THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
VoL. xx.—OCTOBER, 1886.—No. 10. 
SOME DEITIES AND DEMONS OF THE NAVAJOS. 
BY DR. W. MATTHEWS, U. S. ARMY. 
r= great. dry-paintings of the Navajo priests, which I de- 
scribed in a previous number of this journal (October, 1885). 
. illustrate, as I then explained, the visions of the prophets. But 
the prophets saw the gods in their visions, hence the paintings 
contain pictures of the gods with all their hieratic belongings. 
The characters which perform in the great dances conducted by 
the priests, are representatives of the gods. In the ancient crea- 
tion-myth of the tribe some descriptions of the gods are incident- 
ally given. In the later myths, recounting the acts of the 
Prophets, more exact descriptions are to be found. Itis from 
such material as this—these oral traditions, these paintings, these 
ceremonies, with their hundreds of songs and elaborate unchange- 
able rituals, handed down from generation to generation by word 
of mouth and by example only—that the student must evolve the 
nature and scope of their worship. 
In one of the great ceremonies, that of the Kledji Hathal, or 
Gaybechy, there are, according to the circumstances, from twelve 
to sixteen different supernatural characters represented. Some 
of these, like the gaybaad, being a numerous race of divine ones, 
are represented by many dancers—men masked, dressed and 
Painted to represent gods, bearing sacred wands and talismans 
and symbolizing in every act and motion something in the lives 
“a their Prototypes ; living and breathing idols to whom the sup- 
pliant prays and offers his sacrifices, well knowing that he ad- 
with reverent prayers only his own brother or uncle 
masquerading in the panoply of divinity. 
VOL. XX.—NO. 
