Ni’ hodisxǫs - The fifth world

Comes from Diné Bahane'

The people climbed up through the reed and arrived in the next world, but it was too hot and shiny because everything was too close together. So the first man and the first woman created four groups of mountains, very far apart from each other, to distribute the light and heat to preserve life. Games were created. The coyote played with them and beat them the first game, so he created death. The first to die was one of nadlééh (changing twins, no woman no man). The brave one who went to find him in the world below (the fourth world) became the first medicine man, I think.

The women had learned to enjoy themselves. The woman who pleasured herself with an antelope horn gave rise to Dééłgéeł (the horned monster). The woman who pleasured herself with an eagle feather gave rise to Tsé Nináhálee (the eagle monster). The woman who pleasured herself with a stone gave rise to Tsé da Hodzíláłi (the monster who kicks people off cliffs). The woman who pleasured herself with a cactus gave rise to Bináá’ Yée’ Aghání (the monster who kills with its eyes), who are twins. All of them were located on the East.

Déélǵéed / Tsé nináháléé 

     

 Tsé da hodziłáłi / Bináá’ yéé’ aghání 

 

But then a guy arrived who won everything — Nááhwiiłbįįhí — and the Kis’áanii began to play games with him, and they lost everything. So they gathered with the gods to organize a way to trick the one who always wins. Darkness and the wind tried to trick him, but they were tricked instead. The great serpent, the muskrat (or prairie dog or some kind of mole), the bat, and the woodpecker offered to deceive him. The great serpent beat him in the hula-hoop game. The muskrat beat him in the game of pushing the wood. The woodpecker beat him in the ball game. The bat beat him in the game of the 13 tokens.

Tł’iistosh (Great Sneak) in na’azhǫǫzh (hula hoop). Chahałheeł (darkness) and Niłch’i (air), with jaa’baní (bat) in tsidił táá’ts’áadah (13 chips).

Tsį́į́łkoatii (woodpecker) in jooł (ball). Na’azíí (gopher) in tsin bétsił (pushing wood).

Then the one who wins everything was cast out to the edge of the stars, where Begochídí (the one who grabs women’s breasts) received him, and finally allowed him to return to the earth with another people to rule — and these are the people wandering around, or Naakáí, the Mexicans.

I wrote to the best of my knowledge based on the reading of:

 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