A study of Navajo symbolism - Free History Ebooks

ANIMALS AND TRACKSSYMBOLS of the animals depicted in sandpaintings of various ceremonies can be dividedinto three classes. First, we list the animals,insects, worms, and other earth dwellerswho contributed knowledge, power, or materialgifts to the prophets while they werestudying and collecting the prayers, ritual,and symbolism that combine to create eventhe lesser ceremonies. Second, we have theanimals whose flesh could, by permission ofthe gods, be used for food. Third are theanimals, insects, and worms whose influenceis always evil.The bear is drawn both as an earth and asa sky symbol. In the first he is a stocky figurewith blunt head, humped shoulders, small ears,thick legs, grizzly mane, feet ending in claws,center bar of red and blue that turns backabove his rump, and a red symbol of his heartfrom which a double line of red and bluetravels up his neck and out through his noseto end in a couple of white dots. This representshis blood stream and his breath.When made as a symbol of the Bear constellation,the body is the same, but the legsand nose end in the "kosescheen" or cloudsymbol (fig. 58), and he carries five red featherson his back. His symbol is considered verypowerful as are all humpback figures. Theshape of the back signifies great carryingpower. He is most frequently placed as aguard or as a "scare" medium, but in severalsand paintings belonging to the MountainChant, his symbol is employed as the maintheme. His color is generally black or blue,but when several are used in one sketch thevtake the colors of the four sacred mountains.I have never been present at a painting wherethe bear was personified or given a humanmask. The Navajo never eat the flesh of abear or of his cousin, the woodchuck.The buffalo (fig. 59) is another large animalwhose size and strength are symbolized inmany paintings, especially those of the ShootingChant. His rump and shoulders form twohumps, and he has a stiff mane and shorttasseledtail. His legs bend inward and endin split hooves. A yellow line outlines thelower part of the symbol from nose to tail,to indicate the pollen from the tall grass andother vegetation through which he runs.In other versions his symbol is personifiedwith a striped or a brown mask, representingmist or dust. In this form he is given armswith hands which carry the whirling circle(fig. 60), but he still has the hind legs, hooves,and tail of a buffalo, also the divided hump.The arc which guards a painting containingbuffalo symbols is usually the many-coloredmirage, because at a distance the moving herdswere almost lost in dust and mist.The Navajo have no legends or ancientrecipes to indicate they ever ate buffalo meat.They did send hunting parties into buffalocountry, after holding the correct huntingceremonies, to kill buffalo. These men mayhave eaten the meat while there, and thusacquired much strength and magic power, butthe parts of the buffalo they brought homewere those the medicine man desired for usein ceremonies: the horns, the tails, as muchof the hide from the shoulders as they couldcarry, the hearts which would be dried andground into powder, the skin from the nose,and several other portions which representedbuffalo magic.The porcupine (fig. 61) is another humpbackedsymbol that is used in the MountainChant and in the Feather Chant. His magicis connected with his unusual armor — thethick pads on the soles of his feet, his sharpteeth, and horny nose. He taught the Navajoto eat the buds of the spruce tree for healing,and how to make armor from hides glued togetherwith pihon pitch. Porcupine meat isnever used as food.The mountain lion (fig. 62), the leopard,the lynx, the wildcat, and badger are symbolizedeither as animals or as personages whowear animal masks. In the Bead Chant theyare shown bearing gifts of medicinal herbs.In other ceremonies they are depicted as messengersor informers. The wolf is in this samecategory. None of these are food animals.Water animals such as the mink, the otter,the beaver (fig. 33), and the muskrat are some-