Source recordTranslation
Navaho Legends
Washington Matthews · 1897 · Diné bizaad (Navajo), English translation
Translation
Navaho Legends
Washington Matthews
Matthews's translation of the Diné origin story and related narratives, recorded in the 1880s from Diné ceremonial practitioners. A foundational but outsider source, in an outdated orthography (Estsánatlehi, Nayénĕzgani, Tóbadzĭstsíni). Accounts in it differ from later tellings, for example on the mothers of the Hero Twins.
About this work
Matthews's translation of the Diné origin story and related narratives, recorded in the 1880s from Diné ceremonial practitioners. A foundational but outsider source, in an outdated orthography (Estsánatlehi, Nayénĕzgani, Tóbadzĭstsíni). Accounts in it differ from later tellings, for example on the mothers of the Hero Twins.
Where to start
Read the introduction on orthography and sources first; pair with Diné-authored works.
Figures in the text
Heroes and divinities who feature prominently, with where they appear.
Deities and immortals
Changing Woman (Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé)origin legend, the war godsEstsánatlehi, mother of Monster Slayer
White Shell Woman (Yoołgaii Asdzą́ą́)origin legendYolkaí Estsán, mother of Born for Water in this version
Monster Slayer (Naayééʼ Neizghání)origin legend, the war godsNayénĕzgani, slayer of the monsters
Born for Water (Tóbájíshchíní)origin legend, the war godsTóbadzĭstsíni, his brother
The Sun Bearer (Jóhonaaʼéí)origin legend, the twins' journeyTsóhanoai, the Sun Bearer, the twins' father
Spider Woman (Naʼashjéʼiiʼ Asdzą́ą́)origin legend, the twins' journeyhelps the twins on their journey
First Man (Áłtsé Hastiin)origin legendAtsé Hastín, leader in the lower worlds
First Woman (Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́)origin legendAtsé Estsán
Coyote (Máʼii)origin legendtroublemaker in the lower worlds
Key scenes
Turning points of the work, in reading order.
The Flood of the Lower World
Water rises through the lower world and the people escape upward through a great reed.
The Twins at the Sun's House
The twins reach their father's house, survive his tests with Spider Woman's help, and receive weapons of lightning.
Monsters Spared
Monster Slayer spares Old Age, Cold, Poverty, and Hunger when each explains its place in life.
Stories drawn from it
Retellings in the atlas that quote or cite this work.
The Emergence Through the Lower WorldscreationIn the Diné origin story, beings journey upward through a series of lower worlds, leaving each because of wrongdoing or disaster, until, fleeing a flood caused by Coyote's theft of the Water Monster's child, they emerge through a reed into this, the Glittering World.
The Finding of Changing WomanoriginIn many tellings, First Man finds an infant girl on Chʼóolʼį́ʼí amid dark cloud and rain; raised by First Man and First Woman, she grows swiftly to womanhood, and her puberty ceremony becomes the first Kinaaldá.
The Hero Twins' Journey to Their FatherheroThe twin sons of Changing Woman set out to find their father, the Sun; guided by Spider Woman, they pass through deadly places, survive the Sun's tests, and return with armour of flint and arrows of lightning.
Monster Slayer and the MonstersheroAfter Yéʼiitsoh, Monster Slayer destroys the other monsters that prey on the people, from the horned Déélgééd to the monster eagles of Shiprock, but spares Old Age, Cold, Poverty, and Hunger when each explains why the world needs it.
Changing Woman Goes West and Makes the ClansoriginWith the monsters gone, Changing Woman goes to live in the west in a house the Sun built for her on the water; there she makes the first Diné clans from her own skin and sends them east to the land between the sacred mountains.
About this record
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.
Dates and authorship follow standard scholarly references; for many ancient works both are approximate or disputed.