Near Tsótzĭlh, the sacred mountain of the south, lived Yéĭtso, the Big God. The boys wished to try their skill on him first, so their father let them down from the sky upon that mountain. The giant was drinking from a lake and saw the reflection of his new enemies as they dropped upon the mountain. He straightened up quickly and sent an arrow aimed for the body of Nayé̆nĕzganĭ, but the boy dodged quickly and responded with a bolt of lightning which stripped the armor from Yéĭtso's feet. Three more shafts of lightning struck the armor from the hips, body, and head of this fiercest of giants, exposing his vitals to the attack of the boys, who filled him with arrows, killing him instantly. The Big God's blood began to flow down a cañon. Nayé̆nĕzganĭ drew a line across its path with his stone knife, and the blood ceased flowing onward, rising in a wall across the cañon's head, over which now plunges a beautiful waterfall.
The brothers then set off for home, taking the heart of their slain enemy with them. Arriving at Tzĭlhnúhodĭhlĭ they found their mother in tears, for she was certain that her boys had been killed and devoured by monsters. Though unchanged in size, so altered were they in appearance that Yólkai Ĕstsán could not believe them to be her own boys whom she was mourning as dead, but the story of their adventures from the time they had left home was soon told, and all rejoiced.
In the days following, Nayé̆nĕzganĭ and Tobadzĭschí̆nĭ made incursions into the lands of the alien gods, killing them all and freeing the earth from the dread and curse of these man-killing[pg 106] monsters. The first to meet destruction at their hands when they took up their deliberate search for giants was Déĭlgĕt, Giant Antelope, who had great blue horns upon which he tossed people to death. The next accosted was Tsĕ Nahálĭ, the preying Mountain Eagle, and soon after they sought and killed Tsĕtahídzĭlhtúhlĭ, Among The Rocks He Kicks Them Down The Mountain. Then Bĭnáyeaganĭ, Who Kills With His Eyes, met death, followed shortly after by Tsé̆agai, Rolling Bowlder, and Sŭsh Nalkái, Tracking Bear, the last to lose their lives at the hands of the youthful warriors, Nayé̆nĕzganĭ and Tobadzĭschínĭ, who have since remained the War Gods of the Navaho.
LEGEND OF THE HAPPINESS CHANT
Tónenĭlĭ - Navaho
From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis
Tónenĭlĭ, Water Sprinkler, is the Rain God of the Navaho. He it is who sends the rain, the hail, and the snow, and causes thunder and lightning. The personator of this god in the ceremonies assumes the additional character of a clown and as such creates much merriment in the dances in which he appears. His apparel consists principally of spruce boughs and a mask.
The Hozhónĭ Hatál, or Happiness Chant, is a nine-days' chant held inside a hogán, and like many of the Navaho ceremonies, it was derived from another tribe. The myth relating to it tells of a renowned warrior who had two beautiful sisters whom he wished to see married, but only to men who should first prove their strength and valor in a feat of arms; so word was sent to all the young men of the warrior's tribe to gather at his home on a certain day, prepared for war, if they wished to enter a contest he would then propose. The girls being coveted prizes, a goodly number of warriors, painted and dressed in full war regalia, assembled on the appointed day, among them being two old, white-haired brothers, of an alien tribe, who had recently come to live near the Navaho people. The young chief protested at the presence of the old men, declaring that they would only sacrifice their lives in the first combat, for they could have no possible hope of success. The two persisted, however, and were allowed to remain in the van.