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Show ._._- I. (FItU I q l(~) @@~1fU1R~b\9.rUQL\~ &\iLff' 5)QQ~l1r ((~~u ~lr@ ~l!K~ ~ F the t hirteen neophytes admitted to Holy B"ptism at or soon a ft er Easter, all 0. but tvlO were old enough CJ.} fer Confirmation, and had ~ \ of c ourse r e c eived at least .JA" the intel~ectua l pr eparQtl on expect- ) ~ ed of . confirmands. We l ooKed forward I .' Ytll to a visita.tlon from the Bishop at Y, c~pus Christi time , late in Hay. I~ But an important event on the '~ West Coast to01c our Rt Heverend F&ther in God to California at Cor pus ·Christi time. He was sur e he could get to us, however by the end of June. But June had commencements,and Jul y and August were filled with appointments - - a mis sionary Bishop often fills in so that his priests can get 2 l~ttle va cation-- and September nosed in. You in the East cannot ~onc e ive what it is like to be, a mis sionary Bishop i n a strong Mor mon sta t e with an area s eventeen times that of Connecticut, and only t wo pari sh priests in a city of 150,000 population·--not t o mention the prospect of a 350- mile journey over mountain passes and vast expanses of des ert. We kept telling our Navajos that "the g.reat Gift would be t heirs "soonll --- hut some went off to Colorado, l\lI'ed by the high wages offer ed to sheep-herders, some to Monticello t o work in t he Vanadium mill, one to Aneth to help relatives herd sheep . Then carne t o iIle a l etter from the Archdeacon: "I have the 30th sept . fre e; sh&ll I bring the Bishop?" Hurriedly I replied "yes" though it would gi ve me less than two weeks to gc.:.ther my scattered flock. By next mail: ttThe Bishop has a date for the 30th,but I q&n shift mine; shall We come the 23rd?" Weak in the knees, I r eplied:tfBy all meansl" and prayed tha t in some way I could gather them in the five days that remained. It was a pray er tha t needed much f ai th behind it,for in addition ' to the difficul ty of gett i ng word to Aneth and Monti c ello ( t he Colorado couple ha.d come home ) I knew tha t a "squaw danc e lt was t o be h eld near Mexican Wa t er,Ar izona ,and that mos t of our peopl e were planni ng to go to i~. The squaw dc.1Uc e,more properly called "war dance ff is a r eligious ceremony for driving enemies away , but its orig1nal Significance is being obscured and it i s now regarded chiefly as a social event--and a very popular t hing among these people whose homes are so f ar apart and who have So little opportuni ty for social contacts. A good dea l of per sua sion was going to be required to change these peoples! pl ans. After supper (the only time of day one can be pretty sure of finding a whole f&mi ly a thome, I hopped on a horse and went to see Hashkc.:.an . Ha shkaan is the patriarch; his word i s final. I found him 8..sleep,but his son woke him .. "Wl!.o is ther e?" "The drag-robe!! "What is going on?" So I told him as best I could that the chief pries t from S8.lt Lake City was coming on SundaY, and tha t X didn't want the Nava jos to go to the dance. "On what account is he coming?ff I ' paused to try to phrase my reply as forcefully as possible, then answered: • |
