Diné, the People
By Suzanne Eltsosie

In the Beginning

The Black World

    Our elders say the first Navajos lived many, many years ago in a place called the Black World. The Black Word was small. It floated in the mist like an island.

    In the Black World were four clouds. They were tall, like tubes or columns. There was one cloud in each of the four corners. In the east was a white cloud. In the south was a blue cloud. In the west was a yellow could. A black cloud was in the north.

    Insect creatures lived in the Black World. First Man and First Woman also lived there. They were not like people we know today. They were called Mist Beings.

    First Man made a perfect ear of white corn. This gave the Navajos their first corn seed. After this, First Woman made one perfect ear of yellow corn.

    But, all this time, First Man and First Woman lived apart. First Woman lived in the east. The east, it is said, is like the dawn. Dawn and sunlight bring things to life. Because of this, First Woman was called the “Life Giver.”

    First Man lived in the west. The west is where the sun sets. Fort his reason, the west is said to be like Darkness.

    First Man took out a crystal. The crystal was male. It was a symbol.  A symbol is something that stands for something else. The crystal stood for the mind and thinking. First Man burnt the crystal. This was like the mind, coming awake.

    First Woman took out a turquoise. She burned her turquoise for a fire.

    First Man and First Woman saw each other’s fires. They started to look for each other. They tried unsuccessfully to find each other three times. But on their fourth try, they met. First Woman saw Fist Man’s fire was stronger than hers. So when First Man asked her to live with him, she said, “Yes.”

    After a while, the creatures in the Black World started to fight. They argued and harmed each other. Because of this, they had to move from the Black World. There was an open space in the east, and they went through this opening. When they came through the opening, they were in the Second, Blue World.

The Blue World

    Many beings lived in the Blue World. There was a Blue Bird, Blue Hawk, Blue Jay and Blue Heron. Big insects also lived there. Wolves lived in a white house in the east. Wildcats lived in a blue house in the south. Kit foxes lived in a yellow house in the west. Mountain lions lived in a black house in the north.

    The animals of the Blue World were at war with each other. First Man knew this, and he killed some of them. For doing this, First Man received certain songs and prayers. He said the prayers and sang the songs. When he did, the animals came to life again.

    Coyote also lived in the Blue World. Coyote traveled all over. He went to all four directions. On his trips, he saw that the beings were not happy. They wanted to leave the Blue World.

    When First Man heard this, he tried to help them leave. He smoked some sacred tobacco. He blew the smoke in the four directions. This made the insects feel better. But all the beings still wanted to leave. First Man tried again to help them. He tried many things, but he could not find a way for them to leave.

    Finally, First Man found a black stone, called jet. He made a wand with the jet. He made three other wants. One was made of turquoise. One was made of abalone, and one was made of shell. Then First Man carved four footprints on the wands.

    The beings climbed on the wands. The wands took them though an opening in the south. Before they left they made an offering. This was their way of thanking the Holy People for helping them leave. Today, people still make offerings like this.

    The beings climbed onto the reed. They started to climb up. When they go to the top, they found another world. This was the Fourth, White World. This is the place where all beings live today.

The White World

    Locust was the first to reach the next world. He looked around, and saw that the world was covered with water. Everything looked white. The other beings followed Locust, and everyone came into the White World. The place where they came is called Hajinei. Many people saw this place is somewhere in the La Plata Mountains, in Colorado.

    Even though they escaped the water in the Third World, the beings were not safe. The water kept rising up after them. The beings wondered why the water kept rising. They looked around. Then they saw that Coyote was hiding something. It was Water Monster's child. The beings argued with Coyote, and told him to give back the baby. Coyote did not want to, but at last he agreed. When Coyote returned the baby, Water Monster was happy again. He stopped the flood and the beings were safe.

The Yellow World

    On the wands, the beings passed into the Third World. Blue Bird was the fist to come through. He found the world was yellow. After Blue Bird, First Man, First Woman, Coyote and one of the insects came. After that the other beings entered the Yellow World.

    The Yellow World was large. Many new things were there. A big river ran across the world from north to south. It was a female river. Another river crossed from the east to west. This was a male river.

    In this world there were six mountains. These are the mountains that are important to Navajos today.  Blanco Peak was in the east. Mount Taylor was in the south. The San Francisco Peaks were in the east. The La Plata Mountain were in the north. In the middle was Huerfano Mesa. Near this was a coned shaped mountain called Gobernador Knob. Different animals lived around these mountains. Squirrel, Chipmunk, Turkey, Deer, Snake, and Lizard lived there. But these animals looked different from animals we see today. There were spirit beings.

    The beings were happy in the Yellow World. Then one day something happened. Coyote took Water Monster’s Baby. Water Monster was very angry. He was so angry that he decided to make it rain. It rained and rained. The water rose higher and higher. Then the water began to flood.

    The beings did not know where to go to escape the flood. First Man tried to help them. He told them to come to Blanco Peak, but the water kept rising. It rose higher than the mountain.

    First Man wondered what to do. He planted a cedar tree, but this did not grow higher than the water. He planted a pine tree, but the pine tree was too short. He planted a male reed. This reed was still too short. Finally the first Man planted a female reed. This reed grew to the sky. Soon, First Man and First Woman began to make things the way they were supposed to be. The Holy People helped them. Their first job was to rebuild the mountains. They had brought soil from the Yellow World. With this they made mountains in all four directions.

    Then the people made a fire. To start it, they used a flint. The flint also was brought from the Yellow World. The fire was started with four kinds of wood: fir, pinyon, spruce and juniper. It is said that these kinds of wood should be treated with respect, even today. They should not be misused. The fire made a loud noise. The noise was so loud that some of the beings were afraid. One of them broke a branch from a tree and stuck the branch in the fire. This made the noise go away. Because of this, a song and prayer were made for the tree branch. This branch was the first fire poker. To this day, the poker is respected.

    When they had a fire, the people made a sweat bath. They built a sweathouse. They made songs and prayers for it. First Man was the first to use these things.

    First Man and First Woman wanted a hogan. They wondered where to build it. They looked around, and saw many trails leading to other beings’ homes, but there were no other hogans at Huerfano Mesa. So First Man and First Woman built their home there.

    Talking God helped to build the first hogan. This was a male hogan. It was like the forked stick hogan we have today. It had a doorway facing east. This lets in the early morning light. The male hogan was only for ceremonies.

    First Man and Woman still needed a home where they could live. With the help of other beings, they built a female hogan. This hogan was made of mud and logs. It was shaped like a circle. This was the fireplace where the people lived and worked.

    By now First Man and First Woman had become human. They were like us. They lived at Huerfano Mesa. For food, they ate wild plants and the people planted their own food. After this, there were four seasons. In the spring, the plants came up from the ground. In the winter, the plants died and were hidden under the snow. Then in the spring they came up again. The plants grew into corn crops like corn, beans and squash.

    But all was not well. There were monsters that hurt people. Horned Monster chased people and killed them off with his horns. There was a monster that kicked people off the edge of a cliff. Another monster killed people by staring at them until they were under his spell. The he ate them.

    First Man and First woman could not stop the monsters. They did not know what to do. Then one day they looked up. They saw a cloud over Gobernador Knob. First Man went to the top to see what the cloud was. In the cloud was a baby girl. First Man lifted the baby into his arms. He carried her down to the First Woman. The Holy People helped First Man and First Woman raise the baby girl. They named her “Changing Woman”.

    In time, Changing Woman grew to be an adult. She had twin sons. One was name “Child Born of Water”. The other was called “Monster Slayer”.

    The twins grew to be tall and strong. One day they went hunting. They looked down and saw a hole in the ground. Smoke was coming out of the hole. They looked closer and heard a voice say, “Come in.” They climbed down into the hole. At the bottom, they found Spider Woman.

    The Twins always wondered who their father was. They asked Spider Woman about this. “The Sun is your father, “ she told them. The twins decided to meet their father. They left Spider Woman, and went toward the Sun.

    Finally, the clans reached the east. They went to the place where Changing Woman grew up. Just as they had heard, there were other Navajos were living there.  These Navajos were living in forked stick hogans. They wore clothing made from skins of animals. For their food, they hunted deer and antelope, and ate wild plants.

    The clans from the west decided to stay with these Navajos. “We will help each other,” they said. Soon, there were many more clans, and the Navajo people began to grow.

    Before the Twins left, their father gave them weapons and knowledge. “Use these to kill the monsters.” The Sun said. So the Twins left.

    Monster Slayer used his new weapons to kill many monsters. His brother helped. Finally, only five monsters were left. These were Hunger, Poverty, Sleep, Lice, and Old Age.