Field&Blackhorse 2002 DualRoleMetonymy Navaho

Anthropological Linguistics
Trustees of Indiana University
The Dual Role of Metonymy in Navajo Prayer

Author(s): Margaret Field and Taft Blackhorse Jr.
Source: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Fall, 2002), pp. 217-230
Published by: The Trustees of Indiana University on behalf of Anthropological Linguistics
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The Dual Role of Metonymy in Navajo Prayer
MARGARET FIELD
San Diego State University
TAFT BLACKHORSE, JR.
Navajo Nation Office of Historic Preservation
Abstract. This article discusses the relationship between the aesthetic and
performative functions of Navajo ritual language. We argue that the contiguity-
based trope of metonymy is used for two purposes: to objectivize or entextualize
the sacred language involved, and to affect reality by creatively indexing speci-
fic aspects of the ritual context. Illustrations are taken from two transcriptions
of Navajo self-protection prayers recorded in the 1940s.
1. Introduction. Much has already been written on the subject of Navajo

prayer, identifying it as a specific genre, describing it from various taxonomic
perspectives (Haile 1938; Reichard 1944; 1950; Gill 1980), and discussing its
performative function (Reichard 1944; McAllester 1954; Witherspoon 1977; Gill
1987; Murray 1989; Milne and Howard 1998). This article focuses on the
relationship between the aesthetic and performative functions of Navajo prayer.
We examine the use of metonymy as a poetic device that works not only to
objectivize or entextualize the sacred language involved, but also to affect reality
by creatively indexing specific aspects of the ritual context.1
As several linguistic anthropologists have suggested, the aesthetic qualities
of the language used in ritual may play a vital role in helping to make ritual
language what it is: a language genre that maintains over time a unique lin-
guistic form as well as social function (Bauman and Briggs 1990; Du Bois 1991;
Silverstein and Urban 1996). Ways in which the genre of ritual language may
differ from ordinary discourse may include a unique register or vocabulary
(which is often archaic), special voice quality or prosody, a special semantic style
(often intensely metaphorical and constituted through various types of paral-
lelism), as well as unique participation structure (Urban 1986). One function of
these special aesthetic qualities of ritual language is the important role they
play in helping to maintain ritual language over time, working to objectivize it
as a cultural artifact that is clearly distinguishable from ordinary, spontaneous
talk. In Chadwick's words, "Neither traditions nor ritual live long unless trans-
mitted and enshrined in an artistic form" (1942:87).
217
218 ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS 44 NO. 3
Gladys Reichard, who originally published a stru

prayer discussed here in 1944, emphasized the fact
attention to order or sequencing is demanded in Nava
Prayer ... is a fully developed literary form, formulaic i

exacting and functions properly because of its com
[Reichard 1944:10]
Such an emphasis on exact repetition of a particular

the objectification of the prayer as a textual whole. Th
is often far from spontaneous helps to preserve it over
of identity." In particular, the poetic form that is us
language is that of metonymy (Jakobson 1987), or sequencing based on
parallelism in meaning, rather than in sound. The Navajo use of metonymy
especially exploits the use of inventories, a particular type of contiguity- based
trope (Friedrich 1991) in which members of a set (such as anatomical relations)
are the basis of the verbal patterning.
In this article we consider two functions of this poetic form in Navajo prayer.
Metonymy serves both an aesthetic function as well as an important perform-
ative one, in that, in ritual contexts, it works to strengthen the "compulsive
force" (Reichard 1944) of the ritual language, thus working to command the
deities and affect the reality of the ritual context in various ways. The term
"performative" is used here in Malinowski's (1978) sense of language as a mode
of action, as well as the more contemporary speech act theory outlined by Austin
(1962) and Searle (1969).
2. Brief outline of Navajo ceremonialism. Navajo prayer is a small part of

the larger context of Navajo ceremonialism, which is so complex that it cannot
be described here, but some brief comments may help the reader to understand
how prayer is used.
Most Navajo ceremonies are concerned with health, focusing either on
maintaining it or on healing someone who is ill. A diagnosis leads to a specific
prescribed ceremony, of which there are a great many. A medicine man, known
as a singer or hataali, must be called in to perform the ceremony. Singers typi-
cally specialize in only one or two ceremonies, due to the great amount of mater-
ial, including songs, stories, prayers, and procedures, that they are required to
memorize for each one. Ceremonies may last from one to nine nights, involving
all of these different aspects.
The Navajo speech genre here called "prayer" (as is conventional in Navajo
ethnography) is referred to in Navajo by the noun sodizin, based on the verb
stem 'to have holiness' (Young and Morgan 1992). This genre of Navajo ritual
language is always addressed to deities. As mentioned above, Navajo prayer is
typically concerned with matters of health, importuning the deities either to
help heal a sick patient or else to protect the patient from harm in the future. All
2002 MARGARET FIELD AND TAFT BLACKHORSE, JR. 219
sodizin, as a genre, are expected to end with four repetitions of the phrase hozho
nahasdlii 'harmony/beauty has been renewed'.
The prayer analyzed here comes from a ceremony identified by Reichard and
Haile as the "Shootingway," and involves both a call for protection and exorcism
of evil. The prayer by itself consists of five verses, each of which contains
examples of different kinds of parallelism at various levels. For example, a
shown in (1), the first four verses are very similar, and each begins with four
lines that are almost identical, except for a different deity named in each, and
different accouterments are attributed to them.
(1) 'At Rumbling Mountain,

Holy Man with the eagle-tail-feathered arrow / Holy Woman with the feathered
wand / Holy boy with the yellow tail-feathered arrow / Holy girl with the red-
feathered arrow,
today I have made use of you,
today the life force will travel again.'
The prayer is addressed to each of these deities in turn, with very similar,
but not exact, repetition of the language and metonymic sets, or "constituent
units" (see below for discussion), in each. The fifth verse consists of a long litany
of deities and the specific place names with which each is associated. The entire
prayer is approximately four hundred lines long and concludes with the ex-
pected ritualized ending discussed above.
3. The performative function of language in Navajo ritual. Several

scholars of Navajo ritual interaction have noted the emphasis that is placed on
the performative function of language (Reichard 1944; McAllester 1954;
Witherspoon 1977; Gill 1987; Murray 1989; Milne and Howard 1998). In fact, an
emphasis on the performative function of language in Navajo culture extends
beyond ritual contexts even to everyday ones, and reflects a basic difference in
linguistic ideology between Native American and Western cultures (Wither-
spoon 1977; Silverstein 1979; Kroskrity 1993), in that, in the view of many
Native American speech communities, language is seen not as autonomous from
context, but as performative, and having the power to affect reality. This per-
formative function of language is especially important in the context of ritual, as
both Reichard (1944) and Witherspoon emphasize:
By speaking properly and appropriately one can control and compel the be-
havior and power of the gods. This is the ontological and rational basis of
the compulsive power of speech. ... . Control of a particular [deity] is
accomplished by knowledge of his or her symbols (particularly his or her
name).... The correct songs, prayers, and symbols are irresistible and com-
pulsive. [Witherspoon 1977:60-61]
One important function of Navajo ritual speech is to command and compel

the deities to act in a certain manner; for example, to attend the ritual context so
that the patient or "one-sung-over" may identify him

deity and thus draw strength from this identification
process of renewal in which mystical events and parti
are invoked and reenacted (Reichard 1944; McAllester 1
by other scholars of Navajo ceremonialism (Haile 19
1980), ceremonies take place against the backdrop of c
the exploits of culture heroes who are aided by the
typically provide information about the first occasion o
it is to be performed in the future. Through the power
or one-sung-over is ritually transformed into the cult
another kind of metaphorical process.
Importantly, Navajo deities are not importuned for t
commanded, through direct imperatives (Haile 1947;
This communicative practice is obviously not withou
very important that the language that is used for this
very specific formula that has been preserved over
have this special knowledge: Navajo medicine men (o
hataali knows exactly what wording to use, and how t
rectly, invoking their presence and commanding their
As Gill (1980:181) discusses, the art of the hataali is
than of simple memorization, as Reichard (1944) would
Navajo prayers typically consist largely of syntacti
units" (see Gill [1980] for an in-depth discussion of con
are linked metonymically, such as the unit containing
trated by (2) below. A slightly different variation of th
shown in (3) (from Haile 1950), in which the metonym
clothing worn over the same body parts.
(2) dzil yildili'gi,

'atsee beist'din bil hahookgsi dined diyini
d&ishji choni'sdilid
d&Ishj ,ridahiighaal
nikee' niyed'ii dK bee shich'4 indidffdid 5
nijdid niydd'ii dh bee shich'6# 'ididcidLd
nits'its niyed'ii dti bee shich'44 iididfidiad
ninii niydd'ii di bee shich'# ididdiddl
nindi' niyed'ii dl bee shich'-4 ididhfidd1
'At Rumbling Mountain

Holy Man with the eagle-feathered arrow
today I have made use of you
today the life-force will travel again
with your holy feet you will guard me 5
with your holy legs you will guard me
with your holy body you will guard me
with your holy mind you will guard me
with your holy voice you will guard me'
(3) dzil ts'exeelts'idgi ti'iistsoh dithi? tsilk naat'danii

dftshji chooniisjl'iid
t'ddidfzn dithil nikee'ii bee shich'dh nididfidAl
t'didhfdn dilhil nistide'ii bee shich'dh nididfdidi
t'dididin dithil ni dd'ii bee shich'dh nididifdda 5

t'ddidiin dithil nich'ahii bee shich'dh nidididdla'
t'ddidfin diihil nini' nighed'ii bee shich'dh nididiiidi
t'Adidt'n dithil ninae' nighee'ii bee shich'dh nididiidAd
'Big dark snake, at mountain fell-from-range, young man chief

this day I have made use of you
with your dark pollen shoes you will rise to protect me
with your dark pollen leggings you will rise to protect me
with your dark pollen garment you will rise to protect me 5
with your dark pollen headband you will rise to protect me
with your dark pollen mind you will rise to protect me
with your dark pollen voice you will rise to protect me'
Both of these examples illustrate a constituent unit of Navajo pray

identified by Gill (1980) as a "catalog." Both are addressed to a similar (possib
one and the same) deity; both begin with an identification of place assoc
with the deity being importuned and the statement 'Today I have made use
you'. These lines are followed by six syntactically parallel lines in which
item differs. The differing items are linked metonymically; they follow eac
other in an upward-reaching direction, describing the deity in a particu
position-standing in front of, but facing away from (e.g., guarding, or prot
ing), the patient. As Gill (1980:41) discusses, the items that are linked m
nymically in this particular constituent unit may differ depending on the p
ticular type of prayer; prayers for protection (such as the texts discussed h
often involve the naming of garments or weapons that the deity carries rat
than body parts. Likewise, in prayers for restoration of health, the ite
catalogued may often include internal organs.
As Haile (1947) notes, prayers are addressed to particular deities (m
exactly, to the prayersticks that represent the deities during the cerem
chosen in advance by the hataali. The formula required in the prayer, consis
of arrangements of constituent units such as those described above, mus
strictly followed, leaving no room for creativity on the part of either the ha
or the patient. If the hataali wishes to add petitions of his own, which t
patient repeats after him, he may do so at the end of the prayer, or the pa
may also add his own if he or she wishes, although, according to Haile,
would be unlikely:
It is paramount that the singer at least make no omissions and the patient
should recite the words as accurately as possible .... As a matter of course, the
patient cannot be expected to know how to address supernaturals in prayer.
That is the singer's business who must follow traditions laid down by his
instructor... additions are not spontaneous effusions from the heart of the
petitioner. [Haile 1947:47-48]
Thus, it appears that the formula that the hataali m

so much of an exact repetition word for word, as of
different types of constituent units and their obligat
each prayer. In this regard, the units that must be m
of idea or theme, rather than at the level of word. St
very little room for variation, and any variation w
interaction with the audience, as in other ethnopoetic
As Haile states, "Others present in the hogan do n
remain silent until their completion so as not to distr
the recital" (1947:47). The audience is limited to the
hearer" (Goffman 1981:124) only. The patient and h
speaker together, with the patient, repeating the wor
line, "infusing" them, as Bakhtin (1981) would pu
intention.
4. Metonymy in Navajo ritual language. As Jakobson (1960) defines

metonymy, it is a poetic form in which meaning, rather than sound, builds the
sequence, or is the "primary unit of equivalence" (p. 368). To unpack this state-
ment further, it means that the artistic focus is on a series of semantically
related lexical items (in North America often, but not necessarily, constituting a
set), which typically must be presented in a specific sequence, such as "upward-
moving" or, as in the naming of the four directions, clockwise: East, South, West,
North. These lexical items become the "units of equivalence" (p. 368), or seg-
ments with equivalent power or weight, which the artist is concerned to arrange
in the appropriate manner. Jakobson also referred to this kind of poetic form as
"canonical parallelism" (1966:399).
Parallelism thus becomes evident at the level of syntax and semantics,
rather than sound (e.g., meter, rhyme, or prosody), as in much Indo-European
poetry. More recent contributions to metaphor theory have addressed metonymy
as a poetic style as well. Friedrich (1991) has described metonymy as "a
contiguity-based macro-trope" that commonly takes the form of an inventory, as
seen in (2) and (3) above. Citing Jakobson, he suggests that the main difference
between metaphoric and metonymic tropes is that the first are in a paradigmatic
relationship (of substitution in terms of similarity), whereas the latter are
syntagmatic (aligned in terms of contiguity) (1991:44). Turner (1991) points out
that contiguity-based tropes such as metonymy and synecdoche are often seen
as less creative because they involve relations within a single domain, whereas
metaphor substitutes items from one domain for those in another. Turner and
other theorists (e.g., Ohnuki-Tierney 1991) have recently challenged the position
of metaphor as "master trope" by pointing out that various kinds of tropes,
including metaphor and metonymy, are often interdependent to the point that
the biaxial framework first suggested by Jakobson in fact collapses. However, in
North American poetics, it would seem, not only that a distinction between the
two types of tropes exists, but that metonymy may be the pr

Although metaphor may also be found (examples are easy to
is a powerful trope found in various forms of Native American
Durham and Fernandez (1991) suggest, syntagmatic or me
like metaphorical ones, may be highly conventionalized, o
model. This is exactly what we find in Navajo prayer.
As Mannheim points out in his discussion of verbal art in
Quechua (a morphologically synthetic language, like Nava
American languages, for that matter [see Silver and Miller 1
Quechua words are built up by adding suffixes, usually of on

rhythmic prominence (or stress) is perfectly regular. Any word
mandered grammatically to fit a metrical scheme. Meter therefo
aesthetic weight. [Mannheim 1998:2441
Mannheim goes on to discuss how various types of nonmetr

verbal art typically fall under the umbrella label of "parallel
breaks down into further possible subtypes (he is concer
semantic parallelism in Quechuan verbal art). Urban, in
American (Shokleng) mythology, states that
parallelism is associated in Western poetry with phonologically-

schemes. ... However, ... primary parallelism is of a distinct
the formal similarity or parallels between larger blocks of disco
cluster of sentences, occurring at one point in narration, is repea
substitutions at a later point. [Urban 1986:151
Parallelism may be grammatical-syntactic or semantic-l

combination of both, with almost exact repetion of grammati
the substitution of one or more lexical items, as in the N
cussed here. However, these examples differ from those freq
researchers of lexical parallelism, which often focus on m
(Fabb 1997), in that there is a decided emphasis on contiguity
related lexical items (not just pairs), in some form of metony
as an inventory of body parts) constituting a particular inde
cussed below).
The absence of rhyme, alliteration, and rhythm for struc
much North American ethnopoetry has been noted by ot
Mattina 1996), although this is not to say that the use of
parallelism is never important in North American verbal art
genres such as narrative and song (for further discussio
Woodbury 1987). The point is that in morphologically ana
English, in which word order is an important considerat
lenging and accent is moveable and unpredictable (Woodb
surprising to see verbal art focus on sound rather than other
whereas in morphologically synthetic languages, di

such as semantics, may become the focus of verbal
5. Metonymy and indexical ground. In Navajo e

the poetic device of metonymy serves a dual pu
function, as each line works to constitute a set, wh
index the deity's presence, a performative functio
nymical sequence indexes, or points to, the presenc
structing him within the present context through
In the remainder of this article, we examine the f
more detail, drawing on the prayer text in Reichar
The performative function served by metonymy
deity invoked, but simultaneously the patient is id
with that deity, and each part of its body, in a pa
effectively creates a specific indexical ground for
from the bottom up. As shown in (4), this upward-
subsequent lines of the prayer, in which the illnes
body.
(4) ditshjishike'dltahji' shps hiddool doo, 15

sits' silitahji' shpc hdididool doo,
shflalitahji' sh,, hiddool doo,
sizaaldtahji' shpg hdiddool doo,
'Today from my toes it will radiate out (as a vapor), 15

from the tip of my body it will radiate out,
from the tips of my fingers it will radiate out,
from the tips of my speech it will radiate out'
Similarly, in (5), an upward-moving path is created in the iden

the patient with positive forces (e.g., the deity Wind).
(5) chainah nishlifdooleel,

shikee biydi nich'i doo, 140
shijdid biyd nich'i doo,
sits'iYs biyda nich'i doo,
shini' biydi nich'i doo,
shine'' biyd nich'i doo
'I will be healthy,

Wind will be beneath my feet, 140
Wind will be beneath my legs,
Wind will be beneath my body,
Wind will be beneath my mind,
Wind will be beneath my voice'
The deity Wind named here differs from the other deities
addressed in this prayer, in that Wind has a closer relati
beings, being a complex, multifaceted, omnipresent entity tha
things from birth on. As McNeley states, "the individual may .
participating in this Wind existing everywhere" (1988:52). I
patient's identification with Wind reflects the Navajo view of h
a proper relationship with one's total environment (McNel
1997).
A different indexical ground is constituted in the dispersal o
(or illness), which may be described as "turning in upon itself
(6) ydiada [archaic] ichg'ig& be'eyoiinizin bideezla',

bik'iji' iidoodleel,
bik'iji' ndasdlij,
ba'ppshii ndiasdli4,
biyi ji' ndasdlff. 105
'The weapon of negative forces
it will turn back upon itself,
upon itself it has reverted,
into little bits it has reverted,
to a point within (itself) it has reverted.' 105
Semantic parallelism recurs throughout both Reic

especially Reichard's, which is in total approximate
upon Holy Man, Holy Woman, Holy Boy, and Holy Gir
referring to and thus creatively indexing this field of
and identifying the patient with all four of these deiti
Identification is especially indexed through lines
parallel except for a change in person, as in (7), lines 1
I go about ... by means of this you turn ... by means of this I will turn ...
Lines 110-11, 'today I am as your child, I am as your grandchild', also index
identification with the deity, in that the patient is asserting a particular social
relationship that involves the deity's responsibility for their welfare, as well as
the patient's right to make demands of them; for example, a relationship
involving the reciprocity that is expected between Navajo kinsmen (Luckert
1984; McAllester 1980).
(7) ydiada [archaic] nich'Q'giY ch'idii ba'dlffl dooshoo'iog66 naashda dooleel

t'dd diishji ndidideshdidl,
hdzh66go ch'ideeshidl,
t'ddii dzshjf ritsdi sil adishn. 110
niydiazh silffgo, 'adishn.
T'idd bee ndidiidddhii,
t'iidd ei bee ndidishdid doo.
T'dd bee 4hidnidddhii,
t'idd ei bee rihinishidi doo. 115
'Negative forces invisible to them I will walk,

just as this day I shall walk about again,
in beauty I will walk out,
this day I am as your grandchild, thus I say. 110
I am as your child, thus I say.
Just as by means of this we again go about,
by means of this I again go about.
By means of this you turn around in a circle (of power/safety),
by means of this I will turn around in a circle.' 115
At the end of the prayer, the concept of hWzhi 'harmony, b

also indexed in a similar way, as surrounding the patient
creating a safe space to be (within the "loop"), where he or she
any illness or evil, as in (8).
(8) sitsiji' hgzh~iQgo naashdia doo,

shikd6cd hgzhoQgo naashdia doo,
shiyaagi hgzhgQgo naashdia doo, 385
shik'igi hdzh'Qggo naashdia doo,
shingg t'dd altsogo naashdia doo.
'to the top of my head I will walk in beauty,

from my feet I will walk in beauty,
with beauty beneath me I will walk, 385
with beauty above me I will walk,
with beauty all around me I will walk.'
6. Conclusion. We have argued that the poetic

being a minor form of trope, serves an importa
oral tradition. In Navajo prayer it serves two ov
an aesthetic form that marks ritual language
tinuity over time, and it serves a performative
the power of the words to summon the deities an
balance and harmony again for the patient, a sta
people, with health (Witherspoon 1977; McNeley
ritual language are thus inextricably connected,
each other, as McAllester (1954) has suggested
ments about what is aesthetically pleasing are
performative value; in other words, in the Nava
does something" (McAllester 1954:72).
In addition, one final note on the nature of w
guage" and the power of the "spoken word" is in
ideology of reference that does not separate verb
(and, hence, social power), we want to clarify th
ritual speaking, and all of the pragmatic aspects
entails, beyond the simple propositional cont
Nonpropositional aspects of ritual language
rhetorical structure of the linguistic tokens involved, including th

of metonymy, among others. Other key nonpropositional signs in
language include the speech acts of naming and directive-giving,
index a particular social relationship (e.g., of kinship). Throug
relationship of kinship between the patient and deity (or deities),
language invokes an obligation of reciprocity (which is expecte
when it is requested (Lamphere 1977; McAllester 1980). However,
of social relations in general in Navajo culture, addressees alwa
right to decide not to help, if they so wish. Thus, Navajo deit
people, are accorded a greater degree of agency than Reichard
spoon's discussion of the compulsive power of ritual language seem
We wish to underscore the point that the compulsive power o
language lies not only in the words that are spoken, but in other
ritual context as well, including, for example, the proper observa
nonlinguistic aspects of the ceremony as well as the degree of sin
on the part of the patient and other participants in the ceremon
have successfully illustrated the point that metonymy does not s
performative function, but serves an important aesthetic fun
especially in that the deities must approve of the hataali's compos
to respond; simply listing or naming constituent units in a particu
compulsive in itself.
Notes
1. Illustrations are taken from two early transcriptions of Navajo ritual languag
both of a self-protection prayer, and both recorded in the 1940s on the Navajo Rese
tion (Arizona, U.S.A.). The main text we discuss, with excerpts in (2) and (4)-(8), was
originally transcribed by Adolph Bittany and translated by Gladys Reichard (1944); this
text has been retranslated by the present authors. Mainly for the sake of comparison
with the first text, we also present an excerpt from a second text in (3), transcribed and
translated by Father Berard Haile (1950:278).
2. See Hymes's (1975) revision of the Kathlamet tale "The Sun's Myth" for an
amazing example of this kind of parallelism in a nonritual context.
3. We are indebted to Derek Milne of Dine College for this observation.
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Field&Blackhorse 2002 DualRoleMetonymy Navaho

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Field&Blackhorse 2002 DualRoleMetonymy Navaho

Uploaded by

Anthropological Linguistics

Trustees of Indiana University

The Dual Role of Metonymy in Navajo Prayer

Anthropological Linguistics, Trustees of Indiana University are collaborating with JSTOR

San Diego State University

TAFT BLACKHORSE, JR.

Navajo Nation Office of Historic Preservation

1. Introduction. Much has already been written on the subject of Navajo

Gladys Reichard, who originally published a stru

Prayer ... is a fully developed literary form, formulaic i

Such an emphasis on exact repetition of a particular

2. Brief outline of Navajo ceremonialism. Navajo prayer is a small part of

(1) 'At Rumbling Mountain,

3. The performative function of language in Navajo ritual. Several

One important function of Navajo ritual speech is to command and compel

that the patient or "one-sung-over" may identify him

(2) dzil yildili'gi,

'At Rumbling Mountain

(3) dzil ts'exeelts'idgi ti'iistsoh dithi? tsilk naat'danii

t'dididin dithil ni dd'ii bee shich'dh nididifdda 5

'Big dark snake, at mountain fell-from-range, young man chief

Both of these examples illustrate a constituent unit of Navajo pray

Thus, it appears that the formula that the hataali m

4. Metonymy in Navajo ritual language. As Jakobson (1960) defines

two types of tropes exists, but that metonymy may be the pr

Quechua words are built up by adding suffixes, usually of on

Mannheim goes on to discuss how various types of nonmetr

parallelism is associated in Western poetry with phonologically-

Parallelism may be grammatical-syntactic or semantic-l

whereas in morphologically synthetic languages, di

5. Metonymy and indexical ground. In Navajo e

(4) ditshjishike'dltahji' shps hiddool doo, 15

'Today from my toes it will radiate out (as a vapor), 15

Similarly, in (5), an upward-moving path is created in the iden

(5) chainah nishlifdooleel,

'I will be healthy,

(6) ydiada [archaic] ichg'ig& be'eyoiinizin bideezla',

Semantic parallelism recurs throughout both Reic

(7) ydiada [archaic] nich'Q'giY ch'idii ba'dlffl dooshoo'iog66 naashda dooleel

'Negative forces invisible to them I will walk,

At the end of the prayer, the concept of hWzhi 'harmony, b

(8) sitsiji' hgzh~iQgo naashdia doo,

'to the top of my head I will walk in beauty,

6. Conclusion. We have argued that the poetic

rhetorical structure of the linguistic tokens involved, including th

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