i6 



Virginia Shropshire Heath 



. . . and, after the fourth ai, each 

 one swallowed his arrow, head 

 foremost, until the fletching touched 

 his lips. Then he withdrew the 

 arrow and they said, ' Thus do we 

 wish the Navajo to do in the dance 

 which you will teach them; but 

 they must take good care not to 

 break off the arrow-heads when 

 they swallow and withdraw them.' " 



In this dance is represented, in 

 the person of the Yay-bi-chy, one 

 of the premonitory experiences of 

 the prophet Dsilyi' Neyani during 

 his captivity in a hostile Ute tribe, 

 some time previous to his actual 

 visits to the various abodes of the 

 " divine ones." To quote from Dr. 

 Matthew's record of the myth: 

 " The pipes were lit and the council 

 began. The talking in the strange 

 tongue that he could not under- 

 stand lasted long into the night, 

 when he fancied that he heard the 

 voice of the Yay-bi-chy above the 

 din of the human voices, saying 

 ' hu' hu' hu' hu' ' in the far dis- 

 tance. He strained his attention 

 and listened well and after awhile 

 he felt certain that he heard the 

 voice again nearer and louder. It 

 was not long until the cry was re- 

 peated for the third time, and soon 

 after the captive heard it once more 

 loudly and distinctly, immediately 

 to the west of the lodge. Then 

 there was a sound as of footsteps 

 at the door, and the white light- 

 ning entered at the smoke-hole and 

 circled around the lodge, hanging 

 over the heads of the council. But 

 the Ute heard not the voice which 

 the Navajo heard and saw not the 

 vision he beheld. Soon the Yay- 

 bi-chy entered the lodge and stand- 

 ing on the white lightning said : 

 ' What is the matter with you, my 

 grandchild? You take no thought 

 about anything. Something you 

 must do for yourself, or else, in 

 the morning you will be whipped 

 to death — that is what the council 

 has decided.' Then the Yay-bi-chy 



ers of the arrows danced once more 

 around the fire and departed." 



" Meanwhile in the songs of this 

 rite, there is frequent reference to 

 the plumed arrow [a most revered 

 implement]. . . . All the other shows 

 may be omitted at will, but this, it 

 is said, must never be neglected." 



Third Dance 



" At 10 o'clock the sound of the 

 whistle again called the spectators to 

 attention and a line of twenty-three 

 dancers came in sight. The one 

 who led the procession bore in his 

 hand a whizzer such as schoolboys 

 use. . . . This he constantly whirled, 

 producing a sound like that of a 

 rain storm. After him came one 

 who represented a character, . . . 

 the Yaybichy, from the great nine 

 days' ceremony of . . . the night 

 chant, and he wore a blue buckskin 

 mask that belongs to the character 

 referred to. From time to time he 

 gave the peculiar hoot or call of 

 the Yaybichy, ' hu' , hu', hu', hu'.' 

 After him followed eight wand- 

 bearers. They were dressed like the 

 bearers of the great plumed ar- 

 rows; but instead of an arrow each 

 bore a wand made of grass, cactus, 

 and eagle plumes. The rest of the 

 band were choristers in ordinary 

 dress. As they were all proceeding 

 around the fire for the fourth time, 

 they halted in the west, the chor- 

 isters sat and the wand-bearers 

 formed a double row of four. 

 Then the Yaybichy began to hoot, 

 the orchestra to play, the choristers 

 to sing, the whizzer to make his 

 mimic storm, and the wand-bearers 

 to dance. The latter keeping per- 

 fect time with the orchestra, went 

 through a series of figures not un- 

 like those of the modern quadrille. 

 . . . When several of these evolu- 

 tions had been performed in a 

 graceful and orderly manner, the 

 choristers rose, and all went sing- 

 ing out at the east." 



392 



