The Mountain Chant, A Navajo Ceremony Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 379-468

The opening pages guide listeners through the practical challenges of reading a nineteenth‑century ethnographic report, from the quirks of Unicode symbols to the author’s own spelling conventions for Navajo words. The careful notes on orthography, illustrated plates, and the author’s candid remarks about his perspective set the stage for an immersive exploration of a living ritual rather than a dry archive.

From there, the narrative moves to a vivid portrait of the “mountain chant,” a night‑long ceremony performed by Navajo medicine men. Listeners will hear about the secret lodge rites that precede a spectacular open‑air exhibition, the towering fence of piñon branches that encloses the gathering, and the ways the chant blends song, dance, and myth. The description captures the ceremony’s unique blend of private spirituality and communal celebration, inviting the audience to understand why it has long fascinated both native participants and curious outsiders.