Diné Bahaneʼ

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Navajo creation myth

title: "Diné Bahaneʼ" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["creation-myths", "navajo-mythology"] description: "Navajo creation myth" topic_path: "general/creation-myths" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diné_Bahaneʼ" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Navajo creation myth ::

**** (, ), is a Navajo creation story that describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo as a part of the Navajo religious beliefs. It centers on the area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo, and forms the basis of the traditional Navajo way of life and ceremony. Throughout the stories, the importance of cardinal points and the number four are emphasized in multiple aspects.

The basic outline of begins with the creation of the (, ‘Holy Wind’) as the mists of lights which arose through the darkness to animate and bring purpose to the spirits of the four (, 'Holy People') in the different three lower worlds. According to the story, this event happened before the Earth and the physical aspect of humans had come into being, when only the spiritual aspect of humans existed. The Holy People then began journeying through the different lower worlds, learning important lessons in each one before moving on to the next. The fourth and final world is the world in which the Navajo live now.

The four Worlds

The Diné Bahane’ has detailed descriptions of characteristics and events of the four mythical worlds. The First or Dark World, () was small and centered on an island floating in the middle of four seas. The inhabitants of the first world were the four , the two 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 First Woman and First Man came into existence here and met for the first time after seeing each other's fire. The various beings on The First World started fighting with one another and thus had to depart by flying out through an opening in the east.

The Second World () was inhabited by various blue-gray furred mammals and various birds, including blue swallows. The beings from the First World offended Swallow Chief, ([txɑ́ʃtʃʰóʒìː]), and they were asked to depart. To do so, the First Man created a wand of jet and other materials to allow the people to walk upon it up into the next world through an opening in the south.

In the Third or Yellow World ([nɪ̀ʔ xɑ̀ɬtsʰòːɪ́]), there were two rivers that formed a cross, the Sacred Mountains, and more animal people, but there was still no sun. This time it was not discord among the people that drove them away but a great flood caused by ([txéːxòːɬtsʰótì]) when Coyote stole her two children.

When the people arrived in the Fourth or White World ([nɪ̀ʔ xòtɪ̀sxõ̀s]), there were anaye () living there. The Sacred Mountains were re-formed from soil taken from the original mountains in the Second World. First Man and the Holy People created the sun, moon, seasons, and stars. It was here that true death came into existence when Coyote tossed a stone into a lake, declaring that if it sank then the dead would go back to the previous world.

The first human born in the Fourth World is ([jòːɬkɑ̀ì ɑ̀stsɑ̃́ː]), who matures into [ɑ̀stsɑ̃́ː nɑ́tɬèːxé] and, in turn, gives birth to the Hero Twins called and . The twins have many adventures in which they help to rid the world of various monsters. Multiple batches of modern humans were created a number of times in the Fourth World, and the gave them ceremonies which are still practiced today.

In other versions, there's another flood in the fourth world and humans are led through a big standing reed into the fifth world, which is where we live today, and where the Naayéé’ Nizghání are born to defeat the monsters.

Main events and creations

The First World or {{spell-nv|Niʼ Hodiłhił}}

Of a time long ago these things are said. The first world was small, and black as soot. In the middle of the four seas there was an island floating in the mist. On the island grew a pine tree.

Dark ants dwelt there. Red ants dwelled there. Dragonflies dwelled there. Yellow beetles dwelled there. Hard beetles dwelled there. Stone-carrier beetles dwelled there. Black beetles dwelled there. Coyote-dung beetles dwelled there. Bats dwelled there. White-faced beetles dwelled there. Locusts dwelled there. White locusts dwelled there.

These were the twelve groups of the , 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 dwelled , Big Water Creature, The One Who Grabs Things in the Water. In the sea to the south lived , Blue Heron. In the sea to the west dwelled , Frog. In the ocean to the north dwelled , Winter Thunder.

Above each sea appeared a cloud. There was a black cloud, a white cloud, a blue cloud, and a yellow cloud. The Black Cloud contained the Female spirit of Life. The White Cloud contained the Male spirit of Dawn.

The Blue Cloud and the Yellow Cloud came together in the West, and a wind from the clouds blew. From the breath of wind, First Woman, , was formed, and with her the yellow corn, perfect in shape, with kernels covering the whole ear. White shell, and turquoise, and yucca were there with her.

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, , was formed and with him the white corn, , perfect in shape, with kernels covering the whole ear. Crystal, symbol of the mind and clear seeing, was with him.[[File:Frontispiece Smithsonian Bulletin163.jpg|400px|thumb|alt=Colorized b&w image from O'Bryan 1936 text|First Man between Black Cloud and White Cloud, and First Woman between Blue Cloud and Yellow Cloud]]

First Woman made a fire with her turquoise. First Man made a fire with his crystal. Its light was the mind's first awakening. They saw each other's light in the distance.

When the Blue Cloud and the Yellow Cloud rose high in the sky, First Woman saw the light of First Man's fire, and she went out to find it. Three times she was unsuccessful. The fourth time she found the home of First Man. "I wondered what this thing could be," she said. "I saw you walking and wondered why you did not come," First Man said. "Why do you not come with your fire, and we will live together." First Woman agreed to this. So instead of the man going to the woman, as is the custom now, the woman went to live with the man.Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 3.

Another person, [mɑ̃̀ʔìːtxòʔɪ́ ɑ́ɬtʃʰɪ́nɪ́], 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 water and all that was in the skies. First Man believed him. Then a second coyote, , First Angry, appeared. He said to the three, "You believe that you were the first persons. You are mistaken. I was living when you were formed." First Angry brought witchcraft into the world.

The Air-Spirit People became jealous of one another and began to fight. The rulers of the four seas, Blue Heron, Frog, White Thunder, and Big Water Creature 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 it and into the Second World.

The Second World or {{spell-nv|Niʼ Hodootłʼizh}}

First Woman, First Man, the Great-Coyote-Who-Was-Formed-in-the-Water, and the Coyote First Angry, followed by all the others, climbed up from the Dark World to the Second or Blue World.

After arriving to the second world, the insect people sent scouts, which were plain locusts, to see if they could find anyone in the area. The scouts were first sent to the east and after two days, they returned and had not found anyone or anything yet. The scouts were then sent south to explore and they were once again not able to find anyone or anything. The scouts were sent on two more trips and after they had returned from their fourth trip, the camp of the Air Spirit people was visited by the Swallow people.

They found a number of people already living there: bluebirds, blue hawks, bluejays, blue herons, and all the blue 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 top. The swallow people said to the Air-Spirit People, "You are welcome here among us." The Swallow 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. But on the night of the twenty-fourth day one of the Air-Spirit People approached the wife of the swallow chief and wished to sleep with her.

The next morning after finding out what happened the previous night, the Swallow Chief, , said to the newcomers, "We welcomed you here among us. We treated you as 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 leave, he said “Anyhow, this is a bad land. There is not enough food for all of us. People are dying here every day from hunger. Even if we allowed you to stay, you could not live here very long." While in the second world, the Air-Spirit people still had not changed their way of life and they were not yet living in balance and harmony.

The Air-Spirit people wandered upward looking for a way into the next world. , The Wind, called to them from the South. They followed him and found a slit in the sky that was upward slanted. The sky had a hard shell like the world they had previously been to. First Man created a wand of jet and other materials and the Air-Spirit people flew or walked upon it up into the next world. One by one they passed through to the other side.

The Third World or {{spell-nv|Niʼ Hałtsooí}}

The bluebird had joined the Air-Spirit People and was the first to reach the Third or Yellow World. After him came the First Four and all the others.

The great Female River crossed this land from north to south. The great Male River crossed the land from east to west. The rivers flowed through one another in the middle, and the name of this place is , Crossing of the Waters.

In the Yellow World were six mountains. In the East was [sɪ̀snɑ̀ːtʃɪ̀nɪ́] Dawn, or White Shell Mountain. In the South was [tsʰòːtsɪ́ɬ] Blue Bead, or Turquoise Mountain. To the West was [tòːkʼòʔóːsɬít] Abalone Shell Mountain. In the North was [tɪ̀pé nɪ̀tsʰɑ̀ː] Big Sheep Mountain. Near the Center of the Yellow World was , Soft Goods or Banded Rock Mountain. And near it, East of center, there was , Precious Stones, or Great Spruce Mountain.

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 , Talking God. His body was white. One was , Water Sprinkler. He was blue. One was , House God. His body was yellow. One was , Black God, the god of fire. Beyond them to the east lived Turquoise Boy, who was a , neither male nor female, who guarded the great male reed. And far to the West, on Abalone Shell Mountain, lived White Shell Girl, also a . With her was the big female reed, which grew at the water's edge with no tassel. [[File:Sandpainting of Dine'tah.jpg|400px|thumb|alt=Colorized b&w image from O'Bryan 1936 text|Drawing by Sam Ahkeak of sandpainting of Dinétah, the Navajo Homeland created by ceremonial leaders near Shiprock around 1930.]]

In the autumn, the four Holy People called to First Man and First Woman, and visited them, but they did not speak. Four days in a row they visited. On the fourth day, Black God said, "You must cleanse yourselves and we will return in twelve days."

First Man and First Woman bathed carefully and dried themselves with corn meal. They listened and waited. On the twelfth day the four Holy People returned. Water Sprinkler and Black 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 First Man. The other ear was yellow, the female corn belonging to First Woman. 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 yellow ear of corn they put the feather of a yellow eagle. They told the people to stand at a distance so that the wind could enter.

The White Wind, blew between the buckskins, and while the wind blew, each of the Holy People walked four times around them, and the feathers were seen to move. In this way, they transformed First Man and First Woman from spirit people into human beings, with great powers. "Now," the Holy People said, "live here as husband and wife."

At the end of four days First Woman gave birth to twins. They were neither male nor female, but . Four days later a second set of twins was born, one male and one female. After twenty days a total of five pairs of twins had been born, half of them male and half of them female. Almost at once they were full grown. The Holy People took each set of twins to their home on the East Mountain and taught them how to wear masks and pray, and then 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.

Footnotes

Matthews, Washington. Navajo Legends. Boston: American Folklore Society, 1897.
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House, 1991, p. 255.
Thury, Eva M., and Margaret Klopfle Devinney. Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Zolbrod, Paul G. Diné bahané: The Navajo Creation Story. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984.
Yazzie, Ethelou, ed. Navajo History. Rough Rock AZ: Rough Rock Press, 1982, [c. 1971].

References

(1999). "Diné bahane': the Navajo creation story". Univ. of New Mexico Press.
Zolbrod, Paul G. (1984), Diné Bahane', p. 36.
Thury, 2017, pp. 107–108.
Zolbrod, 1984, p. 39.
Zolbrod, 1984, p. 41.
Thury, 2017, p. 108.
Zolbrod, 1984, p. 42.
In Zolbrod's account, this ceremony is the birth of First Man and First Woman in the Fourth World. In most other accounts, however (including that of Old Man Buffalo Grass in 1928), First Man and First Woman are present in each of the first three worlds.
Zolbrod (1984) places most of these events in the Fourth World
This story is from Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 37–38
Zolbrod, 1984, p. 60
According to Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (p. 8), First Woman asked the Coyote known as First Angry to steal the children of Big Water Creature
Zolbrod, Paul. (1984). "Diné Bahane': Navajo Creation Story.". University of New Mexico Press.
O'Bryan's 1928 transcription of Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 10
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (p. 12) associates the place of emergence with Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Zolbrod, p. 81
This account follows Ethelou Yazzie (1971) ''Navajo History'' in associating these events with the Fourth World. Both Zolbrod (1984) and Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (1928) place these events in a Fifth World. Yazzie's structure avoids having to describe one world in which essentially no important events are recorded, and its sponsorship by the Navajo Curriculum Center in Chinle Arizona as an instructional text for Navajo students supports the use of this version.
O'Bryan's 1928 transcription of Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 19–20; Zolbrod, p. 91.
This version draws upon Yazzie (1971), Zolbrod (1984, pp. 84–85), and Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 30–32.
This account draws on Yazzie, 1971; Zolbrod, pp. 92–94; Hastiin Tlotsi Hee, pp. 20–21
O'Bryan (p. 21) shows the relationship of many of these constellations to their European equivalents
There is little agreement concerning the names of the immortals dwelling on each sacred mountain. Both Yazzie (1971) and Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (p. 25) place Yoolgai Ashkii (White Bead Boy) on Sisnaajiní, and he is mentioned in the Mountain Top Chant, recorded by Matthews in 1887
Zolbrod, pp. 86–89; Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee pp. 23–26
Zolbrod includes a seventh sacred mountain, and Haastiin Tlo'tsi Hee describes three additional mountains, but they are not supported by other sources
Zolbrod, p. 95
''Note: the spelling according to modern orthography could not be found and the meaning seems uncertain or lost.''
Zolbrod, p. 96
Zolbrod, p. 97
Fishler, p. 54
Haile, p. 79
In some versions, including Zolbrod (p. 179), Changing Woman and White Shell Woman both emerge through this ceremony, and both subsequently become mothers of the twins. Hastiin Tlo'tse Hee (pp. 72–73) mentions only White Shell Woman; Yazzie (1971) mentions only Changing Woman. The version here follows Yazzie due to the greater consistency of the account.
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 73
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 75
According to Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (p. 77), this story is told in a chant during wedding ceremonies, which make use of the meal basket and pollen. Because First Woman was not invited to the brush hogan, the groom must not look upon his wife's mother during the ceremony.
Zolbrod, p. 183.
Zolbrod, pp. 184–187
Zolbrod, pp. 187–188
Zolbrod, pp. 189–195
Zolbrod, pp. 196–199.
Zolbrod pp. 200–205
Zolbrod, pp. 20–215; Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 78–87.
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (p. 83) identifies this as Navajo Springs, Arizona.
Zolbrod (p. 397) explains that this word was reported as uttered by Yéʼiitsoh by Matthews in Navajo Legends in 1897. He translated it as "Fee Fie Fo Fum"
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 83.
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 83. In Zolbrod's version (p. 219) the Giant hurls lightning bolts.
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 83–84, referring to the lava flow SW of the San Mateo Mountains
Zolbrod, p. 221.
Zolbrod, p. 223
Hastiin Tlo'Tsi Hee, p. 84.
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 85
Zolbrod, pp. 224–231; Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, pp. 84–87.
This version relies on Zolbrod, pp. 263–270. The 1928 version reported by Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee (pp. 99–100)includes Death and Lice in place of Cold and Hunger.
Zolbrod, p. 270
Zolbrod, p. 275, has Changing Woman mention only one son, the older twin, with the implication that the younger twin is the son of the spring (water).
Zolbrod, p. 275.
Zolbrod, p. 278
Hastiin Tlo'tsi Hee, p. 110
Hastiin Tlo'tse Hee, p. 113
Hastiin Tlo'tse Hee, p. 112
Zolbrod, p. 277
Informants: Mescalito; Bilagody, H.; Yazzie, E.; Blackgoat, D.; Vigil, M.; Sandoval, R.; Sandoval, A.; Jimerson, F.; Jimerson, A.; Morgan, W..

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