Navajo Creation Myth

The Navajo’s were “The Lords of the Earth”. In this myth, The People emerged from three underworlds, creating a Fourth World where we all now live today. This Fourth World has said to originated in present day Southwest North America, in the state of New Mexico.

This world was said to be created by magical reed. The First People were not like the people of today, they were animals, insects, or masked spirits. The First Man and Women were formed from the First World.
After the first mountains were placed, the Holy People put the sun and the moon and all the stars up in the sky.

The Holy People continued to make their world grow and put all the little bits and pieces together, when the Evil Monsters appeared and began killing new Earth people. As a savior, The Ever Changing Woman was born in New Mexico. As the Woman grew up she bore two sons, The Children of The Water. The twins were given lightning bolts as a gift by The Sun to fight of all The Evil Monsters. When they were hit with lightning, they were instantly turned to stone.
With all the monsters dead, The Holy People made four original clans. The Chranging Woman ended up making four clans out of the flakes of her skin. They were known as the Near Water People, Mud People, Salt Water People, and Bitter Water People. When these clans heard about humans to the east, they wanted to be friendly and go meet them.

Symbolism:

I personally think that The Evil Monsters represent obsticals in life and disease. I think this because as soon as they addressed that The Evil Monsters had to go because it was making their life more difficult, they found a solution to get rid of them so that the Navajo could do what they wanted to without being afraid. And that you may get a few little Evil Monsters in your life here and there and you just have to find a way to fix the problem and what makes you happy.
I think that the clans represent different classes of people. They are all People, just with a few differences and similarities just like the people in our world today. Even back then they realized that people were different and not everyone was the same. Just like us, the clans want to meet other people and the differences in the clans might influence the Indians to be slightly different than the rest, or in a certain clan.

The Lords represent the weather and nature, because they would control how beautiful the day was going to be.

And The Changing Women represents your conscience and your confidence. It has the ability to want too meet other clans, like following your conscience would, “guide” you threw the obstiticals you overcome in life.

Compare & Contrast

Similarities
* Both of these myths are about how Indians thought the world was created threw their perspective about where they lived and how their culture & lifestyle was. * Both of the settings are in Southwest North America * Both of these stories have the broad idea that Earth wasn’t just put here, it was created for various reasons from bunches of different little parts that make it up. * Both Native American myths believe that a higher power created our world.

Differences
* This myth is different from “The World On The Turtles Back” by being specifically passed down through the Navajo tribe. * In TWOTTB, there are two sons that represent the Gods. In the Navajo myth is more descriptive in their current Gods that they worship were created.