Many Stars

Dr. Haddon showed me this figure in August, 1904. He obtained it in Chicago in 1901 from two old Navaho men, and has published a description of it (5, p. 222, pl. xv, Fig. 3). I also saw it done by the two Navaho girls who taught me other Navaho figures. It is called Son-tlani by the Navahos. Mr. Stewart Culin has preserved two examples of this pattern in the Philadelphia Free Museum of Science and Art, one (22731) from Isleta, New Mexico; the other (22714) from St. Michael’s Mission, Arizona.

First: Opening A.

Second: Pass each thumb away from you over the far thumb string and both index strings, and pick up from below, on the back of the thumb, the near little finger string (Fig. 97, Left hand), and return the thumb to its original position (Fig. 97, Right hand).

Third: Bend each middle finger down toward you over the index strings, and take up from below, on the back of the finger, the far thumb string (Fig. 98, Left hand) and return the middle finger to its original position (Fig. 98, Right hand). Release the loops from the thumbs (Fig. 99). You now have a loop on each index, a loop on each middle finger, and a loop on each little finger.

Fourth: Turning the palms slightly away from you, pass each thumb away from you over the near index string, but under the far index string, both strings on the middle finger and also under both strings on the little finger; then drawing the thumb toward you, take up on the back of the thumb the far little finger string (Fig. 100, Left hand) and return the thumb to its position, bringing back with it through the index loop only the far little finger string (Fig. 100, Right hand). Release the loops from the little fingers.

Fifth: Put the tips of the right thumb and index together, and put the tips of the left thumb and index together, then turning each hand slightly away from you pass these fingers over the far thumb string and the index loop and away from you under and past the two strings coming from the middle finger. Now, drawing the thumb and index (still held together) toward you, take up on their tips the far middle finger string, and draw it toward you under the near middle finger string (Fig. 101, Left hand). Let the twisted loop slip off the middle finger, and widen out the loop held on the tips of the thumb and index by separating these fingers (Fig. 101, Right hand).

You now have a loop on each thumb, a loop on each index, and a loop passing around both thumb and index.

Sixth: Keeping all the loops carefully in place on the right hand, with the right thumb and index lift from the back of the left thumb the lower loop on the left thumb up over the upper loop (which passes around both thumb and index), then entirely off the left thumb, being careful not to take off also the upper loop, and let it drop on the palmar side of the thumb (Fig. 102). With the right thumb and index in the same way lift the lower left index loop over the upper left index loop and off the left index.

Keeping all the loops carefully in place on the left hand, with the left thumb and index lift the lower loop on the right thumb up over the upper loop, off the right thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side. With the left thumb and index, in the same way, lift the lower right index loop over the upper right index loop, then off the right index, and let it drop on the palmar side.

You now have on each hand a single loop passing around both thumb and index. Two other loops are held by that part of the loop passing from the back of the thumb to the back of the index (Fig. 102, Right hand).

Seventh: Put each middle finger from below up on the far side of the lower near string of the four passing around the string running from the back of the thumb to the back of the index; bend the middle finger toward you (Fig. 103), and pull this lower near string down, of course on the near side of the other three strings, and letting the loop slip off each thumb, extend the figure between the index fingers and the middle fingers, bent on the palms (Fig. 104).

Seventh A: According to Dr. Haddon (5, p. 222) the Navahos have another way of doing this movement.

Bend each thumb away from you, and pull down the lower near string of the four strings forming the two loops held out by the loop passing around the thumb and index (Fig. 105, Right hand), and extend the figure between the index fingers and thumbs, holding the palms of the hands away from you (Fig. 106).

String Figure Notation (SFN)

OA
T mo S pu nLS
M mo FN pu bfTS:re T
T mo-th FN pu-pt fLS:re L
T mo FN pu MN
F mo-pu tTN:T pu tnFS
NE

On the completion of this figure, you will want to have the string again as a single loop, but unless you are careful it will get very much tangled. The way to prevent this is as follows: Place the completed figure on your lap, and draw apart the straight strings which form the top and bottom of the figure; then the string will pull out into a single loop. This is true for practically all string figures.

I have put "Many Stars" as the frrst of a series of ten Navaho figures, which are all done in much the same way, but come out in characteristic patterns in the end. They all start with Opening A, or a modification of it; after that, however, some go on as "Many Stars," but end differently; others have a few new movements and then end with some from "Many Stars," while others begin and end as "Many Stars," but have different intermediate movements.

"Many Stars" exhibits several movements which are unlike any we have hitherto studied. The Fifth, which appears to be a movement peculiar to these Navaho hgures, is a clever way of putting the middle finger loop around the thumb and index and turning it over in the transfer.

The result of the Sixth movement is interesting, because when the lower loop on each thumb and on each index is slipped over the upper loop and off the finger, it cannot run down the upper loop toward the centre of the figure in the form of a noose or ring, for the upper loop is a loop common to both thumb and index, hence the two loops are merely strung on the string of this thumb-index loop which passes from the back of the thumb to the back of the index. The Seventh movement is very characteristic of the Navaho figures; it may occur in the middle of the figure, or more than once in the same figure.