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In the Beginning: A Navaho Creation Myth

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In the Beginning

 In the beginning there was only the mists. There was no world then, only the white, yellow, blue, black, silver, and red mists floating in the air. The mists came together and laid on top of each other, like intercourse, and Supreme Sacred Wind was created. These mists lived in the air, but were not gods. Supreme Sacred Wind lived in light and black clouds or mists in space. During the day there was the light mist, which gave Him light, and during the night the dark mist.

 Supreme Sacred Wind has a form like the Earth People and knows all that happens. He became lonely and from the mists created First Man, ’ácé xastˣín, or first one made, and First Woman, ’ácé’eszą́·, or second one made, Dawn, xayotká·t, is the mother and Yellow Twilight, naxo·coi, is the father of First Man, Dawn is the mother and Yellow Twilight is the father of First Woman. Thus, First Man and First Woman were brother and sister, but still their parents allowed them to marry. That is why few people will tell about such things. They had intercourse and had a boy, First Boy, ’ácé ’aški, ’ácé xazlį́·’ or third one made, and a girl, First Girl, ’ácé ’at’é·d, ’aké·d’ę·’ xazlį́·’, or last one made. Supreme Sacred Wind told First Man and First Woman how to have children.

 Supreme Sacred Wind also created at this time Coyote, ’ácé xašké, First Mad or Hollerer or Screamer in the Dawn, Coyote had many names for he was often not thought as worthy of any of them, Coyote was made from an egg, which, like the other four, was formed from the mists, Dawn and Yellow Twilight hatched the egg. All of these were created by Supreme Sacred Wind in the beginning. Everyone that had been created spoke one language. The First Man was made with one language. He said the first word and the First Woman the second. The First Boy said the third and First Girl said the fourth word. Black Begochiddy said the fifth word, his wife the sixth and Coyote or First Mad gave the seventh word.

 Nowadays there are seven words used in a prayer called a Seven Word Prayer. It is used to make everything on earth move smoothly, There are also seven words on the evil or witchcraft side, to make people die. When a medicine man says, “I know a seven word prayer,” he is boasting and is a witch. If he is a witch, the things he prays for will happen before sundown. The Good Way prayer is to make the world run smoothly and to make you live longer, (“If they are witches they are stingy with this,” F.G., informant.) The witchcraft way Seven Word Prayer is even or parallel in number with the Good Way Seven Word Prayer.

 To help in His work, Supreme Sacred Wind created many other gods. From the Dawn was created Talking God who was to lead the Dawn. Talking God is also known by other names. He was to be to the east and was to be called Leading the Dawn. He was also called the Stammerer, for he could not always think of the right words when speaking and would stammer. Within the Talking God are found the four colors, like clothes. From the Twilight was created Calling God who was to lead the Twilight. He was to be called Leading the Twilight. Within the Calling God are found the four colors also. These two gods were twin brothers. There was also a female Talking and Calling God created at this time.

 Dawn Man, Dawn Woman, Dawn Boy and Dawn Girl were created from the beginning. When they lived in the mist there was light. The mist was like a fog or haze and everything could be seen. The Twilight Man, Twilight Woman, Twilight Boy and Twilight Girl were from the beginning. They lived in dark mist and became the darkness like the night does now. There is also a Blue Twilight Man, Woman, Boy and Girl, who live to the south. To the north live a Black Twilight Man, Woman, Boy and Girl.

 In the beginning there were songs that went along with this story. No one knows them all now. First Man, First Woman, First Boy, First Girl and Coyote knew these songs. The Five Night Sings that are used now were made on this earth. First Man and First Woman knew the Good Way Story. Nowadays the Dawn People themselves go up into the sky and become the colors of Dawn. The Twilight and Dawn People help each other. That is the reason there are the same colors in the east when the sun rises and in the west when the sun goes down. In the morning, if there is a red or gold color in the east, it foretells fevers, coughs or epidemics to come.

 The Wind People were created and sent to the four directions to take charge of the minor Wind People, all of whom look like us. Clouds were then made of white mist by the Supreme Sacred Wind. Xaśč̨’éšžin·´, the Fire, Flint or Black God was created at this time also. Ray of Sunlight, šábiƛ’ ó·l was the mother and Daylight, šáńdí·n was the father of Bego Black; Bego Yellow (the blue eyed, yellow haired god Begochiddy), Bego Blue and Bego White. Bego Yellow went around holding women’s breasts. Speaking of him one of the women said. “The-Man-Holding-up my Tity.” They named him Begochiddy because of this.

 Supreme Sacred Wind now created an earth. He took a little of the five mists, molded them together and made the earth. That is why the earth has various colored streaks running through it. Here is a song the gods sang when they were thinking of making the world and all of its parts:

Good Way Song1

Long time ago, thinking about how it will be created. Earth, oh the earth is to be created. Plants made with the earth, Immortal, Happiness.2 Long time ago thinking about how it will be created.3 Made with the earth, heaven, thinking about heaven, how it is created. Everything in heaven will be created with. Male rain created with, Immortal, Happiness. Female Mountain, game animals, Immortal, Happiness. Female (or Mother) Water, all kinds of water, Immortal, Happiness. Darkness, moon, Immortal, Happiness. Dawn, xa·šč’éłt˟i’í (Talking God), Immortal, Happiness. Xašč’é’o·ya·n (Calling God), Yellow Twilight, Immortal, Happiness. White Bead Woman, white bead, Immortal, Happiness. Sun, turquoise, Immortal, Happiness. White Corn, flexible goods, Immortal, Happiness. Pollen, blue bird, Immortal, Happiness. Harvest Fly (He-or She-Who Raises), earth dew, Immortal, Happiness. Long time ago thinking about how it is going to be created.

 A second, but very similar, version of this song runs thus:

Starting of the earth’s evolution, the earth plants, Immortal, Happiness. Heaven, everything in heaven created with black clouds, male rain, mixed water, Immortal, Happiness. Female Mountain, game animals, Immortal, Happiness. Female Water, mixed water, water silt, Immortal, Happiness. Darkness, moon, Immortal, Happiness. Dawn, Talking God, Immortal, Happiness. Changing Woman, white bead, Immortal, Happiness. Sun, turquoise, Immortal, Happiness. White Corn, flexible goods, Immortal, Happiness. Yellow Corn, different kinds of chips, Immortal, Happiness. Pollen, bluebird, Immortal, Happiness. Harvest Fly, earth dew, Immortal, Happiness. Thinking of creation.

 As Supreme Sacred Wind prayed and sang, He created the earth. The earth was soft and spongy and floated around in space. The world was very small, flat on top and flat on the bottom. Even yet the world has not set, but is still floating around. At this time, He put everything in the earth that is found now, all the metals, coal, and other things which are used. Many things are still to be found. When all things are taken out, it will be the end. Supreme Sacred Wind created the earth for the same reason He created the gods of the Earth Surface People—He was lonesome. As He created the earth, heaven was also created from the dark mist or darkness. With the black mist He made darkness; with the blue mist, blue twilight; the sun rays were made of yellow, red and silver mists and the white mist became dawn. Mirage Quartz Rock was made from the black and brown stripes of the earth.

 Supreme Sacred Wind sang and prayed to create the earth. At first in the creation of all things He created things in any way. He merely said He wanted this object to become this and that object to become that. He said a prayer over these things and it was as He said. People nowadays say Twilight and Dawn hold up the earth, but there are many things that do this. There are the rocks, trees and plants that all stand up and hold up the earth. The water holds itself up. The gods went into the various plants and trees to help hold up the earth.

 Mirage Quartz Rock holds up the earth, for in all things that are upright it is found. Mirage Quartz Rock Men hold up the earth and keep it from falling into space. When these Mirage Quartz Men move their necks, arms or body, it causes the earthquakes to take place. These men are alive and are rocks, yet they are gods. All of the gods hold up the earth, twilight and dawn. Some gods hold up the moon and the sun, but the earth was told she was to hold up herself and that heaven was to hold up himself. Other gods were to live in the top of the mountains, others in the bottom of the seas, in the heaven and some in the earth itself. All of the gods have to eat and drink, to have fire and even to work. The Wind People are working now in the windmills for the whites and Navahos. The Lightning God works by his electricity.

 After many of the gods and the earth had been made, the creation of the mountains took place. Begochiddy (Bego Yellow) created all the mountains and in the beginning they were very small. First, he created Black Mountain, ził diłkił, the second he created was Blue Mountain, ził do·ƛ’iž, the third was Yellow Mountain, ził tico, the fourth was White Mountain, ził łagai, the fifth was Wide Belt Mountain, sisna·tˣe·l the sixth was Sounding Mountain, ził yildilí, the seventh was Trample Down Mountain, the eighth was Ragged Mountain, where there is salt and various animals eat. In the center of the world was set the ninth mountain, Red Mountain, ził łičí·’mą’i·ził. The tenth mountain created was Reversible Mountain, ził nēγō dǐ́l tḗ, and the eleventh was Crown Pomt Mountain. In all, eleven mountains were created at this time. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth mountains are all different colors.

 The first mountain was laid out with the moon. (Although the two were not created at the same time, yet they are thought of synonomously, for one represents the other.) The second mountain was laid out with the sun ray, the third mountain was laid out with the sunlight and the fourth mountain was laid out with darkness. Reversible (or Spinning) Mountain was laid out with the Mirage Quartz Rock and Crown Point Mountain was laid out with all kinds of stones and shells, turquoise, white bead, abalone, jet, all mixed together. The first mountain was put to the east, the second to the south, the third to the west and the fourth to the north. The four main mountains are the homes of Talking God and Calling God and these two are the mountain men within these mountains. The other mountains were placed near the other four. At this time there was no moon or sun to give light, but the mountains glowed and the people could see. Before the mountains were created the mists gave light to everyone. Begochiddy was put in charge of all the mountains.

 After Begochiddy had created the mountains he began to create the insects. He created the red ants, wółáčí·’; the ants with a red head and black body (who stop and listen and then go on), wólážíní; the yellow ant, wóláčí·łcoi; the black ant; the tiny black ant, wólážiní ’átc’ísígí; and a black bug which flies around. The yellow ant had been created in the beginning by Yellow Twilight.

 Begochiddy named the insects as they were created and when he had finished he said to all of them, “Go to the White, Blue, Yellow, Black, Wide Belt, Sounding, Trample Down, Ragged and Red Mountains. There and within the world you will live. You people will live on the earth and have homes and children. However, if you have too many children, there will be no room for the Earth People, the Navaho. So if you increase too much, you will turn into flies, yellow bees, black bumble bees, flying ants and all different kinds of insects. This will decrease the number of ants upon the earth, for many of you insects will fly around and make room upon the earth. In the summer when it rains, some of you will get wings, fly away and go into holes to turn into caterpillars or big black flys. Even though you are small people, you will have to work to make your own homes. Ants will live in an ant hill or a mountain hogan.” That is why they build small houses now.

 After the insects had been created, First Man and First Woman began the creation of the plants. Upon the top of water floated sea weed which the water had made itself. From ponds First Man and First Woman took these water weeds and rolled them into small balls. These were planted as seeds and First Man and First Woman spoke to the water weeds saying, “You will become a Wide Weed,” or “This will become a cat-tail.” First Man would dig a hole and First Woman would drop in two seeds, one for him, and one for herself. First Man made the first plant and First Woman the second one, and then each took turns creating the plants.

 First Man planted the Big Bamboo in the center of Red Mountain. First Woman also planted a reed and another green plant called Wide Reeds or dó‘ƛ’iž. Another reed about one-half inch in diameter and green in winter called ’ałtˣi·n žik·a·ší, was also planted by First Man. First Woman then planted another reed one and one-half to two feet high called Reeds. First Man planted a water reed fern called tˣáká·, then First Woman planted a water reed called tˣáłkái daxi’ka’ł. A five leaf plant called a Vine Creeping was planted by First Man; then a Narrow Grape, č’ilna·aƛ’oi, was planted by First Woman, followed by a Big Sunflower created by First Man.

 In each hole was dropped two kinds of seed. In each hole was dropped a seed of the small Sun Flower and a seed of the Big Sunflower. After First Woman had planted this she began to plant all of the plants, evergreens, firs, pines and all things that had been created and are on the earth today. From a clayey material were created the other plants and trees. After the ascension this vegetation turned into rocks and was washed up here as petrified wood. The seeds were thrown into the wind which carried them and buried them beneath the sand. The earth at this time was very small so First Man threw the seeds all over the earth very easily. Upon each of the mountains First Man planted trees.

 Now the four Begos began to make seeds. First they made beans, which are different than those used now. The beans had yellow, red, blue, and white blossoms from one-half to three-quarters of an inch long. These are the type which are found in the Cliff Dwellings. Begochiddy (Bego Yellow) created and planted cotton. To the east he planted white cotton, to the south was planted blue cotton, to the west was planted yellow cotton and black cotton was planted to the north. Tobacco was made by the Gila Monster. This tobacco had white, blue, black and yellow blossoms. At that time Chipmunk stole some of the tobacco and his fingers dryed up because of this. The pumpkins and melons were made by the striped, black, green and other colored lizards. That is why the pumpkins and melons look like that now. One of the plants has a light yellow and orange blossom. If you have the right kind of designs on these plants you will be lucky and raise plenty of pumpkins and squash.

 After all the plants had been made, the creation of the animals took place. The four Begos took various colored clays and earths and molded them into the shapes of the various animals. After each was formed, one of the Begos would say to the figure, “you will be a -------, Begochiddy.” Deer, antelope, elk, rabbits, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, blue fox, yellow fox and all the animals, except the cattle, were created in this way. The plants that had been created were to be used for food by the animals. The four Begochiddys made all the birds in the first world and the birds talked from then on. All four Begochiddys created the Humming Bird, Oriole and Morning Dove. Other birds were then created with white birds being born from Dawn, the Blue Twilight bearing the bluebirds, and so on. This was where Dawn was created.

 An eggshell nowadays is of white bead, turquoise, jet, yellow oyster shell and red stone. There are different kinds of eggs or shells and so blue eggs were made of turquoise. The Dawn Gods laid the eggs and then they hatched them. The eggs were hatched at the same time they were laid. The eggs were laid by the gods making them into shape (no red was used). The birds after this first time began to lay eggs as they do now. These five different kinds of eggs were turned into different kinds of birds. From turquoise were made small blue (or green) birds; from the white bead came a small white bird, the chickadee; then a black small bird was made from jet; from yellow stone was made the canary; and from the red stone a small red bird was made (there are only two of these left upon the earth and they are very small).

 While the Begos made all the game the other gods were making the sheep, horses, goats and other animals. They were having a hard time making the animals come alive so Black Begochiddy went over and said, “What is the matter here? Why don’t you make the animals come alive?” He then said, “Bego” and they became alive and stood up. After Bego did this, all the gods could make the animals become alive themselves. One of the Begos said, “One of those jackasses will be my horse.” All of the animals were very jealous because of this. Each jackass was very big with large hoofs, a long mane and tail. To keep the animals happy, Black Begochiddy said, “If one of you animals will run way around the horizon and win, I will give you a special name.” The animals agreed to do this.

 Bego laid rainbow people under the feet of the two jackasses. Bego then made their feet very narrow and said, “I have to do something about you. This will bother you while you run the race.” So he pulled out part of their tails and left a little one. Then he began to take the hair from the mane. Each time he did this he said, “Some of this hair will be in your way, so I will tear it off.” The jackasses’ ears were still long, but the race was ready to start. The animals ran off while the jackasses walked along smelling the ground and the others went far ahead. When the race was half way finished, the jackasses began to run. While the other animals were half way finished, the jackasses came to the finish line running with their noses in the air. The two had won the race so they reached across and chewed each other like animals should. Bego was happy because his animals had won. They had won because they had the rainbow spectrum underneath their feet. That is how the Navahos race horses now. They race their animals according to the Good Way and Bego Way so no witchcraft will be caused.

 When the various animals, sheep, horses, deer, were made, Begochiddy said that some of the animals were to have more than one child. There was a law made at this time called the Basic Law. After the Begos had created the animals, Bego Yellow said, “You will greatly increase in numbers. You will become so numerous that you will eat up too much of the food. To stop this some of you will disappear (not die or be killed, but disappear).” As he said, the animals did increase but they also disappeared, for each time they increased the food decreased. Begochiddy looked and saw the animals had disappeared and said, “It doesn’t look right to have them all gone.” Then he had them increase more rapidly by there being two or three animals born at one time. This is the reason for this happening today.

 The First Law, sa·d łá’i·, happened when the separation of the sexes took place. The Second Law took place later when the animals grew numerous again after the ascension up the cane. The Third Law took place still later with the same things happening. The Fourth Law has been invoked recently, but this fourth time Bego did not let the animals disappear. Each of the four laws were identical but took place at different times. It is Begochiddy who makes the animals disappear and makes the rules. With each law there was an additional child born so that with the First Law only one child could be born. With the Second Law two children could be born. With the Third and Fourth Laws, three and four children could be born respectively.

 In the old days it used to rain frequently. When the government cut down the number of animals the Navaho were to have, there was no more rain. If there were many sheep among the Navaho people there would be much rain. In the early days the whites made no rules about the livestock and there was much snow in October and November in Utah. Now there is little snow until January.

 Supreme Sacred Wind with the help of the other gods now had created many things upon the earth. Even though there were gods, animals, birds, insects, plants and trees upon the earth, there were still no gods for the future Earth People. Supreme Sacred Wind then decided to create people. He took His fingernail paring and molded it into a figure. Because of this we lose fingernails today. A prayer was said over the figure as to whether it was to become male or female and Supreme Sacred Wind breathed into it. Thus were created the gods of the Indians. The Zuni had four gods created for them, one which was called yé’i· nézí. He is to the Zuni what Talking God is to the Navaho. These later went up the cane and emerged with the other created people. Other gods were created as Supreme Sacred Wind had created the others. All of the gods were created in pairs. Here is one of the songs of Talking God:

Song of Talking God

I am the Talking God. I am going towards the east. My shoes are white corn. My legs are white corn. My clothes are white corn. My face is pollen. White corn is my feather By means of pollen, beauty (or happiness) will extend from me. By means of pollen, beauty will extend from me. By means of pollen, beauty comes towards me. By means of pollen, beauty goes over me. Immortal, Happiness, towards the east. I am the Calling God. My shoes are yellow corn. My legs are yellow corn. My clothes are yellow corn. My face is yellow corn. Yellow corn is my feather. By means of pollen, beauty will extend from me. By means of pollen, beauty will extend from me. By means of pollen, beauty comes towards me. By means of pollen, beauty goes over me. Immortal, Happiness, towards the east.

 Now even though many things had been created upon the earth, the only light came from the mist and the mountains. Supreme Sacred Wind decided to create a sun to see by day and a moon to see by night. He told the Dawn People to take fire and make the sun. The Dawn Man, Woman, Boy and Girl lived in the mist. When the white or yellow mist came up they gave light as the sun does now. The Dawn People had help in the creation of the sun, but were the main creators. They now live in the Sun’s house to the east.

 At this time Coyote was a god, not like the ones around here, and acted as a messenger and investigator for the gods. He told these gods what was happening and took messages back and forth. Supreme Sacred Wind skipped over many things and the other gods were to help with these things. Coyote told the gods he would do all the powerful work for them. He was given special power from First Man and First Woman to do this. He then had knowledge, not power. The sun was laid out with turquoise. Female Fire is the mother and Male Fire is the father of the sun. Supreme Sacred Wind was there while the sun was created.

 Coyote came along while the sun was being made and the gods hid the sun from his sight with a cover of sacred buckskin, do·k’a·k’éhi·. The gods were lying on their backs when Coyote came up. He said, “What is going on here? I always hear something going on here.” The other gods said, “Nothing is going on here.” Then Coyote saw the cover and jerked it off and there was the sun decorated with turquoise. He said, “I knew there was something going on.” The gods didn’t want Coyote to know what was going on for he always made things turn out bad. The gods tried to lift the sun up into the sky, but they could not. The sun laid on the earth for quite awhile before it was placed into the sky. It was too hot and the gods began to burn for they did not have the power to keep from burning. That is why the gods tried to get it up in the sky.

 At last they decided to ask Coyote to try and do it. He said he would try and do it for them. He went over and tried to pick it up but could not for it was too hot for him. At last Coyote gave up and jumped over the sun from the east to west, from the west to the east, from the south to the north and north to the south. Then he ran around the sun in a circle from the east to the south and from the west to the north for four times. Coyote jumped over the sun because it was too hot and because this procedure was to be used in the future for the five night sing. Now medicine men in the five night sing shoot an arrow (live eagle feather) which represents Coyote jumping over the sun. This was to get rid of the evil of the person. While over a fire, evil is sweated out. Coyote also had evil sweated out at this time.

 When Coyote could do nothing the gods went to a hogan where there were two gods sitting in the doorway. The gods asked one of them to take the sun and put it up in the sky. For doing this the god was always to be associated with the sun. This god got the sun up halfway into the sky, but the earth was so small that it once again almost burned up all the gods and the earth. When the sun would go no higher the Supreme Sacred Wind blew on the earth until it began to grow. He blew a second and a third and a fourth time until it was the size it is today. It was at this time, and the only time, that the Supreme Sacred Wind blew to make the earth grow. The Fire God, for so he was named, took the sun and carried it across the heavens. Now the sun travels across the heavens like it does because of this.

 The Sun God has two homes, one in the east and one to the west. When it becomes light, the Lightning God shoots the sun to the east, from his home in the west, and he goes again across the heavens. (F.G. denied the fact of the earth going around the sun. He said that the eclipse of the sun and moon proves his theory because of the crossing of the sun and moon.) All people, plants, trees and animals go by what the Sun says or does. Pollen Boy and He-Who-Raises are the friends of the Sun and help him when he needs help. If the sun is high up in the sky and there are clouds, he might lose sight of the earth. He keeps Pollen Boy, tˣádídį́·’aški· and He-Who-Raises, ’aǹłt’áni·’até·d, in reserve to help him find his way back home. These two show the sun the right road. The Sun takes out pollen and sprinkles it along the trail he follows. As he sprinkles the pollen he says, “I want to get to my house without falling off,” or “I want to get to my house without having an accident,” or “I want to get to my house without going off the path.” This is what he says to the Pollen Boy.

 The two friends of the Sun received the power they have, and which the sun does not, from a higher power. Pollen Boy and He-Who-Raises were all made at the same time during the time the corn was made. The Sun sings songs as he travels through the sky. (F.G. can hear them, even if others cannot.) Everyone goes by the sun. If he were not there in the sky, there would be only darkness. The sun tells you at what time to sleep, what to eat and to rest. He can tell what you are by your thoughts. He knows what you are thinking and what you do. When he gets to the west he tells you to eat, rest, read and bathe. The Sun suggests or sends thoughts to you telling you to do these things. The wrong people who have the wrong thoughts go by the supreme devil, bį·h yiǹłt’áai, who tells them the wrong things to do.

 The Fire God carries the sun upon his back in the winter and that is why it is not as hot as it is in the summer. In the summer he carries it in the front of him as if he were carrying a shield. During certain times twelve other gods carry the sun. These twelve are Talking God; Calling God; Hump God, xašč’eh yisk’idi·; Black or Flint God; Hooked Mouth, who has a black face on the left and a red face on the right with very large teeth, zaxado·žahá; and Red God, xašč’éłči·’. Each of these gods has a female companion, their wives, which make up the total of the twelve gods. When the Fire God carries the sun, it becomes cloudy or rainy. If one of the other twelve carries the sun, it will be fair weather.

 The sun was given to the Indians, but mostly to the Navaho. The sun was given to the Navaho and it is not to be looked into—like the moon. You must not look at the sun or you will go blind or become sick. There are some thirty-three trails which the sun follows. The sun follows the course from the east to the south to the west. In the morning the sun shoots back to the east in the northernly direction. The directions of east, south, west and north were given to the Indians by the gods. That is why the sun follows these directions and shows the Navaho how to do this. There is a ring around the earth which is white and this is the path of the sun and moon. The sun and sunrays hold the sun where it is.

 It was also at this time the moon was made from ash. The First Mountain, sísnajĭni, was laid out with the moon. Once again the Supreme Sacred Wind delegated the power to do this, but this time to the Twilight People of the Evening, naxo·coi dine’é. These people lived in the dark mist. When the mist came up it made everything dark, like it is at night when the moon is out. The Evening Twilight People were helped by the other gods, but they were the most important ones in the creation of the moon. They live in the Sun’s house to the west. The moon was decorated with white shell and all kinds of flowers and plants. The Southern Twilight People, naxode·ƛ’i·ž dine’é, also have a house like the Sun’s, which is to the south.

 After the moon was created, again the gods could not lift their creation into the sky. The god who put the moon up into the sky was the Ash God. It is also the Lightning God who shoots the moon to where it belongs or belonged at the same position it was before. The moon god lives in the same house with the Sun. The moon was given to the whites and the rest of the tribes in the beginning of life on this earth. The whites can look at the moon and see things in the future, for this was foretold by the gods themselves. Whites look at the moon and see inventions and then try to make them. The moon is like the white people’s skin, transparent. The moon has a nose and a mouth with a face of a white man, for it belongs to the white people.

 People should not look at the moon for they will see people inside and they will become sick. A person who gazes at the moon will see the gods themselves and will become sick. They will see witchcraft causing the disease of a person. This will also happen if one gazes at the sun and stars. If you look at the sun or moon something will cover your eyes and make you blind. The moon travels back and forth in the winter and summer time. Between the summer and winter the moon and the sun change places and then return in each other’s paths, but always when they get to the west. There are thirty-three trails which the sun and moon travel over. When the sun and moon cross over each other’s tracks, an eclipse is caused.

 The moon goes sometimes from the east to the west and back from the west to the east. When the moon comes from the east it is a quarter moon and by the time it gets to the center it is a half moon. At the end of the month it is a full moon once more. The moon itself has the power to change to a smaller or larger size. This is done to tell the people what time of month it is and when the month has passed.

 After all this had happened, it was decided that corn was to be created so that the pollen could be used as food and as a gift to the gods. Pollen was to be kept for use by the future people. The gods were to live forever because they had pollen. Even now a person without pollen will have accidents and die quickly. The corn pollen has been lost from the whites’ religion but not from the Navaho’s. Pollen was needed because of the belief in immortality and happiness. It is pollen that is immortal and has immortality. The person may die, but the pollen never.

 If a person wishes to live longer, he can pray and give pollen as a gift for a safe journey. If you save corn pollen, give it to your tires for the air people live there, and ask for a safe journey. Tell them you are going along the pollen row: “I do not know what will happen tomorrow, so I will give a gift for safety.” If no pollen is given, the gods will say to hell with you. The gods are gods and we are Earth People and this pollen does not affect us. Because of this, the gods created corn.

 In making the corn, the gods took black stone and made it into black corn, yellow stone into yellow corn, red into red corn, blue into blue corn, and white into white corn. Before corn was created all the people lived on the seeds that were gathered. They used a mortar and pestle of rock to grind the seeds, they ate. The gods planted the corn, which were small chips of the five stones, but they would not grow. Once again they asked help from the God Coyote. Coyote said he would try to do as they asked. Coyote at this time was not like he is now. He was the same physically except he only had hair underneath his arms, on his lips (like a mustache), head and pubic area. Coyote had a song that he used to make the corn grow. Here is a song that is sung over the corn:

Second Corn Song

In the middle of the wide corn field he points out for me (with his forefinger). The White Corn Boy points for me. From behind he points for me. On top of the corn leaves, he points for me. From the corn silk, he points for me. He points from bísĭ́· tsĕ He points from bitsił· ădă Flexible goods are before it (the corn). He points for me (or he puts his hands for me). Chips of different stones are before it. He puts out his hand for me. I am Immortal and I am Happiness. He puts out his hand for me.

 Here is a song that is used when the corn is laid out to dry:

Third Corn Song

White from the tips of my fingers. White from the tips of my fingers. In the middle of the corn field. White Corn Boy. White from the tops of his fingers, dropping over. Flexible goods before it (the White Corn Boy). And chips of different kinds before it. Immortal and Happiness is my corn. From the tips of my fingers it is white. From the tips of my fingers it is white.

 Coyote put all kinds of jewelry on himself, turquoise, necklaces, bracelets and many other things and then was decorated with a male black cloud as if it were clothing. He came from the east and danced over the top of the corn, then from the south, the west and finally from the north. Each time Coyote did this, the corn began to grow until with the fourth time, the corn was full size. It was at this time it began to rain. Clouds had been made by the Supreme Sacred Wind. Nowadays when there is a mirage, it goes up into the sky where it turns into clouds. There clouds then let the water out as rain and then the water turns into a mirage once more. There are four mirage gods for the four directions. There are minor gods of the mirage who were born from these four main gods.

 After the creation of all of these things, the people lived happily and killed various animals for food. One of the chiefs married a woman and spent much of his time away hunting. When this man left to go hunting his wife acted as if she were sick and said, “Take me to the shore of the river. I like to sit by the shore while you are gone.” Every night when he came from hunting she would call to him, “Carry me home.” She was having intercourse with Otter Man while her husband was away. He was a handsome, good looking man. She didn’t care what her husband was doing with the food he brought back or any of his goods. She was really interested in this Otter Man.

 Her husband kept hunting, but finally he decided to find out what was going on. He came back from hunting early and watched his wife from a distance. Down the river came some weeds called ƛ’ohda·i ní·yizí, floating on the water. The woman jumped up, ran around and began to sing. Out of the water came a handsome Otter. He began to yell and was having a good time yelling. The man and woman then had intercourse. The husband went home to his hogan. When evening came his wife hollered for him to bring her home. She kept yelling, but he stayed in the hogan. She finally began to crawl home and at last got there. When she arrived, she said, “Why didn’t you bring me home? I kept yelling. Why?”

 After she crawled into the hogan, he grabbed a stick from the fire and hit her on the head and said, “Why don’t you go back to the river and have intercourse with that man?” When the woman heard this, she jumped up and began to cry. She ran out of the hogan and went to stay with some of her relatives. This woman had no mother. Because of what this woman did, when a girl plays possum or sick nowadays, it hurts someplace and she wants another man. The gods did little about things like this and women had intercourse with the Sun, Moon, petrified wood and other things, which later caused the Giant and other evil beings upon the earth.

 When the woman’s relatives told the woman she ought to return to her husband for he supported her, she said, “He does not support me, but I support him. When he gets up in the morning, I cook him a lot of corn and food. He eats and that makes him strong. Then he goes out and hoes the corn and hunts to bring in food. He doesn’t even clothe me because after I have fed him, he feels strong and goes out and kills the deer. I tan the hides myself and make the clothes for both of us. I do not need a man at all.” The women of the tribe agreed and a great quarrel arose between the men and women. The men and women separated. This argument between the chief and his beautiful but unfaithful wife caused the separation of the sexes.

 Yellow Fox, Blue Fox and Badger were also gambling and causing divorces which was another reason for the separation. There was a large river which was difficult to cross. Four large rafts were made called naskǫ́’. All of the men, male children and their goods were loaded into rafts and they crossed the great river. Fiist Man saw that all and everything crossed over the river. With the men were taken those who dressed as women, played like women, but had a penis and testicles who were called náλeh or nắdle. The men used these nắdle to have intercourse. (“These nắdle had male and female sexual organs and so could have affairs with both male and female. However they did not have reproductive organs and so could have no children,” F.G. Father Berard Haile, in a personal communication, stated that in his fifty years on the reservation investigations had found no true nắdle. Homosexuals and perverts had been found, but not the true bisexual. In July of 1951 I had the opportunity of noting a bisexual but could not ascertain whether male or female organ, or both, functioned fully.) Four of these men-women were taken across the river. The rest of the men depended upon these four for the grinding of corn and for intercourse.

 Some men stayed on the women’s side of the river. They were Blue Fox, Yellow Fox and Badger. These three could not satisfy all the women, so towards the end of the separation, Badger’s penis turned hard and into a bone and that is why it is like that now. Badger’s defense is his penis for it is hard now because of his intercourse with all of the women. Yellow Fox and Blue Fox licked the women’s hind ends to satisfy them. All three put their hands and other parts in the menstrual blood of the women and that is why they have black mouths, hands and bodies.

 The men had large farms and planted corn, tobacco, beans, pumpkins and had plenty of food. The nắdle ground the corn and cooked the meals. The women also planted these seeds, but their harvest was not as good as the men’s. As time went by, First Man would go to the women’s camp and take away the male children as they were born. Many of the women, because of loneliness and hunger, tried to cross the great river and return to their men, but were drowned. As the women did not hunt, their clothes began to wear out. First Woman went to First Man and begged him to let the women rejoin the men. They were hungry, without clothes and were lonely for companionship. First Man said, “Very well, all will be forgiven and you can go back to your men. But I shall make a law: The male shall rule and whatever your chiefs say, that must be done. If any other evil takes place, I shall send a flood that will destroy you.” The females were taken across to the males and they started to make new clothes from the skins the men had.

 Coyote was wandering one day and saw two water monster babies in some water weeds on top of the water. (F.G. believes these to be the children of the hippopotamus.) They looked like animals but could talk and were gods. There are some gods who look like us and others that look like animals. The gods looking like animals were gods of the animals who were to follow in later days—turkeys, owls, coyotes and others. Coyote had stolen the baby son and daughter of the chief water animals or gods. The male is called Water Grabber, tˣéxołcódi·, and the female Mother Water, be·eszą́. The parents of the children became angry and started a flood. First Man and First Woman realized certain things had to take place for the good of mankind. They knew that a new earth would be created by the flood.

 These two told Coyote to steal the water babies for they wanted to go up to the newly-to-be-created earth. First Man and First Woman do have witch power. The First Man, First Woman, First Boy, First Girl and Coyote are on both sides of good and evil. They do not cause sickness, themselves. First Man and First Woman had a plan for the good things to take place in the future time and not for sickness or bad things for mankind. Yet they are not perfect for they set the ideal as to how to act, but turned around and did the opposite. The two water gods controlled all of the water and when their children disappeared, the water on earth began to rise. These gods fought for they had their children taken from them. For instance, if the government took your children, you would still fight back even against a great power.

 First Man knew the flood was coming so he sent a wind person to the east, one to the south, one to the west and one to the north, to see if the flood was coming. There was fog all around the people, and suddenly the water appeared. The gods and animals had no place to go and they did not know the reason for all of this happening. They did not learn until later that Coyote was the one who had caused this trouble by stealing the small children and hiding them underneath his arms. Begochiddy had planted the mountains in the beginning, but they had been misplaced and did not look right. They were brought up to the new world because of this. At first all of the people climbed up the tallest tree, which was a pine, to escape from the water. It was not big and tall enough to protect all of the people from the water, so they climbed up the tallest mountain, sísnajĭni, but still the water came closer.

 First Man lived in a hogan which was a real mountain, Spinning Mountain. This was also a meeting place for all of the people. When the water came closer, First Man stuck a cane in the top of his hogan and the people started climbing. They had Badger dig a hole in the top of the mountain to place the cane in, like a post, to hold it solid. This is all the digging the Badger did at any time. The cane had been made by Supreme Sacred Wind and He had placed it in the water. When the flood had started, the cane had been taken from the water and First Man placed it in his mountain. The four Begochiddys were no longer chiefs when the flood started. First Man took over and he was a good chief and things ran smoothly. First Man told the animals to gather food and all the seeds so they could go up the cane. “The water is getting closer and closer. Let us go up and see if the water goes down.” So after they had planted the cane, they gathered all the seed tops of the mountains (soil from the tops of each of the mountains was gathered), the plants, seeds and other things created. The animals gathered all kinds of seeds. They gathered all the water weeds and plants created before.

 The Five Leaf Vine and Narrow Grape Vine were not gathered. These were forgotten. Four years after the arrival of the people on earth, these two plants grew up from below through the hole. These two had been planted for the use of the medicine men. The two plants followed the medicine men up the hole and that is why they grow so fast. As all emerged from the hole First Man said, “We forgot two medicine plants, but they will come up through the hole.” Some of the animals carried seeds in their mouths and that is why some have lunch boxes in their cheeks. Some carried seeds under their armpits. The seeds began to rot and that is why armpits smell. Those who have this odor always acquire a lot of things; it is this way with the whites. Some of the other animals carried seeds in their throats and that is why the voice box is so big now.

 There was a belt of water around the earth by this time. The water was rising and the animals went up the cane. First Man and Coyote, the leaders, at the sixth layer of earth had given the arrow to Locust and told him that he was to be the leader from the tenth level up through the cane because of the holes in his body. The arrow was given to him to beat the water animals above by putting it through his body. Supreme Sacred Wind told First Man and Coyote to tell Locust to do all of these things. Locust was to lead from the tenth layer up. They said to Locust, “There is something on top so you can lead from then on.” The Locust Man was a sharp, intelligent and good worker so he was chosen to explore the new world. He went up the cane and was the closest to the joint of the cane. He walked up to the next joint as it grew. First Man followed Locust, then came First Woman, First Boy, First Girl and then Coyote. All but Locust of these six knew that Coyote had stolen the water babies.

 Male Turkey was the last one in the cane and above him was male Badger, male Bear, male Big Snake, male Wind People and all of the women. The Turkey was hollering, “Hurry up, the water is coming.” That is why the turkey makes so much noise now. The cane began to grow up into the sky as Supreme Sacred Wind said a prayer to make it grow. After the Supreme Sacred Wind delegated His powers over to the gods, down below, He did not have power over their powers, only in part.

 After the first day all rested, and that is why the cane had joints and there are layers on the earth. All of this time, as the people moved up the cane, the earth was being washed up by the flood until it surrounded the ladder. The cane was always above the water and the earth. The cane itself was like a ladder inside, for the joints were used as one uses the steps of a ladder. It took all day long to go up one joint in the cane. The cane was very large, about fifteen feet in diameter. They did not plug the bottom of the cane for it was water proofed and the water, like a well, began to rise around the earth and up the cane.

 Every day the people rested and every day there was a different kind of soil laid on top of the other previously laid earth. In the earth below had been created dinosaurs and all kinds of animals. These animals left their footprints in the dirt and mud or sand came over them and hardened. During the flood these were washed up and left in the various levels of dirt. At this time the water from the seas around the earth came up and around the cane. Turkey was the last one in the cane following the other ones up the ladder. He was very large then and when the people were very slow, he would spread his tail and wings and stop the water from coming up the hole below. In the cane at the joint was a hole just large enough for the people to crawl through. The water was very high and foam was on top of it. As he held the water back, the foam got on the ends of his feathers, and that is why they are now white.

 From the beginning, when the people had started off, all of the gods were bragging that they had taken something. At the twelth joint, Supreme Sacred Wind decided to search everyone. When they did this, they found that Coyote had two little animals hidden and they now understood why the flood was taking place. First Man had told Coyote to steal the water animal’s babies. First Man was thinking of the future time. It seems the whites are like First Man for they tell what is going to happen in the future. First Man wanted everyone to go up into the air so that the earth could be better. The people would not have gone up in the air if there had been nothing in the future.

 At this time there was only one layer of earth of different colors. The soil had been thin and nothing would grow very well. The joining of the thin dirt and water would make the earth thick. The new earth became different types of soils and became different colored layers. That is why it is like it is now. There are different colors in the mountains, directions, trees and clouds. Supreme Sacred Wind had said, “It is going to be a good world and everything will grow.” So when there were twelve levels of earth overlaid and twelve joints of cane, the gods realized that the flood would not continue unless there was a good reason and they searched for the reason. If they had not found that Coyote had the babies on the twelfth joint, the cane would have still kept growing until it reached heaven.

 Supreme Sacred Wind found that the gods were going to need the small animals so He commanded that the gods take turquoise, white bead, jet, flint (red stone), and abalone (oyster shell), and put them inside a white shell or white bead basket. It was then dropped into the water outside the hole by Locust. The turquoise and other gifts were left for the Water God and that is why these things can still be found in the ocean. The gods talked to the water animals and told them that these gifts were for them and that the gods had to keep the small animals for they were to be used at a later time. The animals understood and the water from the hole receded.

 All of the gods took the little female and put her into the ground when they reached the top. A hole was dug and all the gods blew the female into the earth. She was to be the one who would be in charge of all the water in the earth and its distribution: springs, wells, and other surface water. However, she was to be there for a certain job and was not to control all of the water. The male water animal was put up into the sky in charge of all the water there. The gods sent the male water baby into the sky by blowing him up and he became a cloud. The little male was not to control all of the water, either, but was to have certain powers over it. It is Water Grabber who controls all of the water.

 When the gods had finished, First Man said, “It is going to rain and that is how we will get rain from heaven and water from the earth.” All of this time most of the people were inside the cane. The water from the outside now went halfway down the cane. As the flood stopped, it began to rain. There is a rock at Gray Mountain that shows the rain marks at this time. The water inside of the cane stayed the same but later overflowed and became a lake in New Mexico.

 The Locust went up to the top of the cane, looked around and saw an animal coming from the east. First Man and First Woman whispered to the Locust what was happening below in the cane while he watched on top. If this had not happened, people would not whisper or speak in a low voice now. If a person speaks in a low voice he is going after something like the Locust did at this time. The animal from the east had a white fishlike body and shot water up into the air (whale?). The fish wanted to know why he was up there. The Locust told the animal what had happened in the world below. The Locust said, “If you can do this, I will leave.” He put the arrow, which belonged to him, through his side and heart. The Locust had these holes in the underworld. The animal could not do this, so he just turned around and left. From the south came another animal and this one had a blue body and the same things happened. The animal from the west had a yellow body. From the north came an animal with a black body. Each time an animal appeared the same things happened and the Locust was victorious each time.

 When the animals left, he commanded them to get rid of the water that was on top of the earth. He told each to go in the opposite direction from which they came and to make a channel for the water to drain off. These animals went in the opposite directions from the east to the west, south to the north, west to the east and north to the south. Each animal let the water out from the mountains and the water drained off to make the oceans. When at last the water was drained off, the earth was still very muddy. The Locust went back inside the cane and told the people that the earth was too muddy to live upon. The Supreme Sacred Wind sent up the Wind People, ńłč’i dine’é, who are like us and they turned themselves into the wind, blowing upon the ground until it was dry.

 After all the people were upon the earth, Coyote remembered that he had forgotten something down the hole. He wanted to go back down the hole and find certain things he had hidden there. He left these things at the second layer or level of earth. He left them there to pull a trick on the rest of the gods. That is why the same things will happen to the future people. He had left down there his secret power, his witchcraft power. The rest of the gods did not trust him and some went down the hole with him. The cane was empty of water at this time. Coyote went down and started all of the fires inside the earth. Coyote had secret power and so the gods could not stop him from doing these things. So Coyote set a fire which spread through the earth, burning earth, rock and everything until the whole earth was burning inside. (“Those who believe the Navaho story and live a good life will go to heaven. Those who deny and do not believe, will go where the fires are, hell in the middle of the earth. This is true for there are volcanoes and warm springs which come from out of the earth. Everything on the earth can be possibly burned. I believe this story is true and right and I will go to heaven,” F.G.) “It is to be used in future time,” it was said. Matches are made from this earth. The fire was started by Coyote striking two flints together. Coyote did not think of this himself, but First Man and First Woman told him to do it for use in the future time.

 Coyote was told to do this for he was just a messenger and did what he was told by these two gods. First Man and First Woman were given power by Supreme Sacred Wind over life and earth and the time when it was to take place. Many of the gods (Supreme Sacred Wind and others) went down with Coyote to find all of his secrets. When he had found all of them, he was standing on the right side of the shaft and the other gods were on the left. They were all trying to get up the ladder first.

 If Coyote had gotten up the shaft first, this would have meant the introduction of death, disease and evilness into the world as Coyote wanted it, and not as the gods meant it to be. (“Had Coyote gotten up the shaft first, there would have been much trouble in the world. He would have destroyed all the world,” F.G.) The gods knew this and they tried to fix Coyote so that he could not move. Thus, they were able to go up the cane first. They could do this for Coyote had less power than the other gods in certain ways. When the gods got to the top, Coyote said, “From now on people will have to die and people will have to be born.” He took a stone and said. “If this stone floats or comes up again, then no one will have to die. But if it sinks, everyone will have to die.” He dropped the stone into the water of the lake, which was by the side of the cane, but it did not come back up again. Someone had to die.

 Four days later someone disappeared. Everyone looked for four days, but could not find the woman who was missing. Someone said. “Go to the place where we came out.” A man looked down there, and there sat a woman at the bottom of the hole combing her hair. She said, “From now on when someone dies, he will have to come down here.”

 There are three ways or places for the dead to go: Witches go to the north; if you know nothing about the Good Way Story you go below; and if you know the story you will go to heaven. The person who dies by witchcraft (any person who kills another person or witches) will go north, and the gods will pick up the good persons (anyone who has good standing). Later this last person will go to heaven. When a good person dies, it begins to rain or blow and the person will go off by this.

 The woman who first died was the devil. People who go to the north and down the hole, both go to hell. The worst place is to the north. During the war of the Navaho, Pueblos and Mexicans, a medicine man died. It was at a place called Ghost-Calling-Your-Name, č’į́·di·, and now this man will throw rocks at you and call your name if you should go by this place. The Indians were in the war and wanted to fight all of the time. (“They must have been crazy,” F.G.)

 There were two persons left where the cane was at, the Badger and the Bear. They are living there now, but no one sees them. There is a prayer used if you are about to die and there is a sound in your ears like iron or steel striking. If you have this prayer, you do not have to go to hell. The Badger (the male) is the husband of the bear and he said, “In the future days when people get sick and are about to die, if they will come to the right side of the cane they will not die and will not go to hell.” The animals will say to the people who come there, “It isn’t time for you to die yet, so go back to earth again.” This was what was told for use by the future people. They were put there in the beginning. You have to go to the right animal, the Bear or the Badger, or you will die. The Badger is on the north and the Bear is on the south.

 If a person comes up he will go and see both of them, and if it is his time to die, he will. If not, his spirit will go back to his house and come back to life. These are alive, but are not seen. These are Death. These two agree as to where the person goes. The good people and the medicine men who have the power will be reborn. The spirit of you will go out and be reborn into small children. It is only the bad people and witches that will be reborn into animals. The first woman to die was originally on the good side, but she was the leader of death. She was the first č’į́dį·’ácé da’ scâ·ni· and the chief one, too. She was called First Dead.

 Coyote told the woman to die for it was Coyote’s idea. She died and death was caused by Coyote for he went down the cane for his secret power. If he had gotten up the cane first, everyone would have died and he would have had the whole world to himself. The gods beat him up the cane and he only talked one woman into dying. Four days after the death of the woman, a male leader died. In four more days another male leader died and twice again in four more days two leaders died. Thus, four leaders went down below to the woman.

 When the earth was still young, First Man laid out the mountains that had been brought up from below. First Man planted the Black Mountain to the east, the Yellow one to the south, the Blue one to the west and the White one to the north. La Plata, sísnajĭni, San Francisco Mountain, dók’óosłí·d, and the other five mountains on the other side of Navaho Mountain were then planted until all eleven mountains were planted as they are today. After this was done, Talking God, black mirage rock, blue mirage rock, yellow mirage rock, white mirage rock, turquoise, jet, abalone, white bead crystal, white rainbow rock, nắ·tzī́ łĭt łagai, were laid out with the First Mountain.

 Calling God, blue rainbow and blue crystal were laid out with the Second Mountain. Yellow rainbow, yellow crystal (quartz?) and Talking God were laid out with the Fourth Mountain. With the Fifth Mountain, ził nēγōdĭ́ltḗ, was laid everything of value, buckskins, all of the jewelries, but there was no god laid out with this mountain or any of the remaining ones. Sixth Mountain is Standing Out Mountain, tschṓl ǐ́γ’é near Reversible Mountain, which was laid out with all the chips of stone. The Seventh Mountain is a continuous chain of mountains made up of Gray Mountain, Buckskin Mountain, Navaho Mountain and others. No other Navaho have mentioned these as the natural boundries of the Navaho. The other natural boundries are the Big Colorado River (female) and the Little Colorado River (male).

 After the mountains had again been made, the gods used the Darkness to cover them. The mountains began to grow and the gods sang to the earth and it began to sing and both began to grow. Here is a Good Way Song that will show what a mountain song is:

Mountain Song

A mountain making a speech, lay it down. Lay it down Mountain La Plata, lay it down White Bead Mountain. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. Lay Immortal down. Lay Happiness down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. Tsṓ dzĭł, lay it down. Turquoise mountain, lay it down (Turquoise Mountain belongs with tsṓ dzĭł). Lay Immortal down. Lay Happiness down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. San Francisco Mountain, lay it down. Abalone Mountain, lay it down. Lay Immortal down. Lay Happiness down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. San Juan Mountains, lay it down. Jet Mountain, lay it down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. Lay Immortal down. Lay Happiness down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down. A mountain making a speech, lay it down.

 All of the gods lived at East Mountain while the people and animals lived in the middle of the world. After the people had gotten on top of the earth, Talking God began to figure out and decide the measurements to make the houses. While doing this, some of the people wandered away. These people built a hogan and a cover, and they began to gamble. These people were gambling with seven flat sticks which were thrown out of a basket. The cover they used is similar to those used to dry meat on top of poles in recent times.

 After the house was built, it was blessed with a prayer and cornmeal or corn pollen was put on the supporting timbers from the east, south, west and north. As this was done this prayer was said:

May my house be blessed From my feet to my head, A future path in front of me, Behind, under, above and All around me, from my mouth May it be holy.

 The Talking God came over to where the people gambled and saw what was going on, yet he was not angry. He said, “I see you have made a fine house,” i.e. a hogan. “Because you have made a fine house, you shall always be doing and having these things,” i.e. the hogan and gambling. This he said to the gods of the Navaho, while the Pueblos, who had remained with him, received the nice house he was building.

 A place was needed for a meeting place to talk about what was to be done in the future, to cure disease and for the purification of the people. Thinking about this, First Man decided to make a sweat house. The people did not know what to make the sweat bath out of so First Man said, “We are close to where the Beaver lives, so we will borrow some material from him.” First Man went and borrowed some sticks from the Beaver. Beaver was asked to get the wood, for he had an axe, his teeth, to cut it with. The Beaver chopped down the trees and cut them into pieces to make the sweat hogan—just like a saw mill.

 The people then said, “There are no rocks here to build with.” First Man answered them saying, “Beaver has plenty of smoothened rocks we can use.” So they went to get water-washed rocks from Beaver. First Man went to Beaver and this time got rocks to build the sweat hogan. Now the people did not know what to do for fire, so First Man said, “Go to Dontso, dô’tso, the fly who has fire. When they went to Dontso, he gave them fire.

 The people then asked, “Where can we get water?” and First Man answered, “Go and see Otter Man and he will give you some.” The people went to Otter Man with some clay or mud pots and brought back the water and put them outside the hogan. First Man now began to build the sweat hogan. The wood was put up in the four directions. After the hogan was formed, all of the people brought dirt and piled it around and on top of the hogan with flat rocks. These people were afraid to invent a shovel or saw to cut down the logs, for they were superstitious. Wood and rocks were taken and the people hit flint rocks together and made the fire. After the pile of rocks and wood had burned, only the rocks were left and these were then placed in the center of the room.

 The people wanted to know what they could use to cover the door. First Man said, “Go ask your grandfather, the Owl, and he will give you something.” Owl said, “Yes, I have white, yellow, blue and black colored clothes. You may have as many as you need.” These clothes were really darkness, dawn, yellow twilight and blue twilight. The cover was laid down with black or darkness on the bottom, blue next, then yellow and white. Although the people borrowed some of his flashing clothes, his feathers still flash like they do. Owl also had speckled feathers that represented flexible goods, but he kept these. From inside the hogan it looks dark and from the outside the cover looked just like feathers. First Man sang a song about this that goes, “It was the Owl who covered the door, have a cover for the door.” This is one of the songs used to describe the building of the sweat hogan:

The Sweat House Song

He put it down, he put it down, he put it down, he put it down. At the edge of the hole, he put it down. The First Man, he put it down. (Literally this means First Man put the whole sweat hogan down.) The song of darkness, he put it down. Property, he put it down. Chips of turquoise, he put it down. Immortal, he put it down. Happiness, he put it down. He put it down, he put it down, he put it down, he put it down. (Depending upon the amount of breath the medicine man has left, will determine whether he uses two, three or four of these.) She put it down, she put it down, she put it down, she put it down. From (or at) the edge of the hole, she put it down. The First Woman, she put it down. The song of darkness, she put it down. Immortal, she put it down. Happiness, she put it down. She put it down, she put it down, she put it down, she put it down. No wood, no wood, no wood, no wood. I went to Beaver Man. I talked to Beaver Man about the wood. And I got the wood from him. Then I built the fire for the Sweat Hogan. And then I made the house complete. I got the wood, I got the wood. No rocks, no rocks, no rocks, no rocks. I went to Beaver Man. I talked to Beaver Man about the rocks. And I got the rocks from him. I built that fire with the rocks to make the house complete. I got the rocks, I got the rocks. No fire, no fire, no fire, no fire. I went to Fire Fly. He gave me the fire and then I completed the house. No fire, no fire.

 The Navaho have always had white bead, turquoise, jet, abalone and red shell beads. They are used in all of the ceremonies and are offered as gifts to the gods. First Man, First Woman, Owl Man and Owl Woman brought them up from the underworld. After the people were on this world, they found turquoise in the ground. When they lived near the big waters to the west, a long time ago, they found white bead, abalone and oyster shell.

 Begochiddy wanted to plant some of the things he had created and had planted before, but the gods would not let him. The cotton seeds were taken by First Man and planted in the same directions as Bego had done on the First World. The god planted beans, pumpkins, squash, corn and a red flower called ch’ĭl dḗchī́ī́ gī́. When this grows one and one-half feet tall it smells good and is used for against witchcraft. When you go hunting in the brush and you shoot and miss and the deer hides behind you. you are liable to get sick and scared. If you spill the small bags in the deer’s knee area, you use the game plant or dini’ e·č’il to protect you. Gila Monster planted the tobacco for there were as many types then as there are brands today. After all these things were planted, all of the other seeds, plants and trees were spread around the earth.

 After the houses had been made, pottery was coiled. The gods representing the future Navaho and Pueblos had their choice of the pottery. Two pots were offered to the god, one which was beautifully decorated and the other a plain one. Talking God, representing the Navaho, did not reach for the decorated one, but for the plain one. He knew this pot had the stone horse, weaving, turquoise, corn, buckskin and many other things inside. Calling God, representing the Hopi, reached for the decorated one. This happened at the time the houses were being built. The Hopi, themselves, claim the Pottery from the ancient Pueblos as belonging to the Hopi, some to the Navaho and some to the gods who were turned into animals.

 Some time after this the various tribes separated and began to look for food in small groups. All came out of the hole and all wandered off, looking for food, except the Navaho who stayed here. The other tribes looked for game animals, seeds, berries, and other foods to live upon. Within a short time after this, much evil appeared upon the earth destroying many of the people.

 Before White Bead Woman was created. First Woman and Darkness Lady, čaxałxe·ł’eszą́’ were talking together. Every night the First Woman slept with her head to the doorway and this Darkness Lady would come into the hogan. They talked all night about how they were going to create a person to destroy the evil upon the earth. First Man did not know what was being done and becoming jealous asked, “What are you taking about? You have been talking for several nights.” First Woman answered, “We are talking together about creating someone to destroy all the evil upon the earth.” He said, “That is good; go ahead and talk about it.” These were the gods who helped mostly in the creation of White Bead Woman.

 The two women talked together for two more nights and finally said, “Now it is all fixed and ready to be created.” The First Man, after he had learned of this, said, “This is fine that you are going to do this. Whatever you wish will be done or whatever you decided to do about it will also be done.” All of the gods had a meeting and decided that all were to create the White Bead Woman so there would be no arguments about who was to have the most knowledge and who was to take care of everything on the earth.

 All of the gods got together to form this goddess for they themselves individually had insufficient power to rid the earth of its evil. Had the gods tried to destroy the evil alone, they would have been destroyed themselves. There were many gods which helped create White Bead Woman, yołzai ’eszą́’: Talking God, Calling God, First Man, First Woman, First Boy, First Girl, First Made (Coyote), Dawn Woman, Dawn Man, Dawn Boy, Dawn Girl, Evening Twilight Man, Evening Twilight Woman, Evening Twilight Boy, Evening Twilight Girl, Horizontal Blue Man, Horizontal Blue Woman, Horizontal Blue Boy, Horizontal Blue Girl. White Bead Woman was then to be created as the means by which all the danger on earth was to be destroyed for the War Twins were thus to be created according to a plan. She was called White Bead Woman because she wore white bead ornaments.

 If Coyote, First Man, Talking God and the others had tried to kill the evil beings, they would not have been able to do so. All of these gods had equal power in all things, but with White Bead Woman to have the same power as Talking God. All of the other gods had the same power, but different jobs decided upon by the Supreme Sacred Wind. When White Bead Woman was created, all gave their power to her. She had the same type of power as the others, yet they lost no power themselves when they gave it to her. Talking God was an investigator to see that everything went right in the world and to keep order for White Bead Woman later on. Talking God took his power and gave an equal part of it to White Bead Woman so that she could work with him and share his duties. One god could not keep order in the whole world so White Bead Woman was created to share in this responsibility.

 Before this time women had been running around having intercourse with petrified wood, cactus plants and men. This was how the Giant became the son of the Sun and how mighty eagles were born who tried to eat all of the people upon the earth. These were loose women who wanted men. There was a girl who had four brothers who always went out hunting for deer. These men would bring in the deer for their sister to fix. Their sister would cut out the muscle from the deer leg and tie it to her heel. As she sat and ground seeds, she abused herself with the deer muscle.

 She never lifted herself up from the ground and her brothers began to wonder what was wrong with her. They decided to fool her one morning and find out what was the matter. One of her brothers called, “What is that out there? There is something running out there.” All of the brothers went outside to look. When their sister got up to look, there was a deer muscle tied to her heel, and so her brothers found out why she would not lift herself up from the ground. That is how the girl became pregnant and the offspring of this deer muscle developed into the Horned Monster or Hippo. After this, there developed twelve Antelope-Running-Around. They came from girls who did the same things.

 Another loose girl also was lonely for men and took petrified wood and abused herself with this. She, too, became pregnant and gave birth to Lonely Yei-tso, yé’i· coh, or the Giant. After this happened, many giants developed, many yei-tsos. The third girl whittled some sour cactus, and abused herself with this. From this was produced the monsters That-Kill-the-People-with-their-Eyes, or just by looking at people. The fourth girl abused herself with a stone feather quill. At this time there were no real feathers, only stone feathers. These stone feathers were and are found everywhere. The girl found one of these and used it. The reason the girl was abused was because the feather was to be used in the future time by the Earth Surface People. After this the fourth girl became pregnant and gave birth to the Monster Eagles. From then on feathers were produced.

 After all of these monsters were born, they started eating the people upon the earth. Before the Navaho were created, there lived a people in the cliff dwellings. Before these Cliff Dwellers there were other people, all of the birds and animals except the horse, sheep, donkey, mule, pig, chicken, dog, cow and buffalo. Besides these were First Man, First Woman, First Boy, First Girl, Coyote and all of the other gods. When things became really bad, the gods decided to get rid of the evil upon the earth, but they needed an instrument to accomplish this. White Bead Woman was the answer.

 White Bead Woman was made out of white bead, turquoise, crystal sea shell, jet, mirage quartz rock, lying mirage rock, xadaxoaestˣi·n, red rock, rising up mirage rock, xadaxoni·ye’, gathered water, toł tắnắsh chī́, rising mirage getting water, nĕ stī́·, water’s child, tˣó biyá·ž, the five kinds of corn pollen and beautiful plant pollen. Near where the gods lived there was a pond and a rising fog. Over the pond was a rainbow and all around it was a large mist or cloud and at the bottom was a bubble.

 After many years had passed since the ascension to this earth, Talking God went by this pond and heard the cry of a baby. He returned on the second and third days. On the fourth day he went there and found a crystal bowl in the middle of the pond with something inside of it. In the bowl was a bubble or blister of water which he picked up with a white bead basket, covered it with a holy buckskin and took it to his home at č’ô·l’į́’í·.

 The gods covered the basket four times with Darkness, Dawn Twilight, Evening Twilight, Blue Twilight and White Twilight. The fourth time the cover was taken off there appeared a young baby girl, and she began to move. The girl was laid out with white bead. She was put with Immortal and Happiness, for that is what she moves with. Every four days she grew larger. The baby girl was cared for by the gods and in four days she was able to walk. In four more days she was larger and on the third and fourth days larger yet. On the last four days she became sixteen years of age.

 At this time she had a puberty ceremony, and Talking God sang over her all night. Everyone stayed awake all night for the ceremony called kina·łta’. Songs were sung over her by Talking God. For his singing he received the center of the sweet corn bread ground by White Bead Woman. The grinding of the corn signified that the girl was now able to produce. The center of the corn bread meant that the girl actually gave that which came from within (the center of the corn bread). The girl cut out the center of the corn meal and gave it to Talking God. Talking God, or the medicine man nowadays, told her that he would give her a blessing. The medicine man got nothing but the center of the corn bread for blessing the girl with healthy strong children.

 At the bottom and top of the cake there were feathers crossed and feathers around the edges. The “live” eagle feathers faced the four directions. The people were told never to use feathers, but they were to use corn husks. The cake itself, which was round, represented the earth. The center of the cake represented the sun. There is a prayer said, “You bless yourself with long life,” in reference to Talking God, Calling God and all of the others during the ceremony. Cake from the east, south, west, north and the center is put upon the body. You bless yourself, your garden or anything you own, for the cake represents these things. All of this represents sacredness by the gods for White Bead Woman is godliness herself. The Sun was represented in the corn pollen for the place he takes in relationship to White Bead Woman. All of the gods had pollen and pollen comes from the corn which is being ground by White Bead Woman.

 After the ceremony White Bead Woman worked around the hogan. One day she was out getting wood in a sunny place and made a bundle of the sticks she had gathered. At midday the Sun saw her and wanted her for his wife. White Bead Woman tried to put the bundle of sticks on her back four times, but it would not move. She looked back and there was a young man holding onto her bundle. She had intercourse with this man, who was the Sun, and went back to her hogan. According to this, women do as they do nowadays. First Man and First Woman helped make the Sun God, so he has to do the same things as they. Even trees have intercourse and get little trees. (“On top of the trading post is a root which is about to have a baby,” F.G.)

 According to White Bead Woman, at that time, women have intercourse with unknown men and the babies have unknown fathers. (F.G. said they should be court martialled.) Some wrens had seen White Bead Woman and the Sun. As the birds gambled with their moccasins that night, they sang a song making fun of her. These little birds outside the hogan began to sing songs about what the White Bead Woman had done. They sang:

I am just lying against my bundle of wood. I am just straddling my legs and Sun had intercourse with me.

 When First Woman heard this she said, “What have you done? They are making fun out of you.” White Bead Woman was silent and just bowed her head. The next morning when she went to get water she was still hot so she wanted to have intercourse with the water (not a god, but water). From a ledge was dripping water, so she spread her legs underneath it. When she had as much as she wanted, she took her water bottle covered with pitch home. She did not think there was anyone around, but the birds saw her and made fun of her again. That night the birds gambled and sang the same song:

I am just lying against my bundle of wood. I am just straddling my legs and Water had intercourse with me.

 Nowadays you must catch people in the act, but someone always sees what happens. After four days had passed, the Sun came again. First Man started to put boughs of trees in a circle with the opening facing the east. Again the Sun and White Bead Woman had intercourse, and within nine days she was pregnant. In nine more days she gave birth to twins, their fathers being the Sun and the Water. The Twins were gods, yet they were made by the gods. They were created and given the power to destroy the evil upon the earth. They learned songs and these gave them power. They are like us and so medicine men just learn in the same way. If you have power, you can give songs and prayers in mid-spring or mid-summer or at any time they are not supposed to take place. In order to have power one just has to know the name of Supreme Sacred Wind. There is a song which is sung when a woman is about to have a baby nowadays. This is the song that is used before the baby is born when the rope for the woman is being put up in the hogan for the woman to hold onto:

Pre-Natal Song

Dawn Boy found a baby. To the east he found a baby. He came up to it, he talked to the baby. The baby listened. The baby was eager to be born. The Dawn Boy has a happy voice. Immortal and Happiness found his baby (or son). Sun Ray Girl found a baby. To the south she found a baby. She came up to it, she talked to the baby. The baby listened. The baby was eager to be born. The Sun Ray Girl has a happy voice. Immortal and Happiness found her baby. Yellow Dawn Boy found a baby. To the west he found a baby. He came up to it, he talked to the baby. The baby listened. The baby was eager to be born. The Yellow Dawn Boy has a happy voice. Immortal and Happiness found his baby. North Star Girl found a baby. To the north she found a baby. She came up to it, she talked to the baby. The baby listened. The baby was eager to be born. The North Star Girl has a happy voice. Immortal and Happiness found her baby.

 Sometimes after the baby is born, the afterbirth does not come out. If this happens the woman should not sit against the fire or with her back against the fire for the afterbirth would grow against her backbone. When this happens, a mano is sprinkled with pollen and the stomach of the woman is rolled with it until the afterbirth comes out. This is the song that is used at this time:

Post-Natal Song

He is moving, he is moving, he is moving, he is moving. He is moving, he is moving, he is moving, he is moving. Out at the edge of the hole, he moves up. In the middle of First Man’s property house (property that is on the floor). Black grinding stone moving. This will slip out with all kinds of water. It has got a good path from the front. It has got a good path from behind. It has a good path from underneath. It has a good path from above. Everything he has in the property hogan. Anything on the wall, on the floor, on top of anything on the floor. All around is good. He is moving, he is moving, he is moving, he is moving.

 The eagles and giants were bad at this time so White Bead Woman, for so she had been named from the beginning, dug a hold in the center of the hogan. She put her children inside and covered them over with sticks and dirt. If she saw someone coming, she put the children in the hole, covered it up and sat on it. The Twins hid for they were small and could not protect themselves from the evil beings. The Wind People also took care of the Twins. They were hidden so they would not be discovered by the evil beings. The Giant always came around White Bead Woman, and once he saw the tracks of the Twins in the earth. He asked, “Whose tracks are these?” White Bead Woman said, “I made those with my hands,” and the Giant believed her.

 It was decided that the Twins were too big and should be sent somewhere else before they were discovered. The First War Twin was sent to Navaho Mountain and the Second War Twin was put at Cross or Roaring Water, łˣó’ał, near Mt. Taylor. They remained here until they grew up. Even the War Twins have colors associated with them, black, yellow, blue and white. Navaho Mountain was decorated with evergreen trees while the mountain itself was surrounded with rocks having but one opening. When a giant tried to capture one of the Twins, it began to storm and the Twins were protected. The Second Twin was raised under the water. The First Twin traveled by Sun Ray and the Second Twin by the rainbow. The boys stayed at this place for sixty days. The Twins were trained in a special way in their youth to become very strong. While it was still dark in the morning, they would run to the east to meet the coming Dawn. Now the young boys are trained the same way. White Bead Woman taught the boys songs to sing to the Dawn. Here is a song they sang:

War Exereise Song

My son, run a race. You were born to destroy the evil monsters. My son, run a race. You have black flint shoes, my son run a race. You have black flint stockings, my son run a race. You have black flint clothing, my son run a race. You have a live flint (heart) inside you, my son run a race. You have a black flint cap, my son run a race. You have two straight lightning arrows with you, my son run a race. You have two lightning arrows with you, that makes four coming out of your body, my son run a race. Towards the east is the Dawn Mountain. Run around that mountain once, my son run a race. You were made for the destroying of all the evil, And made for the protection of the other properties (properties with your home), my son run a race. You were made for the protection of the other properties (buckskin), my son run a race. You were made for the protection of other chips of stone (turquoise, oyster shell, white bead, jet). You were made for different kinds of horses, my son run a race. You were made for different kinds of sheep, my son run a race. You are everlastingly feared1, my son run a race. My son run a race, you were made for evil monsters, my son run a race, my son run a race, my son run a race.

 The Twins also ran to meet the Twilight and also sang songs while doing this. Even now an old man will get up early in the morning and sing, “I am the Dawn Boy, give me strength. all my desires.” One can call the gods by name so he will recognize the god wanted. You do not need to give the secret name of the god, for the god will recognize you anyway. The Twins are prayed to for protection from evil by the Earth People or Surface People.

 One day the Twins were playing and they came to a canyon facing the north which is now Paiute Canyon. They could not get across when a worm came along and stretched his body across the canyon. It was a shooting worm, wó nalč’ilí, and it later became Rainbow Bridge. According to this bridge, all bridges have been made in the same way. The worm did this himself for he had power. After they were almost grown, both Twins lived at Navaho Mountain. They ran around Navaho Mountain four times from the east to the west and from the south to the north. When they had finished, they were full grown.

 While the children had been going around the mountain, White Bead Woman had made a bow out of some wood (oak) and an arrow out of some other wood (greasewood). The string for the bow was made out of yucca or soapweed. When the Twins were small, White Bead Woman had made a bow out of cedar with yucca for the string. They used sticks they found as they played for the arrows. This is why the medicine man always uses bows and arrows in some of the ceremonies for curing. These mean power for the Twins used them to destroy evil.

 When they went back to their mother at č’ô·’lį’í· they said, “Who is our father?” They knew for the Wind had told them, yet they wanted to see what White Bead Woman would say. Their mother said, “You don’t have a father.” Still they wanted to find out who their father was so they asked again. White Bead Woman finally said, “your father is whittled sour cactus, plain sour cactus and petrified wood.” Of course, she was just joking and the boys asked again. The third time she said the same. The fourth time she told them. Afterwards the boys went out to play with their bows and arrows. All at once they disappeared leaving only four footprints facing towards the east to their father’s house. They knew they would get power from their father to destroy the evil upon the earth. As they traveled along they met a man, Spider Man. The Twins came to a little hole in the ground. They looked down through the hole and saw Spider Man. He said, “Come in my grandchildren.” The twins wondered how they were going to get through such a small hole and said, “It is too small.”

 The Spider Man blew the hole larger and the Twins went down into the hole. The Spider Man then gave each of them a live spider web plume, našžé’i·xinábic’os. He also gave them certain warnings about what their father might do to them. He told them the Sun would do things to them to see if they were truly his sons and because he did not want children. The Spider Man told them what would happen and how to protect themselves while on the trip to the house of the Sun. He told them about canes and about the great numbers of skeletons and bones from people who had been killed by it. These canes would cut up the people and leave only a red blood spot behind.

 The Twins traveled on and met a tobacco worm, the kind that vomits if you put your finger on it, called wóse’k’idi·. The worm asked them, “Where are you heading for, my grandchildren?” The Twins answered, “We are going to our father.” “Your father is hard to reach, but you may use my secret when you reach him. He kills people with his tobacco. When he asks you to smoke his tobacco, use this secret. If you don’t, he will kill you two with that tobaccoo.” Again the worm said, “Here is a tobacco bag and pipe with the Sun’s design upon one side and the Moon’s design on the other. There is some tobacco inside. Take some of this (vomit) and put it in your mouth when your father tries to give you tobacco to smoke. If you use this, you won’t be poisoned and killed.”

 The boys traveled on until they reached a rock canyon which most people could not get across. They used the First Twin’s bow for a bridge and passed over the canyon. They traveled on their way and soon came to a bunch of cutting canes called lók’a·dešgiší. The canes were weaving back and forth. The Second Twin took his feather and touched the end of the canes with it. He blew on the feather and the canes turned into long waving feathers instead of the cutting canes.

 The boys went on safely, but soon came to a large pile of sand that was like a mountain range. This they also had been told about and how to handle. This sand would wait until people had gone through it and then would fly up into the air and come down and smother the person. There were also many bones from victims here, too. When the boys got to the edge of the sand, the First Twin put his feather on the sand and it began to rain. The rain came down and packed the sand until the Twins could walk across it without any harm. Even though they used their feathers they kept them with them for future use.

 At last they arrived at their father’s house. The house was made out of turquoise and was very beautiful. Outside of the house were four beings protecting it from harm. In front of it was the Bear and Big Snake. On top of the house were the Thunder God and the Wind Person. Physically they were the same as Earth Surface People. These beings protected the house of the Sun against all strangers. The boys had made up a song with the help of White Bead Woman. They used this song to put these gods asleep so they would not be harmed by these guardians of the Sun. They also used the secret name of the Spider Man.

 There are four colors associated with the Bear, Big Snake, Thunder and Lightning. To the east is a Black Bear, to the south is a Grey or Blue Bear, to the west a Yellow Bear and to the north is a White Bear. So it is also with the Big Snake, Thunder and Lightning. At last the Twins entered the house and there they found an old woman. (F.G. does not know who this woman was.) She said, “What are you doing here? You don’t belong here.” The boys said, “We are looking for our father. He is around here somewhere.” The woman became very angry and said she had thought she was the only woman that the Sun had. It was at this time that jealousy first started. If this had not happened there would be no jealousy today. This is also the reason the Navaho believe it is all right to have more than one wife.

 The woman later forgave the boys and did not blame them for what their father did. Now she was afraid of what the Sun would try to do to them. The Sun hated children and killed almost all of his own children. He raised too many, and so he tried to get rid of some of them. Soon they heard the sound of the Sun coming. Upon the walls there were rolled same clouds. These clouds were rolled up like scrolls and the one on the east was colored black, the one south was blue, the one to the west was yellow and the one to the north was a white cloud. The old woman tried to hide the Twins by rolling them inside the white cloud.

 After she did this she placed the cloud back on the wall. Just as she had finished, the Sun came in. When he came in, there were lightning and arrow points all over his body to protect him from any evil, harm or enemy. He said, “Has there been anyone here recently?” His wife answered no. The Sun said, “I saw someone come in here.” He asked four times and then she finally said, “Yes, there were two boys here looking for their father.” The woman accused the Sun of fooling around and having another wife and children. She was quite bitter about his having another wife and children.

 The Sun now began to search for the boys. He took down the black cloud to see if the boys were there. He went to the south and west sides taking down the yellow and blue coulds. Finally in the white cloud he found the boys. He said, “I hope it has come true,” i.e. that these were his boys. “I will see if they are my children.” He thought that he would try to kill them and see if they were really his sons. The Sun did not want them and he hoped to prove them not to be his sons. When he took the Twins down from the wall, the Sun had lightning coming out of his fingers, feet, head and body.

 Against the walls were great arrow heads of the four different colors. Whenever the Sun wanted to get rid of anybody, he just threw them against these. He grabbed each of the boys and threw them against the black points. The Wind was there and he helped the boys for he blew against them and they were not killed. The Holy Wind helped the boys for he knew what they were after and so he helped them out. No one told him to do this; he just helped. The Sun took each of the boys and threw them against all of the other points, but they still lived.

 For the next test the Sun kept something special. On the floor in each side or direction was a huge round log of white bead, yellow oyster shell, turquoise and jet. The pestle was round and made of all of these materials. In the floor was a huge hole, and he tried to throw the boys into it. When they were inside the hole, the Sun tried to smash them up using the log like a mortar and pestle. The Wind blew against the pestle so it could not smash the Twins. At last the Sun once more gave up trying to kill the Twins.

 Their father asked, “Where is your tobacco? There should be smoking while such things are going on.” The Twins pulled out their tobacco bag and pipe which had the design of the Sun and Moon upon it. The Sun said, “Well, our tobacco pipes and bags are the same and just alike.” The Twins cheated their father and exchanged their pipe and bag for his, and he did not know about it.

 The Sun pulled out the Twin’s pipe and tobacco and filled up the pipe and gave it to the Twins saying, “Here, smoke.” The Twins started to smoke and each puffed four times and the tobacco was all gone. Before they smoked the Twins put the gift of the worm in their mouths. After the tobacco was all burned up they asked for some more. The Sun filled the pipe up three more times and still the boys were not killed. They said, “We wish to smoke a little more. How would you like to smoke our tobacco?” The Sun said no, but the Twins asked him three more times.

 At last he said, “All right, I will smoke if you light the pipe with the Sun Fire.” The Sun Fire was the sun itself which was on the east wall. The Twins agreed and said, “We will.” They filled up the pipe and lit it with the Sun Fire. The Sun started to puff on the pipe when he passed out and rolled over. The old lady, the Sun’s wife, said, “Fix my husband for me.” She offered many things to the Twins, but they didn’t want the things she offered. They said, “We don’t want the things you offer. What about yourself.” “All right,” she said, and each of the boys had intercourse with his stepmother.

 After they had finished, the Twins put the secret given to them by the worm into the Sun’s mouth and he jumped up. The Sun then said, “I must have passed out with sweat,” (like in a sweat hogan). “I see there is a story here.” He had seen in his dreams that the Twins were his sons. He called out the door and the daughter of the Sun came inside. The Sun asked her, “Is your grandfather out there?” When the daughter answered yes, the Sun said. “Tell him to come in.” Into the Sun’s house came the Moon. When he saw the boys he said, “Hello, grandsons. Now I will eat the brains of my grandsons.” The Moon was just joking with his grandsons. The Sun said, “Go and get the sweatbath ready for your grandsons.”

 The Moon went outside again and took the boys with him. He took them outside to help them as he knew what the Sun was going to do. The Moon began to build a fire to be used on the sweat hogan. There are two types of sweat hogans. One after the emergence and the other at the Sun’s house. If a man were to go to war, the man uses the Sun’s house to sing and pray to protect himself. The reason the Sun’s house was used was because the Sun tried to kill the Twins, but didn’t. The Earth People use sweat hogans in the opposite way for protection.

 At the beginning of the world, they talked about how to make things and the sweat hogan was to be used for meetings about how things were to be created and so on. At the Sun’s house it was to kill the Twins. There have only been three sweat hogans up to this day: The hogan made at the beginning, the one at the Sun’s house at the east and one to the west. They were all made in the same way, and they were to be used by Navaho.

 When the Moon had finished, with no help from the Twins, he had already put the hot stones in the sweat hogan. The Moon yelled, “The sweat hogan is ready. The sweat hogan is ready.” He told the Twins that their father killed people with this sweat hogan. He then told them what they should do when their father came out. The Moon dug a hole for them in the southeast corner. The hole they dug was on an angle. He told them when the Sun got ready for them to do as he was about to tell them.

 The Moon told them that when the Sun came to put four blocks of stone (flint) in front of their hole. This was to be done after they had climbed in. Afterwards they were to put four white bead slabs before the front of the door. The rocks were heated and put in the northeast corner of the sweat house. The Twins were told by the Moon that when the Sun yelled and asked if they were warm enough to say nothing. At last they were to get into the hole and cover themselves up. After the boys had been inside the hogan for awhile, the Sun yelled, but the boys did not answer. They were inside the hole and had put the rocks in front of them as the Moon had told them. The Sun yelled three times and still received no answer. The fourth time the boys answered saying, “We are hot enough now.” When the Sun heard this, he threw hot water upon the rocks and withdrew his arm.

 When he did this, the rocks exploded and flew all over the inside of the hogan. The steam from this got so hot that the first flint turned black, the second one to blue, the third one to yellow, and the last one stayed white. Now the boys were saved. The stones, white bead, at the door had turned into the same colors because of the heat. The next time the Sun yelled to see if they were warm enough, they answered yes and came out of the hogan. Once again the Sun said something, “I hope it is the truth.”

 The Twins went into the house with the Sun who said they were his boys. When they got inside, they found their two half-sisters and two half-brothers. Before the boys were cleaned the Sun said, “I want you boys to tell me the truth. Don’t try to hide it from me. Did you boys have intercourse with your step-mother?” They answered yes. “All right,” said the Sun. “that will be happening to the Earth People. When this happens, the people will kill themselves as they take wives away from each other.” Since the Twins had never been washed since they had been born, they had large callouses on their joints and dirt all over them. They were bathed and washed gently by their relatives. This is where they were shaped and massaged as if they were bread to fix them up. Their bodies were smoothed back into shape like their half-brothers for their bodies were greatly mis-shapened.

 It was at this time that cornmeal was fixed for them which had been cooked in the ground. They were not given bread, which was fixed for the Sun only, but other food and drink. After the meal was eaten the Sun said, “You are truly my sons. It is the truth.” Then he shook hands with the Twins. He asked his sons what they wanted. They answered him, “We want a lightning arrow and a tough eating lightning arrow to kill the Giant.” The Sun answered them saying, “He is my son, too, and he is your brother. However he is eating all of us people.” He then decided to give lightning and tough eating lightning arrows to the Twins.

 The boys stood side by side and were decorated and dressed with flint shoes, socks, pants and shirts. The Sun put a “live eagle feather” (the Navaho, like their Pueblo neighbors, captured either baby eagles and raised them or used the adults for the feathers required in their ceremonies and beliefs. Those feathers taken from a live eagle were called “live”) in their hair to protect them from evil things. The Navaho still have some of these eagle feathers. Three or four people here on the reservation still have these. This feather is used by the young men when they go to war to protect them, but some who own them now are too stingy and won’t let them be borrowed by anyone.

 There was also corn pollen shaken off of the four protection gods to protect them. If the gods had not done this, it would not happen now. Now pollen is used for protection and is put in socks or shoes like the Twins did. These kinds of pollen were used during the war to protect warriors. (Teddy Goldtooth had some of this pollen under his arm during the war. In battle he was in front of his own men and he raised up when the man in back of him, a yard away, shot at him. Teddy turned and the bullet cut his zipper. This pollen protected him.) There are many special rites that are done with this pollen. After the boys were dressed they stood up and they looked just like their father. They had lightning coming out of their bodies, heads, arms and legs. There is a song the War Twins had for going to war and is still used today. The boys made up the song themselves, telling where they met their father:

Get Inside the Sun Ray

I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun (Twins in the bosom or chest of the Sun). I am his black suit of armor (flint clothing), I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have black flint shoes, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have black flint stockings, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have a live flint in my heart (or body), I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have a black flint cap, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have two straight lightning arrows, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I have two lightning arrows with me and this makes four coming out of my body, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. Lightning comes out of my toes (the big toes), I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. Lightning comes out of my knees, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. Lightning comes out of my palms, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. Four lightning arrows come out of my body, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. Where the lightning strikes from these places (his body), the enemy cries and falls back, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun. I am everlastingly feared, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun, I am in the Sun.

 After the boys had been dressed they lined up and went into the heavens with the Sun. The boys got behind the Sun or inside him and went into the heavens while the others at the house just stood around as they left. The Sun traveled on a Sun’s Ray and the Twins traveled with him. From a distance the Twins saw the top of Sun’s house. They thought about this and felt lonesome, and they sang this song:

Look Back to the Sun’s House

Come up, come up (xa·áh xa·áh refers to the top of the Sun’s house appearing in the distance), the Sun’s house. From the east, come up, come up, come up. I am a War Twin, come up, come up, come up. I have black flint shoes, come up, come up, come up. I have black flint stockings, come up, come up, come up. I have black flint clothing, come up, come up, come up. I have black live flint in my body, come up, come up, come up. I have a black flint cape, come up, come up, come up. I have two straight lightning arrows, come up, come up, come up. The Sun’s house, come up, come up, come up. Black house (the Sun’s house made out of obsidian or jet), come up, come up, come up. Black feather, come up, come up, come up. A sun’s feather, come up, come up, come up. Live feather, come up, come up, come up. Fright plume (’ac’os ni·yé’ is something to be feared. The evil is to suffer from this), come up, come up, come up. The enemy doesn’t see me. That is why I am invisible. That is why there is darkness to hide me. That is why they see over me (they cannot see him), come up, come up, come up. That is why I overcome the enemy, come up, come up, come up. I am everlastingly feared, come up, come up, come up. Live feather (spider or eagle), come up, come up, come up. Live feather, come up, come up, come up.

 When the Twins and the Sun got up to the middle of the heaven it was noon. Up in the middle of heaven they had a lunch from the seeds, nuts and berries that they had brought with them. The Sun pulled out his pipe and they started smoking. This is the reason Navahos usually smoke after dinner now. The boys were asked the names of small mountains on the earth that could just be seen for they were very small from the heavens. There were twelve rock posts which represented all of the evil upon the earth. Each time the Twins answered the Sun correctly, one of the rocks fell over and the Sun said, “There goes one.” Their father said, “What is the name of that mountain over there?” It was in New Mexico. They answered, “Black Belt Mountain” “Yes, that is right,” their father answered.

 There are six sacred mountains, and when the Sun came to Spinning Mountain the boys said, “That is our home, Spinning and Crown Point Mountains. That is where we started off.” Some more questions were then asked by the Sun. Their father asked, “Which is that mountain over there?” He pointed to the Southern Mountain, tsṓdzĭł. Then he asked about the San Francisco Mountain and Big Sheep Mountain. One of the mountains asked about by the Sun was called Guessing Mountain, for even the gods in heaven try to guess which one it is. The Sun said. “This is just to win your land back.”

 From heaven, the mountains looked like hills. Many questions were asked by the Sun. He said. “What is the whole thing?” They answered, “Earth,” “What is on the earth?” and they answered. “All kinds of things, flowers, plants, rocks and many things. It looks good on the earth.” He asked. “What is up here?” They answered him, “All of the heavens, clouds, stars and sky. This looks good on the heaven.”

 At last the Sun had finished with all his questions. They were now ready to go back to earth, and there appeared under the Sun a straight lightning bolt. The Wind told the boys to get on the lightning, and it would take them back to earth. He said, “Do not be afraid, for it will not hurt you,” They stepped on the lightning and it took them down to earth. They got off at the shore of a hot water spring, Hot Springs or tˣó sido, in New Mexico. When the boys got there at the spring, they began to play for they were practicing with their arrows (lightning). It was at this spring the Giant came to get his water. The Giant was a half brother to the boys. His father was the Sun and his mother was a whore, Loose-Running-Woman, ’atžiti.

 The Twins had gone to see their father to get power to rid the earth of its evilness. This is the reason they were created. These boys were playing on the shore having a lot of fun shooting bows and arrows of lightning at the trees, rocks and earth. They tried to agree as to which had the finest or best power as they played. The Giant had no job, but just ate people and had a good time. It was still noon when the Giant stuck his head up over the horizon from the east, then from the south his head and chest were seen, then from the west were his head, chest and hips seen, and finally from the north where his whole body was seen. Each time he came closer and closer until he was all the way up to the spring.

 The Giant took two gulps when the Wind came and told the boys to show themselves. If the Giant did drink all of the water in four gulps there would be much trouble. If the Giant did drink all of the water the Twins wouldn’t be able to kill him. If he drank all of the water in the pool, he would have more blood to bleed for the water turned to blood and gave him more power and strength. He had not had water for a long time and was very weak.

 The two Twins walked along the side of the water, and as the Giant looked into the lake to get more water, he saw the reflection of the boys. He thought the boys were in the water, and he put his fingers in to try and find them. He could not find them so he looked up and saw the boys to the west. It was still noon for the Sun was waiting to help the Twins. The Sun wanted the feather from his son, the Giant, for it was power. When the two boys won the Giant’s life, they were to give the feather to their father in return for the power the Sun had given them.

 “I tried to kill you in all those ways, but I could not, so you boys are my boys. The Giant is not my son now, but you don’t get his feather.” Thus had spoken the Sun in the heavens. The feather was the power of the Giant given to him by his father, the Sun. “I will do the job first to get the feather,” and that is why the Sun wanted to help them. If he had not tried to kill the Twins, he would not have lost his son, the Giant. The Giant was like the Sun trying to kill the people on the earth.

 The Giant said, after seeing the boys to the west, “I saw something good dragging around. Which way shall I throw it?” (He was speaking of the Twins and of throwing his weapons.) The First Twin said the same thing the Giant had said, only back to the Giant. He said this four times to the Giant. The Giant became very angry because of this. The Giant was also decorated like the Twins with lightning, flint shoes, flint arrowheads on his body, and with four big stone clubs.

 The Giant began to swing his club and then threw it at them. The Holy Wind was a friend to the Twins. The Wind said, “Low” and this meant the club was coming at them low. The Twins jumped high and the club went underneath them. These two Twins learned to do battle that way. The Holy Wind taught them this which is called the Opposite Way. In the old days there was an Opposite Way taught to the men. If this had not happened, there would be no basic training now. Just like the early Navaho used to lift one leg up and hold shields white trying to protect themselves in preparation for war. This is when the Navaho learned to do this.

 The Second Twin picked the club up after it fell to the ground. The Giant threw another club and this time the Wind told the Twins, “High.” The Twins dodged and dropped down and the club went over the top of them. The next time the Wind said, “Down and to the right.” This time they went to the left and down as the third club went by them. The last time the Wind said, “Down and to the left,” and they went to the right and the club missed them again. Each time the Giant threw an axe the Second Twin picked it up until he had all four of the Giant’s axes. Now the Giant had no more weapons. Without these, he had no power.

 The Sun called to the boys, “The Giant has no more weapons—no more power. I will do the job first on the Giant.” He wanted to have the Giant’s feather which was made of flint. This went back to the father, the Sun, for he really owned it. At this