Origin Legend of the Navaho Flintway

By Berard Haile

Subjects: Anthropology, Navajo Indians, Navajo mythology, Religion, Rites and ceremonies, Navajo language, Texts, Legends, Folklore

Description: Franciscan Father Berard Haile started out as a missionary among the Navajo in the early 1900s but during his decades of service became known for his extensive documentation of the Navajo language and culture. He was later hired as a research associate in the U of C anthropology department. This text and translation lives up to the high standards previously set by the author. The text is minutely complete. For no other chant do we have an absolutely complete record of songs and prayers. If the music were recorded and if there were a full description of the details of motor habits of practitioners, this volume would almost suffice to permit a native speaker to conduct Flintway without blemish. As always, Father Berard is alive to variations and, in addition to the complete Version A, includes enough of Version B to give the reader a sense for the range of disagreement. The translation is a marvel of precision and of sympathetic sensitivity. To the specialist this publication is an inexhaustible storehouse of hitherto undescribed items, traits, and patterns. The more general student of American Indian cultures will also find much to engage him.