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Born in the Shiprock, New Mexico, Alicia Nelson was raised in a traditional Navajo home, but there were some things she would be surprised to learn when she met Navajos from other areas of the reservation.
"I graduated from Red Mesa High School," Alicia says, "and attended one year at the College of Eastern Utah, San Juan Campus." That is when she became acquainted with Jonathan Holiday. "When I met Jonathan, his family was well known for their basket weaving. I never even knew Navajos made baskets. I thought the Hopi tribe made baskets, and we made Navajo rugs and sand paintings, because that's what my family does. Jonathan's family laughed at me because I didn't know Navajos made baskets."
It's not really surprising that Alicia didn't know Navajos made baskets; for several generations the art of basket weaving among the Navajos was nearly extinct. Mary Holiday Black learned to weave as a child and was one of the few who continued the practice. She taught her eleven children- and anyone else who was interested to weave, preserving and enhancing the tribal custom.
When Alicia married Jonathan, his family was eager to teach her the tribal craft. Alicia had learned how to weave Navajo rugs when she was a young girl, and the transition to weaving baskets was not entirely difficult for her. "I like the way baskets come out," she comments. "You have to really, really concentrate on rugs. I have fun with baskets."
Three years ago, when she first began, baskets were not so easy. Her first ones were woven too tight and pulled into a bowl shape, but she was still able to sell them. she watched her in-laws carefully as they worked. "When I watched them weave and saw how they moved their hands, it made me want to do the same thing," Alicia says.
On her fourth try, Alicia was able to make a simple traditional basket. She quickly produced ten duplicates of that basket. Then she and her husband were out on Douglas Mesa, the family homeland, tending sheep. Jonathan left to go with the sheep. Knowing it would be a few days before he returned, and being by herself, Alicia decided to try making a design basket. She looked out the window and studied the landscape. She thought about the beauties of nature and what flower she thought was most beautiful.
When Jonathan returned she showed him her finished "Rose Basket." "Don't try it again," Jonathan advised her. "Stick with regular baskets until you get better."
"I'm going to keep on doing this," Alicia stubbornly told him. She smiles at the memory when she tells how she showed the basket to Jonathan's mother. "Mary was impressed with it," Alicia recalls, "She liked the piece." Mary endeared herself to Alicia and Alicia says, "Now I go to Mary and ask her if I can make (a particular) design before I do any basket weaving."
She is referring to her pictorial baskets that feature Navajo symbols. Some symbols are sacred and should not be replicated. Alicia depends on Mary's judgment as to what she should and shouldn't do. She also depends on traditional Navajo ceremonies to protect her from witchcraft. "I have a medicine man or lady give a simple ceremony after finishing a basket or two," she says.
Having woven baskets for three years, Alicia has a system. She has a book about basket weaving which she says she reads from time to time. She draws a design on paper and then hangs it on the wall so she can study it and think about it. Her husband, also a weaver, may give her suggestions.
"From the beginning I think about it," Alicia admits. "Then I talk to it too." As she works on it she says she thinks about the Navajo's past, and what the baskets mean to the people. "When my hands start hurting (from weaving), I tell them not to ache like this."
"I want to weave the perfect basket," Alicia says. "Each one I do, I try to make perfect."
Accordingly, today this ceremony is conducted in cases of swooning, or weakness and indisposition attributed to the sight of blood, or of a violent death of man or beast, especially if this has occurred to a pregnant woman, or even to a husband or father during the period of her pregnancy. While no special season seems to be prescribed, the ceremony is most frequently conducted in the summer and the fall of the year. The singers performing it are known as the anaji, enemy, or war singers, as in addition to this ceremony they were also in possession of all the rites prescribed for the warpath and raids. The special features of the war dance are the carrying of the rattlestick, the dance of the Navaho girls, and the blackening of the patient. The rattle consists of a juniper stick about a yard long, or the length of a cord held at arm's length from the tip of the left hand to the right nipple. This stick is held upright in the left hand the fist resting on the knee, while with the fingernail of the right thumb incisions are made in zigzag form to represent a bow. As custom varies, some of the old people supervising this function insist that the opening of the bow, or the end where the bowstring is slipped over the notch, be made at the upper right hand corner, while others require the opening in the opposite, or lower right hand corner. Similarly, the incision made on the rear of the stick, to represent the queue, varies with the opening made for the bow. Such as make the opening of the bow in the upper right hand corner make that of the queue in the lower left hand corner, while the opening in the lower right hand corner of the bow requires a similar opening in the upper left hand corner of the queue. - This done the singer applies a mixture of animal tissue to the stick and blackens it with the ashes of burnt weeds. He then places a bundle of weeds at the point of the stick, together with a yellow tail feather of a turkey. He crosses the base of the bundle with two eagle feathers, and adds a buckskin thong previously spliced in four and knotted with the small toes of deer, to dangle at its side. The whole is then wrapped and secured to the stick with sacred buckskin. Neighbors and friends then trim the stick with hair cords, which at present take the form of vari-colored calico bands. These are tied to the stick between the bundle of weeds and the grip, in which manner it is carried forth by the patient to a place usually some ten and more miles distant, where the ceremony is continued. In some instances the scalp of a slain American, Mexican, Ute or Comanche is substituted for the bundle of weeds, though at present such scalps are in possession of very few persons. - The carrying of the rattlestick from one locality to another is always participated in by a throng of interested visitors, and usually proceeds in a frantic rush. Arriving at its destination the hair cords are removed from the shaft and distributed among the residents of that locality, who anxiously apply for them, and frequently weave them into saddle blankets and small rugs. Toward evening an ordinary cooking pot is converted into a drum by throwing a few pebbles into it and covering the top with a piece of goat or buckskin, which is secured around the rim with a cord or thong. This improvised drum is continuously beaten with a small stick while the maidens select a partner from the throng of visitors to dance with. Married women are excluded from this dance, though it is permissible to select a partner from among the married men. Frequently young men pay for the exclusive privilege of dancing with a sweetheart or favorite on each of the three nights.
The dancers perform in a circle, though no special order is prescribed. Each maiden, standing behind her partner, grasps his side and completes a circle or two with him, reversing the circle occasionally to avoid dizziness. As all participants hum and sing while in action the whole ceremony has been popularly designated by this feature, or as the nda', or ajinda', they all hum moving, the war dance, or rather the girls' dance (squaw dance). After completing these motions several times the girl releases her partner and , unless otherwise stipulated, charges a fee of five to twenty-five cents for the privilege granted, or an equal amount for the privilege of being released. The dance is continued until about midnight when the party disperses to retire. On the following morning the rattle is again carried to some other distant place and is borne, not by the patient, but by one acquainted with the prayers required for its final deposit, who, thereafter, takes charge of the rattle until the close of the ceremony. In the evening of this day the nda' or girls' dance, is repeated as on the preceding night, and is in turn followed on the third morning by the bearing of the rattle to the place selected for the close of the ceremony. Here the patient is blackened about noon. At noon of the third day the body of the patient is painted black. Juniper branchlets, with yarrow, meadow rue and pine needles are previously pulverized, then thrown into a bowl of water, and stirred. One of the assistants now takes a dab of this mixture between his fingers and applies it in turn against the soles, the knees, legs, chest, back, shoulders, mouth and head of the patient, who then sips of the mixture before bathing his whole body with it. Thereupon, the assistant chews some pennyroyal and foxtail grass, and holding his hands to the sun sputters the liquid over them. He then proceeds to press the body of the patient, who is seated, turning it first one way, then another, and repeating this four times. This done his body is rubbed with sheep tallow and the usual mixture of animal tissues, after which the ashes of the above mentioned burnt weeds are spread over the entire body, while the patient's face is painted red with a mixture of red clay and grease, with stripes of black drawn across the cheeks and the entire chin. He is now made to step, or rather rest his feet, in dirt dug up by a gopher, which is held in a blanket before him, putting first his left then the right foot into it. The charm, consisting of a tail feather of the roadrunner wrapped with eagle down feathers, is now tied to his hair. Wristlets, too, made of braided leaves of slender yucca, are tied to his wrists, while buckskin saddlebags, studded with white beads, serve as shoulder bands, crossing each shoulder to the hips. Finally, the bill of a crow is secured to the palm of the right hand, and is used in scratching the head, since the fingers are not to be used in this manner. The patient remains rigged in these trimmings throughout the afternoon and evening, and partakes of a plain gruel, after previously saluting the sun by inhaling the sun's breath, that is, accompanying inhalation with a gesture toward the sun. As usual, the day and ceremony is closed with the dance of the girls, after which the singer removes the trimmings from the patient, as also that of the rattle, instructing the bearer of it to securely deposit the shaft. This he does amid prayer, and a secluded crevice or ledge of rock is selected for deposition.
In addition to the above it was learned that the war dance is conducted for dispelling foreign enemies only, whether they be real or imaginary. If, accordingly, in fancy one is pursued by foreigners, such as Americans, Comanches, Utes, Pueblo, Cliffdwellers, or others, and is indisposed on this account, he calls upon the war singers to destroy these enemies. This accounts, too, for the custom of coveting a tuft of hair, a piece of a legging, a whole or the part of a scalp, a piece of bone or clothing belonging to an Apache, Ute, or other foreigner, or purchasing them when seen at a curio store. When these objects are in possession of a friend no time and labor is spared to acquire portions of them if desired for immediate use. A journey of this kind is termed going on the warpath, and the parts of the enemy required, or designated as desirable for the rattle stick, are usually indicated by the astrologers and divinators called upon previously to trace the source of illness. If successfully obtained the bone, hair, rag, or other trophy, is tied to the horse's tail to avoid contamination, and is hurried without delay to its destination. Otherwise, too, such trophies are held at some distance from one's person while in transportation, being tied to a stick and placed at some distance from the camp, while at home they are hidden in some distant hide-spot for future use. This is a remnant of an old war custom whereby the moist scalp was carried in a similar manner, and contamination, or rather pursuit, by the spirit of the slain, avoided by means of the blackening, or war dance, held soon after a skirmish. The medicine pouch of the war singers were, therefore, frequently provided with such trophies as hair, finger-nails and finger-tips of slain enemies, - or the collar-bone of the enemy, for the purpose of conducting their war rites. At present the trophy is inserted with the bundle of weeds, and on the final day of the ceremony, when the blackening of the patient has taken place, they are carried out some distance from the place of final gathering and deposited upon the ground by the singer. The throng surrounds the trophy at a respectful distance, while the singer takes a pinch of ashes and sprinkles the trophy with it, exhorting the visitors not to gaze upon it while this is being done. When the patient, too, has sprinkled ashes upon it two of the visitors rush up and discharge their guns (formerly their arrows) upon the trophy. They then sing the praises of the patient in slaying or running the enemy down. This is concluded in the evening, just before dark, by a general celebration of victory. The rattle bearer, and other invited singers of the war rite, indulge for about half an hour in yelling and rushing at each other with firebrands, a turn which is soon taken up by all men and boys present. The rest of the night is spent in dancing and merriment.
The blackening is sometimes performed independently of the other features of the war dance, and may be done in the open, or in the hogan, or even in a modern house. For dispelling native enemies, such as the influence of the monsters of the legends, and innumerable witches, another war dance, - blackening against witchcraft, is conducted. In the description of the masks mention has been made of the bow and queue as emblematic of the clothes of the Slayer of Monsters and his brother. For similar traditional reasons the openings of the bow and queue are left open on the rattlestick. As the Slayer of Monsters or Enemies and his brother, the Water child, are inseparable in the destruction of enemies, the symbol of bow and queue are both added to the rattlestick as indicating the power of these two gods. Pgs. 366-376
The younger of the Twin Brothers, the sons of the Man Raised in the Mountain, also traveled over the country as had his elder brother. He was a great hunter and he always carried his bow and arrows. One day, on one of his journeys near Dzil na'odili, he came upon a hogan. He left his bow and arrows on the outside of the dwelling and entered. There sat a beautiful maiden; she was lovely to see. She was making a pretty dress of buckskin and decorating it with porcupine quills. After the youth entered the home he heard someone coming. In came an old man with his bow and arrows in his hand. He said: "My daughter is narrow-minded, son-in-law. My daughter is all alone and she needs male help." Then again the young man heard someone coming. It was the girl's mother. The old man called out to his wife and said: "Your son-in-law is present. Now don't be foolish." So she ran away from the hogan.
Now the old man's name was Tloth ilth ine', One Who Looks at a Fish. He spoke to his son-in-law: "We are a poor family. We have nothing. Let us go out and see what we can find." So just before dawn they went out and they traveled to where people lived near Pueblo Bonito. They sat down, weapons in hand. The old man said: "I will sit here. You go farther on and sit there." It was not long before two beautiful maidens walked toward them. They wore beautiful dresses and had many beads around their necks and earrings in their ears. The maidens did not stop by the youth, but went on to the old man. The old man killed the two girls and took their scalps, their clothing, and their beads. Then he returned to the home. On the second morning the old man said: "This may be your lucky day, my son-in-law. Let us go out again." They went out as before. The old man sat down and the young man went further on. Again two beautiful maidens came toward them, and again they passed the young man and went on to the old man who killed them and took their belongings.
When they returned the young wife took her husband aside and said: "I will tell you what my father uses. He has a strong medicine. My father has the medicine of the enemies, the medicine from the Giant and the medicine from the Bear. You have nothing. He has the enemy's spinal cord, a short piece, dried, and the enemy's heel cords; and he has the unborn baby. He has all these for his medicine. Go and kill an antelope and also find a gopher heavy with young." The young man went out and did as his wife told him. She took the cord from the antelope, and the unborn from the gopher, and she made them look the same as her father's medicine. She exchanged them for the real medicine which she took home to her husband. Then she taught him the chants which her father used, and the prayers also. The next morning the old man said: "Son-in-law, let us go out again. It may be your luck this time." The young man said: "Since this is to be my luck I will sit down first and you must go farther on." The young man chanted as his wife had taught him. Then came two beautiful maidens with turquoise beads, earrings, and dresses of beautiful goods. They passed the old man by and came toward him. He killed them and took their scalps, their beads, and their clothes. Now the old man felt bad because he had lost all of the turquoise. He did not know that his medicine had been changed, and that he carried the imitation medicine.
On the fourth morning again the young man sat down first and the old man went farther on. The young man chanted, and again came two beautiful maidens. They passed by the old man and they came to the young man, who killed them and took their scalps, beads, and clothing. Then the old man came to him and said: "My son-in-law, by what medicine do you do these things?" And the young man answered: "I have nothing." The old man drew his body away from the young man and said: "Without a chant and medicine it is impossible. You alone cannot draw anyone." Now the old man's real medicine which the young man had in his possession was the same medicine with which the old man Bear had drawn the Great Warrior of Aztec and killed him. He took this medicine out and showed it to the old man who examined it closely. He sent for his own medicine. When it was brought to him he laid the articles side by side and said: "They truly look alike." Then he shook them in his hands and took the real medicine himself, but the young man said: "Mine is the oldest because I had the using of the last power. I had the medicine on me." So the young man recovered the real medicine.
After this the young man went after all the enemies he wished to capture. Those that he drew, he killed. Soon his home was full of turquoise, beads, and beautiful goods. But after a while the young man and his wife sickened. The cords of their legs drew up, and their heads ached as did their stomachs. They chanted all the chants that they knew but none helped them. Only Hasjel na' yei nazone, the Black Yei, knew of the proper medicine. Hasjel na'yei nazone was to be the shaman. The friends of the young man took the skin of a deer not killed by a weapon to the Yei, but he would not look at it. Then the young man sent two buckskins, but the Yei would not accept them. He sent three, four, but Hasjel na' yei nazone would not look at them. Then the same person who told them that Hasjel na' yei nazone would act as shaman came and said: "My children, did you use him?" The young man and his wife both said: "We sent gifts but he would not look at them. We do not understand." So then Dotso, the All-Wise Fly (and here given as the old Man of the Mountain) showed them how to make the medicine stick to take to Hasjel na' yei nazone. They did this, and they took it and presented it to the Yei. Then he asked: "Who thought of the medicine stick?" They said: "We did, ourselves." He said: "No. Only Dotso could have thought of it. He is the only one who knows. Nevertheless I will come tomorrow." They begged him to come that day, but he said: "No. Nothing shall happen. I will come tomorrow."
Then he showed them how to make the jar drum, and what to use. He said that he had his own jar drum and the stick with which to pound it. The next day he started out. He camped quite a way from the hogan of the young man and his wife, but they could see his fire. Different ones went to him and asked him to come at once; but to them all he said: "No. I will come tomorrow, in the morning." Now by this time the two were very ill and they needed the Yei immediately. But he kept saying: "I will come tomorrow. Nothing shall happen to them." Then he told the friends of the young man to kill a young buck for him and for his friends. The buck must have two points on his horns. The next morning he arrived, but not before he stopped and demanded his meat. They brought the deer, which they had killed, to him and there came buzzards, crows, coyotes, wolves, and all the creatures who had eaten the bodies of the enemies. They ate the deer which had been killed. After this Hasjel na' yei nazone entered the dwelling of the sick couple. And their friends stood outside and beat the drum and chanted and called out the names of the sick ones, as also the name of Hasjel na' yei nazone. Then others came out and placed beautiful goods, symbolic of the spoils of the enemy, over their shoulders. And inside the dwelling the Yei burned the barks of the pinon and the willow trees, the bladder pod and the sage, and the sheepgrass and the radishgrass. These they burned while Hasjel na' yei nazone chanted and sprinkled the ashes of these plants over the persons of the two sick ones.
Many chants were sung here and during the decorating of the medicine stick. Today the chants are those of the Two Brothers, the twin sons of the Man Who Was Formed in the Earth or Mountain. From the Elder Brother come the Mountain Chant and Dance (the First Mountain Chant comes from way back in the beginning, the Bear being the last to add his medicine to the old ceremony) and the Snake Chant and Dance. From the Younger Brother comes the Summer or Scalp or Squaw Dance and its chants. From Hasjelti came the Yei'bickai. Hasjelti is the god or Yei of the East or Dawn; Hasjohon is the Yei of the West and Twilight. Yolgai esdzan, the White Bead Woman is Nature or the Mother goddess. These three are the chief actors. The one who holds the jar drum must stand with her eyes and mouth turned away from the drummer. In the first Dance the Clack Cloud was used to cover the jar. Today they use a goatskin. Today, also, they use all kinds and colors of yarns around the sticks carried in the Summer Dance. They used the seeds of the columbine and the seeds of the sweet-smelling grass. They were blown on the medicine stick after it was finished.
Today the Dance is as follows: On the first day the medicine stick is taken to the person representing Hasjel na' yei nazone. They sing and dance all of that night. The second day the person representing Hasjel na' yei nazone goes only part of the way. They sing and dance at the place all of that night. The morning of the third day they come near and make camp not far from the hogan of the sick person. Food is them taken to the party, the gift of the sick person. After they have eaten they go to the hogan. On the fourth and last day, while the visiting party stand outside chanting, the women relatives of the sick person go out and distribute presents such as calico, ribbon, and candy. This is an old custom. (The gifts are given in the spirit of our Christmas gifts.) To continue the story " at dawn Hasjelti came and sang three chants. There are no words, only the tune. Then came Hash chel bai, the Yei known as the clown, also called Tqo'nenili, the Water Sprinkler. He was the last to sing.
Yo ho, yo ho, ye hi,
Ha' he he, he'a,
He'ya ena.
That was the last chant, and after he had finished singing everyone went his way. Today the Summer Dance is performed in this manner but without the chants. The ceremony takes 3 days. It is held a second time over a person. Now after the first ceremony was held over the young man and his wife they recovered. The young man went out again and killed more enemies. After a time again they both sickened. Dotso came and told the young man that when he went out and killed the enemy the blood of the enemy was upon him when he returned to his wife. That accounted for her illness as well as his. Therefore the ceremony was held a second time. This second time Hasjel na' yei nazone told them they must use the small branch of the cedar, but it must not have two points at the end. On the east side of the branch, he who cut it must so mark it: there must be drawn a bow with an opening, and a scalp on the opposite side. Then the stick must be painted red. It must then be blackened with the same medicine which they burned. They must blow on it the seeds of the sweet-smelling grass and the columbine. Yarn or cotton cloth or red flannel must be tied to the stick, and these must hang down like rain. This medicine stick must be taken to Hasjel na' yei nazone.
But this second time, on the last day, the White Bead Woman came and made the medicine. The herbs she used would heal the patient. She gave a beverage to the young man to drink, but the wife took her medicine outside the dwelling. The Crow stood between them. The Crow represented the third person, and is always shown between a man and his wife. Now after the young man drank the medicine he took a little string from the yucca and drew it away from the tip of his heel. Then he laid it down. He took another and another and drew them, separately, away from all parts of his body. When a medicine man draws the yucca string away from the patient, the Crow, outside, calls, and another medicine man, sitting near where a scalp has been buried, puts ashes over it four times. All this was added to the second ceremony. Today a wife goes through the same ceremony with her husband. The sick man remains in the hogan. Then they throw over her shoulders the robes, buckskins, belts, long strips of velvet, calico, red flannel, ancient squaw dresses, etc. These are the gifts of the friends and family of the husband. She takes them and gives them to her relatives one by one. She keeps nothing; everything is given to her relatives. Pgs. 138-143
The Indah ceremony had begun in a hogan a hundred miles away in an obscure canyon. The medicine men sprinkled corn pollen on everyone present as a from of blessing. Then with a stone knife they cut a wand of juniper stick a yard long, painted its stem black with charcoal mixed in grease, and with an appropriate ceremony tied to its upper end long hanks of multicolor yarn, a bough of spruce, a bag of war paint, feathers of turkey and western horned owl, stems of chil-dilgessie (which has yellow flowers), and a bag of corn and larkspur pollen.
Next, a medicine man crushed seasonal flowers in cold water. While the medicine man sang, the Queen drank a little from the concoction; then the others, seated in a circle, also drank. the balance of the flower juice was sprinkled over everyone present.
Accompanied by a cortege of horseback riders and others in wagons, one of the older men of the tribe carried the wand for some twenty-five miles to a hogan belonging to a friend of the patient's family. They had to reach there before sundown, as prescribed by ancient custom. As the wand passed by the camps and hogans on its journey, all the men who saw it leaped into their saddles and followed in its wake. When the cortege arrived, each member painted his face with war paint. That night the chorus of men practiced their spiritual songs outdoors, after which they spent most of the night singing humorous songs in competition. They ate and they sang. After midnight there was even a small Squaw Dance around a huge fire in the open.
The second day, early in the morning, the wand was given to the Queen of the Celebration. She was the unmarried daughter of the host, chosen for this honor because of her fine character. Accompanied by a large crowd, she carried it on horseback to the patient's hogan, some thirty miles farther away in Shonto Canyon. Here they all camped. Further preparations were made by the medicine men. Here again the chorus, now grown in size, practiced its singing, ending up in even greater hilarity and a bigger Squaw Dance, since by this time news of the ceremonies had reached hogans farther up in the canyons and mesas of the reservation, and hundreds of people had come to join in the celebration.
Wand in hand, our Queen, riding a spirited horse, left very early on the third morning in the company of a guard of "warriors" who raced twenty-five miles across the desert and swooped down in an "attack" on the medicine hogan. The medicine hogan was in the field of our celebration and we had been waiting on the spot to witness the "attack." The air was crisp. The sun was about to show its face in the east. The horizon was lit wit subdued tones of crimson intermingled with indefinable hues of gray and purple. The Navajos were in a state of great excitement over the "war" that was developing. We ourselves were full of wonderment over the mysterious movements of the men and women who were barely visible in the darkness that was about to give way to the glowing rays of the rising sun.
When the Queen and her retinue of brave riders were still half a mile away, other "warriors," whipping their animals, advanced in a flash to meet them. There followed a wild sham battle between the two bands. They rode around and around in wide circles, shouting, yelling, and gesticulating to the beat of tom-toms. The people assembled in our field, supposedly taken by surprise, scurried hither and yon looking for places of protection, but returned to the field prepared for a desperate stand against the invaders. In this engagement the braves snatched hats and other trophies from each other. Their battle cries could be heard for miles. Many who had guns fired them into the air. The sham war over, with the invaders having won the battle, victor and victim all rode in together, followed by a long train of wagons from Shonto, loaded with women and children. Shouting and yelling, the victors rode four times around the medicine hogan where the patient was placed under the care of the medicine men. in order to make peace, the host- that is, the patient's family - was obliged to throw out gifts and expensive presents to the victors. At last peace was declared, the snatched articles were returned, and the cortege assembled around the medicine hogan and sang for half an hour.
About this time Navajo Dick kindly led me to the medicine hogan. Whites are not welcome here, and as we approached the entrance, we were greeted by many stern faces. Seeing a camera in my hand, they did not let me in. However, after Navajo Dick had pleaded for me, they gave me permission to photograph the hundreds of warriors who had just staged the sham battle and conquered the enemy spirit which had entered the patient's body. In the meantime the medicine men had transferred the evil spirit from the patient to a human scalp which had been taken from an enemy of the Navajos, nowadays very likely from a Hopi or white man's burial ground, since killing and scalping is, of course, no longer practiced. If a scalp is not available, a lock of hair, a piece of bone, rag, or any trophy taken from an enemy tribe may be used in its place. I followed them as the scalp containing the evil spirit was carried by young boys, blackened by war paint to make them immune to the evil spirit, to a spot two hundred yards east of the hogan and there buried in the sand. At noon the woman patient's entire body was blackened (under blankets) by woman assistants in the medicine hogan. The black paint was made from burnt juniper twigs, yarrow, pine needles, and meadow rue. Her husband was also similarly painted black. The patient was instructed to step into a gopher hole which had been spaded up onto a blanket. She was decorated with feathers and wristlets, and the bill of a crow was place in the palm of her right hand. Then a masked medicine man, his body painted with designs to represent the Slayer of Alien Gods, Naye-nezhani, led her and her husband to the place where the enemy's scalp was buried. They were followed by a small group of men and women who had a little black paint on their faces only. I also followed them watching attentively.
One of the men, an old warrior, shot the scalp three times with a rifle, killing the evil spirit. In earlier times a bow and arrow had been used for this purpose. This was a remnant of the ancient ceremony designed to absolve the Navajo warriors of contamination by the ghosts of enemies they had slain. Since disease was the modern enemy of the Navajos, they had adapted the old ritual to rid the patient of the evil spirit which had been contaminating her body. After the evil spirit had been killed, the patient and medicine man ran back to the hogan, where the patient was instructed to face the east and inhale the sun's breath by gathering the rays into the palms of her hands. This took place on the last day; and since it was the climax, everyone was eager to participate in the games and races. Even the women entered the contests with a great deal of zeal. And that evening they had the biggest fire of all for the Squaw Dance and the fiercest competition in the singing. The crowd stayed up all night, feasting until sunrise. Pgs. 66-68
The leading symbol of the War Ceremony, called 'aya l, 'aya ltsi n, though having an etiology similar to that of the bundle talking prayersticks, is more like a feathered stick than a rattle. It is not used like a rattle, but rather like a flag or standard. Father Berard, relying on the literal translation of its name, has called it 'rattlestick.' The chant symbols of the Shooting Chant are permanent properties of the chanter's bundle; the rattlestick is made for each performance of the War Ceremony. The bundle talking prayersticks are topped with fluffy feathers; feathers are a part of the rattlestick, but are almost hidden by large twigs and yarn, particularly red yard.
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.
__
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).
