Diné (Navajo) TraditionHoly Person
The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)
Jóhonaaʼéí(Jóhonaaʼéí)
Also known as Tsóhanoai (Matthews's spelling), Sun Bearer, the Sun
- the sun
- fatherhood of the Hero Twins
- trial and recognition
The Sun, who carries the sun across the sky, father of Monster Slayer by Changing Woman; he tests the twins harshly before recognising them as his sons and giving them lightning weapons.
About The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)
The one who carries the sun
Jóhonaaʼéí is the Sun, often described in English as the Sun Bearer because he carries the sun across the sky each day. He lives in a house in the east, described in Matthews's version as made of turquoise, from which he sets out each morning.
Father of the twins
By Changing Woman he is the father of Monster Slayer, and in many tellings of Born for Water too. When the twins arrive at his house, he is not pleased: his wife asks him whose children these are, and he tests the boys severely, throwing them against spikes, shutting them in an overheated sweat house, and offering them poisoned tobacco. Spider Woman's gifts and the help of others protect them, and at last he acknowledges them as his sons.
Gifts and a price
The Sun gives the twins armour of flint and weapons, including arrows of lightning, to destroy the monsters, and himself strikes the first blow against Yéʼiitsoh, who in some tellings is also his son. Later, in widely published tellings, he asks Changing Woman to live with him in the west, and builds her a house there on the water.
Worship and cult
Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)
The Holy People are part of a living religion. Ceremonies associated with them, including the Blessingway (Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí) and the chantways conducted by hataałii (ceremonial practitioners), are not described on this site, and sandpaintings are not reproduced, because they are sacred and made for healing within ceremony. Many Diné families teach that the origin stories in which the Holy People appear should be told only in winter, after the first frost and before the first thunder of spring.
Family
The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)'s family at a glance
- Who are The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)'s children?
- Children of The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí) recorded in the atlas: Monster Slayer (Naayééʼ Neizghání).
- Who were The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)'s spouses and consorts?
- Spouses and consorts of The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí) recorded in the atlas: Changing Woman (Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé).
In the atlas
Where The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí) appears
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Washington Matthews, Navaho Legends
Appears in
Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.
Tsóhanoai, the Sun Bearer, the twins' father (origin legend, the twins' journey)
Further reading
The twins at the Sun's house
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.
Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.
Genealogy
Family tree
The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)'s parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.