51; Haile 1937).
Weaving has been carried to a high degree of perfection by the Navaho. The art as it exists among them today is not an invention of their own, as nothing similar is found among any other tribe of the Athapascan stock. It is pretty safe to say that the Navaho learned the art of weaving from the Pueblos. Their own legends, however, account for it in their own way. The hanelnaeheke hani', or moving upward chant legend, records that the art of weaving was taught by the Spider Man and Spider Woman in the following manner. "The Spider Man drew some cotton (ndaka') from his side and instructed the Navaho to make a loom. The cotton-warp was made of spider-web (nashjei bitlol). The upper cross-pole was called yabitlol (sky or upper cord), the lower cross-pole ni'bitlol (earth or lower cord). The warp-sticks were made of shabitlol (sun rays), the upper strings, fastening the warp to the pole, of atsinltlish (lightning), the lower strings of shabitlajilchi (sun halo), the heald was a tsaghadindini isenil (rock crystal heald), the cord-heald stick was made of atsolaghal (sheet lightning), and was secured to the warp strands by means of nltsatlol billdestlo' (rain ray cords)." "The batten-stick was also made of shabitlajilchi (sun halo), while the beidzoi (comb) was of yolgai (white shell). Four spindles or distaffs were added to this, the disks of which were of cannel-coal, turquoise, abalone and white bead, respectively, and the spindle-sticks of atsinltlish (zigzag lightning), hajilgish (flash lightning), atsolaghal (sheet lightning), and nltsatlol (rain ray), respectively." "The dark, blue, yellow and white winds quickened the spindles (beedizi) according to their color, and enabled them to travel around the world."
Presumably, this legend accounts for the now vanishing tradition that weaving should be done with proper moderation. Overdone weaving (akeitlo) is ameliorated by a sacrifice offered to the spindle (beedizi). Its prayerstick (bik'et'an) consists of yucca, precious stones, bird and turkey feathers, tassels of grass (tlo'zol) and pollen, and forms part of the blessing rite (hozhoji). The hach'eyatqei, or ch'aeyatqei (prayer to the gods), is recited with the sacrifice. The custom withholding maidens from weaving before marriage, which was formerly observed, is also explained by the fear of overdoing weaving. Little or no attention, however, is paid to this tradition today. Pgs. 221, 223
For references to steps in weaving, coloring and dyeing of wool, setting up of loom, weaving, Implements, use of loom, designs and knitting refer to below Pgs. 223-256
Take, for instance, the famous art of Navajo weaving. If you ask a member of the tribe today when weaving was learned, she - for Navajo weavers are women - will tell you that they were taught by Spider Woman, "in the beginning." Yet the Navajo weaving technique, point for point, exactly duplicates that of the Pueblos, who have been weaving since A.D. 600. It is a complicated art, and Navajo girls today need years to learn it from a female relative, practicing every day. It is difficult to believe that the Navajos had worked out the loom, the spindle, and all the other equipment before this era of "learning by marriage." A blanket got in trade, a loom glimpsed on a visit to some pueblo would never have given them enough information. Then there is the problem of sex etiquette, for most Pueblo weavers today are men. Indian proprieties would surely forbid a Navajo woman to receive daily instruction from a strange man. But if she married him! It is possible to imagine the skilled weaver working in a Navajo home, trying to teach his sons who were still wedded to the life of hunting and fighting and, finally, imparting the art to his daughters. That this did not happen too early in Navajo history can be gathered from the fact that all known specimens of Navajo weaving are in wool. Therefore they were made after the Spaniards had come and after the Navajos had sheep. And sheep did not come to the Navajos in any quantity until after the Pueblo revolt. Pgs. 46-47
Even such everyday tasks as weaving must be done only in moderation. Many women will not weave more than about two hours at a stretch; in the old days unmarried girls were not allowed to weave for fear they would overdo, and there is a folk rite for curing the results of excess in this activity. Closely related is the fear of completely finishing anything: as a "spirit outlet," the weaver leaves a small slit between the threads. Pgs. 225-226
The Navajos believe in the Greek maxim "Nothing to excess " believing that overdoing a thing brings bad luck as an offense to the spirits. For the same reason nothing must be too perfect. A rug or basket design with a solid border must have a break in it or flaw to let the spirit of the maker, who has spent so much time and energy, escape. It is natural that things which bring one a livelihood should also have some restrictions. Many commercially minded weavers and other craftsmen have begun to ignore the taboos of their trades as being too restrictive. The large number of taboos relating to pottery making have been given credit for the decline of that craft, and none are listed here.
Don 't hit anyone with weaving tools - crack the tools.
They will be paralyzed in the future.
Don't spank your children with weaving tools.
They'll get sick.
Don't have a weaving comb with six points.
Your baby might have six fingers.
Don't go between the poles of the loom when a woman is weaving.
You won't grow - cause evil - won't get much for the rug.
Don't have the loom of the weaving stand too long.
It will tire and hurt you.
Don't eat or drink while you prepare the loom for the rug.
You'll get poor - won't get much for the rug.
Don't eat while you are weaving.
It will go slow - won't be any good.
Don't weave a Yei figure with one eye smaller or one leg shorter.
It will affect you that way in later life - affect your baby.
Don't leave a Yei figure in a rug unfinished.
The Yeis will get angry - bring bad luck.
This is interesting as a compromise taboo. Yeis are Holy People and as such are supposed to be represented only in the sandpaintings which are used and destroyed before sundown but never done in any permanent form. The famous hermaphroditic medicine man Hosteen Clah was one of the first to weave rug versions of the sandpaintings. In the Shiprock area Yei rugs and other pictorial tapestries became increasingly popular after WWII.
Don't be stubborn while weaving a rug.
It won't be worth much.
Don't throw weaving tools.
You 'II never finish the weaving.
Don't burn weaving tools.
The "Yeis" will get angry - bad luck.
Don't weave if you don't know a weaving song.
It won't be any good.
Don't leave tools in the loom when they are not in use.
You won't finish right away.
Don't weave when it is raining.
It will cause the loom to fall.
Don't stand by the loom when it is raining.
Lightning will strike you.
Don't pass things through the loom.
Anything you pass through will be lost -food, yarn, beads.
Don't bump into or move around a loom you are preparing for a rug.
It will be crooked - you won't be able to get it straight.
Don't leave carded wool too long.
When you start weaving it won't like it and you'll have trouble.
Don't make fun of your weaving.
It will get worse - you'll be poor.
Don't leave a loom outside.
It will collect bad things.
Don't cut off a loom once it is made.
You will have a short life.
Don't steal a rug - wool - weaving tools.
You'll never be lucky - always have bad luck.
Don't weave immoral things in a rug.
You'll be sterile.
Don't weave any taboo animal into a rug.
You will have all the bad luck associated with that animal.
Don 't hang rugs out in the sun.
The sun will take it as an insult.
Don't weave at all (boys).
It will affect the reproductive organs.
Don't weave on the north side of the hogan.
The rug won't be worth anything.
Don't drag your rugs on the ground.
Causes poverty.
Don't leave an unfinished rug outside at night.
It might be witched - you won't be able to finish it or sell it.
Don't put a rug over your horse's face.
It will go blind.
Pgs. 179-183
The principal occupation of the present-day Navajo is raising sheep, goats, and a few cattle. And yet four hundred years ago he had seen no sheep or horses. Under the treaty of 1886, each Navajo was given two sheep - about twelve thousand sheep altogether, since not more than sic thousand Navajos survived Bosque Redondo. Now a million sheep graze on the Navajo land. Since the introduction of sheep to this country by Coronado's men, Navajo women have been weaving rugs on crude hand looms - an art which was not entirely new to them, since they already wove with yucca and other vegetable fibers. Pg. 167
There is a saying that a rug is not good unless a weaver puts her "soul" in it. Like Changing Woman, the Holy Person whom the Navajo woman personifies, the weaver is an eternal creator who weaves both an individual product of her own mind and a more universal product from the mind of the tribe. Pgs. 10-11
