Navajo Baskets
Changing Woman
16"
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Learning the art of basket weaving from the family that is famous for the Navajo basket renaissance is certainly an advantage for Elsie Stone Holiday, and she has added talent and dedication to that advantage, with remarkable results.
Elsie knew how to weave rugs before she married, so weaving baskets was fairly easy for her to master. She learned from such renowned artists as Sally and Lorraine Black, Rose Esplain, and her mother-in-law, Betty White Holiday. Then she simply made the art her own by using her natural intuitive creativity.
The mother of six children, Elsie has only been weaving for about eleven years, since her children became old enough to allow her the time. Now they watch her, and sometimes help with the non-weaving tasks connected to the work, learning as they do so.
Elsie gathers the sumac strips used for her weaving along waterways in Hanksville or Moab, Utah, and Farmington, New Mexico. She says the reeds grow well along irrigation ditches, and are most pliable in the spring and fall months. She gathers about a six-month supply and then takes them home and readies them for weaving by stripping off the bark and splitting the reeds. Then Elsie does something few other weavers care to do- she takes the split reed and pulls it through a hole in a can, to strip away any excess, making the strips uniform size. It is this, and her propensity for a uniform, tight weave, that makes Elsie's baskets premium quality. If she notices any irregularities, Elsie picks out her weaving and begins again. She truly cares about making her baskets as perfect as possible.
Elsie's technique is not her only fine point, she also has a wonderful imagination for new design ideas. Elsie is modest when praised for her work and eager for any suggestions. She has an enthusiastic desire to please those who buy her baskets.
Elsie's father is a practicing medicine man, but it is her mother-in-law who has helped her with her weaving by performing ceremonies for her. A crystal gazer, Betty knows much about traditional Navajo medicine. She sprinkled corn pollen on a spider web and placed it on Elsie's head, all the while saying a prayer. The spider web represents the weaving done by spider woman, an important personage in Navajo mythology. Elsie confirms the validity of the ceremony by proclaiming how much it has helped her in her weaving.
Through the birth of Changing Woman, the emergence into the Fourth and final World becomes complete. With the addition of Changing Woman's beneficent creative power, which is stronger than that of any other deity, life is arranged permanently, order is achieved over the previous worlds of chaos. The Fourth World, the one we live in today, is where the new race of beings were born out of Changing Woman's Mother Earth's body. This new race is known as Dineh, The People, The Navajo. Pg. 22
At the end of four days Changing Woman went to the top of Ch'oolii and met the Sun, who asked her to come away and make a home for him in the West. She agreed on the condition that he would build her a house as beautiful as the one he had in the East, which her sons had told her about. "I want it built floating on the western water," she said, "away from the shore so that in the future, when people increase, they will not annoy me with too many visits. I want all sorts of gems white shell, turquoise, haliotis, jet, soapstone, agate, and redstone planted around my house, so that they will grow and increase. Then I shall be lonely over there and shall want something to do, for my sons and my sister will not go with me. Give me animals to take along. Do all this for me and I shall go with you to the West." He promised all these things to her, and he made elk, buffalo, deer, long-tail deer, mountain sheep, jackrabbits and prairie dogs to go with her. When she started for her new home some of the divine people went with her to help her drive her animals, which were already numerous and increasing daily. At Black Mountain the buffaloes broke from the herd and ran to the East; they never returned and are in the East still. Sometime later the elks went to the East and they never returned. From time to time a few of the antelope, deer and other animals of the herd left and wandered East. After a while Changing Woman arrived at the great water in the West and went to dwell in her floating house beyond the shore. Here she still lives, and here the Sun visits her, when his journey is done, every day that he crosses the sky. Pgs. 127, 128
The mother of the Twins is Changing Woman, one of the most fascinating and appealing of the diyin dine'e. A lthough she is often paired (as a contrastive complement) with Sun, she is never drawn, unless the representation of Earth in sandpaintings can be said to symbolize her. With her powers of senescence and rejuvenation, she symbolizes the annual cycle of the earth, which renews itself in spring and gradually dies with the coming of winter, only to begin anew the pattern of seasonal rebirth the following spring. Pg. 134
A house had been built for her, designed in various colors on the outside, and inside a ladder had been provided (like a Pueblo house). at this ladder a rattle had been set which would shake to let it be known that people had entered. White shell had been spread out and the floor space was white shell. In various places her footprints of white shell had been placed. And along the shore (of the Pacific Ocean) white shell (food) had been washed on the banks with turquoise, abalone, and jet. The purpose of this was that she would live by the strength of this food. and too a white shell cornstalk and a turquoise cornstalk were set at her entrance and were made as uprights of the entrance. Their purpose was to make all things known to her. Pollen flowed down on the one to the east and on the one to the west. So at the tip of the one a bluebird regularly gave its call, at the tip of the other a cornbeetle regularly called. One would call regularly in the morning, the other at noon, one in the evening, another at midnight, and one at dawn. They had been made to do just that.
When she
was sixteen years old, they had the Maiden Ceremony for her called Hozhonigi,
or Making-the-Path-of-Life-Beautiful. They dressed her in white shell shoes,
fine deer-skin robes and the finest sort of shell and turquoise ornaments. Her
hair was parted in the middle and hung down tied at the back half way to the
ends. They invited Kay-des-tizhi, the Man-Wrapped-in-a-Rainbow, and he came
and brought many different shell dishes and food, and also he brought her a
baby lamb; and all the gods came; also the Yeh. The ceremony began with a race
between the Salt Woman and the girl before sunrise every morning for four days.
On the night of the fourth day, they sang the Creation Song, which has twenty-four
verses. Etsay-Hasteen sang it first and the others after him, and they sang
until daybreak. Etsay-Hasteen also had a song he sang while the girl and woman
raced before sunrise, which is called Sheyash-estsa-sohni, or Young-Woman's-Race.
They told the Earth Spirit about this ceremony and he sent the white and red
paint with which they painted her cheeks red, and they painted two small white
stripes on each cheek. They sang of painting the maiden, Zhan-sheya-yanez-nuchee.
Begochiddy told the people that he wanted them to paint their faces in the same
way. Those who begin the painting of their faces at the top and paint down to
the chin signify that they are asking for rain; those who paint from the chin
up to the forehead are asking for anything that grows. So they painted their
faces, and brought many robes and piled them in a heap on top of one another
at the door of the Mirage Hogahn where the girl lived.
Then she lay face down flat on this pile of robes and her hair covered her whole
body. Estsa-assun stroked her hair and face and body to make her fine and strong.
After that they gave her the lamb which Kay-des-tizhi had brought her, and she
held it to her breast as she lay on the pile of blankets. Begochiddy asked the
people what name they were going to give this girl but they all stood silent.
And while they watched her she grew older and older until she was a bent old
woman, and even as they watched her, she grew a little younger again, and before
their eyes she changed four times from youth to age, but at the fourth change
she remained about twenty years old, and she was very beautiful. Begochiddy
named her White Shell Woman, Yolthkai-estsan, and the rest of the people called
her by that name. From this time onward, she would always be able to grow old
or young as she desired and so she was called also Estsan-ah-tlehay, or Changing
Woman. Then she rose from the pile of robes and gave the lamb back to Kay-des-tizhi,
the Man-wrapped-in-a-Rainbow. And the people turned their backs to her, and
she went to each one in turn and took their heads in her hands and lifted them
a little to thank them for their gifts. Begochiddy gave her a big basket full
of flowers and she gave the flowers to the people who put them in their hair,
and all went away again very happy and thankful. In the basket of flowers which
she had passed around, there were a lot of poison weeds named Johnjilway, Toh-owhetso,
Asgai-binee, Ajah-tohee, but no one received them; they only received the good
flowers and the poison weeds were taken back into the hogahn. Pgs. 76-77
The person for whom the ceremony is given sits south of it (sandpainting) and
sings, holding what I believe to be the symbol of Estsan-ah-tlehay, the Changing
Woman, who never appears in any sandpainting, though she is very holy. This
symbolic object is an ear of corn, wreathed in strings of turquoise, white shell
and other beads. . . . Pg. 166
Hasteen Yazzi, a Medicine Man who live son the eastern side of the reservation
gave the following mythic origin of the sandpaintings used in his ceremony of
the Blessing Chant:
"The story begins with the White Shell Woman. The earth people had the
chants and prayers belonging to the Hozhonji, but because they had no paintings
to guide them they constantly made mistakes. The White Shell Woman told them
that she would help them and have a `sing' over herself and teach them the paintings.
First she took them to a field of white corn. She made her foot prints in yellow
pollen and then seated herself beneath a cornstalk. This stalk of corn she had
planted in the center of the cornfield. Here she said all the chants and prayers
and when she had finished, a bluebird came and perched upon the flower tassel
of the corn and sang. In this way she knew that she had done everything perfectly.
Throughout the night the White Shell Woman prayed and the next day she made
the second painting of her house of the clouds. Again she made the house of
the clouds and the seat and place for the medicine basket. This done, she took
the seat and placed a medicine basket full of suds in front of her and taking
off her clothes, washed and bathed her body and hair. She finished by chanting
and prayers and then told the earth people that she had now taught them the
paintings and to use them hereafter for blessings, crops, more children, or
anything of that kind." Pgs. 171-172
There is
yet another way to show how the events of creation are paradigmatic for Navajo
lifeways. This centers on the importance in Navajo culture of the possession
of a mountain-soil bundle. After the world was created, but before it was made
suitable for habitation by Navajo people, a girl child was created. Her parents
are said to be the beautiful youth and maiden, Long Life Boy and Happiness Girl.
This child had the remarkable ability to grow older through time, to reach old
age, and to repeat the cycle of life again and again. Because of this she was
called Changing Woman. Changing Woman was given a medicine bundle containing
objects and powers that created the world. The bundle was the source of her
own existence, since her parents were the personification of the powers it held.
Changing Woman was also taught the creation rituals. With the bundle and the
Blessingway songs and prayers Changing Woman at once holds and represents the
power of creation. She personifies the perfect beauty secured in the creation.
She is identified with the newly created earth. She is the source and sustenance
of all life. She is time. She is the mother of the Navajo people. After her
birth Changing Woman used her creative powers to make the earth ready and suitable
for the Navajo people. She created the plants and animals and cleared the world
of the monsters who had come to threaten human life. Having made the earth a
suitable place, she created the Navajo people. Her final act before departing
from the Navajo world was to pass the knowledge of Blessingway on to the Navajo
people. In doing so, she charged them with the responsibility to maintain the
world in its state of perfect beauty by the use of the Blessingway. She warned
them that the Blessingway songs should never be forgotten, for Navajo life depends
upon them.
Changing Woman is wholly benevolent and of such beauty that she is rarely represented
in any visual form in Navajo ceremonies. But she did snow the Navajo how to
make a bundle modeled on hers; this was the origin of the mountain-soil bundle.
It is made with soil ritually collected from the four sacred mountains which
stand in the quarters of the Navajo world. The soil from each mountain is wrapped
in buckskin. Maintaining the directional orientations, these four bags are placed
around stone representations of Long Life Boy and Happiness Girl. A buckskin
is wrapped around all this and the bundle is secured. The mountain-soil bundle
is the nuclear ritual object in Blessingway. Many Navajo families keep bundles
as guides to the Navajo way of life and as sources of long life and happiness
for the family. The bundle holds the powers of creation. It is the source of
life and the paragon of perfect beauty established by Blessingway. Pgs. 22,
23
Great Water of the sunset. In the creation myth to which he referred it says: "When all the Indian tribes had been established on this present earth, the Sun said to Changing Woman, `Your work here is finished; you must now go to the place of the sunset, where, far out over the great waters, I have built a house for you. I will send powerful guards with you the Hail, the Thunder, the Lightning, and the Water Ruler. The Wind, the Rain, the Clouds, and the Light have helped me make a beautiful house for you, and I wish you to live where I can meet you in the evening.' This house was built on a beautiful island called `Land that Floats on the Water.' In it were four rooms on each of its four floors, for which there were ladders of black jet, white shell, turquoise, and abalone on the four sides. On top of the house there was a multicolored thunderbird, larger than any that has ever been see, who was the chief of all thunderbirds. On his back he carried small thunderbirds of all the ceremonial colors. In the center of this palace was a large room with an altar decorated with all the colors of every flower that had bloomed and faded on earth, and with the spirits of all the birds. The main entrance was toward the east and was guarded by a white-shell rattle which gave the alarm whenever a visitor approached. To this place Changing Woman came to live forever and meet the Sun in the evenings." Pgs. 203-204
Changing
Woman (often referred to with the suffix "-mah") is also called Earth
Woman and White Shell Woman. She is the source of life, the giver of sustenance
and destiny to all beings. As the Earth goes through seasonal changes - from
the growth of spring and summer to the dying of fall and the coming of winter
- so Changing Woman can attain old age, die, and be reborn. She is the symbol
of the Female Rains and the presence behind the beauty of lakes, rivers, and
mountains.
In the beginning, Changing Woman was found as a baby by First Man; she was reared
by First Man and First Woman. She matured quickly, and at the time of her first
menstruation a puberty rite was held to which all creatures came. Each creature
offered groups of songs to bring Earth Surface People into being and to enable
Changing Woman to create this new race and give them the power of regeneration.
This is the rite that is still held for Navajo girls entering puberty. Dressed
in white shell and molded into the most beautiful of maidens, Changing Woman
was given to the Sun. Navajo girls, in their puberty rites, are symbolically
made into Changing Woman and are therefore wellsprings of beauty and reproduction.
Concerning Changing Woman, the Sun made the following decree: "She will
attend to her children and provide their food. Everywhere I go over the Earth,
she will have charge of female rain. I myself will control male rain. She will
be in control of vegetation everywhere for the benefit of Earth People."
The symbol of the mother as the giver of life is most important. Out of the
womb of the Earth, the Holy People emerged; from the womb of Changing Woman
the ancestors of the Navajos came; from the womb of the Navajo woman the Navajo
race comes. All relationships are traced through the womb of the mother. The
father brings about conception, but it is through the mother that he is related
to the children. Brothers and sisters are related to each other through their
having been borne in the same womb. There is a word in Navajo, not found in
English, which means "those who came from the same womb" and which
places the emphasis of parentage on the mother rather than on the father. Pgs.
12-13
The reason that Whiteshell Woman and Turquoise Woman are doubled for Changing Woman is aesthetic as well as ritualistic.
Changing
Woman, so named because she renews her youth as the seasons progress, was created
and trained to bring forth twin sons, who freed the earth from the monsters.
Old, gray-haired, wrinkled, and bent in the winter, she gradually transforms
herself to a young and beautiful woman. Restoration to youth is the pattern
of the earth, something for which the Navajo lives, for he reasons that what
happens to the earth may also happen to him. Regaining strength after disease
due to contact with strangers, attack by evil or offended powers, or loss of
ritualistic purity is interpreted as rejuvenation like that of Mother Earth.
Vegatation is considered the `dress' of the earth and the mountains, a gift
bestowed at creation, a function of Changing Woman's annual rejuvenation.
Changing Woman ('asdza' na'dlehe') (P) is the most fascinating of many appealing
characters conjured up by the Navajo imagination. Sun is attractive, his character
obvious and clear. Changing Woman is Woman with a sphinxlike quality. No matter
how much we know about her the total is a great question mark. She is the mystery
of reproduction, of life springing from nothing, of the last hope of the world,
a riddle perpetually solved and perennially springing up anew, literally expressed
in Navajo: ". . . here the one who is named Changing Woman, the one who
is named Whiteshell Woman, here her name is pretty close to the [real] names
of every one of the girls."
Although Sun and Moon are represented graphically by the figures of their type
symbols, Changing Woman is perhaps only verbally described, unless the delineation
of the Earth in sandpainting represents her. Her own words seem to be evidence
that Changing Woman and Earth are one, and her rejuvenation suggests it: "There
will be people, so I cannot remain here and have myself tramped upon."
Sun's decree concerning Whiteshell Woman, another name for Changing Woman, also
contributes to my opinion: "Whiteshell Woman will go where I live. . .
. She will attend to her children and provide their food. Everywhere I go over
the earth she will have charge of female rain. I myself will control male rain.
She will be in control of vegetation everywhere for the benefit of Earth People."
Mirage Talking God and xactc'e'oyan decorated her with all kinds of herbage
and flowers wherever they grew.
In sandpainting Earth is set off against Sky, the two making a pair, whereas
Changing Woman is really a contrast to Sun. In myth Earth and Sky are primordial,
having given rise to Coyote and Badger.
The identification of Changing Woman with Whiteshell Woman is frequently indicated
and sometimes they seem to he the same as Turquoise Woman. On the other hand,
stories such as that of the Eagle Chant are completely against such an interpretation,
for the two `jewel women' are the wives of Monster Slayer, a marriage the Navajo
would hardly sanction, since the morals of Changing Woman are beyond criticism;
nowhere is she remotely connected with incest. The stories of Earth and Sky,
of Changing Woman's transformation from corn or whiteshell, and of her supernatural
origin as a baby on the sacred mountain tc'ol'i'i must be considered separately
and as unrelated until more material shows a connection between them. I therefore
describe White-shell Woman and Turquoise Woman as individuals, as well as counterparts
of Changing Woman (Sapir-Hoijer, p. 295; Reichard, Shooting Chant ms.; Goddard,
pp. 156-7; Newcomb-Reichard, Fig. 5, p. 37; Matthews 1897, p. 71; Haile 1943a,
p. 16; Newcomb 1940b, pp. 50-77; cp. Kluckhohn-Leighton, p. 150).
One story
represents Changing Woman as the first and ideal baby, found under supernatural
conditions.
First Man reported to his wife that for four days a dark rain cloud had hovered
over tc'ol'i'i, the central sacred mountain; finally, the mountain was covered
with rain, an indication that supernatural events were taking place. With song
he approached the place and he heard a baby cry. He discovered the baby in a
cradle consisting of sky messengers-two short rainbows lay longitudinally under
the baby; cross-wise at its chest and feet were red sunrays. A curved rainbow
arched over the face. Wrapped in a dark cloud, the infant was covered with dark,
blue, yellow, and white clouds, held in by side lacings of zigzag lightning
with a sunbeam laced through them.
First Man did not know what to do with the baby and took it home to First Woman
who, with the aid of Mirage Talking God, reared it.
The eyes of the newly found babe were black as charcoal and there was no blemish
(impurity) anywhere on its body. First Man and Talking God agreed that it should
be fed on collected pollen moistened with game broth and the dew of beautiful
flowers. According to Matthews, Salt Woman said she wanted the child and, presumably,
it was given to her. It is thought that since there was no one to nurse it,
Sun fed it on pollen. Nourished on such supernatural fare, it grew remarkably
fast, developing with miraculous speed.
Changing Woman's adolescence ceremony was the first and most elaborate ever
performed, and set a precedent for the future. Ceremonially dressed in whiteshell,
the young girl was named-there was an argument about the names Changing Woman
and Whiteshell Woman; both were retained-and she was modeled by kneading and
pressing; thus she became the most beautiful maiden that ever existed. The entire
effort was to make her pleasing to Sun; a cake was baked for his benefit and
for him she ran several times to the east. At the appearance of her second menses
there was a ceremony at which she raced for Moon's benefit. A rainbow, undoubtedly
Sun's messenger, indicating approval of the ceremony, spoke to her: "This
is truly Whiteshell Woman" (Goddard, pp. 148ff.; Matthews 1897, p.230;
Haile 1938b, pp.85-9). Since from this point on, various tales agree about the
essential features of Changing Woman's life and attainment of power, we may
pause for a moment to consider a different story of her origin.
The people had been wandering and so many had been devoured by the monsters
that only four, an old man and woman and their two children, a young man and
woman, were left. They found a small image of a woman fashioned in turquoise.
Talking God appeared to the people, bidding them to come to the top of tc'ol'i'i
in four days. There they found an assembly of the gods. The Navajo had brought
the turquoise image with them, and White Body, the counterpart of Talking God,
had one nearly like it made of whiteshell. Talking God and xactc'e'oyan transformed
the turquoise image into Changing Woman, the whiteshell image into Whiteshell
Woman. At the same time they transformed an ear of white corn into White-corn-boy
and an ear of yellow corn into Yellow-corn-girl. Then the company dispersed,
the gods taking the boy and girl with them and leaving Changing Woman and Whiteshell
Woman alone on the mountain.
The stories include Changing Woman's attempt to have intercourse by exposing
herself to sunlight and water. People did not yet understand sexual relations,
but the girl who had just reached puberty in the one case, the two maidens in
the other, had sexual desire. After Changing Woman had had intercourse with
Sun, First Woman warned her of the danger in going away from home alone. She
answered, "I am not entirely without knowledge," indicating that Changing
Woman was endowed with supernatural power which did not depend upon instruction.
Going to gather seeds, she met the white creature on a white horse with white
trappings who turned out to be Sun. He instructed her to meet him in an especially
prepared brush shelter. First Man built this for her and Sun visited her four
successive nights, after which she became pregnant (Ch. 3; Goddard, p. 153;
Haile 1938b, p. 91; Matthews 1897, pp. 105, 231; Reichard, Shooting Chant ms.).
Until the world had been cleared of monsters, Changing Woman's home was at tco'l'i'i.
Numerous references agree that living was hard and required a great deal of
labor, subsistence consisting primarily of seeds, berries, and small rodents.
The story after the first departure of The Twins concerns Changing Woman slightly.
For some time she evidently pursued an ordinary woman's life, keeping the home
to which the boys returned to report, to rest, and to get new strength and information
about the next adventures.
After they had killed the worst of the monsters, Monster Slayer and Child-of-the-water
made a second visit to Sun because there were still numerous lesser evils which
had not been overcome. Sun gave them five hoops-black, blue, yellow, white,
and varicolored-to each of which a large knife of the same color was attached;
in addition, he gave them four great hailstones colored like the first four
hoops, telling them to ask their mother what to do with them. Changing Woman,
protesting that she had never been visited by Sun but had seen him only at a
great distance, said she would try to do something with the hoops. By means
of the hoops, hailstones, and knives she caused a fierce storm calculated to
find every evil and danger no matter how well hidden. She said that now all
evil was conquered; when Wind whispered the name of Old Age into Monster Slayer's
ear, she would answer no question about it, even when asked the fourth time.
The episode led to the tolerance of the powers 'somewhere between good and evil'
(Ch. 5; cp. Gold, Hunger, Old Age, Poverty; Matthews 1897, pp. 130ff.; Reichard,
Shooting Chant ms.).
Although she had borne the children destined to kill the monsters, which feats
made them the chief war gods with power against all foreign dangers, Changing
Woman stood for peace.
When the gods assembled to consider the war between Dark Thunder and Winter
Thunder, Changing Woman was the first to enter. As soon as the subject was broached,
she said decisively, "I did not bear these children to go to war, but to
rid the world of monsters." Thereupon Monster Slayer stood up and said,
"I shall not go to war with you. My mother is not in favor." Child-of-the-water
refused to go for the same reason.
RP explained that the Holy People were children of Changing Woman in an existence
subsequent to the one in which she bore The Twins (Huckel ms.). JS put it: "Changing
Woman had Monster Slayer and Child-of-the-water for the monster story (na'ye''e'),
Talking God and xactc'e'oyan for the blessing story (xojo'dji), and the Holy
People for the chants-according-to-holiness (xata'lkedji)."
Changing Woman participates in many events, but it is impossible to get them
into temporal sequence; indeed, it is not necessary to do so, since she and
her decrees are immortal. A secondary theme, the removal of Changing Woman to
the west, is almost as important as the primary.
The Twins had overcome the major obstacles to human life upon the earth, and
Sun, in reallocating many of the gods, particularly wanted Changing Woman to
live in the west, where he had provided a luxurious dwelling for her. Numerous
attempts were made at persuasion, the house being described as unusually beautiful,
a duplicate of Sun's house at the east. A horse made of a jewel substance belonged
to each of the respective directions; there was a jet horse in the center at
the root of a perfect cornstalk, which had twelve ears on each side. On the
cornstalk's top sat a black songbird. Food was to consist of pollens, the precious
stones, and sacred waters. As a final inducement, eternal youth and the road
of perfection (sa'a na'yai bike xojo'n) were offered, but even these did not
affect Changing Woman.
The gift of power over rain and vegetation, the enumeration of the most desirable
garments and ornaments all failed to move her, as did even the disrespectful
words of Monster Slayer's counterpart, Reared-in-the-earth, when he told her
she had no sense. When, finally, war power-flashing, rattling flint armor and
threatening words-was invoked, she consented.
The leader of the party spoke to her gently and told her that she was frustrating
her own plan, for she herself had suggested the assignment of the Holy People
to different places. She put up a plaintive plea, although she had actually
given in: "Perhaps there is no one there and I may be lonesome." She
was assured that the Holy Sky People would often meet at her place, and final
directions were given for the removal.
The establishment of Changing Woman in the west is an important feature of the
myth of the Male Shooting Chant Holy, more briefly referred to in other versions.
In Matthews' version, Sun asks her consent as a reward for his help to The Twins.
Her control over her powerful husband and sons is demonstrated by her indignation
at the thought that the boys could make a promise for her or that they should
think that anything Sun had done would benefit her. In this version Changing
Woman described the house she would accept in the west. She wanted it to be
on an island reasonably far from shore, so that numerous people would not bother
her. She would have the animals for company. Sun granted all requests.
Changing Woman's power over reproduction and birth extends to all that exists
on the earth. Becoming lonely in the home in the west, she created new people
and directed them how to reach their relatives in the east.
Many of Changing Woman's gifts are rites or ceremonies, not fully enumerated
here. Her decrees are kind. She gave man many songs, created the horse, decreed
fertility and sterility. She was present at Rainboy's chant, where she made
suds for his bath and laid out his clothes, and at another time brought in ceremonial
food. Her presence at an assembly of the gods is pointed out with special respect;
other gods bow their heads when she comes in.
The simple rite in which the chanter leads the patient onto the sandpainting
of the last day of the Shooting Chant represents the perpetual rejuvenation
of Changing Woman.
The Eagle Chant story includes an incident of creation. Changing Woman was living
on Whirling Mountain, where her five hogans have since become rock. She rubbed
epidermis from under her breast and created two women, Whiteshell Woman and
Turquoise Woman, who became the wives of Monster Slayer.
RP's Bead Chant story explains that Changing Woman was the mother of five daughters,
one of whom was Bead Woman, whose son was Scavenger, hero of the chant.
According to the fragment of a tale noted by Stevenson, the people, upon arriving
in this, the upper world, lacked light.
They sent for two women, Changing Woman and Whiteshell Woman, who lived at Ute
Mountain. Changing Woman (and here the text reads 'asdza'nadle'he xa'ctce'oltohi,
'Changing Woman, the Shooting God') had white beads in her right breast and
turquoise in her left. From these the sun was created, but the people could
not raise it far enough from the earth to prevent scorching, until helped by
First Man and First Woman, who miraculously appeared.
Another of Stevenson's tales makes Changing Woman and her sister, Whiteshell
Woman, the creators of shells. Changing Woman was said to have a beard under
her right arm, and Whiteshell Woman a ball under her left, from which they made
beads. The Twins had eyes of shell with which they could see far-distant objects
(cp. Ch. 3; Monster Slayer; Reichard 1939, p. 26; Newcomb-Reichard, pp. 32-4;
Matthews 1897, pp. 133, 150; Goddard, pp. 157, 164; Newcomb 1940b; Stevenson,
pp. 275, 279; Stephen 1889, p. 135).
Earth Woman (naxa'asdza'n, naxo'osdza'n, naxo'sdza'n) (H) is addressed in formulas
and prayers, the word probably being another name for Earth or Changing Woman.
According to RS, Earth Woman is the same as sa'a na'yai. JS says she is the
mother of Changing Woman and that Earth Woman and Sky Man brought about creation
by smoking tobacco. Earth Woman's spirit represents growth (Wheel-wright 1942,
p. 63; Reichard 1944d, pp. 87, 101).
Whiteshell Woman ('asdza' yo'lgai) (P) and Turquoise Woman have been considered
in the characterization of Changing Woman. There can be no doubt that in some
situations the three names stand for the same individual (tla'h and JS say they
are the same). However, in some cases Whiteshell Woman seems to be distinct.
According to Stevenson's fragment of the story of The Twins, Whiteshell Woman
was the sister of Changing Woman, who The Twins believed was their mother, although
she was really their mother's sister. When they journeyed to the east, they
found the house of Sun's wife, which is of whiteshell. It is impossible to tell
whether this wife was the same woman who, living on the earth, advised them
to go to Sun, or whether there are more than one of a kind. However this may
be, she was angry at Sun when he returned at night, and questioned him about
his behavior on earth, an attitude stereotyped for Sun's sky wife.
After the creation from the stone images, Whiteshell Woman lived with Changing
Woman (who, because she was created at the same time, was her sister) on Whirling
Mountain, and was the mother of the younger 'Twin,' Child-of-the-water. Whiteshell
Woman figured in the life of the children only in a minor capacity. One day,
after the children had been discovered and Big Monster had been deceived by
Changing Woman, Whiteshell Woman went to the top of a hill to look about and
saw a number of monsters hurrying in the direction of their home. She reported
to her sister, who raised such a storm that the monsters had to turn back. When
Changing Woman was ready to depart for the west, Whiteshell Woman chose to go
to La Plata Mountain. For five days she wandered about, consumed with loneliness,
until Talking God and the other gods took pity upon her and created more people
from corn. Perhaps to indicate that this is a secondary or subsidiary creation,
the text continues:
"No songs were sung and no prayers were uttered during the rites, which
were all performed in one day."
Whiteshell Woman took the young man and woman to her hogan, which has since
become a little hill. She married Corn Boy to Heat Girl and Corn Girl to Mirage
Boy, who started new lines of descent. Their story helps to explain the origin
of the Navaho clans. Sometime later Talking God came to Whiteshell Woman and
spoke secretly to her. She slept with a little girl who was her favorite. After
the second visit of Talking God, she said to the child, "I am going to
leave you. The gods of tseyi' have sent for me, but I shall not forget your
people. I shall often come to watch over them and be near them. Tell them this
when they waken."
The next morning the people looked for her in vain. They believed she had gone
to tseyi' where she stayed for a time before she went to La Plata Mountain to
dwell forever in the house of whiteshell that had been prepared for her. The
little girl had a dream in which Whiteshell Woman came to her and said, "My
grandchild, I am going to La Plata to dwell. I would take you with me for I
love you, were it not that your parents would mourn for you. But look always
for me in the gentle rain when it comes near your dwelling, for I will be in
it."
In the Eagle Chant, Whiteshell Woman is the sister of Turquoise Woman, both
created by Changing Woman from epidermis rubbed from under her breast. Theirs,
like the story of all these primordial women, is a tale of wandering and hiding
to escape monsters, of a quest for food meagerly rewarded, and of incredible
loneliness. Eventually Talking God and xactc'e'oyan gave them corn. Monster
Slayer visited their camp and taught them the use of game, eventually taking
them to his home as his wives. He showed them how to cleanse themselves ritualistically
and gave them beautiful clothes. He provided them with long hair and eyebrows,
bright eyes, and smiling mouths.
The rivals of the wives were Corn Maidens, wily pueblo girls who were really
a decoy to entice Monster Slayer into the home of wizards who had control of
the game and knew the secrets of eagle catching. When he had overcome these
old men and learned their powers, he returned to his Navaho wives, the girls
of the mountain. Later, they all started forth on interminable wanderings to
place eagles in the Navaho country and to make the Eagle Chant a success by
repeatedly performing it. As a part of it, these women were instrumental in
originating the rites of building the ceremonial hogan. They finally went to
one of the sacred mountains and Monster Slayer went to his old home.
The Corn Maidens, who with their urban pueblo tricks won Monster Slayer away
from Whiteshell Woman and Turquoise Woman, looked exactly like them, and it
was only by their bold manners that they could be distinguished from the Navaho
girls. Here, then, is an instance of sub-identification: Changing Woman made
two girls who were close models of herself and they were for a long time superseded
by two other girls sent by Deer Owner who were their replicas (Stevenson, p.
279; Matthews 1897, pp. 105, 108, 135-6, 139, Newcomb 1940b).
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).
