A Navaho Creation Myth E-Book

Stanley A. Fishler

• Herausgeber: David De Angelis
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

This myth, IN THE BEGINNING, was recorded in February and March of 1950, near Tuba City, Arizona. The informant, Frank Goldtooth, was a man of from 50 to 60 years of age, who during his lifetime had been a silversmith, a farmer, a sheepman, a tribal councilman, a trader and a medicine man. When one chooses an informant, one must remember that there are three types of individuals who are willing to speak or act as informants. First is the “misfit.” He is an individual who is not accepted by his own people and frequently not by the stronger outgroup. This individual attempts to gain prestige with his own group by association with a member of the stronger outgroup. He actually straddles the fence for he neither is accepted by one group or the other. Usually this “misfit” knows little of his own people. The second type of individaul is willing to talk, but only for what he receives for doing it.

Leseprobe

A Navaho Creation Myth

By

Stanley A. Fishler

1953

© 2017 David De Angelis – all rights reserved

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

IN THE BEGINNING

THE BATTLE AT BLUE HOUSE

A WHITE BEAD WOMAN STORY

WHITE BEAD WOMAN

ON THE JOURNEY TOWARDS SHADOW MOUNTAIN

COYOTE GOD

THE MAN WITH FOUR NAMES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Foremost among those whose help must be acknowledged is Frank Goldtooth. This is really his book—his and the Navaho’s. His patience, understanding and friendship will be long remembered. To his sons, Teddy, Keith, Emerson and Herbert, go my thanks for their friendship and for their cheerful interpreting for so many tedious hours. Knowledge taken from many years experience on the reservation was generously given to me by Ed Kerley and Ed Stocks. To my parents and to my brother and his wife, Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth O. Fishler, I owe many thanks for their help in so many ways. My wife has also helped in innumerable ways during the various stages of preparation of the paper.

I wish to express my appreciation to Professors E. Adamson Hoebel and Elmer R. Smith for suggestions and criticisms of the manuscript. I am indebted to Father Berard Haile who took time from his busy schedule to work several hours on the majority of transcriptions of Navaho terms and make other important suggestions. The phonetic system used by Father Haile in PRAYER STICK CUTTING in a Five Night Navaho Ceremonial of the Male Branch of the Shootingway is used herein.

INTRODUCTION

This myth, IN THE BEGINNING, was recorded in February and March of 1950, near Tuba City, Arizona. The informant, Frank Goldtooth, was a man of from 50 to 60 years of age, who during his lifetime had been a silversmith, a farmer, a sheepman, a tribal councilman, a trader and a medicine man. When one chooses an informant, one must remember that there are three types of individuals who are willing to speak or act as informants. First is the “misfit.” He is an individual who is not accepted by his own people and frequently not by the stronger outgroup. This individual attempts to gain prestige with his own group by association with a member of the stronger outgroup. He actually straddles the fence for he neither is accepted by one group or the other. Usually this “misfit” knows little of his own people. The second type of individaul is willing to talk, but only for what he receives for doing it. Oft times he embellishes much of what he says for the effect and gain which results. The third type is the one who has much foresight and knowledge and recognizes the position his people occupy in the conflict of cultures. He realizes that the eventual outcome will be the suppression or elimination of his own people. He attempts to synthesize the good from the “foreign” culture which will benefit his own group, with those elements which can be retained in his own. He knows with certainty that the beliefs of his people will finally fade away. Frank Goldtooth is of the third type.

In order to gain information from the informants, I employed the “fading ancient lore” as the reason for my interest, as has been done by others. The attitude of the informant on this matter is interesting and important. The following is the actual translation by Teddy, Keith and Herbert Goldtooth of the introduction prepared by Frank Goldtooth for those Navahos who were to read or hear the story of Frank Goldtooth from records or parts of the recorded text.

“You are going to hear this story in future times. You will realize this, you people going to school when you hear it. All of you other people (the Navaho) are going to hear the story that I have been asked by this man (the author). The early Navaho medicine men never thought of giving up this information about these songs and stories. They never thought about putting them into a book. But I realize this and I do not want this story to fade. The early Navaho did not want to give true information to the white man. The Navaho laugh nowadays because they gave false information just to get rid of it. This is wrong and you should leave it alone. That is how I think about it. That is the way I think about it and that is the way it is going to be. You that know the true story are going to know this and know this is a true story.