Mythology of the First World: Creation of First Man and First Woman, Study notes of Humanities

Download Mythology of the First World: Creation of First Man and First Woman and more Study notes Humanities in PDF only on Docsity! 1 THE DÎNÉ: ORIGIN MYTHS OF THE NAVAHO INDIANS By AILEEN O'BRYAN Bulletin 163 of the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution [1956]. THE CREATION OR AGE OF BEGINNING THE FIRST WORLD These stories were told to Sandoval, Hastin Tlo'tsi hee, by his grandmother, Esdzan Hosh kige. Her ancestor was Esdzan at a', the medicine woman who had the Calendar Stone in her keeping. Here are the stories of the Four Worlds that had no sun, and of the Fifth, the world we live in, which some call the Changeable World. The First World, Ni'hodilqil,[1] was black as black wool. It had four corners, and over these appeared four clouds. These four clouds contained within themselves the elements of the First World. They were in color, black, white, blue, and yellow. The Black Cloud represented the Female Being or Substance. For as a child sleeps when being nursed, so life slept in the darkness of the Female Being. The White Cloud represented the Male Being or Substance. He was the Dawn, the Light-Which-Awakens, of the First World. In the East, at the place where the Black Cloud and the White Cloud met, First Man, Atse'hastqin[2] was formed; and with him was formed the white corn, perfect in shape, with kernels covering the whole ear. Dolionot i'ni is the name of this first seed corn,[3] and it is also the name of the place where the Black Cloud and the White Cloud met. [1. Informant's note: Five names were given to this First World in Its relation to First man. It was called Dark Earth, Ni'hodilqil; Red Earth, Ni'halchi; One Speech, Sada hat lai; Floating Land, Ni'ta na elth; and One Tree, De east'da eith. Matthews (1897, p. 65): The First World was red. Franciscan Fathers (1912, p. 140): ni' the world or earth; ni' hodilqil, the dark or lowest of the underworlds; (p. 111) lai, one, or first. Franciscan Fathers (1910, p. 81): sad, a word, a language; Sad lai, First Speech. 2. Franciscan Fathers (1912, p. 93): Atse'hastqin, First Man. 3. Informant's note: Where much corn is raised one or two ears are found perfect. These are always kept for seed corn. Franciscan Fathers (1912, p. 85): do honot'i ni, the name of a full ear, or seed corn.] 2 The First World was small in size, a floating island in mist or water. On it there grew one tree, a pine tree, which was later brought to the present world for firewood. Man was not, however, in his present form. The conception was of a male and a female being who were to become man and woman. The creatures of the First World are thought of as the Mist People; they had no definite form, but were to change to men, beasts, birds, and reptiles of this world.[4] Now on the western side of the First World, in a place that later was to become the Land of Sunset, there appeared the Blue Cloud, and opposite it there appeared the Yellow Cloud. Where they came together First Woman was formed, and with her the yellow corn. This ear of corn was also perfect. With First Woman there came the white shell and the turquoise and the yucca.[5] First Man stood on the eastern side of the First World. He represented the Dawn and was the Life Giver. First Woman stood opposite in the West. She represented Darkness and Death. First Man burned a crystal for a fire. The crystal belonged to the male and was the symbol of the mind and of clear seeing. When First Man burned it, it was the mind's awakening. First Woman burned her turquoise for a fire. They saw each other's lights in the distance. When the Black Cloud and the White Cloud rose higher in the sky First Map. set out to find the turquoise light. He went twice without success, and again a third time; then he broke a forked branch from his tree, and, looking through the fork, he marked the place where the light burned. And the fourth time he walked to it and found smoke coming from a home. "Here is the home I could not find," First Man said. First Woman answered: "Oh, it is you. I saw you walking around and I wondered why you did not come." Again the same thing happened when the Blue Cloud and the Yellow Cloud rose higher in the sky. First Woman saw a light and she went out to find it. Three times she was unsuccessful, but the fourth time she saw the smoke and she found the home of First Man. "I wondered what this thing could be," she said. "I saw you walking and I wondered why you did not come to me," First Man answered. [4. Informant's note: The Navaho people have always believed In evolution. 5. Informant's note: Five names were given also to the First World in Its relation to First Woman: White Bead Standing, Yolgai'na ziha; Turquoise Standing, Dolt i'zhi na ziha; White Bead Floating Place, Yolgai'dana elth gal; Turquoise Floating Place, Dolt i'zhi na elth gai; and Yucca Standing, Tasas y ah gal. Yucca represents cleanliness and things ceremonial. Franciscan Fathers (1912, p. 181): Tsa'zi ntqe'li, Yucca baccata, wide leaf yucca or Spanish bayonet. The roots of this species furnish a rich lather; the plant is frequently referred to as tqalawhush, soap.] 5 These mountains of the Third World were not in their true form, but rather the substance of the mountains. Matthews (1897, p. 71): The Third World, the mountains. The four mountains named by the First Man: Tsisnadzi'ne, East; Tso'tsil, South; Do koslid, West; Debe'ntsa, North. Also, note 51, pp. 220- 221, version A and version B; notes 52, 53, 54, 56, p. 221; and notes 58, 60, 62, 65, p. 222. Franciscan Fathers (1910, Pp. 56, 136), Sisnajin', Pelado Peak; p. 137); Amsden (1934, p. 123). Recorders note: Although both Matthews and the Franciscan Fathers give Sisnajin as Pelado Peak, Sam Ahkeah, the Interpreter, after checking, Identified it as Mount Baldy near Alamosa, Colo. Also, although the Franciscan Fathers give Dzil na odili choli as Huerfanito Peak, Sam Ahkeah says that it is the Mother Mountain near Taos.] 6 gai'dzil, the Dawn or White Shell Mountain. In the South stood Tso'dzil, the Great Mountain, also called Mountain Tongue. Its ceremonial name is Yodolt i'zhi dzil, the Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain. In the West stood Dook'oslid, and the meaning of this name is forgotten. Its ceremonial name is Dichi'li dzil, the Abalone Shell Mountain. In the North stood Debe'ntsa, Many Sheep Mountain. Its ceremonial name is Bash'zhini dzil, Obsidian Mountain. Then there was Dzil na'odili, the Upper Mountain. It was very sacred; and its name means also the Center Place, and the people moved around it. Its ceremonial name is Ntl'is dzil, Precious Stone or Banded Rock Mountain. There was still another mountain called Chol'i'i or Dzil na'odili choli, and it was also a sacred mountain. There was no sun in this land, only the two rivers and the six mountains. And these rivers and mountains were not in their present form, but rather the substance of mountains and rivers as were First Man, First Woman, and the others. Now beyond Sis na' jin, in the east, there lived the Turquoise Hermaphrodite, Ashton nutli.[18] He was also known as the Turquoise Boy. And near this person grew the male reed. Beyond, still farther in the east, there lived a people called the Hadahuneya'nigi,[19] the Mirage or Agate People. Still farther in the east there lived twelve beings called the Naaskiddi.[20] And beyond the home of these beings there lived four others--the Holy Man, the Holy Woman, the Holy Boy, and the Holy Girl. In the West there lived the White Shell Hermaphrodite[21] or Girl, and with her was the big female reed which grew at the water's edge. It had no tassel. Beyond her in the West there lived another stone people called the Hadahunes'tqin, the Ground Heat People. Still [28. Informant's note: Ashon nutli', the Turquoise Hermaphrodite, later became masculine and was known as the Sun Bearer, Jo hona'ai. 29. Informant's note: The Hadahuneya'nigi are the Stone people who live where there is a mirage on the desert. Interpreter's note: These Stone People came from the East. Morris (1921), p. 115): p. 127, this bulletin; Stevenson (1891, p. 275). Matthews (1897, p. 63): To the East there was a place called Tau (corn), to the South, a place called Nahodoo'la, and to the West a place called Lokatsos akad (Standing Reed). Again to the East there was a place called Essal'ai (One Pot), to the South a place called To'hadzitil (They came often for water), and to the West a place called Dsilitsibe hogan (House made of Red Mountain). Then again to the East there was a place called Ley a hogan (Underground house), and to the South a place called Tsil st'ntha (Among aromatic sumac), and to the West a place called Tse'lits ibe hogan (House made of red rock). 20. Informant's note: The Naaskiddi or Gha'askidi are the hunchback figures connected with seeds, fertility, and phallus worship. They are said to have come from the mountain called Chol'i'i. 21. Informant's note: The White Shell Hermaphrodite or Girl later entered the Moon and became the Moon Bearer. She is connected with Esdzanadle, the Woman-Who Changes, or Yolgai esdzan, the White Shell Woman.] 7 farther on there lived another twelve beings, but these were all females.[22] And again, in the Far West, there lived four Holy Ones. Within this land there lived the Kisa'ni, the ancients of the Pueblo People. On the six mountains there lived the Cave Dwellers or Great Swallow People.[23] On the mountains lived also the light and dark squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rats, the turkey people, the deer and cat people, the spider people, and the lizards and snakes. The beaver people lived along the rivers, and the frogs and turtles and all the underwater people in the water. So far all the people were similar. They had no definite form, but they had been given different names because of different characteristics. Now the plan was to plant. First Man called the people together. He brought forth the white corn which had been formed with him. First Woman brought the yellow corn. They laid the perfect ears side by side; then they asked one person from among the many to come and help them. The Turkey stepped forward. They asked him where he had come from, and he said that he had come from the Gray Mountain.[24] He danced back and forth four times, then he shook his feather coat and there dropped from his clothing four kernels of corn, one gray, one blue, one black, and one red. Another person was asked to help in the plan of the planting. The Big Snake came forward. He likewise brought forth four seeds, the pumpkin, the watermelon, the cantaloup, and the muskmelon. His plants all crawl on the ground. They planted the seeds, and their harvest was great. After the harvest the Turquoise Boy from the East came and visited First Woman. When First Man returned to his home he found his wife with this boy. First Woman told her husband that Ashon nutli' was of her flesh and not of his flesh.[25] She said that she had used her own fire, the turquoise, and had ground her own yellow corn into meal. This corn she had planted and cared for herself. Now at that time there were four chiefs: Big Snake, Mountain Lion, Otter, and Bear.[26] And it was the custom when the black cloud rose [22 Informant's note: The Corn Maidens are deities of fertility. 23. Informant's note: The Great Swallow People, Tqashji'zhi ndilk'si, lived in rough houses of mud and sticks. They entered them from holes in the roof. 24. Informant's note: The Gray Mountain is the home of the Gray Yei, Hasch ei'ba'i, whose other name is Water Sprinkler. The turkey is connected with water and rain. Interpreter's note: Gray Mountain is San Francisco Mountain, Ariz. Tqo'neinili, the Water Sprinkler, whose color is gray, lives there. He is also called the Gray God, Hasch e'lbai, and the Clown whose call is "do do," and whose name is Hasch e'dodi. 25. Informant's note: First Woman and the Turquoise Hermaphrodite represented the female principle. Later he said: There is confusion among medicine men regarding this. Some say that the Turquoise Boy was Ashon nutli'; some say the Mirage Man, some contend that "It" was another "Turquoise Boy." 26. Informant's note: Some medicine men call them the chiefs of the Four Directions.] 10 After this happened the people saw white light in the East and in the South and West and North. One of the deer people ran to the East, and returning, said that the white light was a great sheet of water. The sparrow hawk flew to the South, the great hawk to the West, and the kingfisher to the North. They returned and said that a flood was coming. The kingfisher said that the water was greater in the North, and that it was near. The flood was coming and the Earth was sinking. And all this happened because the Coyote had stolen the two children of the Water Buffalo, and only First Woman and the Coyote knew the truth. When First Man learned of the coming of the water he sent word to all the people, and he told them to come to the mountain called Sis na'jin. He told them to bring with them all of the seeds of the plants used for food. All living beings were to gather on the top of Sis na'jin. First Man traveled to the six sacred mountains, and, gathering earth from them, he put it in his medicine bag.[32] The water rose steadily. When all the people were halfway up Sis na' jin, First Man discovered that he had forgotten his medicine bag. Now this bag contained not only the earth from the six sacred mountains, but his magic, the medicine he used to call the rain down upon the earth and to make things grow. He could not live without his medicine bag, and be wished to jump into the rising water; but the others begged him not to do this. They went to the kingfisher and asked him to dive into the water and recover the bag. This the bird did. When First Man had his medicine bag again in his possession he breathed on it four times and thanked his people. When they had all arrived it was found that the Turquoise Boy had brought with him the big Male Reed;[33] and the White Shell Girl had brought with her the big Female Reed.[34] Another person brought poison ivy; and another, cotton, which was later used for cloth. This person was the spider. First Man had with him his spruce tree[35] which he planted on the top of Sis na'jin. He used his fox medicine[36] to make it grow; but the spruce tree began to send out branches and to taper at the top, so First Man planted the big Male Reed. All the people blew on it, and it grew and grow until it reached [32. Informant's note: Here, and following, magic is associated with First Man. Recorder's note: The magic of First Man was considered white magic, reason, logos. 33. Informant's note: The big male reed is called luka'tso. It grows near Santo Domingo Pueblo, not far from the home of the Turquoise Boy, the little turquoise mountain south Of Santa Fe, N. Mex. 34. Informant's note: The big female reed is thought to be the joint cane which grows along the Colorado River. This was near the home of the White Shell Girl. 35. Recorder's note: That the tree is here called a spruce and on page 2 a pine is not explained. 36. First Man's name, Atse'hastqin, corresponds to the sacred name of the kit fox.] 11 the canopy of the sky. They tried to blow inside the reed, but it was solid. They asked the woodpecker to drill out the hard heart. Soon they were able to peek through the opening, but they had to blow and blow before it was large enough to climb through. They climbed up inside the big male reed, and after them the water continued to rise.[37] THE FOURTH WORLD When the people reached the Fourth World they saw that it was not a very large place. Some say that it was called the White World; but not all medicine men agree that this is so. The last person to crawl through the reed was the turkey from Gray Mountain. His feather coat was flecked with foam, for after him came the water. And with the water came the female Water Buffalo who pushed her head through the opening in the reed. She had a great quantity of curly hair which floated on the water, and she had two horns, half black and half yellow. From the tips of the horns the lightning flashed. First Man asked the Water Buffalo why she had come and why she had sent the flood. She said nothing. Then the Coyote drew the two babies from his coat and said that it was, perhaps, because of them. The Turquoise Boy took a basket and filled it with turquoise. On top of the turquoise he placed the blue pollen, tha'di'thee do tlij, from the blue flowers,[38] and the yellow pollen from the corn; and on top of these he placed the pollen from the water flags, tquel aqa'di din; and. again on top of these he placed the crystal, which is river pollen. This basket he gave to the Coyote who put it between the horns of the Water Buffalo. The Coyote said that with this sacred offering he would give back the male child. He said that the male child would be known as the Black Cloud or Male Rain, and that he would bring the thunder and lightning. The female child he would keep. She would be known as the Blue, Yellow, and White Clouds or Female Rain. She would be the gentle rain that would moisten the earth and. help them to live. So he kept the female child, and he placed the male child on the sacred basket between the horns of the Water Buffalo. And the Water Buffalo disappeared, and the waters with her.. After the water sank there appeared another person. They did not know him, and they asked him where he had come from. He told them that he was the badger, nahashch'id, and that he had been formed [37. The Third or Yellow World: Matthews (1897, p. 66); Whitman (1925, pp. 7-9); Alexander (1916, p. 161); Parsons (1923, p. 161); Cushing (1923, p. 166). 18. Recorder's note: This blue pollen, tha'di'thee do tlij, is thought to be Delphinium scaposum Green.] 12 where the Yellow Cloud had touched the Earth. Afterward this Yellow Cloud turned out to be a sunbeam.[39] THE FIFTH WORLD First Man was not satisfied with the Fourth World. It was a small barren land; and the great water had soaked the earth and made the sowing of seeds impossible. He planted the big Female Reed and it grew up to the vaulted roof of this Fourth World. First Man sent the newcomer, the badger, up inside the reed, but before he reached the upper world water began to drip, so he returned and said that he was frightened. At this time there came another strange being. First Man asked him where he had been formed, and he told him that he had come from the Earth itself. This was the locust.[40] He said that it was now his turn to do something, and he offered to climb up the reed. The locust made a headband of a little reed, and on his forehead he crossed two arrows. These arrows were dressed with yellow tail feathers. With this sacred headdress and the help of all the Holy Beings the locust climbed up to the Fifth World. He dug his way through the reed as he digs in the earth now. He then pushed through mud until he came to water. When he emerged he saw a black water bird[41] swimming toward him. He had arrows[42] crossed on the back of his head and big eyes. The bird said: "What are you doing here? This is not your country." And continuing, he told the locust that unless he could make magic be would not allow him to remain. The black water bird drew an arrow from back of his head, and shoving it into his mouth drew it out his nether extremity. He inserted it underneath his body and drew it out of his mouth. "That is nothing," said the locust. He took the arrows from his headband and pulled them both ways through his body, between his shell and his heart. The bird believed that the locust possessed great medicine, and he swam away to the East, taking the water with him. Then came the blue water bird from the South, and the yellow water bird from the West, and the white water bird from the North, and everything happened as before. The locust performed the magic with [39. Informant's and interpreter's note: The Four Worlds were really 12 worlds, or stages of development; but different medicine men divide them differently according to the ceremony held. For the narrative they call them the Four Dark Worlds, and the Fifth World, the one we live in. An old medicine man explained that the Sixth World would be that of the spirit; and that the one above that would be "cosmic," melting into one. 40. Informant's note: The name of the locust was not given. Franciscan Fathers (1912, p. 123): locust, nahacha'gi. This also means grasshopper, cicada. 41. Informant's note: The water birds were grebes. 42 Recorder's note: The arrows crossed on the back of the bird's head. See both Navaho and Zuni Arrow Ceremony.]