A study of Navajo symbolism - Free History Ebooks

6 4 A STUDY OF NAVAJO SYMBOLISMa. The ladder or cane coming from theearth, which ended all revelations. 16b. The dark circle is the hole of emergence.c. The yellow represents the pollen usedto pray over the hole of emergence. "Eventoday, we (the informant and author) couldgo and pray over this and give pollen for ourgood health."39. Black Owl. He is a god and is a fortuneteller who tells you what will happen in thefuture.40. Blue or Gray Owl. This whole ceremonyis called Owl-Raised-Ute, or it is sometimescalled Two-Days-with-the-Owl story.There are few singers who know this.41. Gifts. These are gifts which are givento the Owl nowadays in return for what hetells:a. Turquoise.b. White Shell (bead).c. Oyster Shell.d. Biack Obsidian (jet).e. Gray Obsidian.There are prayers said over all of these, asbefore.Plate II: Branch of the Big Starway.1. Monster Slayer. Above his head is darkness.These figures represent certain gods:2. Dawn. The yellow represents the sunlight.3. Sun.4. Moon.5. a. This is the North Star. Big Dipper. 176. Big Star (Scorpio). There is a Blackand a Blue Big Star: "Black and Blue Starsdown toward the south." 187. Little stars, black and blue, or slim firstone (part of Orion). 19 "Little black and bluestars down toward the south."8. a. Black Big Star is in the southeasternheavens. 20skies.isb. Grav (dark) Big Star. 21c. Blue Big Star is in the northern skies. 2 -d. Yellow Big Star is in the southerne. White Big Star, "igniter of thunder,"near the center of the skies.f. Silver (red?) Big Star, "igniter of flashlio;htnin°;," is in the southwestern skies.(Continued fro?n p. 63.)the right ones, based upon the descriptive materialwithin each ceremony. Father Berard Haile, 1938a,pp. 640, 641, has pointed out that an entire ritual mavbe shared in common by several chantways. Thepopular and strong ceremonials grow as the weakerones are absorbed into the repertory of the strongerone. This apparently also accounts for the extinctionof chantways. Added to this difficulty of identificationis the problem of chants having two or morenames, besides an occasional nickname."This refers to White Shell Woman or WhiteBead Woman going to the west, at which time thegods said they would not be in direct contact withthe Earth Surface People any longer. Fishier, 1953,p. 92.17 Haile, 1947, p. 4. In this drawing, by the informant,there are less stars than actually exist in the BigDipper, but the pattern is such that the Big Dipperas a part of Ursa Major is recognizable. Dr. Vogt, ina personal communication, has reminded me of severalfactors which may influence the apparent differencesbetween the description by my informant andthose represented by Father Berard, Dr. Tozzer, andthe actual positions. Those Navaho who do knowstar lore, divide the heavens differently from one another,with few representations being as they actuallyexist in the heavens. Also to fulfill the purpose of thepicture writing the ones made by my informant didnot have to be exact replicas to fulfill their purpose."Haile, 1947, p. 7, notes that this star representsFirst Man, who was the author of witchcraft, inhuman form. The number of stars represented hereare fewer in number than actually exist, but somesimilarities are found. In the drawing, the constellationHyades, lacking two stars, is an addition toOrion. Although lacking these two stars, the drawingis very similar to Tozzer's (1908, p. 31) rattle markingnomenclature, rather than the actual appearance, butHyades is more similar to the actual appearance ofthe stars. Haile's data do not agree with Tozzer andhe believes Hyades and Pleides are assigned to Oriondue to ritualistic significance."The drawing of Orion, Scorpio and Ursa Majorfollow the Navaho custom of representing humanparts, feet, arms, head, etc., in Haile, 1947, p. 7. However,the drawing here, follows Tozzer's drawings,1908, p. 31, more than they do Haile's.30 Haile, 1947, p. 8. Little has been published onthe Big Starway. Without more information it is difficultto tell whether this ceremony is a part of it ornot. Many similarities exist, the names of the constellationsand other stars, with the exception of GrayStar; Thunder; Big Snake; Wind Bear; Big Star;one of the War Twins; and the use of five stanzasongs.'This star is not noted in Haile, 1947.'Haile, 1947, does note the stars in 8c, d, e, f.