452 THE MOUNTAIN CHANT. 
mythical beings. It is, however, indicated in the myth that a consider- 
able number of these sacrifices, called by the Navajo kecan (Englished, 
kethawn), belong to the mountain chant and may properly be offered 
during its celebration. I have seen among the Navajo a few varieties 
of these devotional offerings and I have obtained descriptions of many. 
Although I cannot rely on the minute accuracy of these descriptions, I 
will present them for such value as they may possess in illustrating 
the general character of this system of worship, a system which might 
profitably occupy for years the best labors of an earnest student to 
elucidate. 
177. Fig. 58 represents a kethawn belonging, not to the mountain 
chant, but to the klédji-qacal, or chant of the night. It is sacred to the 
Youth and the Maiden of the Rock Crystal, 
divine beings who dwell in Tsisnatecini, a 
great mountain north of the Pueblo of Jemez. 
The original is in the National Museum at 
Washington. It consists of two sticks coated 
with white earth and joined by a cotton ~ 
string a yard long, which is tied to each stick 
by a clove hitch A 
black bead is on the cen- 
ter of the string; a tur- 
key feather and an eagle 
feather are secured with 
the clove hitch to one of 
the sticks. 
178. Fig. 59 depicts a 
kethawn pertaining also 
to the kledji-qagal. It 
is called kegan-yalei‘, or 
talking kethawn. The 
sticks are willow. The 
one to the left is painted 
black, to representa male 
character (Qasteé baka) 
in the myth and ceremo- 
ny of klédji-qagal. The 
other stick is painted 
blue, to denote a female 
character (Qastcébaaid) 
3.4 in the same rites. The 
Fic. 58. Sacrificial sticks blue stick hasadiagonal fic. 59. The talking kethiwn 
(kecan). £ - (kegan-yalci’). 
? facetatthe top toindicate 
the square topped female mask (paragraph 168). The naturally round 
end of the black stick sufficiently indicates the round male mask. The 
cord wrapped around the two sticks is similar to that deseribed in the 

