Changing Woman (Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé) vs First Man (Áłtsé Hastiin)

The most beloved of the Diné Holy People, 'Woman who changes', found as an infant on Chʼóolʼį́ʼí, mother of the Hero Twins by the Sun, and creator of the first Diné clans; she grows old and young again with the seasons.

Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé, Changing Woman, is often described as the most beloved and benevolent of the Diné Holy People. Her name refers to her renewal: she grows old in winter and becomes young again in spring, in the cycle of the seasons and of life itself. She is associated with the earth, with growth, and with the Blessingway, the ceremony at the heart of Diné religion, which this site does not describe.

One of the first beings of the lower worlds, who with First Woman leads the people through the emergence, helps order the world above, and in many tellings finds the infant Changing Woman.

Áłtsé Hastiin, First Man, is formed in the lower worlds, in many tellings together with First Woman, and he is a leader of the beings who journey upward through successive worlds into this one, the Glittering World. Tellings differ on the number and colours of the worlds and on how First Man and First Woman come into being.