XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
motive and of an arid environment that furnished an abundance 
of suitable building material, and at the same time the climatic 
conditions that compelled its frequent employment. 
The cultural distinctions once drawn by writers between the 
Pueblo Indians and neighboring tribes gradually become less 
clearly defined as they have been intelligently studied. An 
understanding of their social and religious system establishes 
the essential identity in their grade of culture with that of other 
tribes. In many of the arts, too, such as weaving and cera- 
mics, these people in no degree surpass many tribes who build 
ruder dwellings. 'Though they have progressed far beyond 
their neighbors in architecture, many of the devices employed 
attest the essentially primitive character of their art, and dem- 
onstrate that the apparent distinction in grade of culture is 
mainly due to the exceptional condition of their environment. 
This important and timely paper furnishes new evidence 
taken from one of the strongholds of sentimental phantasy to 
show that there is no need for the hypothesis of an extinct race 
with dense population and high civilization to account for the 
conditions actually existing in North America before the Euro- 
pean discovery. 
CEREMONIAL OF HASJELTI DAILJIS AND MYTHICAL SAND PAINT- 
ING OF THE NAVAJO INDIANS, BY JAMES STEVENSON. 
This paper, apart from its intrinsic merits, has a peculiar 
interest to American anthropologists from its being the last 
official work of Mr. Stevenson, whose untimely death on July 
25, 1888, was noticed in a former report. It shows his per- 
sonal characteristics, being a clear and accurate statement of 
the facts actually observed and of the information acquired by 
him at first hand, without diffuseness or unnecessary theorizing. 
Hasjelti Dailjis, in the Navajo tongue, signifies the dance of 
Hasjelti, who is the chief or rather the most important and 
conspicuous of the gods. The word dance does not well desig- 
nate the ceremonies, as they are in general more histrionic than 
saltatory. The whole of the ceremonial, which lasts for nine 
days, is familiarly called among the tribe “Yebitchai,” which 
means “the giant’s uncle,” this term being used to awe the 
youthful candidates for initiation. 
