Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and Mythical Sand Painting of the Navajo Indians

by James Stevenson

DESCRIPTION OF THE SWEAT HOUSES.

The construction of the first sweat house, or tachi, was begun at dawn. Four of these houses were built on four consecutive mornings, each one located about 400 feet distant from the great central medicine lodge, toward the four cardinal points, and all facing to the east. The first one built was east of the lodge. A description of the construction of this particular one will answer for all, but the ceremonies differ in detail.

Four upright poles, forked at the upper ends, were placed at the four cardinal points within an area designated as the base of the house, the forked ends resting against each other, a circular excavation some 6 feet in diameter and 1 foot in depth having first been made. Between the uprights smaller poles were laid; on the poles piñon boughs, sage and Bigelovia Douglasii (a kind of sage brush) were placed as a thatch; all being laid sufficiently compact to prevent the sand placed over the top from sifting through. The doorway, on the east side of the house, was about 2-1/2 feet high and 20 inches wide. Highly polished sticks (the same as those employed in blanket weaving) were used to render the sand covering of the structure smooth. The sweat houses to the east and west had the rainbow painted over them. Those to the north and south were devoid of such decoration, because the song priest seldom completes his medicine in one ceremonial; and he chose to omit the songs which would be required if the bow ornamented the north and south sweat houses. Under the direction of the priest of the sweat house, who received instruction from the song priest, three young men painted the rainbow, one the head and body, another the skirt and legs, while the third painted the bow. The head of this goddess was to the north, the bow extending over the structure. The colors used were made from ground pigments sprinkled on with the thumb and forefinger. Whenever a pinch of the dry paint was taken from the pieces of bark which served as paint cups, the artist breathed upon the hand before[pg 240] sprinkling the paint. This, however, had no religious significance, but was merely to clear the finger and thumb of any superfluous sand. The colors used in decoration were yellow, red, and white from sandstones, black from charcoal, and a grayish blue, formed of white sand and charcoal, with a very small quantity of yellow and red sands. (See Fig. 118.) The decorators were carefully watched by the song priest.

FIG. 118. Sweat house.

Upon the completion of the rainbow the song priest returned to the medicine lodge, but soon reappeared bearing a basket of twelve turkey wands, and these he planted around the base of the sweat house on a line of meal he had previously sprinkled. There was a fire some 20 feet from the house, in which stones were heated. These stones were placed in the sweat house on the south side, and upon them was thrown an armful of white sage and Bigelovia Douglasii. A few pine boughs were laid by the side of the stones for the invalid to sit upon. The entrance to the sweat house was then covered with a black and white striped blanket upon which were placed two large Coçonino buckskins one upon the other, and upon them a double piece of white cotton. The buckskins represented daylight, or the twilight that comes just at the dawn of day. The invalid for whom this ceremony was held took off all his clothing except the breech cloth, and sat on the outside by the entrance of the sweat house amid the din of rattle and song, the theurgist being the only one who had a rattle. The invalid propelled himself into the house feet foremost, the covering of the sweat house having been raised for this purpose. After entering it, he rid himself of his breechcloth and the coverings were immediately dropped. The song continued 5 minutes, when all stopped for a moment and then recommenced.

RAINBOW OVER SWEAT HOUSE.

During the song the theurgist mixed various herbs in a gourd over which he poured water. After chanting some twenty minutes he advanced to the entrance of the house, taking the medicine gourd with him, and, after pouring some of its contents on the heated stones, took his seat and joined in the chanting. After another twenty minutes Hasjelti and Hostjoghon appeared. A Navajo blanket had previously been placed on the ground at the south side of the entrance. Hasjelti lifted the coverings from the entrance, and the patient, having first donned his breech cloth, came out and sat on the blanket. Hasjelti rubbed the invalid with the horn of a mountain sheep held in the left hand, and in the right hand a piece of hide, about 10 inches long and 4 wide, from between the eyes of the sheep. The hide was held flatly against the palm of the hand, and in this way the god rubbed the breast of the invalid, while he rubbed his back with the horn, occasionally alternating his hands. Hostjoghon put the invalid through the same manipulation. The gods then gave him drink four times from the gourd containing medicine water composed of finely-chopped herbs and water, they having first taken a draught of the mixture. The soles of the feet, palms, breast, back, shoulders, and top of the head of the invalid were touched with medicine water, and the gods suddenly disappeared. The patient arose and bathed himself with the remainder of the medicine water and put on his clothing. The coverings of the entrance, which were gifts to the song priest from the invalid, were gathered together by the song priest and carried by an attendant to the medicine lodge. An attendant erased the rainbow by sweeping his hand from the feet to the head, drawing the sands with him, which were gathered into a blanket and carried to the north and deposited at the base of a piñon tree. The song priest placed the wands in a basket, and thus, preceded by the invalid, carried them in both hands to the medicine lodge singing a low chant. The sweat house was not carelessly torn down, but was taken down after a prescribed form. Four men commenced at the sides toward the cardinal points, and with both hands scraped the sand from the boughs. When this was all removed the boughs were carefully gathered and conveyed to a piñon tree some 50 feet distant and fastened horizontally in its branches about 2 feet above the ground. The heated stones from the interior of the sweat house were laid on the boughs; the upright logs which formed the frame work of the house were carried to a piñon tree, a few feet from the tree in which the boughs and heated stones were placed, and arranged crosswise in the tree, and on these logs corn meal was sprinkled and on the meal a medicine tube (cigarette) was deposited. The tube was about 2 inches long and one third of an inch in diameter, and it contained a ball composed of down from several varieties of small birds, sacred tobacco, and corn pollen. It was an offering to Hasjelti. Meal was sprinkled on the tube. The ground on which the house had stood was smoothed over, the ashes from the fire carefully swept away, and thus all traces of the ceremony[pg 242] were removed. The invalid upon entering the lodge took his seat on the west side facing east. The song priest continued his chant. He took from the meal bag some sacred meal and placed it to the soles of the feet of the invalid and on his palms, knees, breast, back, shoulders, and head. At the conclusion of this ceremony all indulged in a rest for an hour or more. The bark cups which contained the colored sands for decorating were placed in the medicine lodge north of the door.