Yik17sd1h7
(Milky Way)

Yik17sd1h7, the Milky Way, is a universally recognized stellar landmark resembling a whitish ribbon in the sky (Griffin-Pierce 1992a:83). In sandpaintings Milky Way is conventionalized by two zigzag lines that repeatedly cross each other (see below), thus forming a row of diamonds (Haile 1947:15). This is exactly how it appears in the string game design called Yik17sd1h7 in Mike Mitchell’s book.

Portion of a Navajo Sandpainting that depicts the night sky in summer (illustration from Reichard 199:43). In sandpaintings, sky symbols are always rectangular or rhomboid. When a triangle (cloud symbol) is added to the rectangle, it represents all the clouds that move across the sky during the night. Here, a holy person is seen within the cloud symbol (his feet point toward the center of the painting). Twelve medecine bundles capped with arrowheads represent the rays of magic power. Within the sky symbol a row of diamonds represents the Milky Way (far left). Circles adorned with horns, feathers, and rainbow bars respresent the sun and moon. Also present are constellations and Big Stars (large crosses). When Big Stars are the main theme of a sandpainting they appear as isolated square diamonds (Newcomb et al. 1956:24).

Yik17sd1h7 means “Awaits-the-Dawn” or “False Dawn”, a reference to the fact that in January it glows brightly just before the break of day (Griffin-Pierce 1992a:75). One of Griffin-Pierce’s informants explained that: “Yik17sd1h7 tells you that the new day, the dawn, is coming. Yik17sd1h7 is an old man who leans on a cane while he waits for the sun to come up so that he can say prayers and make a pollen blessing.” (Griffin-Pierce 1992a:169).

The Milky Way is also known as {ees'1n y7lzh0d7, ‘trail left by ash bread that is dragged along’ (Young & Morgan 1980:517). {eeh yilzhoozh in the Many Farms list of constellation string games is probably synonymous. In this stellar creation myth Coyote hastily steals a piece of ash bread (bread made of corn and baked in ashes) from First Man and First Woman. The trail of ashes he creates upon fleeing forms the Milky Way (Griffin-Pierce 1992a:169). The string game {e'esis (ash-belt?, Rug) also appears to be connected with this story.

In yet another stellar creation myth the Milky Way symbolizes the white corn meal sprinkled by First Woman as she says her morning prayers. It therefore serves as a visual reminder to pray to the dawn, which the Navajo view as a source of life (Griffin-Pierce 1992b:124). In the stellar creation myth recorded by Newcomb (1967:78-88), First Man and First Woman arrange the stars after first shooting two crooked fire arrows into the sky to form a ladder. Coyote then creates the Milky Way by flinging into the air the star dust that remains on their blanket. This great arc provides a pathway for the spirits traveling between heaven and earth, each little star being one footprint. At this point, First Woman proclaimed: “Now all the laws our people will need are printed in the sky where everyone can see them. One man of each generation must learn these laws so he may interpret them to the others and, when he is growing old, he must pass this knowledge to a younger man who will then be the teacher. The commands written in the stars must be obeyed forever!”

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