Chapter IV: Growth of the Navaho Nation (9)

69. Happily may fair corn of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,
come with you.

70. Happily may fair plants of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,
come with you.

71. Happily may fair goods of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,
come with you.

72. Happily may fair jewels of all kinds, to the ends of the earth,
come with you.

73. With these before you, happily may they come with you.

74. With these behind you, happily may they come with you.

75. With these below you, happily may they come with you.

76. With these above you, happily may they come with you.

77. With these all around you, happily may they come with you.

78. Thus happily you accomplish your tasks.

79. Happily the old men will regard you.

80. Happily the old women will regard you.

81. Happily the young men will regard you.

82. Happily the young women will regard you.

83. Happily the boys will regard you.

84. Happily the girls will regard you.

85. Happily the children will regard you.

86. Happily the chiefs will regard you.

87. Happily, as they scatter in different directions, they will
regard you.

88. Happily, as they approach their homes, they will regard you.

89. Happily may their roads home be on the trail of pollen (peace).

90. Happily may they all get back.

91. In beauty (happily) I walk.

92. With beauty before me, I walk.

93. With beauty behind me, I walk.

94. With beauty below me, I walk.

95. With beauty above me, I walk.

96. With beauty all around me, I walk.

97. It is finished (again) in beauty,

98. It is finished in beauty,

99. It is finished in beauty,

100. It is finished in beauty.

REMARKS ON THE PRAYER.

This prayer is addressed to a mythic thunder-bird, hence the reference to wings; but the bird is spoken of as a male divinity, and is supposed to dwell with other yéi at Tse`gíhi. The prayer is said at the beginning of work, on the last night of the klédzi hatál. The shaman speaks it, verse by verse, as it is here recorded, and one of the atsá`lei or first dancers, repeats it, verse by verse, after him.

The word hozó means, primarily, terrestrial beauty. Its derivative hozógo means in a beautiful earthly manner. Hozóni means beautiful on the earth, locally beautiful (inzóni refers to the beauty of objects and persons); Hozóna signifies again beautiful. But the meanings of these words, and others of similar derivation, have been extended to mean happy, happiness, in a happy or joyful manner, etc. In a free translation they must be rendered by various English words.

The four final verses have been previously recorded by the author as hozóni haslé (Qojòni qaslè), but he now regards the form hozóna hastlé as more correct.[289] This expression, repeated twice or four times, according to circumstances, ends all Navaho prayers, yet recorded. It is analogous to the Christian Amen.

289. In a few instances, in this work, a Navaho word may be found spelled or accentuated with slight differences in different places. It must not be inferred from this that one form is correct and the other not. As usage varies in the languages of the most cultured races, so does it vary (only in greater degree) in the languages of the unlettered. A word was often heard differently pronounced and was therefore differently recorded by the author. An effort has been made to decide on a single standard of form and always to give preference to this; but, in a few cases, variations may have been overlooked. Words sometimes undergo great changes when they become parts of compound words. Where the form of a word in this work varies from that presented in previous works by the author the variation may be accounted for, in some cases by the difference in the alphabets used, and in others by the changes of opinion which have come to him in time, as the result of a more extended experience or a more advanced study of the language.

290. Note 290 is omitted.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES.

BY FREDERICK WEBB HODGE.

For the convenience of the reader, a list of the principal works referred to in this book, and of all papers on the subject of the Navahoes written by the author, is here given.

291.

Backus, E. An account of the Navajoes of New Mexico. (In Schoolcraft, Information respecting the history, condition and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, part IV. pp. 209-215, Philadelphia, 1854.)

292.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The native races of the Pacific states of North America, vol. III., New York, 1875.

293.

Bickford, F. T. Prehistoric cave-dwellings. (In Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, New York, vol. XL. No. 6, pp. 896-911, October, 1890.)

294.

Bourke, John Gregory. Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona, New York, 1884.

295.

---- The Medicine-men of the Apache. (In ninth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 443-595, Washington, 1892.)

296.

Catlin, George. Letters and notes on the manners, customs, and condition of the North American Indians, etc., two vols., London, 1841.

297.

Census. Report on Indians taxed and Indians not taxed in the United States (except Alaska) at the eleventh census: 1890, Washington, 1894.

298.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Report of, to the Secretary of the Interior, for the year 1867, Washington, 1868. The same for 1870, Washington, 1870.

299.

Dutton, Clarence E. Mount Taylor and the Zuñi plateau. (In sixth annual report of the U.S. Geological Survey, pp. 105-198, Washington, 1886.)

300.

Eaton, J. H. Description of the true state and character of the New Mexican tribes. (In Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, part IV. pp. 216-221, Philadelphia, 1854.)

301.

Hodge, Frederick Webb. The early Navajo and Apache. (In American Anthropologist, vol. VIII. No. 3, pp. 223-240, Washington, July, 1895.)

302.

Hough, Walter. Fire-making apparatus in the United States National Museum. (In report of National Museum 1887-88. pp. 531-587, Washington, 1890.)

303.

Letherman, Jona. Sketch of the Navajo tribe of Indians, territory of New Mexico. (In Smithsonian report for 1855, pp. 283-297, Washington, 1856.)

304.

Mason, Otis Tufton. Cradles of the American Aborigines. (In report of National Museum 1886-87, pp. 161-235, Washington, 1889.)

305.

Matthews, Washington. Ethnography and philology of the Hidatsa Indians. (Department of the Interior, United States Geological and Geographical Survey, miscellaneous publications No. 7, Washington, 1877.)

306.

---- A part of the Navajo's mythology. (In American Antiquarian, vol. V. No. 3, pp. 207-224, Chicago, April, 1883.)

307.

---- Navajo Silversmiths. (In second annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 169-178, Washington, 1883.)

308.

---- A night with the Navajos. By Zay Elini. (In Forest and Stream, vol. XXIII. pp. 282-283, New York, Nov. 6, 1884.)

309.

---- Navajo weavers. (In third annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 371-391, Washington, 1884.)

310.

---- The origin of the Utes. A Navajo myth. (In American Antiquarian, vol. VII. No. 5, pp. 271-274, Chicago, September, 1885.)

311.

---- Mythic dry-paintings of the Navajos. (In American Naturalist, vol. XIX. No. 10, pp. 931-939, Philadelphia, October, 1885.)

312.

---- Navajo names for plants. (In American Naturalist, vol. XX. pp. 767-777, Philadelphia, September, 1886.)

313.

---- Some deities and demons of the Navajos. (In American Naturalist, vol. XX. pp. 841-850, Philadelphia, October, 1886.)

314.

---- The mountain chant: a Navajo ceremony. (In fifth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 379-467, Washington, 1887.)

315.

---- The prayer of a Navajo shaman. (In American Anthropologist, vol. I. No. 2, pp. 149-170, Washington, April, 1888.)

316.

---- Navajo gambling songs. (In American Anthropologist, vol. II. No. 1, pp. 1-19, Washington, January, 1889.)

317.

---- Noqoìlpi, the gambler: a Navajo myth. (In Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. II. No. ii. pp. 89-94, Boston and New York, April-June, 1889.)

318.

---- The gentile system of the Navajo Indians. (In Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. III. No. ix. pp. 89-110, Boston and New York, April-June, 1890.)

319.

---- A study in butts and tips. (In American Anthropologist, vol. V. No. 4, pp. 345-350, Washington, October, 1892.)

320.

---- Some illustrations of the connection between myth and ceremony. (In Memoirs of the International Congress of Anthropology, pp. 246-251, Chicago, 1894.)

321.

---- The basket drum. (In American Anthropologist, vol. VII. No. 2, pp. 202-208, Washington, April, 1894.)

322.

---- Songs of sequence of the Navajos. (In Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. VII. No. xxvi. pp. 185-194, Boston and New York, July-September, 1894.)

323.

---- A vigil of the gods--a Navajo ceremony. (In American Anthropologist, vol. IX. No. 2, pp. 50-57, Washington, February, 1896.)

324.

Mindeleff, Victor. A study of pueblo architecture: Tusayan and Cibola. (In eighth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 3-228, Washington, 1891.)

325.

Morgan, Lewis Henry. Ancient Society or researches in the lines of human progress from savagery, through barbarism to civilization, New York, 1877.

326.

Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. (Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. III., Washington, 1877.)

327.

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe. Information respecting the history, condition and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, part IV. Philadelphia, 1854.

328.

Simpson, James H. Report of an expedition into the Navajo country in 1849. (In senate ex. doc. 64, 31st cong., 1st sess., Washington, 1850.)

329.

Stephen, A. M. The Navajo. (In American Anthropologist, vol. VI. No. 4, pp. 345-362, Washington, October, 1893.)

MELODIES [1]

Recorded on the phonograph by Washington Matthews, and noted from the cylinders by John C. Fillmore.

No. 1.

SONG OF THE APPROACH OF THE WAR GODS.

[Music notation]

No. 2.

SONG OF THE WAR GODS.

[Music notation]

No. 3.

TWELFTH YIKAÍGIN OR DAYLIGHT SONG.

[Music notation]

No. 4.

A SONG OF THE NAAKHAÍ, OR DANCE OF THE LAST NIGHT OF THE NIGHT CHANT.

[Music notation]

No. 5.

A SONG OF THE NAAKHAÍ.

Composed by Thomas Torlino.

[Music notation]

No. 6.

SEVENTH SONG IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

No. 7.

TENTH AND ELEVENTH SONGS IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

No. 8.

FIFTEENTH SONG IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

This song offers some very curious metrical problems.

No. 9.

TWENTY-SECOND SONG IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

No. 10.

TWENTY-THIRD SONG IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

This Indian howls so that it is much more difficult than usual to be sure of the pitch-relations. Also it is hard to tell, in many places, whether he means a double or a triple rhythm.

No. 11.

TWENTY-FIFTH SONG IN THE FARM OF HASTSÉHOGAN.

[Music notation]

NOTE

[1] See Note 272.