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2

Man With Palomino Horse and His Tradition

The Singer and His Teachers

He lives in one of the southern valleys of Black Mesa, approximately five miles from Pinon. A big man, he stands broader and taller than most of his fellow tribesmen, even now that he is well advanced in years. Various estimates of his age, of being somewhere in the eighties, were given by people who know him. At the time of the ceremonial he himself answered that he was now seventy-seven years old.

We do not know how soon among his tribesmen our practitioner became known as Man With Palomino Horse. Presumably he had to be old enough to own an easily distinguishable horse with a white mane. In those days, we can infer, the man's horse was more conspicuous than its rider. The people named the rider after his horse. The horse has long since died, the singer has become an important person in his own right, but he is still known as the man of that famous palomino horse. Our singer, who today is known among his fellow tribesmen as an accomplished practitioner of Coyoteway and of Lifeway (Female Shooting Branch), and as one who assists in the performance of various other song ceremonials, must be searched for in the United States census books under a different name. Man With Palomino Horse—hastiin bitsiigha' ligaii hólónii, of the Coyote Clan—seemed an impossible designation to the government official who was given the difficult task of recording the man's existence. With an unusual flare of imagination this unknown official assigned him a name not much

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shorter than the original name would have been: Jessie James Begay the First.

Man With Palomino Horse said he learned the Coyoteway ceremonial from Many Whiskers (bidághaa' lání) who died in the middle fifties. His former apprentice, Luke Cook, mentioned the maternal uncle of Man With Palomino Horse, Yellow Hair (tsii' litsooí), as an intermediary teacher. So it appears that Yellow Hair was an older apprentice of Many Whiskers while Man With Palomino Horse was a younger one. When Many Whiskers died, the Man With Palomino Horse finished learning Coyoteway by observing Yellow Hair. Many Whiskers, the grandfather who taught Yellow Hair and Man With Palomino Horse, learned the Coyoteway ceremonial from another and older grandfather, He Who Returns Angrily (hashkéé náane), who died when our practitioner was only six years old-thus around 1903.

When given the name hastiin neez to identify, the face of Man With Palomino Horse lit up. Yes, he knew hastiin neez. From him he has the sandpaintings that were used in our ceremonial. This piece of information needs some slight modification, perhaps. Mary Wheelwright wrote that hastiin neez, from near Rainbow Bridge, died in 1919. At that time Man With Palomino Horse was only twenty-two years old. It is quite possible that he saw hastiin neez use the sandpaintings in question. But it should also be taken into account that in 1929, Many Whiskers gave to Laura Armer exactly the same sandpaintings. Many Whiskers was a direct teacher of Man With Palomino Horse until the fifties; so it would seem natural that our practitioner's knowledge about the sandpaintings of hastiin neez was reinforced through him.

Both grandfathers, He Who Returns Angrily and Many Whiskers, were included when in 1864 Navajo people were deported to the Fort Sumner concentration camp. According to his age, it is possible that hastiin neez, who died in 1919, was included also. This episode of existential fears and hostilities—when the Navajos were surrounded by the United States Army, felt threatened by "Enemy Navajos," Mescaleros, Comanches, and Kiowas, and when their number was reduced by famine and epidemics—has visibly increased the Navajo awareness of witchcraft. At that time Evilway rites were primarily called for. Father Berard (1950, p. 297) reported that at that time a Chiricahua Apache introduced a sucking cure, which was aimed specifically against the disease-producing agents of "bean-shooting" witchcraft. This intensified confrontation could well have contributed some aspects to the present form of the Coyoteway ceremonial. Perhaps "Burning the Feathers," the counter-measure for "feather-shooting," was added then (cf. note 2, this chapter).

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Man With Palomino Horse, Coyoteway

Singer

Hastiin Neez: . This photograph—from the Philip
Johnston Collection, in Special Collections, Northern
Arizona University Library—was identified by Man
With Palomino Horse as his teacher of long ago.

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Man with Palomino Horse seemed unable to name a still older Coyoteway singer. However, Luke Cook, who belongs to the last generation of Coyoteway apprentices, has heard it spoken that the first Coyoteway singer who taught the above mentioned grandfathers was Yellow Man of the Canyon People (tséyi' niiltsooí). Presumably this man had already died when the Navajo people were taken to Fort Sumner. All agree, nevertheless, that Coyoteway was known and had been performed in Navajoland long before the Fort Sumner deportation.

Where historical inquiries end, the mythical record usually points a little farther. Both Coyoteway myths of the Holyway type (given in Chapters 9 and 10) point to a place of origin in the La Plata Mountains, in the Mesa Verde vicinity. Whether Luke Cook's "Yellow Man of the Canyon People" is identical with the "Nalth-keh-olth-eh" of tséyi'nii or with the "Grandnephew of the Coyote-clan chief" of yoo' hataalii (see Chapters 10, 11), is now impossible to verify. In any case, what the two myths agree on is that the Coyoteway ceremonial originated in the Old Navajoland—the place where according to its cosmological orientation one would expect it to have originated. Old Navajoland is the place where Navajo-Apachean hunter shamans first seem to have come in contact with the Pueblo Indian four-directional four-level cosmology and with the anthropogony of emergence. Courageous shamans that they were, a few of them ventured down into the hole of emergence from where, according to the new worldview, all life and power originates. Coyote and fox tutelaries have been showing their fellow hunters the right way all along—by digging burrows for themselves and by living in the "underworld." Now, at last, in the light of the Pueblo myth of emergence, could the pioneering efforts and hints of the Coyote People be fully understood.

The Mythico-historical Origin of Coyoteway

When Man With Palomino Horse told the story about the origin of Coyoteway he emphasized that this is the only story that belonged to the ceremonial from the beginning. He admitted that some storytellers may have added other Coyote stories, but this story is all that belongs.

Rock-extending-between (Middle Point) is the name of the place. It snowed early in the morning. A man was going out with the intention to hunt. He saw Coyote tracks. He started backtracking the Coyote tracks. They led to a pond that was surrounded with many

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kinds of green plants. As he approached he saw a ladder sticking out of the water, barely above the water. On the steps of this ladder the hunter went down into the water.(1) Down below he touched ground. It was very beautiful down there. The earth surface on which we now sit had winter; there was snow on the ground. But below it was summer; there was green grass, flowers, all over the place. In the east he saw white buildings. He went over to the buildings and saw Coyote human beings. They were in fact human beings, but they were Coyote People. There were lots of young beautiful girls with long and wavy hair. Then he saw all the fields of corn. The corn was ripe. The Coyote People gathered the corn and cooked meals for him. He ate and stayed overnight.

Toward evening the Coyote People assembled, and he was taught the Coyoteway ceremonial—the songs, the prayers, the procedures, and the prayersticks. He was taught everything. He simply learned it from these people. They told him that the prayers, the songs, and the ceremonial items are also to be used on the earth; and these are the ways you are going to use them. These were all read to him. It seems, perhaps, that he wrote it all on papers of his mind. Then he began climbing up again to this earth. He came up through the water, on the ladder, to the earth.

So this is the simple story about where the songs and the ceremonial came from. So this is what it is. This is what my grandfather told me; Many Whiskers is his name. Further back in time there was another grandfather who died of old age, his name is He Who Returns Angrily. He died when I was only six years old. The other grandfather died more recently, about twenty years ago. So these are the people from whom I have learned it. They taught me these things, and I accepted them. I learned them. And that is the way it is today. It is a simple story. And this is all.

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(1) The setting of this myth, with "a ladder sticking out of the water," is identical in all the three available Coyoteway versions of the Holyway type. The two other versions by yoo' hataalii and by tséyi'nii, are given in Chapters 9-10. A related Lipan Apache story can be found in Morris E. Opler's Myths and Legends of the Lipan Apache Indians, 1940, pp. 41-44. The setting in all these myths is obviously related to Pueblo kiva architecture and to the mythic flood caused by the Water Serpent (see Luckert 1976). The origin myth of the Hopi Reed clan appears to have provided the model for Coyoteway cosmology. The myth of the Hopi Snake clan, in some of its aspects, may be the prototype for the Reed clan myth. What is unique in the ecstatic journey of the Navajo shaman can be seen after subtracting the Hopi elements from the available Coyoteway myths.
The Hopi Reed clan hero went in search of a hunting animal. From the crest of a mountain he sighted a dog. The animal trotted ahead of him and led him "to what appeared to be a water hole. Protruding from the water was the top of a ladder. The dog began to descend the ladder, and as he did so the water disappeared." Spider Grandmother advised the man to follow: "...this is the kiva of the dog people." The hero obtained a hunting dog to take home with him. In the origin myth of the Snake clan the ancestral hero married a Snake maiden and learned how to perform the Snake ceremonies(Courlander 1971, pp. 58. 103-5). Thus it appears that the Navajo Coyoteway myth of the Holyway type is a blend of Hopi Reed clan cosmology, of something akin to Hopi Snake clan initiational procedures, and of Navajo shamanic experience and/or ingenuity.

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On two occasions we asked Luke Cook about what he knows concerning the origin of the Coyoteway ceremonial. In the first instance he referred simply to the mythic age immediately after the emergence of the first people from the underworld. Everything else in human history began with First Man, First Woman, First Boy, First Girl, and Coyote, so why should the Coyoteway ceremonial not be traceable to these? On the second occasion, while explaining the Feather-burning Rite, he told us the myth of Coyote's adventure into Narrow Canyon. When later we asked Man With Palomino Horse specifically about this myth, he claimed that, while it explains the Feather-burning Rite, it has nothing to do with Coyoteway; moreover, it belongs to the Upwardreaching Chant (hanelnéhe) that serves the primary purpose of driving away the evil influence of ghosts, witches, and Coyote. Concerning a first Coyoteway ceremonial on the rim of Narrow Canyon, about which Luke Cook informed us, our practitioner seemed to know nothing. Nevertheless, Luke Cook's story is verified by earlier recordings; it contains important historical data, coming from a time when the idea of feather-burning was introduced and when Evilway-type thinking not only pressured but also shaped the apologetics of the Holyway-type Coyoteway. There was, in fact, a Coyoteway ceremonial performed on the rim of Narrow Canyon. The mischievous Coyote was indeed chased out of Narrow Canyon, but not, as Evilway singers maintain, because he was Evil incarnate. Rather, Coyote became a patient—thus the prototype of all subsequent patients and healers. Divine Coyote People came to heal their kinsman. Thus, Coyote is not the evil being which, according to Evilway mythology, only deserves to be driven away. Coyote is a person; more yet, Coyote is a Navajo.

The Coyoteway originated at Narrow Canyon (tséyi' haats'ósí). The Bird People lived in this canyon under ledges along the cliffs. Coyote ventured among them and angered them. In revenge the Bird People shot their feathers into Coyote. They were using these feathers as witchcraft arrows—shooting them like feathered arrows. Coyote barely escaped to the top of the canyon. He felt miserable.(2)

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(2) According to a Taos tale (Parsons 1940, pp. 112-15), Coyote became envious of clothing that White-headed Eagles possessed. They agreed to trade some of their clothing if Coyote would get for them a blue coyote fur. To accomplish his end Coyote plays dead while all kinds of coyotes examine his condition—Red Coyote, Gray Coyote, Black Coyote, and Blue Coyote. In the process Coyote kills Blue Coyote, skins him, and trades the fur for the Eagles' clothes.... Up to this point-if we assume Navajo borrowing from Pueblo mythology-this story explains perhaps the curious fact of why in Coyoteway coyotes are constantly mentioned and why the skin of a "blue coyote" (gray fox) and a stuffed "blue coyote" are actually used.

The Taos tale continues: ...Encouraged by his improved appearance, Coyote challenges the Eagles to a fight; this time around his personal clothing, his own skin, is to be at stake. In the course of the fight the powerful Eagles shoot "very little, fine arrows" into Coyote. Coyote is defeated and loses his skin.

This "feather-shooting" episode seems to extend the mythological Pueblo influence to the Navajo Evilway Upwardreaching ceremonial—eventually even to the present Evilway intrusion of Coyoteway itself. Coyote's association with witchcraft seems otherwise well documented in the Pueblo realm. Parsons informs us that "most Pueblo witch transformations are into Coyote" and that frequently in mythology Coyote is also regarded as the First Witch (Parsons, 1939, pp. 217, 1067n). In addition, a "Feather-burning Rite" has been reported from Zuni (Ladd 1960, p. 118)

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Luke Cook on horseback, with Mrs. Cook and son,
   on the day of the author's first visit to his homestead, in 1971.

In May of 1973 we made another attempt to reach the singer (see Preface).

Johnny and his father Luke, preparing lunch at a roadside-stop near Second Mesa.

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Then Coyote came to the home of Horned Toad and there he asked for food. He demanded to be given all the available food. Horned Toad refused. Thereupon Coyote became angry and swallowed him. He thought he had killed him. And Coyote sat in Horned Toad's house, his hogan. Shshd! Coyote heard a sound and concluded that he was in a ch'íídii hooghan; he was feeling increasingly worse. (The humorous implication is what every child knows: if Coyote had actually killed Horned Toad and had dispatched his ghost, the hogan would indeed be hok'ee—a ghost hogan. The ghost of Horned Toad would naturally claim the home in which he was dispatched.)

Meanwhile, Horned Toad who was still alive crawled all around in Coyote's belly, exploring it. He wondered what all the different organs were and grabbed them as he investigated—stomach, lungs, and the heart. At last he pinched off the heart and came out through the mouth. There was blood in the mouth and face of Coyote, stemming from his internal bleeding. For the time being Horned Toad had killed Coyote.(3)

At this point the narrator broke off, but from subsequent conversations it became obvious that because of his self-provoked sufferings, because of his "coyoteing around," Coyote has himself become the first Coyoteway patient. This happened up on the rim of Narrow Canyon where other Coyote People had gathered to revive him. This conclusion of the myth transforms a potential Evilway myth into one of the Holyway type. Coyote does not remain the epitome of Evil;

rather, he becomes the prototype of all subsequent Coyoteway patients and healers. According to the ancient way of Coyote all subsequent sufferers—though they may have brought their suffering upon themselves through "coyoteing around"—are given a chance for recovery. Divine grace and participation abounds over merit.

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(3) A related myth is given in the narrative by tséyi'nii (Chapter 10, paragraphs 21-28). See also the introductory statement to this myth.

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