A study of Navajo symbolism - Free History Ebooks

CONCLUSIONSPICTURE writing as a means of expressingthoughts or noting facts by various meansis a widespread phenomenon in North America.Mnemonic devices or "memory-joggers,"a subdivision of picture writing, are manifestamong primitive groups and while expressedupon anything from feathers to colored"sand," they are used to recount traditions,record treaties, keep accounts, give order ofsongs and for other purposes. 1 Little has beennoted in the published material dealing withthe Navaho as to the use of picture writingof the type shown here. 2The Franciscan Fathers tell us: 3 "By wayof illustration, and as an aid to memory, linesare sometimes drawn on the sand. Variousfigures are designed in blankets and depictedin sand paintings or on prayersticks, and arenow also seen on cloth and paper. The Navahodo not tattoo, neither do they write, draw ordesign on paper or leather." The Franciscanslater state: ". . . is a sample roll of prayerstickswhich is kept by some singers to aid inthe making of the various prayersticks forthe chants, or certain parts of the chants requiringspecial prayersticks, and tracing theorder in which they should follow. Not everysinger is possessed of the sample roll as mostof them rely upon memory in preparing andordering them." 4 No illustrations were given.Reichard, 5 writes of a medicine man whorelied upon paper sketches in the making ofprayer sticks.. Father Berard, 6 has reproducedthe first of two picture writing devices inpublished material similar to the ones owned'Mallery, 1882."This manuscript was completed when MissWheelwright brought to my attention the existenceof a second set of published mnemonic devices. Mc-Allester, n.d.' 1910, p. 74.' 1910, p. 398. Dr. Wyman, in a personal communicationin March, 1954, stated that he checked andcould find no singers who had used such cloths orhad even seen the type described by the FranciscanFathers.' '95°. P- 3°5-" Haile, 1950, p. 256.;N.d.by John Yazzi. While some of the devicesmay be followed in the Liberation Prayer itself,which is also concerned with the curingof witchcraft, no explanation of meaning isgiven for the individual symbols used. Dr.McAllester, 7 in his recording of the Music ofthe Navajo Creation Chants, worked in Arizonain the fall of 1950. The singer recordingfor him did not know the order of the wordsin the creation chant and to aid his memory,the informant drew pictographs. From thecontext of the paper, it would seem the informantdrew the pictographs, gaining theorder of words from songs recorded by anothersinger. Four of the figures were paintedyellow to represent such things as the yellowafterglow, and yellow pollen and corn. Essentiallythese devices of McAllester are similar,in some respects, to those described here inthat thev are used as a means to keep the wordorder. Again, without the interpretation bythe informant only a very few of the devicescould be recognized bv the majority of theNavaho and undoubtedly few, if any, of thestanzas of the songs could be ascertained byanyone other than the maker. 8In a way, it is not strange that picture writingof the type herein described should exist.The range and diversities of Navaho ceremonialismare outstanding when one notes themass of published data, and still much is to bedone. Dry paintings in a permanent mediumwere forbidden to the Navaho. 9 The purposeof the dry paintings was to allow some of the"power" depicted to be absorbed from the'The manuscript was completed when Dr. Mc-Allester informed me in a personal communicationdated March 15, 1954, that I was correct as to theway in which the informant made and used the picturewriting. He further stated that while he hadno statement in his field notes as to whether the informantused pictographs in the usual learning situation,it was his impression the informant had not usedpictographs previously. Dr. McAllester felt that themaking of the picture writing was a response to anunusual situation.'Reichard, 1950, p. 96; Sapir, 1935, p. 609; andWyman, 1952, p. 13.73