The Navajo Story of Emergence When Again They Sinned
four Navajo Diné Bahaneʼ
At that place is not one official version of the Navajo emergence story. This affiliate is based on a diversity of accounts, especially Ethelou Yazzie's Navajo History (1971), Paul G. Zolbrod's Diné Bahane'(1984), Hastliin Tol'tsi Hee'due south oral business relationship (1928), and the oral account told past Hasteen Klah and re-written by Mary C. Wheelright (1942). Refer to those primary sources for the nearly authoritative versions of the story.
Summary
Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo:"Story of the People"), the Navajo creation myth, describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo, and centers on the expanse known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo. This story forms the ground for the traditional Navajo mode of life. The bones outline ofDiné Bahaneʼ begins with the Niłchʼi Diyin (Holy Wind) being created as the mists of lights which arose through the darkness to breathing and bring purpose to the iv Diyin Dineʼé (Holy People), supernatural and sacred in the different 3 lower worlds. All these things were spiritually created in the fourth dimension before the Earth existed and the physical aspect of humans did not exist nonetheless, but the spiritual did.
The First or Night World, Niʼ Hodiłhił , was pocket-sized and centered on an island floating in the eye of four seas. The inhabitants of the first world were the fourDiyin Dineʼé, the ii Coyotes, the four rulers of the four seas, mist beings and various insect and bat people, the latter being the Air-Spirit People. The supernatural beings Outset Woman and Commencement Man came into being here and met for the beginning time later on seeing each other's fire. The diverse beings on The Start Globe started fighting with one some other and departed by flying out an opening in the eastward.
They journeyed to the Second or Blueish World, Niʼ Hodootłʼizh , which was inhabited by various blue-grayness furred mammals and various birds, including blue swallows. The beings from the First Earth offended Swallow Principal,Táshchózhii, and they were asked to leave. Showtime Human created a wand of jet and other materials to let the people to walk upon it up into the next world through an opening in the south.
In the Tertiary or Yellowish World, Niʼ Hałtsooí , there were 2 rivers that formed a cross and the Sacred Mountains simply at that place was still no sun. More beast people lived here too. This fourth dimension information technology was not discord amidst the people that drove them abroad just a great inundation caused byTééhoołtsódii when Coyote stole her two children.
When the people arrived in the Fourth or White World, Niʼ Hodisxǫs , information technology was covered in water and in that location were monsters (naayééʼ) living here. The Sacred Mountains were re-formed from soil taken from the original mountains in the Second World. First Human, Offset Adult female, and the Holy People created the sun, moon, seasons, and stars. Information technology was here that truthful death came into existence via Coyote tossing a rock into a lake and declaring that if information technology sank and so the dead would go dorsum to the previous world.
The First World
Of a time long ago these things are said. The first world was minor, and black as soot. In the middle of the four seas at that place was an island floating in the mist. On the island grew a pine tree.
Nighttime ants dwelt there. Red ants dwelled there. Dragonflies dwelled there. Yellowish beetles dwelled there. Hard beetles dwelled there. Rock-carrier beetles dwelled there. Blackness beetles dwelled at that place. Coyote-dung beetles dwelled at that place. Bats dwelled there. Whitefaced beetles dwelled there. Locusts dwelled at that place. White locusts dwelled there.
These were the twelve groups of theNíłchʼi Dineʼé, the Air-Spirit People, who lived in the First World.
Around the floating island were four seas. Each sea was ruled by a being. In the sea to the East dwelledTééhoołtsódii, Big Water Creature, The One Who Grabs Things in the Water. In the ocean to the south livedTáłtłʼááh álééh, Blue Heron. In the ocean to the w dwelledChʼał, Frog. In the ocean to the north dwelledIiʼniʼ Jiłgaii, Winter Thunder.
Above each sea appeared a cloud. In that location was a black deject, a white deject, a blue cloud, and a yellow deject. The Black Cloud contained the Female spirit of Life. The White Cloud contained the Male spirit of Dawn.
The Black Cloud and the White Cloud came together in the East, and the wind from the clouds blew. From the breath of wind, First Man,Áłtsé Hastiin, was formed and with him the white corn,Kóhonotʼíinii, perfect in shape, with kernels covering the whole ear. Crystal, symbol of the mind and clear seeing, was with him.
The Blue Cloud and the Yellow Cloud came together in the West, and a air current from the clouds blew. From the breath of wind, Commencement Woman,Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́, was formed, and with her the yellow corn, perfect in shape, with kernels roofing the whole ear. White shell, and turquoise, and yucca were there with her.
Kickoff Human being between Blackness Deject and White Cloud, and Outset Adult female betwixt Bluish Cloud and Yellow Cloud
First Man fabricated a fire with his crystal. Its light was the mind'south outset awakening. First Woman made a fire with her turquoise. They saw each other'southward light in the distance.
When the Blueish Cloud and the Yellowish Cloud rose loftier in the sky, First Woman saw the calorie-free of Offset Man's burn, and she went out to discover it. Three times she was unsuccessful. The quaternary time she found the domicile of Showtime Homo. "I wondered what this thing could be," she said. "I saw y'all walking and wondered why you lot did not come up," First Man said. "Why do you not come with your fire, and we will live together." Outset Woman agreed to this. And then instead of the homo going to the woman, as is the custom now, the adult female went to live with the human being.
Some other person,Mąʼiitoʼí Áłchíní, Great Coyote, was formed in the water. He told First Man and First Woman that he had been hatched from an egg, and knew all that was under the h2o and all that was in the skies. First Man believed him. And so a second coyote,Áłtsé Hashké, Get-go Angry, appeared. He said to the iii, "You believe that you were the commencement persons. You are mistaken. I was living when you were formed." First Angry brought witchcraft into the earth.
The Air-Spirit People became jealous of i another and began to fight. The rulers of the four seas, Bluish Heron, Frog, White Thunder, and Big H2o Beast could stand it no more, and told the beings of the island that they must all leave this world. Some climbed and some flew until they came to an opening in the sky. They crawled through information technology and into the Second Earth.
The Second World
First Human, First Woman, the Swell-Coyote-Who-Was-Formed-in-the-Water, and the Coyote Showtime Aroused, followed by all the others, climbed up from the Dark World to the Second or Blue World.
Later arriving to the second world, the insect people sent scouts, which were plain locusts, to come across if they could find anyone in the expanse. The scouts were commencement sent to the east and after two days, they returned and had not found anyone or anything yet. The scouts were so sent south to explore and they were in one case again non able to find anyone or anything. The scouts were sent on two more than trips and later they had returned from their fourth trip, the camp of the Air Spirit people was visited past the Eat people.
They found a number of people already living there: bluebirds, bluish hawks, bluejays, blue herons, and all the bluish furred beings. The powerful swallow people lived there also. They lived in blue houses, scattered across a broad, blue plain. The houses were cone-shaped and they were tapered towards the summit. The swallow people said to the Air-Spirit People, "You are welcome here amidst us." The Eat people and Air-Spirit people then treated each other like they were all members of a single tribe, and for twenty-three days they all lived together in harmony. Just on the dark of the twenty-4th twenty-four hour period 1 of the Air-Spirit People approached the married woman of the swallow primary and wished to sleep with her.
The adjacent morn later finding out what happened the previous night, the Eat Chief,Táshchozhii, said to the newcomers, "We welcomed you here among us. We treated you equally kin. Yet this is how you return our kindness. Now you must leave this world." After the Chief told the Air-Spirit people that they must go out, he said "Anyhow, this is a bad land. There is not enough nutrient for all of us. People are dying here every 24-hour interval from hunger. Even if nosotros allowed you to stay, y'all could not live hither very long." While in the second earth, the Air-Spirit people notwithstanding had not changed their way of life and they were not still living in balance and harmony.
The Air-Spirit people wandered upwardly looking for a mode into the next earth.Niłchʼi, The Wind, called to them from the South. They followed him and found a slit in the sky that was up slanted. The heaven had a hard trounce like the world they had previously been to. First Human created a wand of jet and other materials and the Air-Spirit people flew or walked upon information technology upwardly into the next world. I by ane they passed through to the other side.
The Third Globe
The bluebird had joined the Air-Spirit People and was the outset to reach the Tertiary or Yellow World. After him came the First Four and all the others.
The great Female River crossed this state from north to south. The keen Male River crossed the land from e to west. The rivers flowed through one another in the center, and the name of this place isTó Ałnáosdlį́į́, Crossing of the Waters.
In the Yellowish Globe were six mountains. In the East wasSisnaajiní, Dawn, or White Shell Mount. In the S wasTsoodził, Blue Bead, or Turquoise Mount. To the West wasDookʼoʼoosłííd, Abalone Vanquish Mountain. In the Due north wasDibé Nitsaa, Large Sheep Mount. Near the Center of the Yellow Earth wasDził Náʼoodiłii, Soft Goods or Banded Stone Mount. And nigh it, East of middle, there wasChʼóolʼį́ʼí, Precious Stones, or Corking Bandbox Mount.
Holy People lived on the mountains. They were immortal, and could travel by following the path of the rainbow and the rays of the sun. One was Haashchʼééłtiʼí, Talking God. His body was white. One was Tó Neinilí, Water Sprinkler. He was blue. One was Haashchʼééʼooghaan, Business firm God. His body was yellow. Ane wasHaashchʼééshzhiní, Black God, the god of fire. Across them to the east lived Turquoise Boy, who was aNádleehi, neither male nor female, who guarded the not bad male reed. And far to the Westward, on Abalone Shell Mountain, livedYoołgaii Asdzą́ą́ White Shell Daughter, too aNádleeh. With her was the large female reed, which grew at the water'due south edge with no tassel.
In the autumn, the four Holy People chosen to Offset Man and First Woman, and visited them, just they did non speak. Four days in a row they visited. On the fourth day, Black God said, "You must cleanse yourselves and we volition render in twelve days."
Showtime Human being and First Woman bathed carefully and dried themselves with corn repast. They listened and waited. On the twelfth mean solar day the four Holy People returned. H2o Sprinkler and Blackness God carried a sacred buckskin. Talking God carried two perfect ears of corn, with their points completely covered with kernels. One ear of corn was white, the male corn belonging to Offset Man. The other ear was yellow, the female corn belonging to First Adult female. The gods placed one buckskin on the ground facing west, and on it they placed the two ears of corn with their tips pointing east. Under the white ear they put the feather of a white eagle. Under the xanthous ear of corn they put the plumage of a yellowish eagle. They told the people to stand at a distance and then that the wind could enter.
The White Wind,Níłchʼi Łigai blew between the buckskins, and while the wind blew, each of the Holy People walked 4 times around them, and the feathers were seen to move. In this fashion, they transformed Beginning Man and First Woman from spirit people into human being beings, with great powers. "Now," the Holy People said, "live here as husband and wife."
At the finish of four days Kickoff Woman gave nascence to twins. They were neither male nor female, onlyNádleeh. Iv days later a 2nd set of twins was born, one male and one female. After twenty days a full of 5 pairs of twins had been born, one-half of them male person and half of them female. Nearly at once they were full grown. The Holy People took each prepare of twins to their home on the Due east Mountain and taught them how to clothing masks and pray, and and so returned them to their parents. Eight winters passed, and during that time the twins found mates with the Mirage People. Many people came into being.
Spider Man, Spider Woman and Weaving
AboutTó Ałnáosdlį́į́, Crossing of the Waters, lived Spider Man and Spider Adult female. They knew how to weave the fibers of cotton and hemp and other plants. First Woman asked Spider Human and Spider Woman to teach people how to weave the fibers of plants and so they would non have to depend on animal skins for clothing. Cotton seeds were planted, and the cotton fiber was gathered. Spider Man taught the people to shape a little wheel, 3 or 4 inches in bore, and put a slender stick through it to spin the cotton. Starting time Woman said, "You must spin towards your person, not away, as y'all wish to have the beautiful goods come to you. If you spin abroad from y'all, the goods will depart from you lot." Spider Homo named the spindle "yódí yił yaʼhote," meaning "turning around with the beautiful goods." Spider Adult female said, "No, it shall be callednto is yił yaʼhote, turning around with the mixed chips."
Afterwards they had spun the thread they rolled it into good-sized assurance, and brought directly poles and tied them to make a rectangular frame. Spider Man wound the thread on 2 of the poles from due east to w, over and under the poles. Then Spider Man said that the brawl of thread should be called "yódí yił nasmas aghaaʼ," meaning "rolling with the cute goods." Spider Adult female said, "No, it shall be chosenntsilí yił nasmas aghaaʼ, rolling with the mixed chips."
After the loom was finished the cross poles were erected and other poles placed on the ground to hold the loom frame solidly, and the loom was stretched into place. Spider Man said, "It shall be calledyótí ilth na daiʼdi, raising with the beautiful goods." Spider Woman said, "No, information technology shall be calledniltłʼiz na daiʼdi, raising with the mixed chips."
There was a notched stick running across, with a notch property every other thread. Spider Man said, "Information technology will be calledyódí bił nesłon, looping with the beautiful goods." Spider Woman said, "No, it shall be calledniltłʼliz bił nesłon, looping with the mixed chips." So they used a narrow stick about two and a half feet long, and wound the yarn or thread over it, and where there is no design they ran information technology along. That was given the aforementioned name as the ball of thread. They used the broad flat stick for tapping down the thread. Spider Homo said, "It shall be calledyódí naʼygolte;" just Spider Woman said, "It shall be calledniltłʼiz naʼygolte."
Spider Man then said, "Now you know all that I accept named for you lot. It is yours to work with and to use following your own wishes. But from now on when a baby daughter is born to your tribe you shall go and discover a web woven at the oral cavity of some hole; you must take information technology and rub it on the baby's manus and arm. Thus, when she grows up she will weave, and her fingers and arms will not tire from the weaving."
The Separation of Men and Women
One day Start Man brought dwelling house a fine deer that he had killed. Get-go Woman said, "I give thanks my vagina for this deer." First Human demanded to know what she meant. "I mean that you bring me food because you wish to have sex with me," she said. "Merely we women could alive happily without men. Nosotros are the ones who get together the nutrient and till the fields. We accept no demand of men." First Man grew angry and called all the men together. "The women think they tin can live without us," he told them. "Let the states see if that is truthful."
The men and the ii hermaphrodite twins crossed the river to the north bank conveying the grinding stones and bowls and baskets that the hermaphrodite twins had made, and the axes and hoes that the men had invented. The women bared themselves along the bank of the river and called out to the men, saying "See what you lot are missing?" There were occasionally men and women who so longed subsequently the other that some jumped into the river that separated them in a vain attempt to reunite with their loved ones. Unfortunately the currents of the river were likewise strong and the swimmers were washed down the river, never to exist seen again.
For iv years the men and the women lived autonomously. During this fourth dimension the nutrient that the women harvested became less, because they had no tools, while the men grew more and more nutrient. But each group longed for the other. The women sought to satisfy themselves with basic and feathers and long stones. The men tried to salve their longing with the fresh meat of animals. I man,Kʼíídeesdizí, tried to satisfy himself using the liver of a deer. Owl called out to him to stop. "This is wrong," Owl said. "No good can come of this separation. You must bring the men and the women together again." As it turns out Owl was correct. From the women who had sought to satisfy themselves with foreign objects, monsters were born out of this. The monsters would go on the terrorize the people wherever they roamed.
Kʼíídeesdizí spoke to the other men. Finally they all spoke to First Man. First Man called beyond the river to Kickoff Woman, and asked, "Do you still call back you can live lone?" "I no longer believe I can," she responded. "I am deplorable I permit the things y'all said make me angry," First Human said. And and then the men sent a raft to the women's side of the river to bring the women across. The men and women bathed and dried their bodies with corn repast, and remained apart until nightfall. And so they would resume their lives together.
Big Water Fauna and the Groovy Flood
But a female parent and her two daughters had been in the fields and had not seen the raft. Now information technology was dark, and they saw that all of the women had crossed the river to the men's side. They began to swim beyond. ButTééhoołtsódii, Large Water Beast, grabbed the 2 daughters and dragged them to her home under the water. For 3 days and three nights, the people searched the river for the girls, but they could not find them.
On the forenoon of the quaternary day, Talking God and Water Sprinkler appeared with a big bowl of white shell and a big bowl of blue shell. The people gathered effectually them. They placed the bowls at the water's border, and started to spin them. The spinning bowls created an opening in the water which led downward to a big business firm with 4 rooms. First Human and First Woman traveled down the passage and into the house, and behind them crept the Coyote named First Angry. In the north room of the house, they found Large Water Animal asleep in a chair. Her own two children were at that place, and as well the ii missing daughters. First Man and Start Woman took the easily of the girls and led them back through the passage and on to the bank. Behind them, Coyote carried the two children of Big Water Creature, wrapped in his large peel coat with white fur lining. At that place was peachy celebrating considering the lost girls were returned.
The next morning, animals began running past the village from the east. Deer ran by, and turkeys, and antelopes, and squirrels. For iii days, animals ran past, fleeing from something. On the morning of the fourth day, the people sent locusts flying to the east to find out what was happening. The locusts returned and told that a great wall of water was coming from the east, and a tide of water from the north and from the south. The people ran to the tiptop of the mountSisnaajiní. First Human ran to each of the other Sacred Mountains, took dirt from each, and summoned the Holy People, and returned toSisnaajiní. Turquoise Boy came bearing the great Male Reed, and First Man planted information technology in the meridian of the mount. All the people began to accident on the reed, and information technology began to grow and grow until it reached the canopy of the sky. Woodpecker hollowed out a passage within the reed, and the people and Turquoise Male child and the four Holy People all began to climb up until they came out in the Fourth World.
The Fourth World
Later the people had all emerged into the Fourth, or White Earth, they saw the water standing to rising in the Third World below them. Big H2o Creature pushed her caput through the opening in the reed. Her curly pilus floated on the water, and lightning flashed from her black horn and her yellow horn. First Man asked Large H2o Creature why she had come. She said zip. But the Coyote named First Angry came forward wearing his peel coat. He said "Perhaps information technology is considering of this," and drew the two babies from under his coat. Turquoise Male child took a basket and filled it with turquoise. On height of the turquoise he placed the bluish pollen from blue flowers and yellow pollen from the corn, and pollen from water flags, and on top of these he placed the crystal, which is river pollen. This handbasket he gave to Coyote, who put it between the horns of the Big Water Animate being, and on the basket he placed the 2 children. The Big Water Creature disappeared down into the reed, and the water with her.
They saw that they were on an isle in the centre of a bubbling lake, surrounded by high cliffs. At start the people could not observe a way to go beyond the h2o to the shore. They called on Water Sprinkler to assistance them. He had brought four bang-up stones with him from the Tertiary World. He threw one to the east. When it striking the cliff wall, it broke a hole through information technology, and water began to menses out of the lake. He threw a rock to the south. He threw one to the westward. And to the north he threw one. Each rock created a pigsty in the cliff, and the water of the lake became lower. A lane at present continued the island to the shore to the eastward, but information technology was deep with mud. The people called onNíłchʼi Dilkǫǫh, Smooth Current of air, to help them. He blew steadily for a long fourth dimension, and finally the people were able to leave the island.
Offset Man and First Woman congenital a hogan to live in. It was not like a hogan of today. Beginning Man dug a shallow pit in the world and placed poles in it. For the main poles he used two parts of the Blackness Bow,Ałtį́į́ʼ Diłhił. One pole he cut from the Male Reed. One pole he cutting from the Female person Reed. The construction was covered with world and grass. First Woman ground white corn and they powdered the poles and sprinkled corn meal inside the dwelling house from East to W. Beginning Homo said, "May my home be sacred and beautiful, and may the days exist cute and enough." This was the first hogan-raising ceremony.
Creation of Sunday and Moon
Inside, First Man lay with his head to the East, and Start Woman lay with her head to the West. Their thoughts mingled, and those thoughts were sacred. They began to plan for the time that was to come, and how people would live on the earth. Great Coyote-Who-Was-Formed-in-the-Water came in to help them program. Together, they planned that there should be a sun, a moon, and 24-hour interval and nighttime. They decided to go on the other Coyote, First Aroused, away from their planning, because it was he who had brought unhappiness.
First Man, Beginning Woman, and Keen-Coyote-Who-Was-Formed-in-the-Water covered the floor of the hogan with a perfect buckskin. On the buckskin the placed a perfect round turquoise, larger than the height of a man. Below the turquoise they placed a great perfect white shell. At that moment the CoyoteÁłtsé Hashké, Kickoff Aroused, came and asked them what they were doing. "Zero," they said. "And then I see," he said. And he went abroad.
Outset Man went looking forHaashchʼééshzhiní, The Black Yéʼii, known as the Fire God. Starting time Man found him in a place where in that location was fire nether the earth, and called to him. He returned to the showtime hogan with Kickoff Human being. Outset Man and Showtime Woman also summoned the other three Holy People, H2o Sprinkler, House God, and Talking God. Together, they told Turquoise Boy and White Shell Girl that they were creating the lord's day and the moon. They asked Turquoise Boy if he would become the lord's day, and they asked White Crush Daughter if she would go the moon. Again, the Coyote named Start Angry came past and asked them what they were doing. "Nada," they said. "So I meet," he said, and he went away.
First Man, First Woman, Dandy Coyote, and the Holy People planned that there would be 12 months. With each calendar month, the moon would pass from nighttime to light, and the sun would movement to a different path in the sky. White Crush Girl was given a whistle made from the Female Reed, with 12 holes in it. Each fourth dimension she completed her cycle she would blow on the whistle, and a new month would begin. The starting time month was namedGhąąjįʼ, Back-to-Back, or Parting of the Seasons. Today information technology is called Oct. The 2d month was namedNíłchʼitsʼósí, Fourth dimension of Slender Winds. The tertiary month wasNíłchʼitsoh, Neat Wind. It is the time to brainstorm to tell the sacred stories. The fourth month, January, wasYas Niłtʼees, Crusted Snowfall. This is the month of many ceremonies, and the time for sacred stories. February, the 5th calendar month, isAtsá Biyáázh, Baby Eagle. After this calendar month, sacred stories must not be told to the young people. The 6th month,Wóózhchʼį́į́d, is the month of Sudden Spring Storms. Ceremonies are held to bless the fields earlier seeds are planted. The seventh month wasTʼą́ą́chil, Little Leaves. May,Tʼą́ą́tsoh, was the eighth month. Finally they plannedYaʼiishjááshchilí, When-Few-Seeds-Ripen,Jáátsoh, Great Seed Ripening,Biniʼantʼą́ą́tsʼózí, Little Ripening, and finally September,Biniʼantʼą́ą́tsoh, Harvest Time, when foods are stored for the winter.
Again, the Coyote named Beginning Angry came by and asked what they were doing. "Nothing," they said. "Then I meet," he said, and he went away.
Fire God, the Blackness Yéʼii, used his fire to heat the turquoise on the buckskin until it became red hot. Then they asked Turquoise Male child to enter the glowing turquoise. "If I do that, I must be paid with the lives of the people of the globe, all the man beings, the animals which have four legs, the birds and insects of the air, the fishes and all the people under the water." And and so the White Beat out Daughter repeated the same affair. Start Adult female, Commencement Man, Cracking Coyote, and the Holy People all agreed. Then Turquoise Boy entered the glowing Turquoise. First Man used his crystal to heat the White Crush, and White Shell Daughter entered the White Shell. Iv circles were made around the within of the hogan to complete the ceremony. In this way, Turquoise Male child became the sun,Jóhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Twenty-four hours. And White Shell Girl became the moon,Tłʼéhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Night.Níłchʼi Haʼaʼaahdę́ęʼgo, the East Current of air, asked to carry the newly formed lord's day to his land so that it could begin its journey there.
The Coyote named Starting time Angry appeared again. He said, "I know yous have been planning groovy things. I demand to know why I was not included in the planning." First Man and First Woman said zip. Coyote said, "Yous believe that I spoiled your living in the lower worlds, but it is non truthful. At present I will spoil your plans. The path of the sun and the path of the moon will not return to their beginning later on 12 months. The twelve months of the sun will be thirteen months of the moon. Sometimes frost will come early, and sometimes it will remain late. Sometimes the rains volition not come, and yous will take to summon the baby of the Large Water Creature to bring water." And he left them.
The Coming of Expiry
Belatedly in the commencement day, whenJóhonaaʼéí was finishing his first journey across the heaven, one of the hermaphrodite twins,Nádleeh, stopped breathing. Afraid, the people left her alone. In the morn, the Coyote named First Angry and the people went to find the twin, justNádleeh was gone. One man looked down the reed into the Third World, and there he sawNádleeh sitting by the side of the river combing her pilus. He called to his friend, and he looked and also saw her. The people asked Coyote what to exercise. He took a black rock,tadzootsé, and threw it intoTódiłhił, the Blackness Water Lake. He said that if the rock came up and floated, the spirit of the dead person would return to the Quaternary World and there would be no death. If the rock sank, the spirit would stay in the world below and there would be death. The stone sank, and the people knew then that the twin was expressionless, and Kickoff Homo remembered the agreement they had made with the sun. Four days later the ii witnesses who had looked downwardly on the dead twin also died. The people learned that it is dangerous to look at the dead. The people were all mad at Coyote for this and gathered around to beat him. Coyote said they could beat him, but get-go he had something to say. "I threw the stone in the water knowing that it would sink." The people darkly muttered about this to ane another, the whole of them deciding that Coyote really did deserve a proficient beating. Just quick thinking Coyote finished his explanation. "Without expiry the world would soon be overpopulated. The elders would never dice and would stay stuck in their infirm bodies. There would exist no room for new children. Nosotros would run out of food and shelter with so many people to feed and care for." The gathered group was silent for a bit while all of them contemplated Coyote's rationale and found him to exist wise and intelligent.
Stars and Constellations
Starting time Human being, First Woman, Great Coyote, and the Holy People side by side planned stars for the night sky. They gathered as many pieces oftsésǫʼ,stone-star mica, as they could notice, and put them on a blanket. And then Starting time Man fabricated a cartoon in the dirt to plan the location of all the stars seeking to make the heaven like a woven rug, orderly and balanced.Haashchʼééshzhiní, Blackness Yéʼii, placed theSǫʼtsoh (North Star). First Man placed theNáhookǫs [bikąʼí] (Big Dipper) while First Adult female put theNáhookǫs [baʼáádí] (Little Dipper) into the sky. First Man also placed theDilyéhé (Vii Stars, the Pleiades) which Black Yéʼii claimed represented parts of his body. They placedÁłtséʼétsoh, the Big Showtime 1. They placedÁłtséʼétsʼósí, Coyote'southward Feather, or the Slender One (the belt and sword of Orion). They placedBaʼáłchíní, the children ofDilyéhé andÁłtséʼétsʼósí; andHastiin Sikʼaiʼí, The-One-time-Man-with Feet Apart; and the Rabbit Tracks,Gah Atʼéʼii; andYikáí Sidáhí Moving-toward-the-Dawn; andNáhookǫs Bakąʼí, The-Revolving-Male-Warrior-with-His-Bow-and-Arrow; and his wife,Náhookǫs Baʼáádí, Who-Carries-the-Fire-in-Her-Basket. The Coyote named Commencement Angry returned to see what was going on. He took a piece of rock-star mica and placed information technology on the sky, and it becameMąʼii bizǫʼ, known by Bilagáana as Canopus. He placed another piece in the south,Sǫʼ Doo Nidisidí, Morning time Star. And so Coyote said, "This is too long. I have a better mode." He then snapped the blanket and the rest of the stone-star mica was scattered across the sky.
The Re-Creation of the Sacred Mountains
Áłtsé hastiin, Offset Man, andÁłtsé asdzą́ą́, First Adult female, together withTó Neinilí, Water Sprinkler, andHaashchʼééshzhiní, Black Yéʼii, the god of fire, gear up out to create the 6 sacred mountains from dirt that First Man had brought upwards from each mountain in the third earth. They placed them as they had been in the third world. They re-createdSisnaajiní, Dawn, or White Shell Mountain, in the East. They decorated it with white shells. They decorated it with white lightning. They busy it with white corn. They busy it with dark clouds that make male person rain. From stones they had brought they fashionedTséghádiʼnídíinii Ashkii, Rock Crystal Boy, and Tséghádiʼnídíinii atʼééd, Rock Crystal Girl, to reside there forever.
In the South they re-createdTsoodził, Blueish Bead, or Turquoise Mountain. They adorned information technology with turquoise. They adorned it with dark mist. They adorned it with animals. They adorned it with low-cal clouds that bring female rain. From two stones they had brought with them they fashionedDootłʼizhii Náyooʼałí Ashkii, the Boy Who Is Bringing Dorsum Turquoise, andNaadą́ą́ʼ ląʼí Náyooʼáłí Atʼééd, the Girl Who Is Bringing Back Many Ears of Corn. They were created to reside there forever.
To the West they re-createdDookʼoʼoosłííd, Abalone Beat out Mountain. They adorned it with haliotis shell. They adorned it with animals. They adorned it with dark clouds that bring the male pelting. From material from the Third World they createdNaadą́ą́łgaii Ashkii, the White Corn Boy, andNaadą́ą́łtsoii Atʼééd, the Yellow Corn Girl. They were created to reside there forever.
In the Northward they re-createdDibé Nitsaa, Big Mount Sheep. They adorned that mountain with black beads. They adorned it with many plants. They adorned it with many animals. They adorned it with the grey mist that brings female rain. From materials from beneath, they fashionedTádídíín Ashkii, Pollen Male child, andNahachagii Atʼééd, Grasshopper Girl. They were created to reside there forever.
Near the Center they re-createdDził Náʼoodiłii, Soft Goods or Banded Rock Mountain. They left its acme blank, but they created two beings to reside in that location. They wereYódí Neidiitsi Ashkii, Boy Who Produces Goods, andYódí Neidiitsi Atʼééd, Girl Who Produces Goods.
East of center they re-createdChʼóolʼį́ʼí, Precious Stones, or Slap-up Spruce Mount. They decorated it with pollen and the clouds that bring female rain. On it they created two beings,Nitłʼiz Neidiitsi Ashkii, the Boy Who Produces Jewels, andNitłʼiz Neidiitsi Atʼééd, the Girl Who Produces Jewels, to live there forever.
When all was washed, First Man, Outset Woman, Black Yéʼii and Water Sprinkler returned and taught the people about the sacred mountains. They taught them that these six mountains were their principal mountains. From the lower mesa lands they could come across them. Chants were made for them. Finally, a smoke was prepared for the mountains and the chants were sung.
The Coming of Monsters
In the Third Globe, at that place was a time when men and women had lived apart for a long time. During that time, some women had used animal horns or long stones or bird feathers for sex. Now, in the Quaternary Earth, some of those women were significant. 1 woman who had used an antelope horn gave birth to a child with no head. The people held a quango and decided that this baby would exist abandoned. It was left to die in a gully. Just information technology lived and grew to becomeDéélgééd, the Horned Monster.
A woman who had used an hawkeye'due south plume for sex gave nascency to a round, headless child with feathered shoulders. A quango was held, and information technology was decided that this babe likewise should be abandoned. Information technology was left in an alkali pit. But it lived, and grew to becomeTsé Nináhálééh, Monster Eagle. It fabricated its home on Tséteʼiská, a peak across La Plata Mountains.
A woman who had used an elongated stone for sex gave birth to a headless child with hard skin and a pointed neck. The people met in council and decided that this babe should be abased in a fissure in a cliff. They placed the child and closed the fissure with rocks. Simply the child lived and grew to getTsé dah Hódziiłtáłii, The Monster Who Kicks People Downwardly the Cliff. It made its home at a identify chosenKnol ghi nee, beyond the Carrizos Mountains.
A woman who had skinned a sour cactus and used it for sex gave birth to twins, headless creatures with no limbs. They had two depressions at the top that looked like eyes. The people gathered and decided that these infants had to exist abandoned. They threw them as far as they could. Simply the twins establish shelter in brush and survived. They grew to becomeBinááʼ yee Aghání, the Monsters That Kill with Their Eyes.
I monster came about in a different way. A woman named Loose Running Woman went off alone in the direction of the sunrise. After defecating, she used a smooth pebble from the river to clean herself. She placed the warm rock in her genitals just asJóhonaaʼéí, the Lord's day, rose to a higher place the horizon. Seeing this, the Dominicus sent a ray into her. In but nine days she gave nascency to a large child. Having no husband, and not knowing who the father of the child was, she abandoned the child in a rocky place. SimplyJóhonaaʼéí knew that the baby was his, and he protected it from afar only never visited information technology. The child grew to be big and powerful and very angry. It was chosenYéʼiitsoh, Big Giant, by the people.
The monsters hid along paths, and killed and devoured travelers. They killed many people, and the people began to live in fear.
The Monster Slayer Twins
Nigh of the people had been killed. Beginning Man said, "Perhaps the Holy People will assist us." In the morning, he saw a night deject roofing the pinnacle ofChʼóolʼį́ʼí, the Cracking Spruce Mount. In the nighttime he saw a fire on the mount. He said to First Adult female, "Someone is there. I must go to them." "No," she said. "There are many monsters between here and there. It is non safe for you lot." The post-obit day the dark cloud remained on the mountain, and at night the fire appeared a second time. This happened the 3rd day likewise. On the fourth day, Offset Man said, "I must get. I believe there is a Holy Person on the mountain who tin can help us." He fix out forChʼóolʼį́ʼí. As he walked, he sang: I amÁłtsé Hastiin, and I head forChʼóolʼį́ʼí in pursuit of old historic period and happiness. In pursuit of sometime age and happiness I follow the lightning and approach the place where it strikes. In pursuit of old historic period and happiness I follow the rainbow and approach the place where it touches the earth. In pursuit of old age and happiness I follow the dark cloud'due south trail and approach the place where it is thickest. In pursuit of quondam historic period and happiness I follow the scent of the rain, and approach the place where the lines of rain are darkest.
At the very summit ofChʼóolʼį́ʼí, he heard the weep of an baby and the crash of lightning, the pouring of rain, and he saw the tip of a rainbow with intense colors in front of the black heaven. Suddenly the rain stopped and the sky became light. Where he had heard the weep of a baby there was a turquoise figure of a girl lying on the footing. First Man picked up the turquoise daughter and carried information technology home with him.
The Birth of Irresolute Adult female
Two days later First Homo and First Woman were awakened very early in the morning by the sound "Wu'hu'hu'hu'." They knew information technology wasHaashch'ééłti'í, Talking God. He told them they must return to the top ofChʼóolʼį́ʼí with the turquoise effigy in twelve days.
When they reached a level spot just below the summit ofChʼóolʼį́ʼí,Haashchʼééłtiʼí was at that place waiting for them.Haashchʼééʼooghaan, House God, was there.Tó Neinilí, Water Sprinkler, was there. With them wasNíłchʼi, the Wind.Haashchʼééłtiʼí lay a perfect buckskin on the ground with its head facing the west. On the buckskin Start Man lay the turquoise figure of a girl with her head to the west. SoHaashchʼééłtiʼí placed another perfect buckskin over the effigy, with its head facing East. The Holy People began to sing the sacred vocal ofHózhǫ́ǫ́jí Sin, andNíłchʼi, the Wind entered betwixt the buckskin blankets. The upper coating was removed, and beneath it was a living baby girl. Her name wasAsdzą́ą́ Nádleehé, Changing Woman.The Holy People told First Human being and Start Woman to take her to their home and enhance her as their daughter.
Offset Adult female and Commencement man carriedAsdzą́ą́ Nádleehé to their hogan, and First Man made a cradle board and tied her in it. "At present she will be my girl," he said. First woman took the baby and breathed on her four times. "Now," she said, "she will be my daughter." At the end of the second day the baby laughed for the first time. The Coyote namedÁłtsé Hashkéarrived and said, "I was told that my grandchild laughed for the first time." Showtime Woman took charcoal and gave it to the Coyote saying: "This is the only affair that lasts." He painted his nose with it and said, "I shall know all things. I shall live long by information technology." Satisfied with the souvenir, he departed. Since then persons always receive a souvenir when a babe laughs for the outset time, and the Showtime Laugh Ceremony is performed.
By the thirteenth day,Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé had get a young adult female, and on that day she said to First Woman, "Something unusual has passed through me." First woman said, "That is your first race,kinaashdaah." They covered the floor of the hogan with blankets, and Changing Adult female lay on them face down. Offset Homo pulled her hair downward, and shaped her confront, and dressed her in cute goods, beads, bracelets, and earrings, and tied her hair with a strip of perfect buckskin. And so First Homo and First Woman stepped exterior the hogan and toldAsdzą́ą́ Nádleehé to run her first race around a cedar tree and return, from east to west, as the sun does. When she returned, they invited all the people to a sing over her in the hogan calledHooghan Hotłʼeztsoos, Child-bearing Business firm, on the mountain chosenDził Náʼodiłii 4 days afterwards. A keen crowd gathered in the evening of the fourth twenty-four hours. A sweetness corn cake was made from dissimilar colored corn meal sweetened with yeast. The Night Dirge was sung, and in the morning the men received some of the maiden'due south block as a gift for their chants, andAsdzą́ą́ Nádleehé, Changing Adult female sabbatum in the back of the hogan equally gifts were piled in front of her. In this way the Commencement Race of every young adult female should exist historic.
Nascence of the Twins
Before long after that, Irresolute Adult female wished for a mate. Every morning when the sun rose she lay on her back until noon, her head to the due west and her feet to the east. At noon she went to the jump. She lay under the ledge and permit spring water baste over her body. This took place each 24-hour interval for four days. On the fourth day, she heard a audio behind her and turned and saw a beau on a great white equus caballus with black eyes. It had a long white mane, and pranced above the ground and not on the earth itself. The bridle and the saddle were white. The young human being's moccasins and leggings were likewise white. The rider spoke: "Yous lay towards me each morning until noon. When I am half over the middle of the world, you go to the spring. Your wish could not take two meanings. Go home and tell your father to build a brush hogan to the south of your home. Make full a basket with meal and set up it in the hogan. Make a line of pollen from eastward to w across the basket on meridian of the repast. Make a line of pollen from northward to southward fatigued around the handbasket. You lot and your father must sit there tardily into the night. He will so go home to his married woman and y'all must stay in that location alone."
Irresolute Woman returned abode and told what had happened to her parents. Beginning Man said that it could non be true, but Showtime Adult female said that it was indeed the message of a Holy Being and they must obey. And so First Man andAsdzą́ą́ Nádleehé prepared the hogan and the handbasket and waited long into the night. Finally Outset Human returned abode. When Changing Woman returned domicile in the morning time, First Man asked her at in one case: "Who came last dark?" The girl said, "No 1 came, but some of the meal has been taken." The same thing happened the second night, and the 3rd. On the morning time after the 4th nighttime, the girl told First Human being, "I saw no one, but someone touched me, and I was moved."Iv days later,Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé said, "Mother, something moves inside me." First Woman answered, "Daughter, that must exist your infant moving."
On the 9th day, Irresolute Adult female felt her nascence labor brainstorm. Talking God appeared, carrying a rope of sunbeam. Water Sprinkler the Rain God appeared carrying a rope of rainbow. Saying cypher, the two beings gave i end of each rope to Changing Woman and silently bid her pull them with each spasm of labor. This began the custom of giving a rope to a adult female who is in labor. A baby boy emerged, and Talking God took information technology aside and washed it, and severed its string. A second baby boy emerged, and Water Sprinkler took it aside and washed it and severed its cord.
This account is taken from the Wikipedia entry, "Diné Bahaneʼ". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Din%C3%A9_Bahane%CA%BC#cite_ref-16, final updated August 2019. CC-SA 3.0. A preface has been added at the offset to reflect the different versions of the story.
Source: https://openamlitcwi.pressbooks.com/chapter/navajo-emergence-myth/
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