ar-away district, and have been practising for weeks, that
they might excel in this dance. The most revered song of the Yebichai is
the Bluebird song, which is sung at the approach of day, and is the
closing act of the drama. With the last words, "_Dola anyi, dola anyi_,"
the assembled multitude start for their homes, near and far, melting into
the gray of the desert morn, and by the time the sun breaks above the
horizon the spot which was alive with people a few hours before is wrapped
in death-like stillness, not a soul being within range of the eye.

[Illustration: _Yebichai Hogan_ - Navaho]

_Yebichai Hogan_ - Navaho

_From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis_

MATURITY CEREMONY

The ceremony celebrating maturity of girls among the Navaho is held
generally on the fourth night after the first evidence of the maiden's
entrance into womanhood. On the first morning following the moment of this
change in life the girl bathes and dresses in her finest clothes. Later
she stretches herself face downward on a blanket just outside the hogan,
with her head toward the door. A sister, aunt, or other female relation,
if any happen to be close at hand, or if not, a male relative other than
her father, then proceeds symbolically to remould her. Her arms and legs
are straightened, her joints smoothed, and muscles pressed to make her
truly shapely. After that the most industrious and energetic of the comely
women in the immediate neighborhood is called in to dress the girl's hair
in a particular form of knot and wrap it with deerskin strings, called
_tsiklolh_. Should there be any babies or little tots about the home, the
girl goes to them, and, placing a hand under each ear, successively lifts
them by the neck, to make them grow faster. Then she darts off toward the
east, running out for about a quarter of a mile and back. This she does
each morning until after the public ceremony. By so doing she is assured
of continuing strong, lithe, and active throughout womanhood.

The four days preceding the night of the ceremony are days of abstinence;
only such foods as mush and bread made from corn-meal may be eaten, nor
may they contain any salt. To indulge in viands of a richer nature would
be to invite laziness and an ugly form at a comparatively early age. The
girl must also refrain from scratching her head or body, for marks made by
her nails during this period would