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Joann Johnson - Basketweaver: A fourth generation Navajo basket weaver, Joann Johnson has a passionate awareness of her heritage and history. Born and raised in Monument Valley, she has spent her life in the Navajo heartland, surrounded by the sacred mountains and monuments that tell the stories of her people's past. Joann feels a responsibility to help preserve that past by preserving her culture. Basket weaving is one way she demonstrates her commitment to her convictions. "It's a gift", she says of her weaving abilities, "I learned it from my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, my great-grandmother Ida Bigman. I feel close to her when I am weaving a basket."
Joann Johnson received an Associate Degree in Business from the College of Eastern Utah, a two year college, then went on to a university, where she became interested in history, especially Native American history. "I would like to go back and get a degree in history," she says. In the meantime she is preserving history by carrying on a family tradition, that of Navajo basket weaving.
Joann was taught to weave rugs and baskets by her mother when she was about 8 years old. She also learned to crochet and became quite adept at crocheting without having to watch her hands. But of all her talents, basket weaving is the one that has brought her the most satisfaction. "Weaving comes naturally for me," she says. Her first place award at the Gallup Ceremonials backs up her statement.
She only works on her baskets when she is drawn to them- usually in the evening when she is ready to sit down and rest. "When I'm busy then weaving doesn't relax me," she says, "I do it when I get in the mood, when I want to relax."
Joann also says the money she gets from selling her baskets is not a driving force for her. "It's not the money as much as it is the accomplishment," she asserts. She enjoys creating beautiful things, taking the ideas that come to her and making them real, bringing them to fruition.
This may be one of the reasons her baskets are so beautiful, because she has such a love for her art. She is modest and yet candid about her baskets. Speaking of the unusual gray color she often uses, she recalls her favorite piece was the first gray basket she finished. "It was really nice," she speaks honestly, "It came out nice."
Nice is good word to describe Joann. She has a pleasant personality and infectious laugh. But she is serious when she speaks of her legacy. 'The breaking of tradition creates a downfall for people," she says, then emphasizes, "All people. We must stick to our culture."
Joann loves education, developing her talents, and learning new things. She has learned how to make an unusual single rod basket, even though it takes more time and uses more materials than the conventional double rod basket, just because she enjoys a unique undertaking. "I like the challenge of a new design," she says.
Joann hopes that the people who buy her baskets will sense the creation of life in them, the energy she gives to them. "I just want them to know it's a part of me," she emphasizes, "I hope they can enjoy it. It's a gift-I hope they will cherish it."
18- Informant's note: Ashon nutli', the Turquoise Hermaphrodite, later became masculine and was known as the Sun Bearer, Jo hona'ai. Pg. 5
Dawn: The
rising and setting of the sun are sacred times for Native Americans. The strength
of the sun is believed to be at its most potent at sunrise. Therefore, prayers
and offerings are made to the Sun Father at this time. Offerings of cornmeal
follow the sun's path, going sunwise, in a circle from east, south, west, and
north. Navajos describe four colors of the dawn, including afterglow. Symbolically,
dawn is the beginning of the world; first light, the place the people have come
from their previous world of darkness. Pg. 192
Father Sun: Sun Father, Sun; not to be confused with the fiery orb of our solar
system, Sun Father is a diety who carries the sun with him. Pg. 192
67. However, the Navajo seldom place a red color at the east the Red Ant Chant seems to be one of the few exceptions where this color occurs there. Perhaps, their general feeling about red east is best explained by Fishler's Navajo informant who said: "In the morning, if there is a red or gold color in the east, it foretells fevers, coughs or epidemics to come." In the Beginning, p. 11.
Agricultural
groups, such as the Zunis, devote most of their attention to the apparent recurrent
motion of the sun, which they call "Our Father the Sun". While the
sun is vitally important to Navajo thought, the Navajos consider the various
components of the heavens to be of equal importance and usually do not single
out any one celestial entity for symbolic parentage. Instead, it is much more
common to hear Navajos say, "The sky is our father" (yadilhil nihitaa').
The sun may be the main subject of a sandpainting, but more commonly it is but
one component of a night sky consisting of stars, sun, and moon.
Although the apparent daily motion of the sun is responsible for the four cardinal
light phenomena, its annual motion is not significant for the Navajo. It is
easy to understand why a people as geographically dispersed as the Navajo would
focus on the annual motion of constellations rather than on that of the sun:
constellations appear at about the same time within the approximately 18 million
acres of reservation and lease lands, while the annual motion of the sun along
the horizon varies with location. Pg. 64
First Man appointed He-Who-Returns-Carrying-One-Turquoise to carry the sun disk,
Johonaa'ei . . . . . Another primary contrast, that of birth and death, came
into existence because of the sun bearer's demand for payment for carrying the
celestial disk across the sky. He says, "I will not go down without a man's
death. Every time I make this journey, let a man's death occur accrodingly."
In return, he agrees, "You [will] see whatever you may presently be doing
on its [the earth's] surface, I will keep all of that visible for you, and wherever
movable things occur, I will keep all of them recognizable for you." .
. . . The sun and moon, in addition to supplying illumination, provide the orderly
arrangement of time periods proposed by First Man: the light of the sun marks
the beginning of day; its disappearance marks the end. . . . . The sun's movement
along the horizon is responsible for the seasons, which are marked by the appearance
of specific constellations. Pgs. 74, 75
The Sun's house was guarded by two Winds, Thunders, a pair of Snakes, and a
pair of Bears. Located on the shore of the eastern ocean, this pueblo style
house was made of turquoise. Rooms branching off from the central room served
as showrooms for Sun's wealth: to the south a room housed his flocks, stores
of blankets were stacked in a room to the west, while to the north were farms
and corn. At each side of the house were twelve rattles composed of precious
stones to sound and give forth lightning to herald Sun's arrival. Clothing and
weapons were hung upon pegs on the walls while , on a special peg, Sun hung
the sun every night. Pg. 135
Perhaps one of the most important symbols in the ceremony is that of the sun. The sun is conceived as a circle and projected symbolically. The ceremonial hogan is seen as a circle when it is blessed with corn pollen. When people enter, it is in a sunwise direction. They seat themselves in a circle. The racing is done according to the position of the sun in the sky, and the girl turns sunwise when she returns home. The cake is circular, "so it will be like the sun," and is baked in a circular pit. The baking is timed according to the passage of the sun. "All the people watch the time; during the summer, the nights are short. You go according to the sun. You give it enough time to bake right. In the winter, you wait till later. Someone has to direct that time schedule. Women are inside and outside keeping track." When done, it is cut in a sunwise direction. The center assumes anthropomorphic qualities attributed to the sun; it becomes a heart, and as a living thing, it may not be cut with a knife. The sun is a symbol of life, creation, blessing, and power. According to Reichard, this suggests a sun cult, a monism where in belief centers on universal harmony or destiny. "The sun is an agent of that monism, a central deity who correlates the nether and celestial worlds with this one, who exists to assist man to his final destiny. Changing Woman may possibly be the female manifestation of the Sun." Disappearance of the sun, as in an eclipse, initiates efforts to re-establish harmony. Taboos are in force during this phenomenon. Pg. 373-74
Both the
sun and the moon are borne across the skies by divinities. Trails, thirty-two
in number, have been created for their travels, and summer and winter solstice
occur as the divinities complete the total number and start their return from
the northern- or southern-most trail, respectively. Pg. 37
An eclipse is caused by the death of the orb, which is revived by the immortal
bearers of the sun and moon. During an eclipse of the moon the family is awakened
to await its recovery. Similarly, a journey is interrupted and work ceases during
an eclipse of the sun. Songs referring to the Hozhoji, or rite of blessing,
are chanted by anyone knowing them, otherwise the passing of an eclipse is awaited
in silence. It is not considered auspicious to have a ceremony in progress during
an eclipse of the sun or moon, and a ceremony is often deferred on this account.
The rising generation, however, pays little or no attention to this custom.
Pg. 41
The Sun represents fatherhood and masculinity. His aspects are distance, power, leadership, and discipline. Just as the earth, which Changing Woman symbolizes, is close and nurturing to all beings, the sun is symbolically a non-intimate energy source. The universe is in order when the Sun and Changing Woman, the sun and the earth, man and woman, father and mother, are united. Thus, the Navajos believe that day (union of the earth and the sun) is equal to good, safety, life, and growth. Night represents the separation of the sun and the earth and is therefore equal to danger and potential evil. Pgs. 13-15
Though previously they had been content with color, First Man and First Woman, when they arrived in this world, wanted light as well, probably because the world was large and many places existed far from the mountains that had previously furnished illumination. After due consideration the First Pair made the sun of a large turquoise disk surrounded by red rain, lightning, and various kinds of snakes. It was heated with fire kindled by Black God's fire drill. From a piece of rock crystal the First Pair made the moon, bordering it with whiteshell, forked lightning, and sacred waters; it is slightly warmed by rock crystal's light.
Among the supernatural company there were two men, one old, one younger, who had risen unexpectedly from a spring. For a long time the two had merely accompanied the people, not performing any usual deeds, but endearing themselves to the travelers. They had planted the reed through which the beings of the fourth world escaped to the fifth. When First Man and First Woman had finished making the sun and decided to place it in East Wind's country, they appointed the young man, who until then had no name, as the sun-bearer. Moving to the east with the orb, he became Sun. They put the old man in charge of moon and gave him the name Moon-bearer or Moon.
One version of the creation myth shows concern to account for Sun's position among the spheres. After the disk had been lighted by dint of great effort, it became too hot and burned the people because the sky and earth were too close together. First Man and First Woman raised the orb a short distance, but it was still dangerously hot. They then made two poles of turquoise and two of whiteshell, which they gave to Those-who-stand-under-the-sky [Sky Pillars]. The latter pried the sky far enough from the earth to prevent burning, but the heat was insufferable. Finally, they decided to stretch the world and, by blowing hard, expanded it until the temperature was comfortable for the inhabitants.
Sun's permanent home, a major symbol of the Male Shooting Chant Sun's House branch, is at the eastern quarter of the sky. In it is a rattle that warns of his return. When it sounds the fourth time, Sun arrives home, takes off the sun, and hangs it on a peg on the wall - on earth the sun sets. Formerly he moved from east to west and back in a day, pausing at the center of the sky [noon] to eat his lunch. Since Changing Woman has lived in the west, he stops there and rests at evening. On dark, stormy days he stays at home and sends out his lightning, which may do mischief. Sun thus carries out his daily schedule.
His seasonal journey begins at the winter solstice; he climbs the southernmost sky pillar and, as the season advances, reaches the northernmost; he retraces the route, spending an equal number of days at each pole. On the rare occasions when he becomes angry he hides his light partly or completely; the earth experiences a solar eclipse which presages misfortune. The Navaho believed the influenza epidemic of 1918 was caused by the solar eclipse of June 8.
One of
Sun's cherished possessions, frequently pictured in the sandpaintings, is his
tobacco pouch. It is painted blue, with blue tapering flaps, a white border
of porcupine quills, and fringe of fawnhooves. The tubular pipe and the pipe
cleaner, kept in thepouch, are of turquoise. A black spot at the narrow end
of the pipe represents tobacco; a streak of white at the end represents a smoke;
a rock crystal lights the pipe.
Sun (djoxona'ai) (P),the deity, is to be differentiated from sun, a light which
he carries. Usually, especially in the Shooting Chant, Sun is designated by
the orb that gives life to the world. In one drypainting a person is drawn.
Sun is portrayed by numerous references to his ritualistic functions, specific
details about his appearance, life, social relationships, and temperament. His
symbol is a blue disk with eyes and mouth; it sometimes has horns. Surrounding
the disk are colored lines that represent powers rather than persons, as do
other appendages such as rain streamers, lightnings, and feathers. Sun is said
to be a large person, having a huge foot, known because he left tracks when
he visited Changing Woman.
In the Stephen version of creation, Sun and another young man arose in the first
world. Both were carried by First Woman to the uppermost world, where the more
powerful became Sun, the weaker, Moon. According to Matthews, two men, one old
and gray-haired, one young, appeared when the people had given up hope of escaping
from the fourth world, and created the reed through which they were delivered.
After the sun and moon had been made in the fifth world, as a great honor they
were given to these men to carry, as they had endeared themselves to the people.
Nevertheless, Sun and Moon exacted human lives as a reward for moving far enough
away from the earth not to burn things on it.
Two contrasting impressions of Sun are developed, one held by the young women
he seduced, one indicated by his behavior at home when confronted by his sky
wife and those who claimed to be his children. To women he was so handsome that
they dared not look at him; they bowed their heads in shame at their own inferiority.
He appeared to Changing Woman suspended some two feet above the ground on a
white horse with a white bridle. His clothing and moccasins were all white.
He did not ask women for what he wanted, he told them what to do, and, where
the details are described, as they are for Changing Woman, guardians were only
too glad to arrange for a romantic mating with Sun.
When, however, the results of these meetings, Sun's children, appeared in his
home, a different side of the love story, one more familiar to Earth People,
comes out. He had a permanent, acknowledged wife who was fat and jealous, and
many children. Knowing that The Twins were hidden in his house; that things
were not going too smoothly, he entered with blustering bravado and sometimes
brought evil with him, causing an eclipse on earth. When accused by his wife
of philandering, he simply did not answer.
Apparently so many children claimed him as their father that only the severest
tests could prove their legitimacy.
The Twins' visit brings out details of Sun's powers. His house with its furnishings
is described. Two Winds, Thunders, a pair of Snakes, and a pair of Bears guarded
it. The house was of the pueblo type, white at the east, blue at the south,
yellow at the west, and black at the north. In one version it is represented
as a pueblo house made of turquoise standing on the shore of the great ocean;
in another, it was said to be of whiteshell. Stephen describes rooms giving
off from the central room as showrooms for Sun's wealth: at the south a room
opened to exhibit his flocks; at the west were stores of blankets and at the
north farms and corn.
Impressive features of the house were pistonlike devices made of barbed flints,
which Father Berard translates 'trumpets'; the narrator said they were something
like phonograph horns. The objects are mentioned in numerous myths, but details
differ: Gray Eyes has the 'trumpets' of precious stones-turquoise at the east,
abalone at the south, white-shell at the west, redstone at the north-and JS
describes the houses of Sun, Moon, Black Wind, and Yellow Wind as of the same
materials in the same order. On the other hand, JS says the 'trumpets' are of
flint in sunwise circuit sequence: black, blue, white, yellow, and variegated
at the center. RP's description of the colors was black, blue, yellow, white,
whereas Slim Curley mentioned black, blue, yellow, and pink (serrated); Matthews'
and Curtis' informants say the pistons are of jewels-whiteshell, turquoise,
abalone; and jet.
In most versions, The Twins were hurled against the spikes; in RP's, they were
put into the machine to be ground to bits. In all cases they escaped, thereby
proving they were Sun's children.
At each side of the house, and composed of the same substances, were twelve
rattles, which sounded and gave forth lightning to warn of Sun's arrival. On
the walls were many pegs, upon which hung clothing and weapons; on a special
peg the sun was hung every night when Sun returned home.
One of Sun's cherished possessions, frequently pictured in the sandpaintings,
is his tobacco pouch. It is painted blue, with blue tapering flaps, a white
border of porcupine quills, and fringe of fawnhooves. The tubular pipe and the
pipe cleaner, kept in the pouch, are of turquoise. A black spot at the narrow
end of the pipe represents tobacco; a streak of white at the wide end represents
a smoke; a rock crystal lights the pipe.
Sun had a large number of other weapons, among them lightning arrows and flint
clubs and armor which The Twins obtained and adapted to ceremonial purposes
with the consent and instruction of their father.
Sun's wife, who kept his permanent home for him in the east, is identified as
Dawn Woman or Whiteshell Woman. She was jealous of Changing Woman and nagged
her husband about his behavior when he was away from home. Nevertheless, she
protected the children of the other women from her husband's wrath. In Gray
Eyes' version she harped on the time and care Sun bestowed upon the boys once
he had proved them his own. She even suggested that he drive them out with a
club, but Sun rebuked her severely and said that 'holy things were taking place.'
When he wanted the Earth Twins to restore the Sky son from the bite of Watersnake,
Sun apologized to them: "My wife sometimes uses poor sense when she gets
to talking."
The Sky wife and Changing Woman probably represent the same woman in different
guises. The affair with Changing Woman was permanent, since, after persuading
her to move to the perfect house in the west, Sun visited her nearly every day.
The famous gamblers were Sun's children. One had won two valuable shells from
the people of Blue House, a pueblo. Sun tried to get Gambler to give up the
shells, but he refused until Sun provided another young man (the son of xactc'e'oyan)
with the power to beat him.
Sun was vulnerable before his children. After The Twins had proved that he was
their father, he pleaded with them:
"My children, be careful not to ask too much of me. If I offer certain
things to you, be satisfied. Do not ask me for more that I can grant."
Nevertheless, the boys, prompted by their mentor, refused everything he mentioned
and asked for his most precious weapons, which they needed to kill the monsters.
When they had blurted out their demand, Sun, overwhelmed by their power, bowed
his head and wept. Eventually recovering himself, he explained: ". . .
he [Big Monster] was your older brother. Above all others I loved him. Be sure
you let me make the first move; then I shall not regret it."
Sun was even the father of Navaho enemies. Two of his pueblo daughters were
called Two-dawns-arrive. Their clothing consisted of four spirally arranged
layers of jewels. They were killed by the war party led by Monster Slayer and,
when Sun realized this, he rose red and trembling with sorrow and anger. When,
however, the jewels were offered to him, he calmed down and steadied himself
(Changing Woman, The Twins; Stephen ms.; 1930, p.93; Haile 1938b, PP. 91, 94,
99, 101, 105, 107; Goddard, pp.135, 140, 142, 154; Matthews 1902, p.213; 1897,
pp.74, 80, 83, 111, 132, 223, 239; Reichard, Shooting Chant ms.; 1939, PI. XVI-XIX;
Newcomb-Reichard, p.29, PI. XVII, XX; Stevenson 1886, pp.279-80).
The dimensions of a basket often exceed twelve to fourteen inches in diameter, and are usually a fraction more than three inches in depth. As a material, the twigs of sumac (ki, or chilchin) are used. A triple incision is made into the butt end of the twig, one part of which is held between the teeth while the other two are torn off with the fingers. Each part is then scraped clean of its bark with a knife of piece of tin, and the twigs to be dyed are laid aside in a heap, while the natural color of the twig furnishes the lighter shades of the designs. The dyes used are identical with those used for coloring wool, though, obviously, the mordant of boiled sumac leaves (ki) becomes superfluous. Cedar ashes supposedly add luster to the color and contribute to its adhesive quality. Black was obtained from surface coal (lejin), added to boiling sumac leaves (ki), or from a sulfurous rock (tsekho), slightly roasted (ilt'es) with pine gum or rosin (je'). When ready this was added to the boiling twigs giving them a lustrous black color similar to charcoal (t'esh nahalin). The root of juniper (gad behetl'ol) and mountain mahogany (tseesdasi behetlol) are boiled together, after which the ground bark of alder (kish yikago) is added to obtain a pale red, into which the twigs are immersed. At times the joint fir (tlo' azehi, Ephedra trifurcata) is substituted for alder bark, while cedar ashes add luster to the color.
Blue was frequently obtained with indigo, though a native blue is also prepared from a bluish clay or ocher called adishtl'ish, which is pulverized and mixed with water. Various shades of yellow are obtained with plants like Bigelovia (kiltsoi), the sneeze weed (naeeshja ilkhei, Helenium hoopesii), or the sorrel (jat'ini), the flowers of which are crumpled and boiled, with cedar ashes thrown in.
The dyeing done, the twigs, both colored and uncolored, are placed in water to render them moist and pliable. The butt ends of the first twigs are wound around a small stick known as the bottom of the basket, and secured there with yucca. An awl, made of deer-bone (bi' bikhetsin), is now used in sewing the basket for which an iron awl is found impractible. The sewing is always done sunrise, or from left to right, giving the basket the shape of a helical coil when finished. Much deftness and constant application are required to obtain a close weave which will hold water after a few minutes moistening, while baskets of inferior quality require moistening much longer. The designs are, of course, woven with the colored twigs. Yellow and blue, however, are now rarely used, and the usual pattern is a band three to six inches wide, woven with zigzag edges in black with a line of red running through the center, and set, as it were, on a light background made of the natural color of the twig. Or, this band is sometimes displaced by a set of four or more square figures woven at intervals, with a colored circle entwining the lower part of each square. The colors in this and the first pattern might be increased to two or more according to taste. Both patterns are designated as tsa', basket, without reference to their designs. Of the two extinct patterns, the tsa' netse', or coiled basket, presented a design of vari-colored coils following each other, while the tsa' hokhani, or basket of enclosures, presented a set of four triangles whose apices rested on the center or bottom of the basket. From the base of each of these triangles three squares, increasing in width, extended to the rim of the basket, giving the whole design a shape similar to the Maltese Cross. While no special rules were laid down with regard to the blending of colors, or the number of figures and circles in a design, it was essential that every design be broken or intersected by a line of uncolored twigs. In baskets with circular designs this was comparatively easy, but in the tsa' hokhani, or basket of enclosures, it was found necessary to intersect one set of squares in order to make this line quite apparent. It was therefore called qaatqin (qatqin), the way out, or chohot'i, the line leading out, and was prescribed lest the sewer, in bending all her energies and applications upon her work, enclose herself and thus lose her sight and mind. A parallel is found in overdoing weaving, singing, in amassing fortune, or in the opening left in the figure of the queue and bow. This intersection always runs in a radial line with the close of the seam on the imbricated rim of each basket, which in turn serves as a guide in the directional assignment, as the close always faces eastward. Hence the singer always looks or feels for the closed rim, designated as bida' astl'o, where the rim is woven (instead of sewed). The details involved in mending this rim, as well as the taboo placed upon the wearing of a basket as a headgear, the legends of the origin of the basket, and relative subjects, are beyond the scope of the present work. Suffice to say, that the basket is made exclusively for ceremonial use, and is an integral part of every rite, as none is holy (diyin) without it.
The strength and elasticity of the Navaho basket renders it serviceable as a drum, in other words, it is turned down and beaten with the drumstick. Should it be turned up again before the close of the ceremony, it indicates that the singer has suspended the continuation of the ceremony. The basket is also used as a receptacle for the rattles, prayersticks, stones, herbs, medicines, and like ceremonial paraphernalia. The ceremonial bath is administered in the basket. The mask of the Fringed Mouth (zahodolzhai) is supported on a basket from which the bottom has been cut out. At the marriage ceremony a new basket is required in which to serve the porridge. As it is frequently impossible for the couple to consume its contents, the basket is passed around to the visiting guests. Whosoever consumes the final portion of the porridge also takes possession of the basket, wherefore baskets thus obtained are designated as tsa' na'obani, or the basket which was won. It is otherwise referred to as danakhan bi'odani, the basket from which they eat the porridge. The so-called wedding basket is therefore unknown. In the early days baskets were woven of yucca braid. The pith of the yucca leaf was extracted and dyed in the same manner as sumac twigs today. It was also permissible to use the designs of the basket in the decoration of the uppers for moccasins made of yucca. The remnants of twigs used for baskets are employed in constructing the so called owls (naeshja). Pgs. 291-296
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 basket maker leaves an opening in the design. Pgs. 225-226
According to Washington Matthews the Navahoes have many legends with which baskets are connected. Here is a description of the first baby baskets ever made. Surely none but a poetic and imaginative people could ever have conceived so wonderful a basket. Their gods of war were born of two women, one fathered by the sun, the other by a waterfall, and when they were born they were placed in baby baskets both alike as follows: The foot-rests and the back battens were made of sunbeam, the hoods of rainbow, the side-strings of sheet lightning, and the lacing strings of zigzag lightning. One child they covered with the black cloud, and the other with the female rain.
Another form of this story says that the boy born first was wrapped in black cloud. A rainbow was used for the hood of his basket and studded with stars. The back of the frame was perihelion, with the bright spot at its bottom shining at the lowest point. Zigzag lightning was laid in each side and straight lightning down the middle in front. Niltsatlol (sunbeams shining on a distant rainstorm) formed the fringe in front where Indians now put strips of buckskin. The carry-straps were sunbeams. Pg. 23
In many Indian ceremonies baskets play a most important part. For nine days these ceremonies last, the first day being devoted to the building and dedication of a medicine hogan and a sweat house. Around this sweat house wands of turkey feathers were placed, which were brought hither in one of these sacred baskets; and when the sweating process was over the wands were collected, placed in the basket and removed to the medicine hogan. On the fourth day two of these baskets figured prominently in the ceremonies. A medicine basket containing amole root and water was placed in front of a circle made of sand and covered with pine boughs. A second basket contained water and a quantity of pine needles sufficiently thick to form a dry surface, and on the top of these needles a number of valuable necklaces of coral, turquoise and silver were placed. A square was formed on the edge of the basket with four of the turkey wands before mentioned. The song priest with rattle led several priests in singing. The invalid sat to the northeast of the circle, a breech cloth his only apparel. During the chanting an attendant made suds by macerating the amole and beating it up and down in the water. The basket remained in position; the man stooped over it, facing north; his position allowed the sunbeams which came through the fire opening to fall upon the suds. When the basket was a mass of white froth the attendant washed the suds from his hands by pouring water from a Paiuti basket water-bottle (Fig. 20) over them, after which the song priest came forward and with corn pollen drew a cross over the suds, which stood firm like the beaten whites of eggs, the arms of the cross pointing to the cardinal points. A circle of the pollen was then made around the edge of the suds." This crossing and circling of the basket of suds with the pollen is supposed to give them additional power in restoring the invalid to health. The invalid now knelt upon the pinion boughs in the center of the same circle. "A handful of the suds was placed on his bead. The basket was now placed near to him, and he bathed his head thoroughly ; the maker of the suds afterwards assisted him in bathing the entire body with the suds, and pieces of yucca were rubbed upon the body. The chant continued through the ceremony and closed just as the remainder of the suds was emptied by the attendant over the invalid's head. The song priest collected the four wands from the second basket, and an attendant gathered the necklaces; a second attendant placed the basket before the invalid, who was now sitting in the center of the circle, and the first attendant assisted him in bathing the entire body with this mixture; the body was quite covered with the pine needles, which had become very soft from soaking. The invalid then returned to his former position at the left of the song priest, and the pine needles of the yucca,or amole, together with the sands, were carried out and deposited at the foot of a pinion tree. The body of the invalid was dried by rubbing with meal." This taking out of the sands, pine needles, etc., used in the ceremony was supposed to take away so much of the disease that had been washed from the invalid.
Later in the day at another most elaborate ceremony baskets filled with food are placed in a circle around a fire in the medicine lodge. One of the priests takes a pinch of food from each basket, and places it in another basket. This is then prayed over, smoked over and thus made a powerful medicine by the song-priest. After the priest has gone through several performances with it, the invalid dips his three first fingers into the mixture, puts them in his mouth, and loudly sucks in the air. This is repeated four times. Then all the attendants do likewise, with a prayer for rain, good crops, health and riches. This food is afterwards dried by the chief medicine man, made into a powder, and is one of his most potent medicines. On the sixth day a great sand painting is made in the medicine lodge, and the invalid, as he enters, is required to take the sacred medicine basket, which is now filled with sacred meal, and sprinkle the painting with it. The chief figures of the painting were the goddesses of the rainbow, whose favor it was desired he should gain. Again and again in the ceremonies these sacred baskets are used, and on the ninth day in the concluding dance the invalid takes it full of sacred meal and sprinkles all the dancers. The full description of this wonderful series of ceremonies is found in the Eighth Annual Report of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology.
If the margin is worn through or torn, the basket is unfit for sacred use. The basket is one of the perquisites of the shaman when the rites are done; but he, in turn, must give it away, and must he careful never to eat out of it. Notwithstanding its sacred uses, food may be served in it by any other person than the shaman who has used it ceremonially. Fig. 29 shows the other form of Navaho sacred basket. It is also made of aromatic sumac, and is used in the rites to hold sacred meal. The crosses are said to represent clouds, heavy with rain, and would indicate that this basketry design may have had its origin in its use during ceremonies intended to bring the rain. Another important ceremony of the Navahoes in which this basket figures is that of marriage. Another interesting thing about this Navaho wedding basket it is well to notice, and that is that the finishing off of the last coil of the basketry always comes directly opposite to the Shipapu opening. This is for the purpose of enabling those who use the basket at night to determine where the Shipapu opening is, so that they may hold the basket in the proper ceremonial way, which requires that the Shipapu opening shall always be turned towards the East. This finishing off place on the rim of the basket is called by the Navahoes the a-tha-at-lo. According to Matthews, the sacred basket used in all these ceremonials has another important function to perform. It is used as a drum. He says: "In none of the ancient Navaho rites is a regular drum or tomtom employed. The inverted basket serves the purpose of one, and the way in which it is used for this simple object is rendered devious and difficult by ceremonious observances." Then over a page of description is required to tell how the shamans proceed when they "turn down the basket" to make a drum of it at the beginning of the songs, and "turn up the basket" at the close. Everything is done with elaborate ceremony. "There are songs for turning up and turning down the basket, and there are certain words in these songs at which the shaman prepares to turn up the basket by putting his hand under its eastern rim, and other words at which he does the turning. For four nights, when the basket is turned down, the eastern part is laid on the outstretched blanket first, and it is inverted toward the west. On the fifth night it is inverted in the opposite direction. When it is turned up, it is always lifted first at the eastern edge. As it is raised an imaginary something is blown toward the east, in the direction of the smoke-hole of the lodge, and when it is completely turned up hands are waved in the same direction, to drive out the evil influences which the sacred songs have collected and imprisoned under the basket."
Even in the making of this sacred basket many ceremonial requirements must be heeded. In forming the helical coil, the fabricator must always put the butt end of the twig toward the center of the basket and the tip end toward the periphery, in accordance with the ceremonial laws governing the disposition of butts and tips. Pgs. 33-37
By 1973 there were over 100 basket weavers on and off the reservation, and 125 potters in Chinle Agency alone. At least in part, commercialization stimulated the revival of these crafts. . . . . In the Oljeto area, basketweavers began producing baskets with yei figures woven into their designs. While such baskets could not be used in religious ceremonies, they found a ready market with non-Indians. Pg. 252
The Navajo wedding basket also reflects many values of traditional life and so often contains all six sacred mountains, including Huerfano and Gobernador Knob, though the size of the basket may determine the number of mountains in the design. The center spot in the basket represents the beginning of this world, where the Navajo people emerged from a reed. This is where the spirit of the basket lives. The white part around the center is the earth, the black symbolizing the sacred mountains upon which are found water bowls. Above them are clouds of different colors. The white and black ones represent the making of rain. A red section next to the mountains stands for the sun's rays that make things grow. Pg. 19
The basket for the emetic in the first War Ceremony was of crystal.
An indispensable requirement of a chant is the basket; at least one is believed
to represent whiteshell. All the precious stones are mythical basket materials.
Frequently the basket is of one stone with a contrasting rim - whiteshell rimmed
with turquoise or the reverse; abalone rimmed with redstone or the reverse,
jet with an abalone rim or the reverse.
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The fibers of baskets used to be of yucca. Baskets are not used much secularly but have a prescribed place in ceremonies.
They are often called "wedding" baskets because one holds the ceremonial
mush which the bride and groom eat alternatingly. The function of the basket
in curing ceremonies is perhaps greater, but not as well known. When preparations
for a ceremony are made, one of the questions asked is, "How many baskets
must be provided?" They become consequently an important item of trade.
Their manufacture is surrounded with such a number of taboos difficult to keep
that Navajo rarely make them, preferring to trade them from their neighbors,
the Ute and Paiute, who have not the prescribed taboos.
Another form of purification is the yucca bath. The "one-sung-over"
bathes from head to foot in the yucca suds which fill a ceremonial basket. He
is careful to stand within the limits of a platform made of sand from the cornfield
which has been carefully spread. On it special places are designated for the
basket and for the patient's knees and hands, for he kneels to get his hair
in the basket. The water which drains off of him must fall on the sand. When
all is over, this may be gathered up like a blotter and the evils may be carried
out and dissipated.
An indispensable requirement of a chant is the basket; at least one is believed to represent whiteshell. All the precious stones are mythical basket materials. Frequently the basket is of one stone with a contrasting rim - whiteshell rimmed with turquoise or the reverse; abalone rimmed with redstone or the reverse, jet with an abalone rim or the reverse.
The basket for the emetic in the first War Ceremony was of crystal.
Basket (tsa') has already been extensively treated. There are, however, certain points that have not been stressed; one concerns the number of baskets necessary to a ceremony-the discussions often imply that there is only one (Ch. 14). A part of the agreement between chanter and sponsor is the provision of the baskets, as important as the payment to the singer. When the chant is over, some baskets are presented to the chanter or some other participant in the ceremony; borrowed baskets are returned to the owner, who may be the chanter or almost anyone who can provide them. Certain taboos, some very strict, attach to the basket. Nowadays it has become an article of trade, procurable at a trading post. Baskets so bought may be considered neutral, having no restrictions and no evil attached to them; the ceremony gives them blessing value.
Because of the 'drawing power' of the earth, sacred objects should not touch the ground; consequently, ceremonial properties-War Ceremony rattlestick, prayersticks, hoops, bundle equipment-must be placed on or in something; it is often a basket, especially for assembled bundle equipment.
I had to provide five baskets for the Shooting Chant Prayerstick branch. I paid for four and borrowed one from RP, the chanter. One was used for the layout of branch symbol prayersticks during their preparation and for the subsequent bundle equipment layout, one for the emetic, one for the drum, one for the bath, and one for the ceremonial mush. After the bath the chanter put his bundle layout in the basket that had been used for the bath. Every ceremony undoubtedly has similar requirements; some have more, some fewer.
The basket represents jewels and therefore the potentiality of wealth, with its provision for proper offerings. Baskets are often thought of as consisting of one of the precious stones, rimmed with a contrasting jewel (Ch. 12); such baskets are prescribed for the Hail Chant. In addition, one of Heat and one of Mirage (aragonite) are required. The War Ceremony emetic was prepared and the unseasoned mush was served in a rock-crystal basket. Since the mush was inexhaustible, there is a relation between the rock-crystal basket and the yellow bowl.
The Flint Chant baskets represent jewels; the plants put into them ceremonially became meat which, with other plants eaten by rare game, became gruel (Kluckhohn-Wyman, pp. 44, 60; Matthews 1894b, pp. 202-8; 1897, p. 211, 5n; Haile 1938b, pp. 33, 105, 207, 243; 1943a, pp.15, 184, 190; Goddard, pp. 142, 164; Reichard 1944d, p.49; Shooting Chant ms.; Tschopik, pp. 257-62).
Basket drum was described by Matthews and Kluckhohn-Wyman (Matthews 1894b; 1902, pp.59-63, 163, 165; Kluckhohn-Wyman, p.44; Haile 1938b, pp.33, 243).
