Navaho Night Chant

STOP

Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in the World

This article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in
the world by JSTOR.

Known as the Early Journal Content, this set of works include research articles, news, letters, and other
writings published in more than 200 of the oldest leading academic journals. The works date from the
mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.

We encourage people to read and share the Early Journal Content openly and to tell others that this
resource exists. People may post this content online or redistribute in any way for non-commercial
purposes.

Read more about Early Journal Content at http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-
journal-content .

JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary source objects. JSTOR helps people
discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching
platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit
organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico. For more information about JSTOR, please
contact support@jstor.org.

12 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

NAVAHO NIGHT CHANT.

LAST NIGHT. — NAAKtfAf AND END.

This ceremony, which is the longest and most important of all,
begins after dark, — seven o'clock or later, — and lasts incessantly
until daylight. It is called Naak^af. It consists of a performance
outdoors, which is mostly dance and song, and a performance within
the medicine-lodge, which is mostly song, and in which there is no
dancing. Let us first consider the performance which occurs out-
side.

CHARACTERS DRESS.

The requisite characters are : Ha.sts6yalli, the Talking God or
Y^bitrai ; Tb'nenili, the Water Sprinkler (Rain God), and a number
of dancers, preferably twelve. Of these six represent yebaka or male
divinities, and six, yebaad or female divinities. Besides these the
chanter and patient participate. The mask of .//ast.rdyal/'i is illus-
trated in "Navaho Legends," fig. 27. The yebaka have their
bodies whitened, and are decorated, masked, and equipped as are
those who appear in the dance of the atsa'/ei, or first dancers. The
yebaad, or goddesses, are usually represented by small men and
youths. The males thus acting are nearly naked like the yebiaka ;
have their bodies daubed with white earth ; wear silver-studded belts
with pendant fox-skins, showy kilts, long woollen stockings, garters,
and moccasins ; but, instead of the cap-like masks of the yebaka,
each wears a blue domino (illustrated in " Navaho Legends," fig. 28),
which allows the hair to flow out behind. They have no eagle
plumes on head, or on stockings, and no collars of spruce. They
carry rattles and wands like those of the yebaka. Sometimes women
and so-called hermaphrodites are found who understand the dance.
When such take part, as they sometimes do, in place of small men
and youths, they are fully dressed in ordinary female costume, and
wear the domino of the yebaad, but they carry no rattles ; they
have spruce wands in both hands. As has been said, there should
be six yebaad characters ; but there is often a deficiency of the small
men and youths, and when such is the case, arrangements are made
to do with a less number.

That which is considered the typical or complete dance will first
be described, and then the variations will be discussed. The dan-
cers are dressed and painted in the lodge, and then proceed to the
green-room or arbor, blanketed, to get their masks, wands, and rat-
tles. When they are fully attired, they leave the arbor, and proceed
to the dance-ground (fig. 1). The chanter leads, observing all the
forms he used in conducting the atsa'/ei (fig. 2) ; i/asUeyalri follows

Navaho Night Chant. 13

immediately after the chanter ; the twelve dancers come next, all in
single file, and 7b'nenili brings up the rear. Among the twelve
dancers the first is a yebaka, the second a yebaad, and thus the
male and female characters follow one another alternately. As they
march in the darkness, they sing in undertones, and shake their rat-
tles in a subdued way.

When they reach the dance-ground between the two lines of fires,
the chanter turns and faces them ; they halt ; the patient, warned
by the call, as before, comes out of the lodge. They all now stand
in the order shown in the diagram, fig. 3. The patient and chanter
walk down along the line of dancers from west to east. As they
pass, the chanter takes meal from the basket carried by the patient,
and sprinkles it on the right arm of each dancer from below upwards.
This done, the patient and chanter turn sunwise and retrace their
steps to their original position west of and facing the line of dan-
cers. Meantime the dancers keep up motions such as those made
by the atsa'/ei when they are sprinkled.

When the patient returns to the west, Z/astreyalri runs to the
east, whoops and holds up his bag as he did with the atsa'/ei ;
the dancers whoop, lean to the right, and dip their rattles toward
the earth, as if they were dipping up water, i/astreyalri runs to the
west, whoops and holds up his bag ; the dancers turn toward the
east, and repeat their motions. They turn toward the west again,
//astreyalri, now in the west, turns toward the dancers, and stamps
twice with his right foot as a signal to them ; they whoop and begin
to dance and sing. Usually now the chanter goes into the lodge
to superintend the singing, and the patient sits beside the meal-
basket, near the door.

For a while they dance in single line, nodding their heads oddly,
and facing around in different directions, each one apparently accord-
ing to his own caprice. At a certain part of the song, the y^baad
move, dancing, a couple of paces to the north, and form a separate
line, leaving the yebaka dancing in a line to the south. The posi-
tion of the dancers at this time is represented by the following dia-
gram, fig. 4. They dance only for a brief time in this position,
when the two lines again intermingle, and they form a promiscuous
group, the dancers facing in different directions, and moving around.
After dancing thus for a little while, the yebaad dance again to the
north, and two lines are formed as before.

They dance thus for a while when, at another part of the song,
the single yebaka and y6baad who dance farthest west approach one
another, and face east in the middle. Here the yebaka, or male,
offers his left arm to the yebaad, or female, much in the manner in
which civilized people perform this act ; the yebaad takes the prof-

1 4 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

fered arm, thrusting "hers" through to the elbow; with arms thus
interlocked they dance down the middle toward the east. Before
they reach the eastern end of the lines, they are met by Z/astj6yalri,
who dances up toward them ; they retreat backward, facing him ;
when they reach the west again, ffastsiyalti begins to retreat, dan-
cing backward, and they follow him. When they reach the eastern
end of the lines, they separate and take new positions, each at the
eastern end of his or " her " appropriate line. Soon after they have
begun to dance " down the middle," the second time, the pair now in
the extreme west lock arms and dance east. As soon as the first
couple separate, /fastreyal/i dances up to meet the second couple.
All the evolutions performed by the first couple are now performed
by the second. This is continued by each couple in turn until all
have changed their places, and those who first danced at the west
end of the line dance there again. White people witnessing this
dance usually liken it to the well-known American contra-dance, the
Virginia reel.

When all the figures of the dance proper, heretofore described,
have been repeated four times, the y£baad return from their line in
the north, and a single line is formed of alternate y£baka and y£baad
facing west. /fastreyal/i whoops and places himself at the eastern
end of the line ; all face east, and, dancing in a lock-step, as closely
packed together as the dancing will allow, they move to the east.
When they get off the dancing-ground, they halt, give a prolonged
shake of the rattles, whoop, and move away at an ordinary walk in
silence, until they get beyond the glare of the fires, about midway
between the dance-ground and the arbor. Here in the darkness
they cool off, and breathe themselves for the next dance. They may
take off their masks, and chat with one another, or with any one
else.

All the acts described are performed in a most orderly and regular
manner, without the slightest hitch, hesitancy, or confusion on the
part of any of the participants. No orders or promptings are given.
The dancers take their cue, partly from the acts and hoots of ffas-
treyalri, but mostly from the meaningless syllables of the song they
are singing. At certain parts of the song, certain changes of the
figure are made.

When the dancers have rested for about five minutes, they return
to the dance-ground in the same order in which they first came ; but
the chanter does not accompany them, neither does he sprinkle meal
on them when they arrive on the dance-ground, unless the patient
be a child. The chanter only leads, and, as a rule, only sprinkles
meal on each group of dancers once, and that is when they make
their first appearance.

Navaho Night Chant. 1 5

Except when performing the dipping motion described, and when
turning around, the veritable male dancer holds the upper arms
hanging by the side, the forearms partly flexed, a gourd rattle in the
right hand, a wand of spruce in the left. When a real woman enacts
the part of the yebaad, she holds both arms extended outward hori-
zontally, the elbow bent at right angles, the forearms vertical, and a
wand of spruce in each hand.

At those parts of the dance where men remain in one place they
raise the right foot high, and hold it horizontally in marking time.
At certain parts of the song they hold the foot raised for a period of
two notes. When moving, also, the men lift the feet well from the
ground ; but the women do not do this ; they shuffle along on their
toes, lifting the feet but little.

The average duration of a figure, such as described, is five minutes,
and that of the breathing-time is about the same. But on occasions,
when many sets of dancers are prepared, and the programme for the
night is crowded, the periods of rest are greatly shortened or alto-
gether neglected. The dancers sometimes go but a few paces away
from the dance-ground, when their song is done, and return imme-
diately to begin a new song.

There is often no change in the general character of this figure
all night. From the beginning, soon after dark, until the ending
after daybreak, it may be constantly repeated, and the accompanying
songs may be sung to the same tune and in the same cadence.

The most desirable number of repetitions for the dance is said to
be forty-eight, when four sets of dancers each perform twelve times.
This, it is said, was in old times the invariable rule. On such occa-
sions each set holds the ground about two hours, and there is a
pause of about half an hour between the final exit of one set and the
first appearance of another. This gives us, with the work of the
ats&'/ei, an entertainment of ten hours' duration. But great varia-
tions are made from this standard, depending on the number of
groups which have drilled themselves and come to the ground pre-
pared to dance, also on the number of songs which each group may
have composed and practised for the occasion. For the first set we
have noted always twelve or thirteen dances ; but for subsequent
sets we have sometimes noted higher numbers, up to twenty, — not
always multiples of four and not always even numbers. When the
night's programme was crowded, we have seen two sets perform com-
pletely within an hour ; then the rests were short or omitted. There
may be six or more relays, and they may dance until perilously near
sunrise.

The performances of 7<5'nenili, the clown, next demand our atten-
tion. While the others are dancing, he performs various acts accord-

1 6 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

ing to his caprice, such as these : He walks along the line of dancers,
and gets in their way. He dances out of order and out of time.
He peers foolishly at different persons. He sits on the ground, his
hands clasped across his knees, and rocks his body to and fro. He
joins regularly in the dance toward the close of a figure, and when
the others have retired, he remains going through his steps, pretend-
ing to be oblivious of their departure ; then, feigning to discover
their absence, he follows them on a full run. He carries a fox-skin ;
drops it on the ground ; walks away, as if unconscious of his loss ;
pretends to become aware of his loss ; acts as if searching anxiously
for the skin, which lies in plain sight ; screens his eyes with his hand,
and crouches low to look ; imitates in various exaggerated ways the
acts of Indian hunters ; pretends at length to find the lost skin ;
jumps on it, as if it were a live animal he was killing; shoulders it
and carries it off, as if it were a heavy burden ; staggers and falls
under it. Sometimes he imitates the acts of /fastreyalri ; tries to
anticipate the latter in giving the signals for the dance ; rushes
around with wands or skins in his hands in clumsy imitation of
/fastfeyalri ; in intervals between the dances goes around soliciting
gifts with a fox-skin for a begging-bag, to which no one contributes.
Thus with acts of buffoonery does he endeavor to relieve the tedium
of the monotonous performance of the night. He does not always
come regularly in nor depart with the regular dancers. His exits
and entrances are often erratic.

There are some variations of the dance which have not been yet
described. Sometimes a set of dancers is made up without any
yebaad characters ; then, instead of the dance down the middle, two
men lock arms to dance along the north side of the line, and other
changes are made to suit circumstances. Sometimes the number of
yebaad is less than six ; in this case some of them dance down the
middle more than once. Portions of the song may be varied in
length. If the song is longer than that given here, //astr^yalri may
cause the dancers coming down the middle to retreat more than once
to the west. On some occasions they are not required to retreat to
the west at all, but dance directly down the middle, and then sepa-
rate. There seems to be difficulty often in finding men and boys of
suitable size to enact the part of the yebaad, and even when present,
they have been seen, as the work approached its conclusion, to be-
come exhausted by the severe exercise, to throw themselves on the
ground, and refuse to take part.

There is a variety of the dance called besi/ow, occasionally em-
ployed, which has not been carefully noted on the dance-ground, but
which has been demonstrated in private to the author. In this, the
hands are thrust far downwards and thrown backwards in time to

Navaho Night Chant. 1 7

the song. The step is slower and more halting than in the regular
form. As compared with the latter it bears somewhat the relation
of deux-temps to trois-temps in our waltz.

In the element of music, the songs sung outdoors are much alike.
To the ear untrained in music they sound quite alike. Even a mu-
sician, Sergeant Barthelmess, says of them : " In all the figures of
the dance, the melody of the song remained the same." Yet it is
apparent, from a study of the phonographic records, that some lati-
tude is allowed the musical composer in framing these melodies.
The author is not sufficiently versed in music to declare wherein
they must agree and wherein they may differ. In " Navaho Leg-
ends " (pp. 283, 284) may be found the music of two different naak^af
songs noted by Professor Fillmore from phonographic records. The
male personators of female divinities sing in falsetto.

As for the language of the songs, it has little significance. They
consist mostly of meaningless syllables, or of words whose meanings
are forgotten. Yet many of these are all-important, and must not
be changed or omitted. As before stated, some of them serve as
cues to the dancers. There are changes made in the few significant
words of the song ; those of the first song after dark and of the last
song in the morning are invariable ; it is in the intervening songs
that the modern Navaho poet is allowed to exercise his fancy. All
the songs begin with these vocables " 6hohoh6 ehehehe." In sing-
ing these the dancer in the west sings the first syllables " o " and
"e" alone ; in all the subsequent syllables the other singers join.

Following is the full text of a stanza of the first song : —

FIRST SONG OF THE NA'AKffAL
I.

1. Ohohohd dhehehd hdya hdya

2. <3hohohd dhehehd hdya heya

3. £0 lddo £0 lado do lado n&rd

4. Hdwani how owow owd

5. £0 lido do lado do lado najd

6. Hdwani how owou owd

7. Hdwani hdwani how hdyeyeye ydyeyihi

8. Hdwowow hdya hdya hdya hdya

9. Hdwa howd hdya hdya hdya

10. <5hohohd dhehehd hdya hdya

11. <5hohohd dhehehd hdya hdya

12. //£bi nfye Adbi nfye

13. /fli'huLzanaha, jfhiwawaha.

14. /TA'haya' dahedo dahedo

15. .Sfhiwanaha, Jf6.'h\iiz&naha..

16. //a'hayi.' dahedo dehedo dahedo eahedo.

vol. xiv. — no. 52. 2

1 8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

The words in this stanza to which any significance is now assigned
are those in the 13th and 15th verses, and the meanings of these
are only traditional: "The rain descends. The corn comes up."
The other three stanzas are the same as the first, except that in the
second and fourth the significant words are placed in inverse order.

Sometimes, in the intervals that occur between the final disap-
pearance of one set of dancers and the first appearance of the next
set, //astreyalri or some other of the masked characters go around
among the spectators with a begging-bag, soliciting contributions,
and receiving tobacco and other articles. He does not speak, but
merely holds out the bag ; when the contribution has been put in,
he closes the bag, and utters his peculiar hoot.

So far we have described the work outside the lodge ; it now re-
mains to describe the work within it. The basket is " turned down "
at night with many ritual observances. From the time it is turned
down until the final ceremonials in the morning, the work consists
of singing the songs of sequence of the rite in their proper order.
The singing begins when the atsa'/ei depart from the medicine-lodge
in the evening, and continues until the song of the atsa'/ei is heard
outside. The moment the song outside ceases that in the lodge is
resumed, and again the. song in the lodge ceases the instant the
singers outside are again heard. Thus, song is continued through-
out the night, without interruption, either in the lodge or on the
dance-ground, but never in both places together. There are many
intricate rules connected with these songs, some of which have been
learned ; but there are many more which have not been discovered.

The first of the songs of sequence sung in the lodge is perhaps
the most musical of the night. It is the first of the Atsa'/ei Bigm,
and alludes to the atsa'/ei without naming him. The following is a
free translation of the first stanza : —

1. Above it thunders,

2. His thoughts are directed to you.

3. He rises toward you,

4. Now to your house

5. Approaches for you.

6. He arrives for you,

7. He comes to the door,

8. He enters for you.

9. Behind the fireplace

10. He eats his special dish.

11. " Your body is strong,

12. Your body is holy now," he says.

The second stanza is the same, except that the first line is, " Below
it thunders."

After the dancers have sung their last song outside, the singers

1^.

+ ^
+ ^
+ ^
+ «

•<sl

£

CO

■a
o

1
o

a,

60

.g

'o

c .

T3 0>

0J t-*

S ;?

>- 3
• - o

■§9>

o so
o S

0J

m3 y

b^

O

3

E*

a

a;
(J

a

tv).

B

1)

C

[vj*

e

u

tg)l

>£

[3*

"3

tsh

>-

1

0*

t£>*

s*

•X

tv)^

i.s

133*

"5
rt

^

-g

Plate II.

a

'd

d

~d.

Figure 2. Diagram of first position of Atsa'/ei or first dancers : a, chanter ;
b, patient ; c, Yebitrai ; d . . . d, dancers.

0'

<3 <3 <$ <$ @ <$

Figure 4. Diagram of position of dancers of the Naak^ai in two lines : a, lodge ;
b, patient ; c, Yebitrai ; d, line of male dancers ; e, line of female dancers.

Navaho Night Chant. 19

inside the lodge sing the four Bena H3Ji.l1 or Finishing Hymns.
The following is a free translation of the last of these : —

1.

From the pond in the white valley (alkali flat) —

The young man doubts it —

He (the god) takes up his sacrifice.

With that he now heals.

With that your kindred thank you now.

11.
From the pools in the green meadow —
The young woman doubts it
He takes up his sacrifice.
With that he now heals.
With that your kindred thank you now.

At the pronunciation of a meaningless vocable (niyeo6o) in the re-
frain, the chanter puts his right hand under the eastern edge of the
inverted basket which serves as a drum. (Illustrated in "Navaho
Legends," fig. 16.) As the last verse of the song is uttered, he
turns the basket over toward the west, makes motions as if driving
released flies from under the basket out through the smoke-hole, and
blows a breath after the invisible flies, as they are supposed to de-
part. During the singing of this song, an assistant applies meal to
the lower jaw of the patient.

The next labor of the chanter is to unravel the drum-stick (illus-
trated in " Navaho Legends, " fig. 40), lay its component parts in
order, and give them to an assistant to sacrifice. While unravelling,
the chanter sings the song appropriate to the act. When the stick
is unwound, the chanter gives final instructions to the patient, and
all are at liberty to depart.

According to these instructions, the patient must not sleep until
sunset. Shortly before that time he returns to the medicine-lodge to
sleep there, and this he must do for four consecutive nights, although'
he may go where he will in the daytime. Under the threatened
penalty of a return of his disease, he is forbidden to eat the tripe,
liver, heart, kidney, or head of any animal, or to eat anything that
has floated on water. If an ear of corn or a melon has dropped into
water, and floated, it must not be eaten. These taboos must be
carefully observed until he attends a celebration of the rite of don-
astri^ego hatil; then he may partake of the peculiar composite mess
prepared on that occasion, and thereafter the taboos are removed.

Washington Matthews.
Washington, D. C.