James Stevenson

“ After the dance began a great fire was made, and then he could see black objects moving, but he could not distinguish any people. He recognized the voice of Hasjelti. Though the youth was crazy, he remembered everything in his heart. He even remembered the words of the songs that continued all the night; he remembered every word of every song. He said to himself, "I will listen until daylight." These people did not remain on one side of the canyon where the first fires were built, but they crossed and recrossed in their dance and had fires on both sides of the canyon. ”

“ I was unable to learn of a single instance in which one of these had been made by the modern Indians. In nearly all cases the edges, once sharp and used for cutting, splitting, or piercing, are much worn and blunt from use in pounding or other purposes than that for which they were originally intended. On more than one occasion I have observed a woman using the edge of a handsome stone axe in pulverizing volcanic rock to mix with clay for making pottery. Nearly all the edged stone implements are thus injured. ”

“ The people of Nambé have several times in years past moved their pueblo higher up the stream, the valley of which furnishes them fine agricultural and grazing grounds. They make very little pottery, but we found stored in many of the houses of the village great quantities of stone implements, principally large metates and grinding-stones. We also found many specimens of interest among the ruins of old Nambé and Pojuaque, as well as the remains of pottery in such quantities as to show that in the past the manufacture of pottery had been carried on quite extensively. ”

“ In the decorations of the former the birds and vine are conspicuous and constantly recurring features, while in the Zuñi and Shinumo pottery the elk, domestic animals, and birds peculiar to these arid regions are the figures most frequently used. The difference is easily accounted for when we are informed of the fact that the former tribes reside in the valley of the Rio Grande, which is well adapted to the culture of the grape as well as other crops. The ever-present vine and the numerous birds which flock to this fertile valley will naturally suggest figures for decoration. ”

“ Hasjelti stood at the east side of the youth, Hostjoghon to the south, Naaskiddi to the west, and Hadatchishi to the north of him. Each had a rattle, which was used to accompany the songs for the recovery of the youth. They also traced with their rattle in the sand this emblem, meaning a figure of a man, and drew parallel lines at the head and feet with the rattle. When this was done the youth recovered and the gods had again assumed the form of sheep. They asked the youth why he had tried to shoot them. "You see you are one of us," they said. The youth had become transformed into a sheep. ”

“ Quite a number of animal representations, made hollow for use as drinking vessels, were obtained, displaying grotesquely imitative forms of deer, elk, sheep, big-horn, antelope, and other animals with which they are familiar. All of these objects have more color laid on them than is to be found on the pottery of their neighbors of Acoma, the birds and animals being painted in a light rufous fawn color not in use elsewhere, and the only instance of the employment of green is on a tinaja of this pueblo used in coloring some foliage. ”

“ Navajo prayers for rain and snow are addressed to Hasjelti and Hostjoghon. These gods stand upon the mountain tops and call the clouds to gather around them. Hasjelti is the mediator between the Navajo and the sun. He prays to the sun, "Father, give me the light of your mind, that my mind may be strong; give me some of your strength, that my arm may be strong, and give me your rays that corn and other vegetation may grow." It is to this deity that the most important prayers of the Navajo are addressed. The lesser deities have shorter prayers and less valuable offerings made to them. ”

“ Although the figures used have no symbolic characters connected with them in the mind of the modern artist, yet it is more than probable that at least some of them did have such a meaning to the ancient artists. For example, the little tadpole-shaped figure on the clay baskets used in their dances and sacred ceremonies by the Zuñians is understood by them to represent a little water articulate, which, as heretofore stated, is probably the larva of some insect or crustacean, very common in the pools and sluggish streams of the country inhabited by these Indians. ”

“ A man of distinction in the tribe was threatened with loss of vision from inflammation of the eyes, having looked upon certain masks with an irreligious heart. He was rich and had many wealthy relations, hence the elaborateness of the ceremony of healing. A celebrated theurgist was solicited to officiate, but much anxiety was felt when it was learned that his wife was pregnant. A superstition prevails among the Navajo that a man must not look upon a sand painting when his wife is in a state of gestation, as it would result in the loss of the life of the child. ”

“ Although the rigid, angular, zigzag, and geometric figures are yet found in their decorations, they have largely given way to carved lines, rounded figures, and attempts to represent natural objects.
A few apparently conventional figures are still generally retained, as around the outside of the necks of the vases and on the outer surface of the bowls, probably suggested originally by the rigid outlines of their arid country, and in fact by their buildings. The figure of the elk or deer is a very marked feature in the ornamentation of their white ware, and is often found under an arch. ”

“ After the twelve dances the dancers passed to the green room, where they were relieved by a second set of men. The second series of dances were exactly like the first. There were twenty-one dances, four figures in each dance, and each time the dancers appeared they were sprinkled with meal by the invalid, while Hasjelti and Hostjoghon performed their antics with fawn skin and wands. ”

“ Being asked why he cut his shorter than the rest, he replied, "All men are not the same size." The sticks were sharpened at one end and cut squarely off at the other. In order that all of the sticks should be of the same length they were measured by placing the three first fingers across the stick. The fifth man sat immediately to the right of the song priest, who took a hollow reed from the large medicine bag from which he cut four pieces, each piece the breadth of his three fingers. The reed, which was cut with a stone knife, was afterwards rubbed with native tobacco. ”

“ The pigments from which the paints are derived for decorative purposes are also found in the vicinity of the mesas, and are employed by the Indians in the production of two colors, each of which varies slightly according to the intensity of heat in the process of baking, or the manner in which it is applied. One varies from a black to a blackish-brown, the other from a light brick red to a dark dull red color. The material which produces these colors is generally found in a hard, stony condition, and is ground in a small stone mortar, just as we reduce India ink for use. ”

“ Before departing the sun asked them what they wished; they said, "We want bows and arrows, knives, and good leggings. There are people around the world eating our people (the Navajo) . Some of these people are great giants and some are as small as flies; we wish to kill them with lightning." The sun gave the youths clothing that was invulnerable, and he gave them lightning with which to destroy all enemies, and a great stone knife. They then went over the world. Naiyenesgony killed with the lightning arrows and Tobaidischinni scalped with his knife. ”

“ Although the checkered figure is common on bowls, the Zuñi artists have appreciated the fact that it would be out of place on the convex surface of the water vase. The elks or deer—for it is difficult to tell which are intended—are usually marked with a circular or crescent-shaped spot, in white, on the rump, and a red diamond placed over the region of the heart, with a line of the same color extending from it to the mouth, both margined with white; the head of the animal is always toward the right. ”

“ These tubes were filled with feathers, balls, and tobacco, and tipped with the corn pollen and lighted with the crystal, the black tubes being offerings to the gods, the blue to the goddesses. After they were completed they were placed in position by a second attendant; and while the tubes were being filled the song-priest and choir sang "See, fathers! We fill these with tobacco; it is good; smoke it!" A message was received from the fathers that they would smoke, and, puffing the smoke from their mouths, they would invoke the watering of the earth. ”

“ The cream-white pottery decorated in colors. This extensive group, which includes fully two-thirds of the entire collection, embraces almost every known form of earthenware manufactured by the tribes from whom it was obtained. The paste of which it is formed is similar in character to that of the black ware. When broken the fracture shows very distinctly the effect of burning, the interior being of the natural leaden color, shading off to a dull grayish white as it approaches the outer surface. The opaque or creamy-white color of the surface is produced by a coating of opaque whitewash. ”

“ Ahsonnutli and Yolaikaiason (the white-shell woman) were the creators of shells. Ahsonnutli had a beard under her right arm and Yolaikaiason had a small ball of flesh under her left arm from which they made all shells. The eyes of Naiyenesgony and Tobaidischinni were shells placed on their faces by Ahsonnutli; the shells immediately becoming brilliant the boys could look upon all things and see any distance without their eyes becoming weary. A stick colored black was placed to the forehead of Naiyenesgony and one colored blue to that of Tobaidischinni. ”

“ The makers, who are always females, depend entirely on memory and skill derived from practice to accomplish their work. The vessels when completely formed are laid in some convenient place to sun-dry. A paint or solution is then made, either of a fine white calcareous earth, consisting mainly of carbonate of lime, or of a milk-white indurated clay, almost wholly insoluble in acids, and apparently derived from decomposed feldspar with a small proportion of mica. This solution is applied to 330 the surface of the vessel and allowed to dry; it is then ready for the decorations. ”

“ The method practiced by the Zuñians in baking pottery differs somewhat from that employed by the tribes who make quantities of black and red ware. It seems to be a necessity on the part of the Zuñians to observe the greatest care in this operation. Their pottery is nearly all decorated and must be baked free from contact with the peculiar fuel used for that purpose. During the baking process it sometimes happens that a piece of the fuel, which is composed of dried manure carefully built up oven-shaped around the vessels to be baked, falls against the vessel. ”

“ PERSONATORS OF THE GODS. The theurgist or song-priest arrived at noon on the 12th of October, 1885. Almost immediately after his arrival we boldly entered the medicine lodge, accompanied by our interpreter, Navajo John, and pleaded our cause. The stipulation of the medicine man was that we should make no mistakes and thereby offend the gods, and to avoid mistakes we must hear all of his songs and see all of his medicines, and he at once ordered some youths to prepare a place for our tent near the lodge. ”

“ Zuñi, although lying on the line of travel of military expeditions, emigrant trains, and trade between the Pacific coast and the Rio Grande, the foreigners visiting them have seldom remained long in their village; 322 nor has the advancing wave of Caucasian settlement approached sufficiently near to exert any marked influence on their manners and customs; at least the form and decoration of their pottery bear no marked evidence of the influence of the more highly civilized races. ”

“ The shirt of this god is invisible; the dark is the dark of the body. Hostjoghon carries a staff colored black from a charred plant. The Navajo paint their bodies with the same plant. The top of the staff is ornamented with a turkey's tail tied to the staff with white cotton cord; eagle and turkey plumes are alternately attached to the staff with a cord.
The Naaskiddi are to the north and south of the painting; they carry staffs of lightning ornamented with eagle plumes and sunbeams. Their bodies are nude except the loin skirt; their leggings and moccasins are the same as the others. ”