Note 3 — Chapter V · KÄNAKÛK AND MINOR PROPHETS

Hadn-tin or hoddentin, in Navaho tadatin, is a sacred yellow powder from the pollen of the tule rush, or, among the Navaho, of corn. It enters into every important ceremonial performance of the Apache and Navaho. The latter always sprinkle some upon the surface of the water before crossing a stream. The name of the medicine-man is written also Nakay-doklunni or Nockay Delklinne, and he was commonly called Bobbydoklinny by the whites. Dr Washington Matthews, the best authority on the closely related dialect of the Navaho, thinks the name might mean “spotted or freckled Mexican,” Nakai, literally “white alien,” being the name for Mexican in both dialects. The name would not necessarily indicate that the medicine-man was of Mexican origin, but might have been given, in accordance with the custom of some tribes, to commemorate the fact that he had killed a freckled Mexican.