There are four worlds beneath our world. Those are linked to
one another by a hole that goes through the middle of all worlds. We live in
the fifth world according to some versions. The fourth world is where the spirits of the decease go. The
sky of one world is the seat of the above world. Haga click aquí para la versión en español.
Each world is more complex than the previous world, but they
mirror one another. All of them have four directions: e’e’aah (=West),
nóhookǫs (=North), ha’a’aah (=East), and shádi’ ááh (=South). The West is
up on the paper or up our minds when we envision the territory. The place where
the Sun goes down, probably where the migration came from (Alaska), and they traveled Southeast following the Sun, just like European explores marked their own place of origins up in the paper.
In English we say first world, second world, third world,
and fourth world. In Diné bizaad, you can count through colors. The first
world is the dark world or ni’ nodiłhił. The second world is the blue world or
ni’ hodotł’izh. The third world is the yellow world or ni’ hatsooí. The fourth
world is the red world, so it may be ni’ hołchí, but I haven't confirmed that. Our world is ni’ hodisxǫs or the glittering world.
The sky has four colors in each world: łitsoí=yellow, dootł’izh=blue,
lígai=white, and black=łizhin. Sunrise and sunset shows us all colors at the
same time, and the sizes of colors progress through the day. The same way, sky
colors progressed through worlds. In today’s world, white and blue are the
largest on the sky.
Niłch’í dine’é=people of the air were the first people in
the worlds. They had the shape of insects. They were called to have children
all around. We don’t understand them. They seem too many small things flipping around, because their call is to bring life. That’s
why they were seeking romantic relationships wherever they went.
Ni’
hodiłhił - Dark World
In the dark world all colors exist, yet no one really stands out. Chief
Cháł=toad dominated the West. At the North there was ii’ní (thunder) and
reed=lókʼaaʼ. At the East there was dą́ą́=food or the essence of naadą́ą́=corn. At the South there was táłtłʼááh álééh (blue
heron). Four rivers flowed through the middle. Big tó=water was sitting far
beyond land. The reed that someone may despise as weed was sacred.
The world was quite simple, but the insects had a call. They
went all around spreading love and seeking to have children. This didn’t like Chief
Ch'áł. Waters raised all around and flooded the world. Insects survived because
they were light and they could fly. They found a way up until they saw a hole.
A blue-headed person called them in.
Ni’ hodotł’izh - the blue world
The second world was blue, ni’ hodotł’izh. In this world
there lived the swallow people. Swallow people lived in blue houses. They
didn’t speak to nich’í dine’é. The insect people sent the grasshopper and the
locust to see if there was something in the world. And there was nothing. Then
the insect people asked the swallow people if there was something in the world.
And they say it was nothing. Lesson for our lives: always ask. Never let a doubt call you into danger. But if a doubt calls you, and you respond, embrace the adventure.
The swallow people welcome the insect people. They lived
together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the swallow
people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded
the place. But the insect people could fly. They found a way up until they saw
a hole. A yellow-headed person called them in.
Ni’ hatsooí - The yellow world
The second world was blue, ni’ hatsooí. In this world there
lived the yellow people. Yellow people lived in yellow houses. They didn’t
speak to nich’í dine’é. The insect people sent the grasshopper and the locust
to see if there was something in the world. And there was nothing. Then the
insect people asked the yellow people if there was something in the world. And
the yellow people say it was nothing. "Ok" said the insect people.
The yellow people welcome the insect people. They lived
together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the yellow
people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded
the place. But the insect people could fly. They followed a red smoke, and they
found a way up until they saw a hole. They entered a red world. I took the liberty do call it ni' hołchí, but this needs to be confirmed.
Ni’ hołchí - El mundo rojo - The red world
The swallow people welcome the insect people. They lived
together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the swallow
people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded
the place. But the insect people could fly. They found a way up until they saw
a hole. A yellow-headed person called them in. The article in Wikipedia skips this world, and probably it's tradition to jump right into the glittering world.
Four red rivers crossed the place from all cardinal points. There lived the people with upright houses or the k’isáani (the Pueblos). But bits’íí’ łigai, the white body, whispered from the East, and the insect people follow. And they were called to clean themselves. Then bits’íí’ łigai, the speaking God made first woman=áłtsé asdzá and áłtsé hastiin=first man out of corn. They made the sun and the stars. They even made all necessary stuff to have children.
These were animals of the fourth world: nééshjaal = owl, tazhí = turkey, bį́į́h = deer, jádí = antelope, dlǫ́ʼii = weasel, nahashch’id = badger, and atseełtsoi = yellow eagle. And so for other reasons more complicated than having children, a new wave flooded the place. They were too heavy to fly up, but a lók’aa’ provided shelter. They lived inside the shelter for 24 days, I think.
Meanwhile, I think the insect people flied up the hole and arrived safe to the bright world niʼ hodisxǫs, full of colors, waiting ahead, but this is something I only think. They waved good bye to the human diné and said: "See you later!". And walked around spreading corn pollen around the world. They didn’t have trouble coming in the bright world because they were lighter.
The fifth world may be the glittering world or ni’ hodisxǫs, where the monsters will be born. We’re still fighting them. And perhaps there’s another four-world structure above our heads, which we haven’t discovered. Read the second part to this story here.
Oral tradition may differ from source to source. This source talks about five worlds. It's not that the others are wrong. Probably the people stayed in the reed and went out once everything was dried, then the red world turned into a fifth glittering world. The reason I think the fifth world also makes sense is when dead is created. The first people who die come back to the fourth world, as the third world is empty to hold anyone. Also the presence of red completes with the existing of the Navajo primary colors.
Based on:
Diné Bahané’: The Navajo Creation Story
Paul Zolbrod (University of New Mexico, 1984)
Drawings by me and my daughter
Shiché’é dóó shí nihinaashch’ą́ą́
