The Navajo people's philosophy resembles a swirling subtle energy without limit which the Navajo artists depict with soft iridescent color and lines. But the Navajo were not as gentle as their art suggests.A Navajo goddess (although they did not use that term goddess) Meadowlark Woman (Tsiyayoji) provides the ashes that are necessary to render enemy scalps harmless. (source: Encyclopedia Mythica. 2010. Encyclopedia Mythica Online.18 Jan. 2010 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/tsiyayoji.html)
The Navajo people scalped their enemies? I thought the Navajo were almost angelic because of their artwork reflected such angelism. Yet many Native America people scalped their enemies and it was to keep that enemy warrior from the 'happy hunting grounds.' I guess the Navajo were no exception.
And after learning that the Navajo warriors
turned to the spirit of Meadowlark Woman to render their enemy's scalps harmless, there is apparently more to 'scalping
' than mutilation. I will need to research scalping some more and see what all I can find. To add to the interest in scalping, today scalping is a stock market term
meaning much the same thing as 'render your enemy harmless.' 