178 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
related about them are in the main identical. The sun 
is probably credited with the greatest amount of power 
and is most frequently referred to in song and addressed 
in prayer. Among the Jicarilla, at least, the earth is 
also an object of worship. The Mescalero songs give 
the moon a place second only to that of the sun. The 
winds are with them objects of worship as they are also 
with the Western Apache and the Navajo. The 
thunder is everywhere feared and looked upon as a 
mighty power seldom to be mentioned. Clouds and 
rain, however, have a place of much less importance 
than with the village people. There are sacred moun- 
tains and rivers but these are of necessity different for 
the different tribes. 
One of the more personal gods, Esdzanadlehi, was 
the sole survivor of a flood or, according to some, the 
ravages of monsters. She is probably to be identified 
with the Hopi goddess of hard substances. Nalyenez- 
gani, the culture hero, her grandson, destroyed the 
monsters and made the world safe for human habitation. 
By some he is said to have a brother who is, however, 
quite secondary in importance. The Navajo have a 
series of gods who intervene in human affairs from 
time to time. They are believed to dwell in the ruins 
of Canyon de Chelly and in remote places. They are 
represented in the dances by masked and painted ‘men 
and receive offerings and are frequently invoked. 
There are also gods of the water courses and streams. 
The Jicarilla and the Western Apache know similar 
gods, in several cases even using the same personal 
names for them. The Apache more generally use for 
these gods a generic name, Gan, and individualize them 
by the use of a color adjective, such as Black Gan. 
They are analogous to the Kachinas of the pueblo 
peoples. 
“eae Se 
