The classification of Navajo ceremonials has played an important part in
the understanding of Navajo religion and culture. Not only does a classi-
fication account for the extent of the ceremonial practices, it reveals
some of the basic categories in the Navajo world view. The classification
is the basis for distinguishing the various ceremonials and is essential to
an understanding of them.

Several students of Navajo religion developed ceremonial classifications,
each from a perspective corresponding to his or her distinctive approach
to the study of the religion. The Franciscan Fathers presented a list of
ceremonials in their ethnologic dictionary giving corresponding Navajo
and English names with a brief note concerning their purpose and fre-
quency of performance. ¹ Father Berard Haile published an article,
"Navajo Chantways and Ceremonials," which presented a classification
of the ceremonials as well as a basic classification terminology on the basis
of his linguistic analysis of the Navajo ceremonial names. ² Leland Wyman
and Clyde Kluckhohn coauthored a work, Navaho Classification of Their
Song Ceremonials, which presented a ceremonial classification on the
basis of field research. ³ A number of brief articles following these publi-
cations discussed the details and discrepancies. Gladys Reichard in her
major work, Navaho Religion, offered a third important classification

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