Tonenili- Navajo GodDeity"Water Sprinkler"
Also known as: Tó Neinilí
Description
He stumbles through the Nightway ceremony with a water pot and exaggerated gestures. The gathered people laugh. Then he sprinkles them, and the laughter turns to blessing: the same water that falls as rain and makes the desert bloom.
Mythology & Lore
The Nightway
In Washington Matthews' account of the Nightway (Yéʼii Bicheií), a nine-night healing ceremony, Tonenili appears among the masked Yéʼii who come to bless the patient and the gathered community. A dancer puts on Tonenili's mask and becomes Water Sprinkler. He carries a pot of water.
Where the other Yéʼii move with grave precision, Tonenili stumbles. He mimics the other dancers, exaggerates their gestures, trips over his own feet. The people laugh. Nine nights of prayer and sand painting and song, and then this: a god falling over himself.
Then he sprinkles water on the participants. The clowning stops. The water touches skin and earth, and what began as comedy becomes blessing. His favor brings moisture to Navajo country. His absence brings drought.
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