He denied any paternity and put the twins through a rigorous cycle of tests. This makes sense when considered as an offspring of the initiate as Changing Woman (32). Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1966. In some myths, Changing Woman is said to be born of the bundle (Farella 1984: 87). Moreover, she is credited with bestowing the Blessingway ceremony, the Kinaald, sheep, and corn upon humanity, thereby protecting not only Dine spiritual health, but basic subsistence as well.
The former is distinguished by adding an "i" to the end, making the category k'e' terms. Her running circuit is clockwise, from east to west, and so is a symbolic "pursuit of the sun" (Lincoln 1981: 20). Gill, Sam D. Here Changing Woman grew lonely and created the Navajo People from skin rubbed off various parts of her body. (Reichard 1950:93, 128, 137). Traditionally, the child is placed in a cradleboard such as the one First Man placed Monster Slayer in upon his birth. Return to The Sacred Mountains as a Hogan
University of New Mexico Press. If the Sun establishes the "standard" for paternity, it is one of primary disassociation and repeated distancing from his children. We went
Basic Books. The rite. Although the interior is always a contiguous whole, it is metaphorically divided by the four poles into the four cardinal directions: the south side is associated with things relating to subsistence, the West with social relations, the North for reverence,' and ceremonial objects, and the East is the door (Griffin-pierce 1992: 94). 1994Navajo Sacred Places. University of Chicago Press. Throughout this paper, Dine will refer to the Navajo people, and Diyin Dine to the Holy People. Foundation of Navajo Culture. Navajo Religion. (1984:30)
Every mother takes as her model Changing Woman and tries to treat her child as Changing Woman treated Monster Slayer. 5 There is no equivalent for males in Navajo culture. Sa'ah naaghaii, which translates to "the capacity of all life and living things to achieve immortality through reproduction," and bik'eh h-zh-, which "represents the peace and harmony essential to the perpetuation of all living species" (Witherspoon 1977:18) are at the heart of Dine ideology and Changing Woman is the deific substantiation of this ideology, which gets renewed with every season and every birth. The conception of the deities involved not only corn, but also water (in the fog) and the Sun. One myth, which Stevenson recorded, places Talking God and another deity as created by corn from Changing Woman and her sister:
If the flock is well-fed and cared for, then the social dynamics of the unit will similarly be harmonious and productive. She later appropriates the bundle for herself when she moves to the Sun's house in the West, where she creates the Dine and other objects of great importance to Dine livelihood (87). Woman and her Blessingway gave it to us. This relationship is partially defined by the father's distance from and assistance to his children, considerations manifested first in the Sun's first encounters with his children, the twins. Sheep are the most important livestock to the Navajo, in terms of raising and consuming.
4 Other sources report that Changing Woman only made four original clans. This makes sense when considered as an offspring of the initiate as Changing Woman (32). Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1966. Structural Anthropology. identification with Changing Woman, as most dramatically
Mortals, called Earth Surface People, emerged, and First Man and First Woman were formed from the ears of white and yellow corn. Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1976. She is at the top of the Dine pantheon as the deity most likely to help individuals in need.
8 I question Witherspoon here; in all other sources it is "Born to" the mother's clan. Now on the top of Gobernador Knob, I am here. The unit's main functions are to "provide its members with a place of residence and a source of subsistence" (72). The guests and betrothed sit in prescribed places in the hogan, and a number of rituals are performed. Throughout the singing, the chief goal is the
Even after this incident, however, the Sun could never really be close to his children. Purity and Danger. The symbolism of the color yellow has been studied by Newcomb, Fisher and Wheelwright, who assert that yellow is "the color of the female wind and of the ripened harvest and the soft autumnal rain" (qtd. As stated before, Dine refer to both sheep and corn as shim. Like the story of Changing Women and the Hero Twins, these stories dramatize a people's beliefs about how a individual altered the original world and social order to it culturally accepted norm. Princeton UP. The alkaan is highly symbolic. God, the yellow corn giving birth to another deity.' She is at the top of the Dine pantheon as the deity most likely to help individuals in need. A few steps remain after this, but most Dine consider the ceremony complete after the alkaan is distributed. produce things, the comforts of life, absence of worry,
502-505, Vol. The corn-husk cross on top of the cake is significant as well, for it provides "sacred orientation." with it away from themThe water which she sprinkled
Zolbrod, Paul G, 1984. One myth of Changing Woman's infancy insists that she was fed corn pollen to have the "power of regeneration" (17). She took the twins to the house of their grandmother, as instructed. Mankind. Dine bahane'. "It is in the corporate enterprise of the sheep herd that the Navajo child learns the meaning, necessity, and nature of group or communal life, and it is this experience, more than any other, that forms his social personality" (1975:73). 2 For a classification of ceremonies, consult Reichard 1950: 314-337. Haile provides one myth in which First Man is dismayed at his forgetfulness when he leaves his medicine in a lower world:
University of Arizona Press. with prayers and songs the next day, an all-night
One myth, which Stevenson recorded, places Talking God and another deity as created by corn from Changing Woman and her sister:
Throughout the singing, the chief goal is the
Mankind. "It is not just a remembrance or reenactment of mythical time, nor is the singer just 'identifying' with the gods. Mountain Soil Bundle:
for the Navajo definition of fatherhood. The clan system is vital to Dine kinship and social system; it not only mandates marriage possibilities, but also extends the circle of a Dine individual to include kin from several different approaches. While on one hand it similarly widens the circle of a Dine's obligations, that individual will be able to call upon the same relatives when needed. After the bundle is retrieved from the watery world, First Man reveals the items to the other diyinii: "When he opened it to show them there was a perfectly kernelled white shell corn ear, a perfectly kernelled turquoise ear of corn, a perfectly kernelled abalone ear of corn, and a perfectly kernelled jet ear of corn" (Wyman qtd. . Witherspoon says, "at best, a father is a helpful friend, a good teacher, and a strong disciplinarian; at worst, he is a potential enemy, an undependable friend, or an unreliable ally" (1975: 34).
After the bundle is retrieved from the watery world, First Man reveals the items to the other diyinii: "When he opened it to show them there was a perfectly kernelled white shell corn ear, a perfectly kernelled turquoise ear of corn, a perfectly kernelled abalone ear of corn, and a perfectly kernelled jet ear of corn" (Wyman qtd. Farella, John R., 1984.
Dine kinship extends far beyond the nuclear family. Sun's presence is implied, since he is believed to
Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1976. Therefore, the Navajo social structure is modeled on this view of the cosmos. Woman and her Blessingway gave it to us. Her Kinaald, or puberty ceremony, is common for young girls to emulate upon their first menses, and her gentle benevolence is held to be the example for all women to strive towards. According to Zolbrod, she made the heads of the original six clans. Works Cited:
A. Ortiz, ed. Witherspoon asserts that there are two levels of kinship: the "primary level," which includes the Mother-Child bond that Changing Woman epitomizes, and the husband-wife bond that Changing Woman and the Sun's relationship defines; and the "secondary level," which is less intense and includes the father-child relationship and the sibling-sibling relationship (19875: 35).
Earth is My Mother, Sky Is My Father;: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting.
6 For a longer discussion of hogans, please see page
In fact, they reflect Dine kinship and social relationships (92). Routledge Books. Reichard, Gladys A, 1950. Throughout the singing, the chief goal is the
Furthermore, objects and individuals have proscribed placement within the hogan as well. A last piece remains in the pit as a sacrifice to the earth (Lincoln 1981: 24). For example, the vital part of the Navajo wedding ceremony consists of the couple eating corn meal together; the white corn meal is male, the yellow is female, and corn pollen sprinkled on both unifies it (Witherspoon 1975: 17). H-zho, the state of being in beauty and balance, exists among related things; it is impossible to have h-zh- between "unrelated entities" (Witherspoon 1977: 88). 3 In Zolbrod's version, White Shell Woman and Changing Woman are sisters; some versions call her White Shell Woman instead of Changing Woman, other sources acknowledge that they are different names for the same deity. " Listening for a Change. Griffin-Pierce, Trudy, 1992. conceived, the white corn giving birth to Talking
On the mountainside, Changing Woman and her sister were lonely and felt strange attractions toward different things. Sa'ah naaghaii, which translates to "the capacity of all life and living things to achieve immortality through reproduction," and bik'eh h-zh-, which "represents the peace and harmony essential to the perpetuation of all living species" (Witherspoon 1977:18) are at the heart of Dine ideology and Changing Woman is the deific substantiation of this ideology, which gets renewed with every season and every birth. K'e terms, referring to "forms of social harmony and order that are based upon affective action," are used in Dine society to address everyone (88). For more information, consult Witherspoon 1975:40. Therefore, the Sun originally tried to deny and denounce his children, but after they made him proud by withstanding his inhuman trials, he gave them assistance. He points out, however, that the initiate is the one participant in the Kinaald who does not consume the alkaan and experience its "social totality." Basic Books. Clans also define the larger circle of an individual's relatives, which is necessary for identifying responsibility in ceremonial cooperation (Kluckhohn 1946: 112). She is associated with sacred items that represent speech and thought, both of which are in a medicine bundle that Changing Woman inherits. 4 Other sources report that Changing Woman only made four original clans. 2 For a classification of ceremonies, consult Reichard 1950: 314-337. NCC Press. Right on the white shell spread I am here. Lincoln states about the singing:
In the Dine creation story, Changing Woman, from the moment of her birth to her retirement to the Sun's house in the West, is equated with a benevolent fertility integral to the continuation of Dine culture. Matthews, Washington. The door of a hogan always faces the east, and inhabitants always walk clockwise around the fire which occupies its center. The corn-husk cross on top of the cake is significant as well, for it provides "sacred orientation." This changed into two adult males and two females as well, who eventually became T- d'ch''''nii, or the Bitter Water Clan. Dine kinship extends far beyond the nuclear family. Routledge Books. The Sun and his associated symbols and
There are over sixty clans today (Kluckhohn 1946: 111). When Changing Woman placed an ear of
First Man's bundle is also said to contain soil from each of the four sacred mountains ringing the reservation. and corn pollen are also the food of diyinni, and these
K'e' terms, or the Dine descent system, contains six large categories: the mother's clan, father's clan, born for mother's clan8, born for father's clan, clan for which mother is born, and the clan for which father is born (95). Zolbrod, Paul G, 1984. I myself will control male rain. Aronilth, Wilson, 1991. Members of subsistence residential units will share any slaughtered sheep with each other, thereby reaffirming their unity as a group and their individual commitment to the group. A new hogan is constructed in which the wedding takes place and where the newlyweds will retire after the ceremony. Kluckhohn and Leighton report that there are "exceedingly few violations of these prohibitions," for "Navahos treat incest of this sort and witchcraft as the most repulsive of crimes" (1946:112). There are over sixty clans today (Kluckhohn 1946: 111). identification with Changing Woman, as most dramatically
She is described in terms of fertility and reproduction; by creating mankind from her own epidermis, and subsequently sustaining them through Earth's bounty, she is the First, and pre-emanate Mother. University of Chicago Press. Harvard UP. She grows into an old woman in winter, but by spring she becomes a young woman again. Each tale begins with the goddesses name, place of origin, and . The guests and betrothed sit in prescribed places in the hogan, and a number of rituals are performed. ", A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 26 When the twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water needed help to say the monsters, they approached the Sun, their father, and asked for his aid. Dine children address their father as an in-law, or shaadaani. None of these variations seems to influence the real substance of the story dramatically. Then it is baked in a pit, which is symbolic of a woman's womb (earth=woman). The Main Stalk: A Synthesis of Navajo Philosophy. 1The term "Dine" can be subdivided into the Diyin Dine, or Holy People, and the nihok' dine'e, or earth surface people (Witherspoon 1977:96). The alkaan is highly symbolic. It can
With his brother, Xbalanque, he rids the pre-human world of all manner of villainous gods, including Seven Macaw, Zipacna, One read analysis of Hunahpu. Witherspoon asserts that the mother-child bond is the closest in Navajo kinship: "Mother and child are bound together by the most intense, the most diffuse, and the most enduring solidarity to be found in Navajo culture" (1975: 15). According to Zolbrod, she made the heads of the original six clans. In this section their symbolic implications will be explored in the larger framework of Dine subsistence and economics. This reveals that she is beyond the sphere of maternal influence, and permeates disparate realms of the Dine culture. thing missing, we have come up." Although the interior is always a contiguous whole, it is metaphorically divided by the four poles into the four cardinal directions: the south side is associated with things relating to subsistence, the West with social relations, the North for reverence,' and ceremonial objects, and the East is the door (Griffin-pierce 1992: 94). For example, Changing Woman gives protection from evil beings; human mothers provide affection and nurturing; mountain soil bundles give protection from danger; sheep herding metaphorically gives security from starvation and poverty, and the corn field stands for the fecundity of motherhood (1977:94). From this the soil soaked spot herbs grew which
(Farella 1984: 90)
Return to The Sacred Mountains as a Hogan
-Navajo. He says that the bundle, which began with First Man before emergence, provides "temporal and spatial continuity for the Navajo" (Farella 1984: 69). the amniotic fluidsoaked into the soil right there. Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1966. This she rubbed (on
The door of a hogan always faces the east, and inhabitants always walk clockwise around the fire which occupies its center. 1977The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life. rest periodically on mountain tops, which figure
Changing Woman, after the earth had been made safe for humans, talked long and earnestly with her older son and finally dispatched him to the permanent flint home she and his father had prepared for him. None of these variations seems to influence the real substance of the story dramatically. Unless it is cultivated, it cannot survive. God, the yellow corn giving birth to another deity.' None of these variations seems to influence the real substance of the story dramatically. In contemporary life, hogans are usually used for ceremonies, and the Navajo living space is in a house or trailer close by. Furthermore, objects and individuals have proscribed placement within the hogan as well. Therefore, the soil in the bundle, wet with dew, gives the bundle fecundity. 7 Please see Witherspoon's chart on color in Appendix A. The clan system is vital to Dine kinship and social system; it not only mandates marriage possibilities, but also extends the circle of a Dine individual to include kin from several different approaches. Lincoln states about the singing:
(Farella 1984: 90)
She is also the benevolent being who creates the first Navajo of the four original clans and corn and is therefore known for bringing fertility and regeneration into the world. Witherspoon, Gary, 1975. her hands and then) on the white shell, the turquoise,
This relationship is partially defined by the father's distance from and assistance to his children, considerations manifested first in the Sun's first encounters with his children, the twins. University Libraries, MSC05 3020 Purity and Danger. Sun's presence is implied, since he is believed to
Mankind. Traditionally, the child is placed in a cradleboard such as the one First Man placed Monster Slayer in upon his birth. Man, of course,
There are over sixty clans today (Kluckhohn 1946: 111). Clans regulate marriage; no two individuals who share the same "matrilineal descent identity" should marry. At the metaphysical level, Changing Woman is the alleged product of the union between Sa'ah Naaghaii (First Boy) who represents thought, and Bik'eh H-zh- (First Girl) who represents speech (Witherspoon 1977: 17). Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1976. Farella believes that h-zh--j' is even more vital than Kluckhohn and Leighton depict because it creates, not just reiterates. University of Michigan Press. 3 In Zolbrod's version, White Shell Woman and Changing Woman are sisters; some versions call her White Shell Woman instead of Changing Woman, other sources acknowledge that they are different names for the same deity. rest periodically on mountain tops, which figure
4 Other sources report that Changing Woman only made four original clans. away without the thing, which had made things firm,
(1975: 33). John Farella asserts that the sacred bundle is more than just a provider of luxuries. Foundation of Navajo Culture. The Kinaald puts the Navajo girl on the path to adulthood, which culminates in the wedding ceremony. Reichard, Gladys A, 1950. Navajo Kinship and Marriage. Symbolism of Sheep:
The latter term can be further divided into the Dine, the Navajo, and the ana'', or non-Navajos. The Sacred Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life. When they passed all his grueling tests, with Nilch'i the Wind's aid, he was surprised and proud, and gave them gifts to help overcome the monsters (Zolbrod 1984: 212). These three scholars further assert that corn pollen, which is also yellow, is the "element which brings peace and plenty, long life, and security" (17). of which the earth, the sky were setting firm. University of New Mexico Press. Although this next passage is not present in Zolbrod's text, it is crucial to defining Changing Woman's identity. Reichard records a myth in which Talking God gives corn to Whiteshell Woman and her sister Turquoise woman, saying, "There is no better thing than this in the world, for it is the gift of life." Lincoln states about the singing: I am here, I am White Shell Woman, I am here. Levi-Strauss, Claude, 1966. This is "a practice based upon the belief that at the time of initiation a girl's body becomes soft again, as it was at birth, and thus she is susceptible to being literally re-formed by the efforts of those around her" (Lincoln 1981: 20).
For most of his day, he is coursing in the sky, which is why Changing Woman moves to the West so she can be with him at night. Witherspoon quotes Wyman's assessment of the bundle's importance:
Locke, Raymond Friday, 1992. Witherspoon says, "at best, a father is a helpful friend, a good teacher, and a strong disciplinarian; at worst, he is a potential enemy, an undependable friend, or an unreliable ally" (1975: 34). She is at the top of the Dine pantheon as the deity most likely to help individuals in need. Yellow corn is associated with females, a fact which is demonstrated in several ceremonies. The soil is also the earth's flesh" (Farella 1984: 182). However, livestock is always privately owned, and until recently, there was no concept of joint ownership at all between wife and husband (17-18).
University of Chicago Press. Changing Woman lives by herself in a house floating on the western waters . It is important to remember that no one is forced to include his or her sheep in the flock--it is done on an independent voluntary basis, which reinforces the significance of the inclusion. This reveals that she is beyond the sphere of maternal influence, and permeates disparate realms of the Dine culture. Indian Culture and Research Journal 25 (3):1-26. Clans regulate marriage; no two individuals who share the same "matrilineal descent identity" should marry. Sun establishes the `` standard '' for paternity, it is `` born to '' the 's! The fire which occupies its center h-zh -- j ' is even more vital Kluckhohn... Other sources report that Changing Woman only made four original clans east and..., sources of life, hogans are usually used for ceremonies, consult Reichard:! Zolbrod 's text, it is crucial to defining Changing Woman 's identity, making the category k ' '! 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