Fic. 23. Mountain painting for the bath ceremonij.
BLESSINGWAY Leland C. Wyman SACRED NAVAJO SONGS RELATED TO THE MOUNTAINS
SONGS CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF MOUNTAIN SOIL
And then Talking Cod, Calling God. who are the inner forms of Blanca Peak-: said this, Now this which iscall a Blessingway has really been given to you (with the completion of the mount- ain soil bundle). It should be held very sacred to the end of days," the two said. He (Talking God) ther. singled out*Several points of the story that had been told the two children, sign- alling his approval with, "That's correct, that's correct.' "Do all of you now understand what I am saying?" he said. "Yes, yes," all replied. "Is it so, my younger brother calling God?" he said. "Yes, my older brother, it is quite true that such is a fact," he said. "This medicine here is soil fron Blanca Peak. How this very thing alone represents your nerves. Keep it on yourselves with every care, never forget it!" said Calling God. And the inner forms of Mount Taylor repeated the same in their speech, the inner forms of San Francisco Peak and Hesperus Pealc gave (the same) speech.
-Blessing Way
8 TALKLING GODS SONG
9 THE MOUNTAINS ROUNDABOUT WERE MADE MEN AGAIN
San Francisco Peak and Hesperus see one another, Herperus Peak and San Francisco Peak speak to one another. Where they have placed their feet, i also will place My feet. with its shoes I will go about, With its legs I will go about, With its power I will go about, With its body I will go about, With its mind, its voice, I will go about, That which extends out from the top of its head, that also extends out from the top of ay head as I go about. The things that extend around it are also being extended around me, by these in blessing I go about. Blessing is also extended around other mountains, with that in blessing I go about. I am long life-happiness, in blessing I go about. Behind me it is blessed as I go about. Before "me it is blessed as I go about. I have become blessed again, I have become blessed again.
Blessing Way
% 10 SONGS OF GUESSING
THEN IT WAS SAID, "Do not, by any chance forget that one called Blanca Peak, and Hount Taylor; and San Francisco Peak, and Hes perus Peak, and Huerfano Mountain, and Gobernador Knob. If at any tine you have forgotten them it will not be well." So they said to one another, "Which one? It is that one, of course!" e ye na ... "Which is it, which is it?" he says to me, ni yo o. Now it is San Francisco Peak, it is chief mount ain, it is long life, it is happiness, "Which it is, which is it?" he says to me. That is Mount Taylor, that is cheif mountain, that is long life, that is happiness, "Which is it, which it is?" he says to me.
DAWN SONGS
AND WHEN THERE WAS THE FIRST white streak of dawn in the dis tance , snail birds on the surface of the earth gave their calls, and alongtree tops and mountain tops, there vere simply amazing ly thrillingsounds. And too, that Talking God from White-earth- streak gave his call. After his fourth call he stopped at the entrance, entered, and sat down among them. He was in a happy mood, "this is as it Bhould be, ny grandchildren, it's fine, fine," he said. Here is the song of those small birds who had been twittering in such grand style. 'e-ye ... there is a thrill in its call for (to) me, Crystal Boy I am as it calls to me. To the summit of San Francisco Peak it callB to me, i ... How it ia your Talking God Boy who calls to.me, ni yo o.
Blessing Way
11 SONGS OF TWO-WHO-FOLLOW-ONE-ANOTHER
That is where he calls. I aM Talking God (as) that is where he calls. At the summit of San Francisco Peak, that is where he calls
Now your Calling God Boy, that is where he calls. How his headplume is cornbeetle, (as) that is where he calls. At its tip small bluebird (sits), twitters, (as) that is where he calls. Its speech is frequent,, its beautiful, (as) that is where he calls. While I toe-kick cornbeetle, that is where he calls. Blue rainbow hovers about me (when) that is where he calls. Jewels of all colors hover about ne (when) that is whore he calls. Nov? their pollen that makes him invisible hovers about me (when) that is where ho calls. ICow your Long-life, now your Happiness Boy, that is where he calls.. Behind- him it is blessed when he calls, that is where he calls. Before him it is blessed when he calls, that is where he calls; that is where he calls
Blessing Way *
12 'e ne ya ... I, I have ascended. How, I am Boy-with-whom-dawn-appeared as I have ascended. To the summit of San Franisco Peak_I_have ascended, ascended^ How to the summit of chief mountain I have ascended, ascended, To a various fabrics footprint figure I have ascended. In various fabrics moccasins I have ascended, In various fabrics black-seamed moccasins I have ascended, In various fabrics leggings I have ascended, in a various fabrics legging trimmings I have ascended, In a various fabrics skirt I have ascended, in a various fabrics many fringed sash I have ascended, In a various fabrics garment I have ascended, in various fabrics arm fringes I have ascended, t In a various fabrics necklace I have ascended, in various fabrics ear bands I have ascended. An exceedingly nice crystal with" pollen of various fabrics I kept in my mouth as I have ascended. A perfect disc shell was my headplume as I ascended, at it3 tip sat a very fine male bluebird as I ascended. * Its call was frequent, its voice beautiful as I ascended. Sky's surroundings are now my surroundings as I have ascended, ascended. Dawn's pollen with pollen of various fabrics breezes on me as I have ascended, I have ascended. It is pollen of one never decreasing, of one unequalled in beauty which breezes (sprays, carried by breeze) on me as I have ascended, ascended. By this I was transformed into fabrics as I ascended, I have ascended, Now I am long life, now happiness as I have ascended, asconded. Before me it is blessed as I have ascended, behind me it is blessed as I ascended, I have ascended, o ye. COLORADO
Blanco STATEMENTS OF PERSONAL OPINION
"I hope and pray that the San Francisco Peak3 will be saved. It is all be cause of the religious purpose and other Indians think of it as a sacred shrine." -hirnest Natonabah "A contracter likes to retain ecological surrounding.-, to the best of his ability. It could be-a substantial economic impact for the whole area -Paul McCullum Manager "The population of the United States and New Mexico is Increasing very rapidly. At the same time people have more leisure time and more interest in getting away from,the cities. Our outdoor recreation areas are becoming commercialized and overcrowded. Our need is for more wilderness areas, more pretected and un spoiled places. San Francisco Peak should be left as it is." -A.W. Howard, Associate Prof. ' Univ. of New Mexico
'i believe the San Francisco Peaks should be preserved as a wilderness area. Not only for its sacred value to the Navajo people but somo things should be preserved as Nature created them to be." -Mrs. Edward Zaragoza
"I think it's better if they leave it a wilderness area, because it is one of our sacred mountains." . -Linda Martin "What I think should be done is to protect it. Keep it as a wilderness because of its Navajo cultural backgrounds and we don't need any white men destroying any more wilderness; they have done enough of that already." -Andrew Muli
"My opinion is that the San Francisco Peaks should be protected and made into a wilderness because they mean something to the Hopi and the Navajo. If they make something up there, we are going to have nothing more to pray to, so I say we should cake it into a wilderness. And once again I say this because the medicine men are going to bo powerless, so I stand behind the Hopi and Navajo Councils." -Jones Begay
"It is a sacred mountain to us. Leave it the way it is. There are'enough mountains with roads, ski resorts, developments and that kind of thing." -Glenda Charleston
"From my point of view, I think it should be .made into a "Wilderness." It is a mountain that belongs to the Hopis and the Navajo. We aren't bothering places that belong to those people, they shouldn't bother our sacred places., it was made holy long ago and they will drive the holiness from it. We want our sacred mountains to remain as they are, not be messed up and destroyed." -Joann Brown
Why the heck should they sess up our sacred mountains? What good would the ski area do? they would be killing themselves or hurting themselves anyway. Besides, it's a sacred mountain to the whole Navajo Tribe. The mountain itself is much more beautiful the way it is than changing it. It has about everything no, but they start to mess it up the wild- life will soon leave the mountain. Then it will bo no longer a good mountain. The four sacred mountains belong to the Navajo!" "From my point of view, I really don't mind them building a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks. I'm a ski bum, myself. I usually ski up in Utah in January and February am I believe some* Indians should really get some experience on skiis—some have never even touched or seen them. I guarantee if the Indians get themselves more involved with the recreation business it will give them something to do. But the thing is—skiing is kind of expensive. But I hope that they don't do any building on the peaks, nor allow the people to use snowmobiles to pollute the clear white snow. The thing is, too, the younger generation probably won't have any use for the sacred mountains. They'll think they've got something better to do than pray—the machine will really get to them in a way. Besides, all of the old medicine men are dying off—I'm sure the younger generation won't mind and they, just won't have any use for it. They're all going the white man's way— unless the tribal council or the parents can do something about it. -Mildred Bain
"The San Francisco Peak should be left a wilderness as it is. There is no need Tor any housing or ski resort on it. The mountain is sacred to the Navajo and the Hopi people. Why should there be something built on sacred place:.,? I think that sacred things should be left alone, not destroyed by people only looking for money. Being a sacred place is the most important thing. Which would be more important to us, the people or the recreation? What I really think is that people are still being cured through the singing of; the songs that, include the power of all the sacred mountains. In recrea tion, people are just getting injured, it's better to be cured." -Amelia John
"More than enough of our dwindling natural area ha3 been sacrificed to commercial 'development,' and the San Francisco Peaks area need not be add ed to the list of area's despoiled beyond hope of restoration in our life- -John Klein
"San Francisco Peak is the sacred mountain of the West. It is also one of the few wilderness areas left in the united States. We should do everything possible to protect the wilderness areas that we have left, especially when they are holy to people as this mountain is." ., , -.. ... J c l . -Mark Silversmith "I don't think anyone should destroy our sacred.mountain. It means a lot to us ana is there to be sacred to the Navajo. In our Navajo way of life we have some sacred rules to follow. Some people don't care to follow any more, but that does not mean our sacred mountains should' be destroyed or polluted." -Pearlene Neagle "I think the San Francisco Peaks should become a "Wilderness" area not only because it is our sacred mountain, but it is also a place where you and other people would like to spend a vacation and see what nature has turned. out in the years that it has been here. I believe if this place becomes a "Wilderness" area it would have a lot more animals and trees. This place would be a lot better to see than the city where there is smog, trash and crowded street;-:. This place should be reserved for people that want to see" what it waa like before the construction of buildings and factories." -Cecil Etsitty 16 Taylor and San Francisco Peak are sacred mountains to the Xavajos. . see why white men have to come along and try to claim what the Indian holds as sacred. The white man has taken over enough Indian lands; I don't think they should take what is the Indian's sacred thing. When the white man makes these two mountains for sight-seeing or skiing or whatever, the wildlife will be scared; it is already vanishing." Ruth Spencer
"Mount Taylor and San Francisco Peaks are two of the mountains that are very sacred to the Lavajos. If they want to build roads, etc., I third: that's just like stealing to the Navajo. Also many Navajos go there to pray to their gods. They want places where there is peace. IT they jus t happen to do this, where will the Navajos go to pray to their gods? It'll be just like all the other places, noisy and crowded.:' ANNIE COWBOY
"As a protection to Mount Taylor and San Prancisco Peak, there should be no trees cut down and no smoking allowed in .picnic areas because some people are careless and might start a fire. I know fires do great damage to forests. I wouldn't want our two sacred mountains to be burned down and the trees cut down. We Navajos like our sacred mountains; to some Navajos they worship them for their whole life." CECELIA TOLEDO
"My opinion about our sacred mountains The San Francisco Peaks and Mount Taylor being made into ski areas for the people is NO. I think we the Navajos are not very happy about it and we don't want the mountains to bo cleared or plowed down. We don't want this to take place." Delores GADDY
"My opinion of making a ski area for tourist is,. I think, just terrible. Why tear down the wilderness and make it a bare mountain? We have enough deserts and barren lands. What we need is more trees. Tourists can "go somewhere else to ski but not on our sacred mountains. We have a right to keep our sacred mountains unbothered. Honey and fun are our enemies of today. People want more but they don't consider nature." MARLENE WILLIE
"I want both the south and west mountains to be protected." » SYLVIA LIVINGSTON
"My opinion about the south and west mountains is they should be protected from skiing, because it's not going to last.."for the people, to look on their travels." ANNA MAE BEGAY
"I don't think there should be anything done with Mount Taylor and San Francisco Peak, by Anglos, because they're both sacred mountains to the Navajos." NELSON BEGAYE
"Mount Taylor has a ski area but I don't like it. That mountain is where meet Navajo medicinemen get their things for the ceremonies. And besides that, Mount Taylor is a sacred mountain: and probably San Francisco Peaks is the same. If they make ski areas, the Indian medicine would die - as I hear about it." LORETTA LONG
17 "I think that it should be declared a "Wilderness," because of the Navajo cultural background. It's a Navajo sacred place; it should be kept sacred." -Tony Nez
"It is a sacred mountain to the Navajo; leave it the way it is. There are enough other mountains for ski resorts and' things like that." -Glenda Charleston
"In my opinion, the Navajo should really try to protect the San Francisco Peaks. They meant a lot to our ancestors and we should try to keep the traditional ways going.. In order to accomplish this we have to get on the taove," -Arlene Harrison
"San Francisco Peaks should be left a "Wilderness" area. Who needs a ski resort? Only the white man, mainly for money. They took our land, but they shall not take our sacred mountains." -Shirley Martin "I think San Francisco Peak should be a "Wilderness'1 area because it is sacred to both the Navajo and Hopis. Just how would white people take it if we go around and tear down their churches, the places where they wor ship? I feel that all people who believe in the sacredness of the mount ain should protect it in every way they can." r • . -Nellie Toledo
"I know that the San Francisco Peak is a sacred mountain to both the Navajo and Hopi tribes. In my opinion it should be left the way it is because lots of the Navajo people .still look to it as a holy mountain. They still con sider it one of the four sacred mountains. As long as it stands, they have a feeling of security from the presence of their gods. They still behold it because of the ceremonials they perform and the ancient sacred chants they sing as part of their traditional way of life, 'without the mountains, they would feel unsecure, their gods would be angry, the Navajo people might perish. wany of the younger generation doesn't believe all of this nowadays. But as far as I'm concerned, I still like to try and keep up the traditional ways and I believe many of the ceremonials that they perform. I thinlc the Hopis will want to save the peak also because that is the sacred homes of their katchinas. In my own belief, I still say that the peaks should be unbothereu and let them stay as they are to let our children in the future at least have pride in their hearts to know that their sacred four mountains are still standing, that their ancestors regarded them with great respect and deep beliefs." •••.,• -Anita Antonio "My personal opinion about the San Francisco Peaks is that they should re main "Wilderness" in the future, I hope. They are sacred mountains to the Navajo and Hopi. Building anything on them would ruin them. I'm sure that people vfho want to damage the mountains don't really need the money and any one can find somewhere else to enjoy themselves." ,. _ ° J -Verna Tsosie "T don't really know very much about the San Francisco Peaks, but ,1 hear ray parents and relatives saying it's a sacred mountain to the Navajo. They say it is holy because that is where the gods live, so they treat it in a spec ial way and they don't want it destroyed. They think that if the house of their spirits ever gets torn dovm that bad things will start to happen to them. . lg -Bernita .isosie Editor's Note: The spelling "Navaho" appears on this figure as it did in the original publication.
NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY—EIGHTEENTH Field CONFERENCE THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SAN FRANCISCO PEAK AS DESCRIBED IN LITERATURE •
I ask my Gods to give me wisdom. I ask Mount Blanco to give me pure concentration, just as is in the white shell. I ask Mount Taylor to give me richness in thoughts, just as is in the turquoise shell. I ask the San Francisco Peaks to give me life to write, just as in the abalone shell. I ask Mount Hesperus to give me darkness in which I may be lef just as is in the jet black shell, So that I can do my writing. -emma rose albert
Here I stand With corn pollen in my hand The sacred plants by my shoes Here I stand The medicine bag beside me The rattle in my hand Here I stand The four sacred mountains surrounding me Now I think I can pray
—danny frazier
20 WHAT AND WHY IS A SACRED PLACE ?
The answer is to be found in the many Navajo legends that relate events of long ago, when gods walked on the earth. These legends record the adventures of ancient heroes who, wandering, "sought the gods and found them" in many a place that is re cognizable today. After hearing the stories of those fabulous times we can imagine that the strange, shadowy figures of the Holy Ones are still visible to those who believe in them. And it is not difficult to believe, in this cataclysmic country that is the Navajo world. Stand alone on the summit of some sacred mountain and look far out over the weird rocks and cany ons and sagebrush flats. It vouldnot be surprising toaee a Yei at the foot of yonder rainbow, preparing to travel on it.-with - some hero of legend. Look at the Sacred Peaks, "shining on top," across the pinyon and juniper, and doubt if you can that the forces that hold the world together dwell thereupon. These are places where Divinity is closest. Hen once could touch It with prayer; even now, certain dedicated.medicine men are able to do incredible things through Its power. Before the Whites succeeded in planting their thorny crops . of doubt and unbelief, the Navajos knew these to be sacred place just as surely as they knew the blowing .wind and the taste of fold; pura;:water. This knowledge was a'part of their being: not something to take out and look at once in a while, but something to live with as'closely as their own heart-beats. It was not as tonishing to them that supernatural beings people sacred places : and spoke to mortals in the days of old. In ancient times the '/'leaders of men told their gathered people about mystic happen- ings upon the mountain tops or besides the waters,and the stor- iea were learned and passed on long before writing was known. So any legendary site became a sacred place, and anything taken . from it with the proper prayers and offerings was consequently i imbued with'the supernatural power. It has always been so. Even today medicine men collect plants, herbs, minerals and waters (a)* from appropriate locations, and use these things for heal ing with faith in the rites that commemorate the legends. Lacking maps, the Navajos of -early days learned their ter ritory by means of these sacred places, and traveled secure in the certainly of this knowledge, avoiding locations that "would be magically dangerous to them, staying in the ways that were : v. safe, and keeping as landmarks certain geographical features with which they were familiar, knowing them to be sacred. Near ly always one of the four great Sacred Mountains would be in .' sight.
THE SACKED MOUNTAINS ; According to legend, First Kan and First Woman picked up some earth from each of these mountains in the lower world and brought it here. The earth from the eastern mountain was raized with white shells, that from the southern with turquoise, that from the western with haliotis, and that from the northern with jet. These new mountains were laid on eaored buckskin and Bles sing Vay songs were sung over them. Then the deity of each of th* four world quarters carried one away and placed it in its t '• • Proper position. 21 It was foreordained that these mountains should "be the eternal treasury of this world. They contain tho perfect origin als of everything that exists, holding these riches secure with in themselves as the patterns of all good tilings needed by man- kind. Ho matter what happens on earth, these treasures of streng th, health, abundance, security and all other blessing remain inviolate. No wonder tho orthodox Navajo strives to attain harmony with the universe, when such harmony makes the treasures of the Sacred fountains available. "I will lift mine eyes to the hills whence comth my strength" was said- long ago and far away . in anothor part of the world, but the Navaho as well says it in his heart according to his understanding. Taking the four cardinal Mountains in their ccrenonial order, the Sacred Fountain of the East was SISNAJINY, "Horizontal Black Bolt." Its ceremonial name is White Shell mountain. It is identified as B1anca Peak in tho Sangre dc Cristo range- in Color ado. According to Navajo legend, whose concepts we find poetic and strangely beautiful, it is fastened to tho earth with bolt of lightning, and is decorated with white shell, white lightn ing, white corn, dark clouds, and male rein (c). Rock crystal Boy and Rock Crystal Girl live there, and it is tho property of talking God, who placed animals, plants, etc., upon it. First man and First Woman set a bowl made of white shell on its summit, and put in the bowl two pigeon's eggs. They covered them with a sacred buckskin to make them hatch, and over all they spread a sheet of daylight. The Sacred fountain of the South was named 'TSO DZIL, "Big Mountain," and is the one we know as Mount Taylor in New Mexico. Its ceremonial name is Turquoise mountain, and it is fastened to tho earth by a freat flint knife, and decorated with turquoise, dark mist, female rain and all species of birds and animals. It is the home of Turquoise, containing two bluebird eggs covered with sacred buckskin, was placed on its summit, and over all was spread a covering of blue sky. Tho Sacred mountain of the West was named DOKO'O'SLIID "Shin ing on top," and we recognize it as the highest of the San Fran cisco Peaks in Arizona. Its ceremonial name is Halliotis mountain, and it is decorated with haliotis shell, black clouds, pale rain, yellow corn, and all animals, and is the home of White Corn Boy and Yellow Corn Girl (d). On the summit of this mountain was placed a bowl made of haliotis shelly which contained two yellow wasbler's eggs covered with a sacred buckskin, and over all was sproas a yellow cloud. The Fourth of the Sacred Peaks is that of the North, and v;as named DIBENTSAA, "Big Mountain Sheep." Its cereoonial nane is Jet Mountain. This is probably Hesperus Peak in the La Plata range of Colorado. It is fastened to the earth by a rainbow, and is decor ated with jet, dark mist and wild animals. Pollen Boy and Grass« hopper Girl live here. A bowl'of jet was set on the sunmit and in it wore placed two blackskin. Over all a covering of darkness was laid. -Navajo Sacred Places
22 The Navajos' claim to the land and their attachment to it rests on the certain knowledge that their ancestors, emerged from beneath the earth, from tho Third World to the Fourth or present world, at a point near Mount Hesperus in the La Plata mountain z*nnge of southwestern Colorado. Thoy were forced to leave the Third World because of a great flood which they escaped by scrambling up a reed flute and a pine tree flute placed for their convenience by the Sun and the Moon - twin arks, as it were, to reocue them from the deluge. , Last up was Turkey, who made it just in time; in fact, the' foaming tide below him stained tho tip of his tail permanently white. First to emerge in the Fourth World was Locust ,,who was so cautious that he refused to blink - and hasn't since. He discovered, alas, that the Fourth World was flooded too. He summoned Mountain , Sheep who dug with his horn a deep gorge to drain away the water. The gorge is still there - Grand Canyon - and so is the instrument that dug it, rising majestically from the canyon floor. Since that day the Navajos havo venerated the horn of a mountain sheep as a sacred substance.
Cafe at last, First Man and First Woman set in place four sacred mountains. The first they placed in the last, fastened it down with a lightning bolt, adorned it'with White Shell and White Com and placed upon it VRain, hard, driving rain, The second they placed in the South, fastened it down with a knife of blue flint, decorated it with turquoise and Yellow Corn and placed upon it sweet, gentle rain, Female Rain. The third they fastened in the west with a sunbean and decorated it with Abalone. The fourth they placed in the North near the place the Navajos call "Where We Emerged" and fastened it with a rainbow and adorned it with Jet and a black feather. The four sacred mountains are visible today as Mount Blanco in Colorado, Mount Taylor in Kew Mexico, San Francisco Peak in Arizona and Mount Hesperus in Colorado. Within tho divine protective embrace of those mountains is Dinetah, the land if The People, Navajoland. Those are the boundaries. Within them life is possible and happiness assured, provided one lives in accord with the rules set down by the Holy Ones and remains in harmony with the world about him. Beyond those boundaries life is chancy, happiness impossible. Within the mountains' heights are the perfect models of everything necessary to man's well-being, the prototypes, the sources of renewed life for man's imperfect copies in the land the mountains smile down upon. The Holy Ones, some of whom dwell in the four mountains, also provided Mountain Prayers and Mountain Songs for The People, so they can always restore harmony when things go wrong. Beyond the boundaries of the cacred mountains, prayers and songs are worthless and no ceremonial may be performed.. Within the sacred mountains the Holy Ones spun a mythological web of such intricacy that to a Navajo every butte, every mesa, every stripe and every feather has profound meaning. From his legends he knows.why the gopher's tunnel is shallow, why the hogan door must face east, why one. must never kill a snake, or whistle in the dark, or speak another's name in his presence, or laugh loudly during a thunderstorm.
-The Soul of the Navajo •
T7 The white people have taken from us our rights to our Sacred Mountains. In the beginning these mountains were down below in the Underworld. Sierra Blanca Peak existed in the Underworld; Mount Taylor Can Francisco Peak and La Plata Mountain too wero picked up thare. These were the things brought up from the Underworld. Mere where The People live they were placed in position, and prayers were made about them as they were in the Underworld. Sierra Blanca Peak was made the Chieftain of the Mountains. It was made the Chieftain of everything. She came happened with regard to Mount Taylor - it was made a Chieftain of the Mountains. And the same with San Francisco Peak, and likewise with La Plata mountain. They were all made the foremost Chieftain Mountains. They were prepared and adorned with everything. They were adorned with Black Clouds, with Male Rain and with Hard' Goods; they were prepared with cheep, domestic animals and wild c^e- They were adorned with Hard Goods on all four sides. They were prepared with all the different kinds of plants that we live upon. Sierra Blanca leal:, the one that was made for us, was called Sun Mountain. Likewise Mount Taylor was prepared with these things. They were all established in their positions with different kinds cf sheep, different kinds cf domesticated animals with black clouds (thunder clouds), black mist (rain clouds), the Female Rain, birds of all kinds, plants of all kinds, and with Immortality and Blessing. That is what these are, and with these things in mind we name them. They were prepared with the Immortality we mention, and the things people live upon, and they were prepared with Hard Goods. These things we know. Mount Taylor was likewise prepared - it is Turquoise Mountain. And so also
it. If it had been let alone The People would now have trading posts and they would be wealthy. All those things were our power, our wealth and security, but the white man took them away from us. And our elders are discussing that which lies within (the soil of the mountains and the mineral resources). We are discussing this matter vigorously. Let the right to all of the sheep, horses and cattle . upon which we live be given back to us.
24 Even though we are old we speak with hope. We think hopefully. No natter how old one may be, he wishes that he could eat some goat meat. Let the right to eat it be given back to us. The white people all look to the .Government like we look to the Sacred Kountains. You, the white -people, hold out your hands to the Government. In accord with that (the Government) you live. But we look to our Sacred mountains: to Sierra Blanca Peak, to Mount Taylor, to San Francisco Peak, to La Plata Mountain, to Huerfano and to Gobernado Knob, According to them we live - they are our Washington (Government). All of us live in accordance with them. We have our Blessing Way prayers, and our Blessing Way songs. In accord with all these things the Navajo people live. It was through the medium of these things that they possessed their livestock until the period of our misfortune came. That is why we are asking the white people that the right to these mountains be returned to us, because they are proof that the land within the circle of the Sacred Mountains is ours. These Sacred Kountains were placed in position for us, The People. They are the ones.that were brought up from the Underworld and placed for us. They existed in the Under-world, and the Blessing Way stands for them. There existed those things with which they were adorned; they were placed for us, and according to them we live. Sitting somewhere is he who is Washington (the President); he is the boss of all the white people, and they all look to him. In a like way we look to Sierra Blanca Peak, to Mount Taylor, to San Francisco Peak, to La Plata Mountain, to Huerfano and to Gobernador Knob.
Navajo Historical Selections
"According to the Navajo legends, First Man and First Woman brought up with them from the lower worlds some earth from the four sacred mountains there. Some of this was mixed with white shell, and this became sis najini. the sacred mountain of the East. It was fastened to the earth by a bolt of lightning and was decorated with white shell, lightning, white corn, black cloud and violent rain with lightning. Eggs of the white dove were placed on the mountaintop.
"And between the four mountains lay the land of the Navajos, Dinetah. 'So in the form of these sacred mountains was our mother made for us...In the midst of these four mountains that were placed, there we live, we who are the people are the heart of the world.'" -Navajo Wildlands
25 'When the Holy People were forced from the last of the underworlds by a great flood, the Sacred mountains were picked up by First Man and First Woman and brought to the present world-. There they were established in their proper locations, and when the Earth People were created, the Sacred Mountains, as well as other land narks, were pointed out to them as the boundaries of their world. Like the Jews of the Old Testament, the Navajos are the Chosen People, Nahasdzaan Bijei, the Heart of the World. Their world, the sun, the moon and the stars were created for them, and their way of life was taught to them by Changing Woman, White Shell Woman, and others of the Holy People. The Sacred Mountains are not only boundary markers, but they are also reservoirs for all the plant and animal life of the Navajo World. When adverse weather conditions destroy the vegetation and the animals on the area within the circle of mountains, they regenerate again from.their mountain reservoirs to repopulate the world belcw. For on the Sacred Mountains the perfect archetype of everything was placed in the beginning. On their summits stand the yayiyahniizini, those who stand supporting the sky. Like Atlas, the sky supporters stand on Sisnaajini (Sierra Blanca Peak) in the east, Tsoodzi (Mount Taylor) in the south, Dook'o'oosiid (San Francisco Peak) in the west, Dibentsaa (La Plata Mountains) in the north, and on Aghaaa (El Capitan) in the middle. They hold up the sky like a great umbrella over the world below. When the Indian Claims Commission was established in 1946, the questions of what constituted the historic and prehistoric area of Navajo occupancy arose. The answer, in the minds of the old folks, was simple. It was set forth in detail in their Genesis - in their Origin Myth. Many had hopes that the world bounded by the Sacred Mountains would be returned to the Kavajos, to thus provide the spac and resources necessary tc reestablish the pattern of living which the Holy People taught at the beginning, and to replace with economic and social security the chaos and disorder that seem so prevalent today in an all too rapidly changing world.
Navajo Historical Selections
"The Katchina dances, generally thought to have been introduced from the eastern pueblos, cause a queer division in the Hopi calendar. The Katchinas come between late December and February. A few appear in Boyaluna, a ceremony of the Bean- planting dance in late January or February. From then on there is a continuous succession of masked dancing until July, when, with the Niman Katchina, the "Gods go out," returning to their home near the San Francisco Peaks." -Dancing Gods
(CO Navajo Cosmology and Cosmogony
The orgin myth of the Navajo traces the evolution of life thr ough four (some say eleven) underworlds to emerge on the fifth and persent world where it developed its actual form. The five worlds seem to have existed from the beginning consisting of superimposed hemisphere supported' by the yayiyahniiziinii or dieties who "stand under the sky to support it? Above the fifth world some say there are one or two additional worlds, one the; abode of spirits and the other a void where all things blend into one with the cosmos, Into the Eacred Mountains were placed the prototypes of all things necessary to man, and these mountains also became the abode of certain deities or Holy People. Life may wax or decline in the space between the Savred Mountains, but the perfect prototypes of all things reside in the mountains from whence life springs always anew in the land beneath in the form of imperfect copies of these prototypical perfect forms. It was thu3 predestined from the begin ning, and the Sacred fountains were placed in the Fifth World as a the boundaries of the area the Navajo were destined to inhabit. In accordance with the cosmic plan, the sun the moon and the stars were created, stationed in the sky, and assigned their sea sonal trail3, and with them night and day and the seasons. And through the magic of the ears of corn from (or with) which First Kan and First Woman were formed in the First World, man and woman were created from images into which a little-breeze entered to give then life. The orgin myth is long and detailed, and. as,.told by various Medicine Men it varies Borne what. The above sketch omit3 all but salint features of the story.
Navaho Religion
27 THE ROCK
In the Beginning the people lived in several worlds below. Successively they emerged from to a new world above. In the middle of this new world stood a great rock. Extending through all the previous underworlds and protruding above this one, it was the core of the universe, rooted in tine and space. It was oriented to the four directions, and its sides glowed with their corresponding color -white on the oast, blue on the south, yellow-red on the west, black on the north. Emerging fron the world below, the people gathered at its foot. And when they planted seeds to take the spread out, and when they called to the Holy People to help then plant the Holy Mountains, it was around this great natal rock. Eence they called it simply the Mountains, or the Encircled Mountain. To the east of it they planted the Holy Mountain of the East, made of sand and white shell. To the south they planted the Iiount ain of the South, made of sand and blue-green turquoise. To the west, the Mountain of the West, of yellow-red sand and abalone. And to the north, the Mountain of the North, of black sand and jet. In each they placed a Holy Person, a Talking God to guard the mountains they trans-' planted, and seods of the four sacred plants. They made a fire with four kinds of wood and a hogan with four logs. Everything-the stars, the winds, the seasons-they put in order and named, and they became. For "when you put a thing in order, give it a name, and you are all in accord: it becomes."
Thus the pattern of the Navajo world at the Emergence. The great central Encirled Kountain. The lesser transplanted mountains, the plants, the trees, with the winds, the seasons, and the sun and moon and stars above. A world spread out like a four-petalled flower; as seen fron above. This today in a Navaho sand-painting is the symbol of the great axial rock, the Encircled Kountain: a four-petalled flow er, like a fourleafed clover, like a lotus. The four sacred mountains still bounding tho ancient Navaho home land are physical mountains: the Kountain of the East variously ident ified as Mount Blanca, in Colorado; Vihoeler Peak, above Taso in the Sagre de Cristo range; or Pelado Peak, near the pueblo of Jemez; Mount Taylor, of the San Mateo range, as tho Mountain of the South; the San Francisco peaks, in Arizona, as the Mountain of the West; and a peak in tho La Plata or San Juan range as the Mountain of the North.
Tho Encircled Mountains is southing else. -It has been identifeid as Huerfano Peak, above Chaco Canon, which bears its name. But by its vary nature it cannot be so constricted. Being the core of the whole cosmos, it existed when the First People were still in the lower worlds; and spanning a time and space beyond our earth-dimen- slonal comprehenion, it is too great and too powerful to be visible. This is its -metaphysial reality. El Huerfano is merely its material image, its physical counterpart.
Masked Gods THE SACRED MOUNTAINS
T0STRENGTHEN THE EARTH, mountains were placed at each cardi nal point. Then two other mountains were.added to the four, Spruce Hill (Gobernador Knob, Hew Mexico) and Mountain-a- round-which m-oving-was-done (Herfano fountain, New Mexico), making SIX important landmarks for the Navajo country. The identity of the south and west mountains has never been questioned, That of the south is Mount Taylor of the San Mateo Range in New Mexico. Its Navajo name, Tongue Mount ain (tsoodzil), is derived from the fact that in the Bless- ingway myth it is the tongue of the inner form of the earth. The inner forms of the mountains gave names to one another, and they called this one "which wind strikes," but gave no explanation for it. The mountain of the west is San Francisco Peak in Arizona. Its Navajo name (dook1 o* osiid) refers to glitter to "light shines from it," no doubt by means of ab- alone shell which is its traditional jewel dress. The_inner form3 called it "mountain through which the-wind.blows", but gave:no reason for this name.
Blessing Way
"San Francisco Peak, the mountain of the West, they fastened to the earth with a sunbeam. They adorned it with haliotis shell, with black clouds, he- rain, yellow com, and all sorts of wild animals. They placed a dish of haliotis shell on the top, and laid in this two eggs of the Yellow Varbler, covering thee with sacred buckslcLns.(There are many yellow warblers now on San Francisco Peak.) Over all they spread a yellow cloud, and they sent V.liii Corn Boy and Yellow Corn Girl to dwell there." -Origin Legend(Vashin£ton Mathev
"The San Franciscio Peais is also a very sacred mountain of the Hopi Tribe. It is considered that their gods, the Katchina, live upon that mountain." -Desert Country
10 Navaho Religion
"Earache medicine (jeyi hodini aze) was prepared from the pulp of a tree (tsis- disi) found in the San Francisco Mountains, which was pulverized and mixed with water (tgahikhago, powder in water) and small quantities dripped in the
ear. tqoanashchin, mixed waters, ia used for similar purposes as pollen. Originaly these waters were gathered at natsisan (alchin, the product of) Navaho Mountai: dokooslid, SanFrancisoo Mountain.... To this was added, tqaltlahatan, clay . from the bottom of the'water; tqadidin, pollen; tqo bitqadidin, water pollen;
aud'tqel bitqadidin, flag pollen." ' ,-An Ethnologic Dictionary of the Navajo Language
51 HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL INFORMATION "San Francisco Peak: sometimes referred to as the San Francisco Mountain, the group of peaks on the rim of what la also referred to in toto as the San Fran cisco Mountains, includes Agassiz, Fremont, Humphreys. Their group name is an ancient one, dating back to c. 1629 whon the Franciucano at Oraibi named tho peaks to honor the founder of their order, St. Francis of Assisi. Farfan and Quesado called them Sierra Sinagua in 1598. In 1776, Garces called them Sierra Napoc. Cones thinks this ia an error of 'Napao* or Navajo. There is a pos sibility that the Spanish name for the group(Sierra Cinega) dates back to the name used in 1596, since phonetically the two are closely allied. Another name found on old Spanish maps is Sierra de los Cosminos, after Indians living in the area.
The peaks is the center of extinct-volcanic activity which included an area of about 3,000 square miles. The three principal mountains are important in the folklore of both the Navajo and Hopi Indians. The Hopi regard the peaks as the home of their spirits. It has been suggested that the name San Francisco was applied by the missionaries at Oraibi to combat the importance of the peaks to the Sopi Indians. Although this naming method was often used by Franciscan missionaries, there is no documentary evidence which supports the naming of the San Francisco Peaks in this manner. The desireabllity of the area at the base of the San Francisco Peaks for settle ment has long been recognized. Kore than one effort was made to .start colonies before Flagstaff flourished. In 1872 a group arrived from Colorado Territory but its history, beyond the mention of its arrival, is not known. The so-called Boston Party in 1677 headed west for the same approximate location. Each man in the group paid $140 to the Arizona Colonisation Company of Boston for trans portation west and each took with him his own provisions for 90 days, his own tools and his own clothing. However, this group did not remain long... -Arizona Place Names
"Three peaks of an extinct volcano in northern Arizona, the highest being Humphrey Peak(l2,655 ft.), the highest point in the state." -The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
33 "Volcanic eruptions, during the Cenozoic Era, made more changes in the northern plateau. Crustal movements cracked the rocks, providing vents for lava and cinders from within the earth, The plateau must have bean n. terrifying place when dark clouds of dust obscured the sky, and fiery spouts shot from many vents to build up what are cal- led cinder cones. They are there to this day, among the pines near Flagstaff, rounded hills of dark red or black cinder, sometimes thinly covered by grass. The San Francisco.Volcanic Field, as it is called, extends over some 3,000 square miles. The tall mountains of the plateau vera created during the second per iod of volcanic activity. The highest of these are the San Francisco Peaks, 12,611 feet above sen level... After the long mountain-building and volcanic action, Arizona began to acquire its final physical form. The climate was changing* as huge ice caps covered the northern part of the continent at periods from one million to ten thousand years ago. Glaciers spread down - ward over North America, but there is little evidence of glacial activity in the Southwest. However, icy air cooled the clii.iate and mountains shut off moisture so that the past was replaced by grasses, plants, and trees more suited to a dry climate. The great reptiles had disappeared, but mammals and birds were developing." -The March of Arizona History
"Fifty or sixty miles south of the Colorado River rise the San Francisco Mountains. They are all volcanoes and four of them are of large dimensions. The largest, San Francisco Mountain, nearly thirteen thousand feet high, might be classed among the largest volcanic piles of the west. Around those four classes are scattered many cones and the lava which emanated from them has sheeted over a large area..." -The Grand Canyon: The Story of a River and Its Canyon
"An extinct volcano, Humphreys Peak is the highest in Arizona. It is ono of three peaks forming a rough U-shaped valley known as the inner basin of the interior valley. G.K.Gilbert in 1873 named the Peak for his superior officer, Brig. Gen. Andrew Atkinson Humphreys, who had been with the Ives Expedition as captain in 1851." -Arizona Place Names
34 "An eroded volcanic mass in Arizona located in Coconino County about 10 miles north of Flagstaff. It rises above the Coconino Plateau and comprises three summits: Humphreys Penk(l2,670 ft.), the highest in the state, Agassiz Peak (12,670 ft.), and Fremont Feak(l1,940 ft.). There io a fine view of Grand Can- yon-to the north, and Painted Desert and the Hopi Buttes to the east." -Encyclopedia Americana
"Archaeologists have a general name for all the inhabitants of these northern regions who lived there century after century. They call them Anasazi, a Kavajo name meaning 'The Ancient Ones. Some of these people wandered southward and met Groups from southern valleys who had traveled in the upper Gila Valley and eastern mountains. Called Mogollon people by the archaeologists, these groups built their pit houses on ridges above the valleys where they grew their crops. They wandered northward as the Anasazi came southward, and the two tribes influenced each other. There were villages of pit houses in the high plateau country near the San Fran- Cisco Peak. These people lived in valleys below extinct volcanoes. Then, suddenly, about 1064 A.D., a tremendous eruption burst forth! Fire, redhot rock, clouds of volcanic ash soared into the sky and showered over the pit houses and fields. They were bulled deep in cinders and ashes. Streams of boiling lava spread over large areas, adding to the destruction. In this eruption, lava and cinders created Sun- set Crater. The survivors of the eruption were joined years later by farmers from other regions." -Arizona History
"The large mountain lying southwest of the Moqui villages is doubtless the Sierra do Francisco and is beyond the Rio Colorado Chiquito; being about 4 days beyond and the home of the Coninos Indians. The San Francisco Peak is near the present- day Flagstaff, Arizona." -The Navajo Reconnaissance
35 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thompson. Laura and Joseph, Alice, The Hopi Way. Rus sell &, Russell Inc.
Cranoer, Byrd H. , Arizona Place Names. The University of Arizona press, I960.
Hurst, W. K. 3,, Area in the Southwest, New Mexico U.S. FS USDA
Wheelwright, II. C, Emergence Myth, Museum of Navaho Ceremonial Art.
Walker, Captain J. G. and Shepherd, The Navaho Recon- naissance, Wesrernlore Prees.
Wyman, Leland C., Blessing Way. The University of Arizona Press, 1970.
Young, Robert W., Navaho Yearbook, Navaho Agency, Win- . clow Rock, Arizona, BIA,195Q.
Peak, Anne Merriman, Arizona History, Arizona Silhouettes, 1962.
"San Francisco", Encyclopedia Americana, 1967, Vol. 24.
Brown, David, Navaho Wildlands. Sierra Club San Fran cisco,
Barne's, Will C, Arizona Place Names, The Univ. of Ariz,-
Young, Robert W.,and William, Morgan, Navaho Historical Selections. THe Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1954.
Watkins, T. H., The Story of a River and its Canyons,- American West Publishing Company, 1969. *
Fergusson, Erna, Dancing Gods. University of New Mex., 1966.
Underhill, Ruth M., The Navahos, University of Oklahoma.
American Corportation Edition, Encylopedia, Vol. 24, American Corportation, 1927-1966.
Atkinson, Jourdan M., Indians of the Southwest, Naylor ' Co., 1963.
Waters, Frank, Masked Gods. Alan Swallow, 1950.
36 Wallace, Horn, History of Arizona and New Mexico, Hubert Howo Banciaft, 1962.
Watson, Editha L., Navaho Sacred Places, Navaholand Publi cations, Navajo" Tribal Museum, Window Rock, Ariz.1964.
"San Francisco", Grdier Universal Encyclopedia, Gralier Universal Encylopedia, Vol, 2.
Hailo, Father Berard, Emergence Myth, Rewritten by Mary C. Wheelwright, Museum of Navajo Cerenonial Art, 1949.
Hester, James J., Early Navajo Migrations and Acculturat ion in the southwest, Museun of New Mexico Press,1962.
New Mexico Forest Service, Department of Argiculture, Road less Areas in the Southwest, U.S. Government, 1972.
Young, Robert W. & William Morgan, Navajo Historical Select ions. B.I.A., 1954.
Loh, Jules, "The Soul of the Navajo," Esquire Kafiazine.