Flintway

FLINTWAY Navajo (Dineh) A ceremonial curing complex, or group of ceremonies (called chants, sings, or ways) conducted to heal illness and restore harmony (hózhó) in the universe (see NAVAJO [DINEH] CEREMONIALS). Flintway is included in the LIFEWAY classification of ceremonies, which are used to treat injuries caused by accidents or illnesses related to the natural life process.

The hero of the related traditional account was a young man who was killed by lightning after he had unknowingly spent the night with the wife of White Thunder. The young man’s family learned what had happened and discovered that Gila Monster could help them. Gila Monster demonstrated his powers by severing and scattering his own body parts and then restoring them. He restored the hero in the same way; this act forms the basis of Flintway. In a later episode, when the hero was attacked by BUFFALO, he killed Buffalo Who Never Dies. This killing resulted in the death of all the buffalo, which the hero then had to restore. Afterward he was given the MEDICINES, chants, rituals, and sacred items of Flintway.