81. Water God.—The position of Tiéholtsodi,[8] the water monster, is one of transferred allegiance. He was once the enemy of our race, but now has become friendly to it in certain ways, though it is probable that he is still thought to be responsible for cases of drowning. Other gods, who were once inimical to man but are now his friends, are mentioned in the legends ([par. 354]). But we are not without evidence that the Navaho fears to offend his most beneficent gods lest the latter may directly punish him, or at least withhold their succor in his hour of need.
82. Devils.—Besides the alien gods, there are evil spirits haunting the earth which men dread; these are the tsĭ′ndi, whose name cannot be better translated than by calling them devils. The Navahoes frequently speak of the tsĭ′ndi (Englished, chindee), and they often use the term as an angry exclamation, just as the profane among ourselves say, “Oh the Devil!” or “You devil!” (see pars. [257], [260]), yet they dislike to discuss its character or appearance. They believe there is a devil associated with every corpse, and that it has something of the appearance of a partly decayed corpse. The spirit of the dead man goes to the lower world, which was the former home of the race, yet a demon remains with the dead body. Other Indians believe in a similar corpse spirit, yet the author has never known any who have such dread as the Navahoes of human mortuary remains. (See [par. 188] and [note 91].)
83. Zoölatry.—The legend tells us that there is a First Man and a First Woman (see [pars. 160]–[165]), who came into being in the fourth world as the result of a special act of creation: but they have not died like Adam and Eve; they still live in some form; they are potent; they are immortal; they are divine. But it is not man only that has his divine ancestral prototype: every animal on the face of the earth has its also, and many, if not all, of these are objects of worship. A share of reverence, too, in some cases, as in that of the bear, is bestowed on their mortal descendants. In the rite of the mountain chant[314] many of the sacrifices are sacred to the animals of the mountains. In short, zoölatry is an important element in Navaho worship.
84. Local Gods.—Some of the gods mentioned are also local divinities; thus the War Gods are local divinities at Toʻyĕ′tli ([par. 374]), and the yéi are local divinities at Tséʻnatsi. But, in addition to these, there are other gods of places so numerous that a complete list of them will probably never be obtained. In the Origin Legend it is shown that each of the sacred mountains of the Navaho land (seven in number according to Tall Chanter) has its divine pair of indwelling guardians, and these seem to receive more honor than any others which are gods of places only; but the genii of other mountains and of different rocks and canyons have their prayers and sacrifices in some of the rites.
Fig. 23. Talking kethawn.
85. Fanciful legends of places are common in all lands and among all races, but no people are more ingenious in composing such tales than our American Indians. The Navaho has unusual sources of inspiration in this direction, and he fails not to profit by them. His land abounds in wonderful geologic formations, in rocks strangely sculptured by rain and by Nature’s sand-blast, in vast volcanic peaks and fields of lava; and it abounds also, as might be expected, in myths accounting for these features, and in the genii which belong to the myths. A few of these myths are incorporated in the tales told in this work, but they are very few compared with the total of such legendary lore.
86. The strength of their belief in these local divinities may be illustrated by the following incident: The writer once made a journey, accompanied by two Navahoes, to Tsúskai[9] (Chusca Knoll), which is supposed to be the home of the Tsiké Sas Nátlehi, or Maidens who Become Bears. When the party got to the top of the ridge from which the knoll rises, and about three hundred yards from the base of the knoll, the Indians refused to go farther, saying they feared the divine ones who dwelt in the knoll. The writer proceeded alone, and had much difficulty in riding up the pathless hill, among loose rocks and fallen trees. On the summit he found a little hollow among the rocks full of sand, and, scraping into this, he discovered a number of hand-wrought stone and shell beads, which had been put there as sacrifices. When he descended from the knoll, he found the Indians awaiting him where he had left them, and all set out together to retrace the rough mountain trail down to Red Lake. In a little while, his horse becoming very lame, the writer was obliged to dismount. “What has made your horse lame?” asked the Indians. “He must have struck his leg against some of the fallen trees when he was climbing the knoll,” was the answer. “Think not thus, foolish American,” they said. “It was not the fallen trees that wounded your horse. The dĭgíni of the mountain have stricken him because you went where you had no right to go. You are lucky if nothing worse happens to you.” Of course Indians had been up to the top of the knoll, or the beads could not have been put there; but they went only after preparatory prayer and only to deposit sacrifices.
87. Demonolatry.—There are writers who say that the Indians “worship the Devil” and other malevolent powers; but it is not only learned authors who speak thus. Jesus Alviso, a Mexican captive reared among the Navahoes, said to the author in 1880: “Los Indios hacen figuras de todos sus diablos, señor” (“The Indians make figures of all their devils, sir”), and it was this hint which led to the discovery of their dry-paintings. He called them devils; in this work they are called gods. Perhaps other tribes worship personifications of evil, but certainly the Navahoes do not. The gods who are supposed to love and help men the most receive the greatest honor. The evil spirits are not worshipped except, rumor says, by the witches. It would appear, moreover, from the Origin Legend, that the worst of evil powers—the alien gods—were long ago destroyed, and that only demons of minor influence remain. The chief of witches, Estsán Natán, or Woman Chief, has her home beneath the earth, in one of the lower worlds.