1886, ] Some Deities and Demons of the Navajos. 847 
waters of the San Juan river. This part of the myth doubtless 
refers to some natural phenomenon observable at this point, but 
I know not what it is, for I have never visited Zhoyetli. If the 
Navajo would have special fortune in some war, he must make a 
pilgrimage to the far Zoyetli and lay there the sacred cigarettes 
for the gods to smoke. 
Nagaynezgani is distinctly an Indian war-god, and the god of an 
especially shrewd and crafty tribe even among Indians. Like 
Thor he is the terror of evil spirits, but unlike Thor the evil 
spirits never outwit him. He too has the thunder-bolts for weap- 
ons, but he has not an unlimited supply of them. He must hus- 
band them, even as the Indian husbands his well-made arrows. 
His chief weapon is a great stone knife; but he depends not so 
much on his weapons as on his presence of mind, his craftiness, 
his Powers of dissimulation and, above all, on his “ medicine.” He 
IS No coward, no vacillator, once sped on his journey he never 
returns unsuccessful ; but in accomplishing his purpose he exhib- 
its more the character of the cunning Ulysses than of the bold 
Hercules, 
It is not, however, the warriors alone who pray to him, he is 
appealed to by all classes of suppliants as well, and there are 
Songs in his honor in all the rituals that I have yet learned. Here 
'S one of the songs taken from the great rite of the Zilyidji Hathal 
or Mountain Chant. It is a literal translation. I have only chosen 
such English forms and phrases as would represent, to some ex- 
tent, the excellent rhythm of the original Navajo song, which is 
a Monologue on the part of the god: 
Iam the slayer of the alien gods, 
k afar ; 
From out the hole that passes through the sky, 
I afar ; 
My enemies assail me, but in vain, 
alk 
My foes of all sorts stand in fear of me, 
walk afar; 
I go on errands of a dangerous kind, 
afar ; 
Upon the highest of the mountain peaks, 
* I walk afar a: 
In the Navajo language all not of their own or cognate tribe 
are called axa, or na, t. e., foreigners or aliens, The minor gods 
°F genii are called yay or gay. Hence anagay, or alien gods, is’ 
