nded by a
line of sacred meal in which turkey-feather prayer-sticks, _kedan_, are
implanted.

A description of the ritual and form of the Yebichai ceremony,--Kleje
Hatal, or Night Chant,--covering its nine days of performance, will give a
comprehensive idea of all Navaho nine-day ceremonies, which combine both
religious and medical observances. The myth characters personified in this
rite are termed Yebichai, Grandfather or Paternal Gods. Similar
personations appear in other ceremonies, but they figure less prominently.

_First Day_: The ceremonial, or medicine, hogan is built some days in
advance of the rite. The first day's ceremony is brief, with few
participants. Well after dark the singer, assisted by two men, makes nine
little splint hoops--_tsipa__n__s yazhe kedan_--entwined with slip-cords,
and places them on the sacred meal in the meal basket. Following this,
three men remove their everyday clothing, take Yebichai masks, and leave
the hogan. These three masked figures are to represent the gods
Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lti, Talking God, Haschebaad, Goddess, and Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lapai, Gray God.
When they have gone and passed to the rear of the hogan, the patient comes
in, disrobes at the left of the centre, passes around the small fire
burning near the entrance of the hogan, and takes his seat in the centre,
immediately after which the singing begins. During the third song
Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lti enters with his cross-sticks--_Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lti balil_--and opens and
places them over the patient's body, forcing them down as far toward the
ground as possible. The second time he places them not so far over the
body; the third, not lower than the shoulders; the fourth time, over the
head only, each time giving his peculiar call, _Wu-hu-hu-hu-u!_ Then
Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lti takes up a shell with medicine and with it touches the
patient's feet, hands, chest, back, right shoulder, left shoulder, and top
of head,--this being the prescribed ceremonial order,--uttering his cry at
each placing of the medicine. He next places the shell of medicine to the
patient's lips four times and goes out, after which Haschebaad comes in,
takes one of the circle _kedan_, touches the patient's body in the same
ceremonial order, and finally the lips, at the same time giving the
slip-cord a quick pull. Next comes Hasche{~COMBINING BREVE~}lapai, who performs the same
incantatio