THE NOMADIC PKOPLES. 173 



also an object of worship. The Mescalero soii'^s ^ive 

 the moon a place second only to that of the sun. The 

 winds are wdth them objects of worship as they are also 

 with the Western Apache and the Navajo. The 

 thunder is ever^^where 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 mountains 

 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. Yinaiyes- 

 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 afTairs 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 springs. 

 The Jicarilla and the Western Apache know similar 

 gods, in several cases even using the same personal 

 names for them. The Mescalero and the San Carlos 

 believe also in the Ganhi who live in the interior of the 

 mountains. 



The dead are supposed to go to the lower world 



