COYOTEWAY

A Navajo Holyway Healing Ceremonial

Karl W. Luckert
and
Johnny C. Cooke,
Navajo Interpreter

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the Table of Contents

Johnny C. Cooke, his father Luke Cook at age 96, and Karl W. Luckert, during autumn of 2000,
in front of the hogan where Coyoteway was performed in 1974

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Table of Contents

Preface

PART ONE: THE CEREMONIAL AND ITS PRIESTS
1. Introduction to Coyoteway 3-14
2. Man With Palomino Horse and His Tradition 15-22
The Singer and His Teachers
The Mythico-historical Origin of Coyoteway

PART TWO: COYOTEWAY PERFORMED
3. The Nine-Night Sequence 25-30
4. Unraveling Ceremonies 31-52
            Preparations and Singing
            Unraveling
            Burning the Feathers
5. Fire Ceremonies 53-96
Making New Fire
The Reed-prayerstick Bundle Rites
            Preparations
            Prayers
            Delivery of Reed-prayerstick Bundles
Sweating Rite
            Preparations and Sweating
Iiłkóóh Rubbing-on and Drinking
            Sprinkling Kétloh
Burning the Feathers
The Washing Rite
6. Basket-Drum Ceremonies 97-120
Preparations and Aim
Fifth Evening
Sixth Evening
Seventh Evening
Eighth Evening Burning the Feathers
7. Sandpainting Ceremonies 121-184
            The Problem of Naming the Yé'ii
            The One-yé'ii Ceremony
            The Sandpaintings
The Ceremony
            The Three-yé'ii Ceremony
            The Sandpainting
            The Ceremony
8. The Ninth-Night Summary 185-188

Chapters 9 through 12 are not in this internet edition. Please consult the printed version.
PART THREE: EARLY RECORDS OF COYOTEWAY
9. Coyoteway Myth of Yoo' Hataałii 191-202
10. Coyoteway Myth of Tséyi' nii 203-216
11. Coyoteway Myth of William Charlie 217-223
12. Sandpainting Reproductions 224-233
Sandpaintings by Big Mustache Sandpaintings and Prayersticks
by Bit'ahnii Bidághaaí
Sandpaintings by William Charlie

Bibliography 235-239
Index 241-243

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Preface

The Navajo Coyoteway ceremonial (mą'iijí hatáál) has lingered in the shadow of death for nearly a century. As early as 1910 it has been declared extinct, in an Ethnologic Dictionary by Franciscan scholars. Nevertheless, the ceremonial has survived in the remote ravines of the conservative Black Mesa area of northern Arizona, long enough for us to record and photograph a complete nine-night version. This happened during January of 1974. After our recording of this chantway, the last active Coyoteway singer, Man-with-Palomino-Horse, has staged five more such complete nine-night performances. Several years ago he died, and the Coyoteway tradition on the Navajo Reservation died with him. Our book was published in 1979 under the title Coyoteway, a Navajo Holyway Healing Ceremonial. A few years later this book, too, has died mysteriously—after its second printing.

As far as could be ascertained, the printing establishment in Phoenix was sold and the new owners promptly destroyed the plates. When the publishers decided not to invest in a reprint, the copyrights reverted to Karl W. Luckert. Prodded by persistent inquiries about the availability of this book, Luckert, in consultation with Johnny C. Cooke, has undertaken to reformat the text for the Internet. The photographs are now given in color—something that was possible only for ten images in the original book. Unfortunately, the orthography of a few Navajo words has become flawed in the process. Several combinations of Navajo diacritical marks are still not available on the Windows Word 2000 fonts--and on the Netscape Browser the slashed letter "l" [ł] continues to appear as question-mark. But this appears to be a small price to pay for resurrection.

* * *

Three men, especially, deserve the gratitude of writer, reader, and posterity; they are Johnny C. Cooke (John Cook), Luke Cook, and Man With Palomino Horse. Johnny Cooke has been my faithful interpreter through three major research projects. His superior command of the Navajo language, and his open-minded religious sensitivity, together were the key to success in both our negotiations and in the translation of the materials. A sincere word of thanks is hereby also extended to his wife and children for enduring his frequent absences from home. Luke Cook has been a devoted negotiator on our behalf, later also a very helpful informant. He has selflessly volunteered to be our patient, and, seeing himself in the traditional way still as the primary beneficiary, he has insisted on bearing certain portions of the expenses himself. The consent of his family, and the active support of his family, his relatives and friends, is forever appreciated. Man With Palomino Horse, one of two surviving singers of Coyoteway (mą'iijí hatáál), has consented to have his chantway recorded and preserved for posterity. Many generations of Navajo students and world citizens will admire him for his generous gesture toward a closed future. The world will never know the struggle that went on behind his serene and dignified posture. Should Coyoteway die ethnically pure, or should it be given to mankind? Some people despair when they face the end of a road; Man With Palomino Horse dreamt a broader vision.

A number of other people have helped me along the way. Melvin Nelson, of Winslow, on many occasions during the negotiation stage, has saved me many miles of extra driving by keeping our "pony express" relay communications system going. When the ceremonial finally got off the ground, it was my Northern Arizona University colleague. Bill Gillette, who let me use his professional flash equipment to improve my photography. Then, in the days after winter recess, when it appears to be difficult to grant leaves of absence in Arizona, the Northern Arizona University administration graciously gave me two additional days. Irvy W. Goossen, another university colleague and professor of Navajo, has helped me over and again with transcribing Navajo words. His transcriptions correspond to the Young and Morgan orthography. Barton Wright has discussed comparative Hopi materials with me, and the library staff at the Museum of Northern Arizona has been as generous toward me as always. Sam Gill, formerly a fellow student at the University of Chicago, has through his work on Navajo prayer been a stimulus for many an inspiration.

Before the manuscript was given to the University of Arizona Press, two anthropologists with expertise in the Apachean field, Leland C. Wyman and Morris E. Opler, together with a historian of religions, Benjamin Ray, graciously consented to read it. The book owes many improvements to their informed suggestions. It is difficult to estimate the large debt that this author owes to the work of these and other scholars. Without their generous assistance this publication would not have had a chance to become what it now is. The many shortcomings which will undoubtedly be found when I look at it ten years from now must not be charged to the advice of others but to my own limited horizon.

While the greater portion of the expenses for this project has been paid by myself—and suffered wonderingly by my family—two partial grants-in-aid eventually came my way: one from the Smithsonian Institution and another from the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Then, in the summer of 1974, while working on the manuscript, I was given five weeks of support from Northern Arizona University. To all these institutions I express my sincerest appreciation.

Chapters 9 through 12 in this book (not included in this internet version) contain materials that have been archived in the Museum of Navaho Ceremonial Art, Inc., at Santa Fe. Director Bertha Dutton and Curator of Archives Caroline Olin have supplied me with manuscripts of unpublished Coyoteway myths; they have provided photo prints of eleven Coyoteway sand-paintings; and they have graciously mediated and granted permission to print. Maud Oakes has given permission to include her Coyoteway myth by William Charlie. Without the dedicated work done through time by people associated with this and other museums, we would all know less about Coyoteway than we now do.

After a number of years have passed over a printed report of this kind, attitudes and theories in the fields of history of religions and anthropology will undoubtedly have changed. One can expect that readers will want to question my materials in relation to my methods and procedures. Since personal ambitions and attitudes are inseparable from methodology, I have decided to provide readers with at least a hint of how Coyoteway was found and experienced by me. The possibility that such a statement will be judged as self-serving dwindles in the face of the greater likelihood that future readers, who have outgrown the mistakes of my generation, will on the basis of these disclosures find me quite inadequate. Yet, in fairness to Coyoteway and to future generations of students, I think that this risk should be taken.

My first knowledge about the presence of Coyoteway on the Navajo Reservation I owe to two scholars, Jerrold Levy, a professor of anthropology from Portland, Oregon, and Oswald Werner, a professor of linguistics from Evanston, Illinois. Both men were interested in recording as much as possible of the Coyoteway tradition. They were in touch with a Coyoteway singer somewhere on Black Mesa, though this happened not to be the singer with whom I eventually worked.

One year later, in the summer of 1971, I traveled into the field in search of materials related to the Navajo hunter tradition. Johnny Cooke, a Presbyterian theology student from Chinle, was my Navajo interpreter. During one of our numerous trips we visited Johnny's parental home at Black Mesa. We had come to put ear-markers on some steers and calves. After wrestling these animals, we offered to play tapes of a Navajo hunter myth to Luke Cook, Johnny's father.

That meeting marked the beginning of a developing friendship with the Cook family—in time I became known there affectionately as Johnny's Grandfather. A comparison of Navajo and Israelite religion helped unexpectedly to build a bridge of understanding between the traditional father and his seemingly estranged Christian son. The Navajo Deerway myth (Luckert 1975) was easily grasped by both men as a pre-pastoralist, and thus a type of pre-Abrahamic, revelation of God Almighty. To both it became clear that the God, whom nobody has managed to describe accurately thus far, has revealed himself to Navajo hunter ancestors, among other manifestations, in the form of sacrificial Deer People. As a Lamb he seems to have shown himself to Hebrew shepherds, eventually also as an anthropomorphic savior. Luke Cook was quick to see that this same God could also have appeared as Coyote.

When father and son found similarities in these two traditions, it was definitely not the result of persuasion on my part. Rather, it was the kind of natural synthesis that rational people in all cultures have been making all along, especially when they were faced with having to live concurrently in two cultures. The fact that we all live in the same world necessitates that we share with one another our hypotheses and axioms. Moreover, in all my contacts with Navajo singers I have not met one who would have found it difficult to think of his gods collectively as a single supreme personage—in terms of monotheism.

On that occasion Luke Cook told us about two Coyoteway singers who were still alive and able to perform. Both lived somewhere in the southern portion of Black Mesa. On later occasions I was told that some years earlier, Luke Cook himself had been an apprentice to a Coyoteway singer. By now his family had been converted to Christianity and he had ceased to help in the traditional ceremonials. A gradual change of attitude toward us could be observed when Luke Cook sensed his son's new interest in his traditional ways. This is why he gradually began to confide to us a few points of general information about the Coyoteway ceremonial. As an apprentice who had ceased helping in the ceremonials he did not feel authorized to give us specific songs, prayers, or stories.

In January 1973, Johnny Cooke and I drove to Black Mesa and found our Coyoteway singer, Man With Palomino Horse. Would he tell us the Coyoteway myth and sing the songs for us? His answer at first was no. But then, when Johnny introduced himself as the son of Luke Cook (chíshi biye'), the practitioner began to take us more seriously. All along he had been doubting our sincerity. His foremost concern now was that he was getting old and that he had no apprentice to carry on the Coyoteway tradition. No doubt this was an oblique reference to Luke Cook's terminated apprenticeship. We told him straightforwardly that as Christians we could not become his apprentices, but that we respected and would like to record his chantway in order to preserve it in a book for future generations. Perhaps someday in the future, after we have all gone the paths of our ancestors, young Navajo people would want to learn about this tradition. This took some thinking. At last, perhaps as a favor to Luke Cook, whom he still respected and who recently had referred a patient to him, the singer agreed to have us record the Coyoteway ceremonial. Nevertheless, Coyoteway information could not be discussed and Coyote songs could not be sung apart from an actual ceremonial. We needed a patient. As we left the singer that night he suggested to us, completely on his own, that for the ceremonial we should bring a camera—there would be sandpaintings.

After midnight, through deep snow, we arrived at Luke Cook's house and told him about our meeting with Man With Palomino Horse. He was enthusiastic. Yes, the Coyoteway ceremonial should be saved from complete extinction—if not by an apprentice, then at least in a book. He volunteered to discuss our plans with a prospective patient he knew and to make the arrangements for us. He would then ride on horseback to the nearest telephone.

In March 1973, while doing work at the University of Oklahoma, I drove again into Navajoland to investigate. Johnny had, meanwhile, become the minister of the mission at Indian Wells; I found him there. The news he had was discouraging indeed: the shepherds around Black Mesa had suffered extensive livestock losses because of the heavy snow, and our prospective patient had died without having the benefit of a Coyoteway ceremonial. That night I fled a traffic-choking blizzard over northern Arizona and drove into the valley of Tucson; I was forced to return to Oklahoma by way of Texas.

In May we made another attempt to reach the singer. This time Luke Cook accompanied us. The proposed brief visit with the singer turned into a daylong search, one hundred miles over roads that were not roads. Our clutch gave out and had to be mended temporarily, in the midst of a sandstorm. I had to agree with my Navajo friends, that "chasing a coyote is not easy." In the evening we found our man at his home. I had to agree again. "Coyote is tricky!" But if Coyote is a trickster, he also has a human heart. Our daylong ordeal of trying to find the singer convinced him of our earnest determination. It, in part, atoned the practitioner's former apprentice for not completing his apprenticeship.

At that meeting I was given a choice: either to record five nights of Coyoteway in about a week in the home of one of the singer's relatives, or to wait until a full nine-night ceremonial could be arranged. This was a difficult choice. Should I opt for the first half of the ceremonial, would I ever get the remainder? The second portion is performed only over persons who have had the first part. If I chose to wait, would a patient ever be found who needed the full nine nights? Would the singer live long enough? I decided to wait until a full nine-night performance could be arranged.

This decision became considerably easier to live with when Luke Cook disclosed some of his thoughts to me. There was an uncle, who, like himself, a former apprentice, was also eligible to have the full nine-night ceremonial performed over him as an initiatory procedure. This idea immediately appealed to me. The chance for having a full ceremonial is far greater with a patient who is to be initiated as a singer. Such a person needs the full ceremonial for his full authorization; on the other hand, if the ceremonial is performed over a patient with actual symptoms of Coyote illness, and if in the process the symptoms get worse, the performance has to stop.

My choice was rewarded with Luke Cook's further suggestion: "If this uncle will not be our patient, I myself will be it." I was elated. Now it could only be a matter of time. No ceremonial could be sponsored by the Cook family right then for two reasons. A grandmother was about to die; if that should happen the ceremony would have to stop a full month. Then, they all had suffered far too heavy livestock losses in this winter's snow. The material means for such a ceremonial were not available. As it turned out, the uncle was willing, but his family vetoed his plans for having his initiation ceremonial. It was now Luke Cook's turn to become our patient.

The final arrangements for the ceremonial required eight more months. Luke Cook decided that he should build a new hogan for the occasion. Then, we attempted to arrange a leave of absence for Johnny from his congregation. Soon it became apparent that Christ and Coyote are divine savior manifestations from widely separate culture strata. Savior figures from the hunting era and from a monarchal civilization are not as easily reconciled as some well-meaning historian of religions might think. After six more negotiation journeys to the reservation it was agreed that I would do the recording alone, and that Johnny would be free to translate from the tapes.

On the morning of January 3, 1974, the coldest and snowiest day of winter, I loaded several boxes of equipment into my vehicle and drove to Black Mesa. Beautiful snow, which at many places lay two feet deep, had to be driven through with four-wheel-drive gear, snow tires, chains, a "sheepherder's" jack, and a shovel. A severe cold began to affect me from the beginning. Three bottles of cough syrup and one bottle of antibiotics later, on January 12, I drove home. What I had experienced in these ten days belongs among the most cherished memories of my professional life. The Coyoteway ceremonial which required one year of final negotiations, five months of preparations, 15,000 miles of driving and other things, is saved from oblivion.

A few years later (in 1979), as the manuscript approaches final preparation for becoming a book, a postscript to this Preface seems called for. Our patient, Luke Cook, participated earnestly as if he were to become a Coyote-priest. His participation in the Coyote ceremonial, however, was a farewell gesture to a tradition which he still respects, but which he nevertheless decided to abandon. He knows that because of his quitting the Coyote ceremonial will become extinct in a few years. In view of this fate, he volunteered and enthusiastically cooperated in the recording procedures. The temporarily initiated Coyote-priest continues nevertheless to move closer toward Christianity.

Sentiments of lament, bordering occasionally even on hostility toward representatives of intruding religions, have been expressed by some scientific field researchers and historians of religions. Their fields have been altered before their eyes and have disappeared. And yet, life still is motion; it seldom stays fixed long enough for scientific verification. Even students of eternal things must learn to adjust to life's onward flow and learn to celebrate its passing moments. Our Coyoteway heir has as much right as any human being to follow the brightest star that he happens to see. For him Coyote has now trotted into the shadows to hide. And for the historical record it must be said that, at this point in time, his guiding light and divine tutelary is Christ. (1) The process of divine revelation does not stop just because a Coyote hides in the bushes.

K.W.L.  1979
updated 2000

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(1) PostScript: Two weeks after the ceremony, Luke Cook loaded two sheep on the back of his pickup truck, for a church picnic. He was ready to join a nearby Christian church. As it turned out, the performance and recording of the Coyoteway ceremonial has facilitated for Luke Cook an honorable transition, to rejoin his family that had converted earlier.

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Copyright information for the out-of-print book:

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS & THE MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA CO-PUBLISHERS

Copyright for both agencies 1979
The Arizona Board of Regents (for the Press) & the Museum of Northern Arizona
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the U .S .A.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Luckert, Karl W. 1934-
Coyoteway.

Bibliography: p.
includes index.
1. Navaho Indians—Rites and ceremonies. 2. Navaho Indians—Medicine. 3. Indians of North America— Southwest, New—Rites and ceremonies.
4. Indians of North America—Southwest, New—Medicine. I. Title.
E99.N3L8 1978 392 78-10358
ISBN 0-8165-0670-1
ISBN 0-8165-0655-8 pbk.

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