The Finding of Changing Woman

Before reading

This story is part of the Diné origin story and is summarised here at the level of published sources, chiefly Zolbrod's Diné bahaneʼ and Matthews's Navaho Legends, which tell it differently. Changing Woman is among the most revered of the Holy People, and her story is connected with the Blessingway and the Kinaaldá, ceremonies that this site does not describe. Many Diné families teach that origin stories are told in winter.

A world in danger

After the emergence into the Glittering World, the people are threatened by the naayééʼ, the monsters that were born, in many tellings, as a consequence of the separation of women and men in the lower worlds. The monsters kill and devour people until only a few are left. The world needs a new beginning.

On Chʼóolʼį́ʼí

In many tellings, including Zolbrod's, First Man sees a dark cloud resting on the top of Chʼóolʼį́ʼí, the mountain known in English as Gobernador Knob, in what is now northern New Mexico, and hears the sound of a baby crying. He climbs up in the rain and, where he heard the crying, finds a small turquoise figure of a girl. The Holy People bring the figure to life as an infant girl, and First Man and First Woman raise her, in some tellings with the help and guidance of Talking God and other Holy People, who give instructions for her care.

Growing up

The girl grows with extraordinary speed, reaching womanhood in a matter of days rather than years. When she comes of age, a ceremony is held for her: the first Kinaaldá, the puberty ceremony that Diné girls still undergo today, modelled on hers. This site notes the ceremony's origin in her story but does not describe it.

Changing Woman

The young woman becomes Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé, Changing Woman, so named because she changes: she grows old with the winter and young again with the spring, and so embodies the renewal of life and the seasons. In Matthews's version her origin and her companionship with White Shell Woman are told differently, and this site presents both versions without choosing.

The Sun

As a young woman, Changing Woman goes out alone, and in many tellings she lies in the sun, or the Sun comes to her, and she conceives. In Matthews's version White Shell Woman, alone at a waterfall, conceives by the water at the same time. Their sons, the Hero Twins, will be born in a few days and grow with the same astonishing speed, to become the ones who will rid the world of the monsters.

Why this story matters

Changing Woman's finding marks the turning point of the origin story, from a world overrun by monsters to one that can be renewed. Her Kinaaldá links every Diné girl's coming of age to hers, and her later creation of the clans links every Diné person to her. She is often described as the embodiment of the earth's renewal and of hózhó.