Note 88 — LEGENDS. (continued 2)

This legend and nearly all the legends of the Navaho make frequent allusions to yucca. Four kinds are mentioned: 1st, tsási or haskán. Yucca baccata (Torrey); 2d, tsasitsóz, or slender yucca, Yucca glauca (Nuttall), Yucca angustifolia (Pursh); 3d, yĕbĭtsasi, or yucca of the gods, probably Yucca radiosa (Trelease), Yucca elata (Engelmann); 4th, tsasibĭté or horned yucca, which seems to be but a stunted form or dwarf variety of Yucca baccata, never seen in bloom or in fruit by the author. Tsási is used as a generic name. All kinds are employed in the rites, sometimes indifferently; at other times only a certain species may be used. Thus in the sacred game of kĕsĭtsé,176 the counters are made of the leaves of Y. glauca; in the initiation into the mystery of the Yébĭtsai, the candidate is flogged with the leaf of Y. baccata. Fig. 26 represents a mask used in the rites of klédzi hatál, which must be made only of the leaves of Y. baccata, culled with many singular observances. All these yuccas have saponine in their roots (which are known as tálawus or foam), and all are used for cleansing purposes. All have, in their leaves, long tough fibres which are utilized for all the purposes to which such fibres may be applied. One species only, Yucca baccata, has an edible fruit. This is called haskán (from hos, thorny, and kan, sweet), a name sometimes applied to the whole plant. The fruit is eaten raw and made into a tough, dense jelly, both by the Navaho and Pueblo Indians. The first and second kinds grow abundantly in the Navaho country; the third and fourth kinds are rarer. Fig. 40 represents a drumstick used in the rites of klédzi hatál, which must be made only of four leaves of Yucca baccata. The intricate observances connected with the manufacture, use, destruction, and sacrifice of this drumstick have already been described by the author.321