
Part of the Origin Myths of the Native American Navajo Indians

Monster Slayer and Yé'iitsoh
Ancient Petroglif of Monster
Slayer
Changing
Woman's [asdzáán nádleehé] twin sons [the twin war gods] had been born
for the purpose of ridding the earth of the Monsters who were killing all the
people. When the boys were grown, a matter of 12 days, they told their mother
that they wanted to visit their father. Changing
Woman [asdzáán nádleehé] tried to discourage them, not properly
identifying their father, and when that failed, telling them how dangerous this
trip would be, how many guardians there were at his house, how he was without
mercy. But they also got advice from others, such as the Arrow People, and
Wind's Child [nich'i
biyázhí] has been placed at their earfolds to advise them at all times.
They overcame many hazards on their trip to their father's house and were
given a white shell [yoo
gaii]
prayer [sodizin]
plume by dawn [hayíí
ká]
to use to protect themselves when they were in the Sun's [Jóhonaa'éí] house.
They also received advice from Father Sky, Hornworm, Water Sprinkler and Spider
Man. The twins then moved along the top of a rainbow [náás'íílid] to the
house of their father, the Sun [Jóhonaa'éí].
In the Sun's [Jóhonaa'éí] house, they underwent many trials to prove to
the Sun [Jóhonaa'éí] that they were indeed his sons. The white shell [yoo
gaii]
prayer [sodizin] plume was essential for their survival during these tests. But, in the end, the
Sun [Jóhonaa'éí] accepted them as his sons, clothed the older in turquoise [doot
'izhii]
and the younger in white shell [yoo
gaii],
and inquired of them why it was they came to see him. He opened doors in each of
the cardinal directions, doors of turquoise [doot
'izhii],
white shell [yoo
gaii],
abalone [diichi
i] and
jet [bááshzhinii], offering the boys jewels, livestock and game, plants and
beautiful flowers, rain and rainbows [náás'íílid], but Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] at their earfolds, advised them to answer each time, "We did not
come for that, my father; that is not our purpose in being here." Then
Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] told them to say, "We two came for the pair of zigzag lightning
that lie up there, and flint shoes, flint clubs, flint leggings, flint garmets,
flint headgear, flint wristguards, these we two came for. On account of the
monsters there is just about one person left."
The Sun [Jóhonaa'éí] answered them slowly, telling them that they are
brothers to the monsters they wish to kill, but that that is apparently no more.
He then placed agate in them, making them immune to injury and gave them the
garments and weapons they had asked for; the older got dark flint and the
younger blue flint garments. The Sun [Jóhonaa'éí] gave them prayersticks and
then told them that the younger of the two (Born for Water) would sit watching
these prayersticks while the older (Monster Slayer) went out to kill the
monsters. If these prayersticks began to burn, this would signal that his
brother was in danger and that he should go to him to help. He then took them to
the sky opening, just over Mt. Taylor, and told them where to find Big God [Yé'iitsoh].
Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] then took word over to Hesperus Peak, to Yellow Wind, to spread the
word that they were returning.
The Sun [Jóhonaa'éí] placed the older one at the tip of a zigzag
lightning and shot him to the center of Hot Spring, the home of Yé'iitsoh. He
placed the younger on on the tip of straight lightning and shot him to the
center of Hot Spring. There they waited for Yé'iitsoh to come for water, as he
did everyday, exactly at noon. Each day he drank all of the water.
When Yé'iitsoh arrived, he approached from each direction, a little
closer each time, inspecting the vicinity of the spring. He saw no one as the
twins were concealed by a dark cloud. After the fourth time he came all the way
to the spring and began to drink. When almost all of the water was gone, when Yé'iitsoh
was drinking for the fourth time, Wind's Childs [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] told them to step out and make themselves known. They left the dark
cloud and walked into plain sight where Yé'iitsoh saw them when he looked up.
Then they exchanged taunts. Yé'iitsoh threw flint clubs at them, missing each
time because Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] was whispering advice in their ears. The spinning club he threw cut a
path through the trees and stones, making a barren strip. Then Yé'iitsoh had no
more weapons.
At that point a big storm began and Yé'iitsoh was wrapped in zigzag
lightning. This lightning stripped off his flint armor. Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] told the twins that this was their time now and to shoot into the
sole of Yé'iitsoh's foot. Monster Slayer used one of his zigzag lightning
arrows to do this. He then shot a straight lightning into Yé'iitsoh's hip,
which brought Yé'iitsoh to his knees, but he rose. Monster Slayer then shot a
zigzag lightning into the small of Yé'iitsoh's back. He fell to his knees but
rose yet again. Then Monster Slayer shot a straight lightning arrow into the
back of Yé'iitsoh's head. This time Yé'iitsoh fell. At some distance away,
from a place called Open-Mouth Bear, blood came pouring out. Yé'iitsoh had
hidden his heart, nerves and breath there. The blood from the body and from the
distant place moved toward each other. Wind's Childs [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] pointed out that, should these streams meet, Yé'iitsoh would come to
life again/ Monster Slayer immediately drew a zigzag line with his club between
the streams, while giving his call, ha ha; Born for Water drew a
straight line between the streams with his club while giving his call, ha ha
ha. Then they repeated these actions and the blood stopped flowing there.
The earth trembled and sounds filled the sky. The blood turned to the lava seen
around Mt. Taylor today. Monster Slayer removed the scalp of Yé'iitsoh and the
two were overcome by the vapors from the body. They helped each other stagger
over to a juniper where they recovered by chewing some of the juniper.
When they returned home, after an absence of only four days, they needed
to convince their mother, Changing
Woman [asdzáán nádleehé] , that they had actually been successful in
killing Yé'iitsoh. She then danced outside with Yé'iitsoh's scalp between her
teeth.
Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh] and Monster Slayer [Naayéé
neizghání]
After killing Yé'iitsoh
the twins were eager to continue their mission to rid the world of the monsters
that were decimating the People. The next day they left to kill the Horned
Monster [Déélgééd] who lived in the Jemez Mountains. As a by-product of this
second success, chipmunk acquired his stripes when he was striped by the blood
of the dead monster.
Their third challenge was to kill the Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh]
who would swoop down and carry the People off to feed the nestlings on top of
Shiprock [Tsé Bit'a'í]. As the sun was coming up, Monster Slayer [Naayéé
neizghání] ran along the top of the Continental Divide with the colon of
Horned Monster [Déélgééd], filled with blood, around his neck and the small
intestines folded over his shoulders. He was seen by the Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé
nináhálééh] who began flying toward him. He sang out, saying that he was
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] and was coming to kill the monster.
As the Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh] flew over and past him,
Wind's Child [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] whispered in his ear to allow the monster to pick him up. Monster
Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] was carried to the top of Tsé Bit'a'í and thrown
against the sharp rock which was black with the blood of the People. Monster
Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] used his flint club to deflect his path and to
avoid harm. He used some of the blood with which he had filled the intestines
that he carried around his neck to create the appearance of great bleeding. The
two children of the Monster rushed out from their cave to get their food. Their
father flew off to find another victim. Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání]
arose and asked the two children of Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh]
what time their father usually returned. They replied that he returned at
exactly noon and that male rain began over at Mountain-which-lies-elevated (the
Lukachukai Mountains) (to the west) at about that time. He then asked when their
mother would return. They said that she would return when the Sun [Jóhonaa'éí]
began to drop a little and female rain began at Beautiful Mountain. Monster
Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] then built a lookout on the east side of Tsé
Bit'a'í from the rock there. Exactly at noon a dark cloud appeared at
Mountain-which-lies-elevated (the Lukachukai Mountains) from which zig-zag
lightning could be seen. Soon the Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh]
appeared with a young Diné man and threw him to the rock where he lay
motionless.
When Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh] landed on Tsé Bit'a'í [Ship
Rock], Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] shot it with a zig-zag lightning
arrow. The monster fell off and there was a tremendous earthquake. The children
of the monster began running about crying. Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání]
told them to be quiet and to go sit down, which they did. When the Sun [Jóhonaa'éí]
had dropped slightly, a dark mist appeared at Beautiful Mountain with many
rainbows. Shortly the female Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh] returned
with a young Diné female and threw her to the rock where she lay motionless.
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] then killed this monster as she was still
settling onto Tsé Bit'a'í. Another earthquake ensued.
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] then called the two children of the
monster out and told them he was going to kill them now. They pleaded with him,
four times. He told them that if they ever thought in wicked ways again, he
would certainly kill them. He then removed the tongue of the older child and
replaced it, reversed, saying, "From this day on be sure to remember the
things you two have promised about yourselves! In days to come, when earth
surface people come into being, they will make use of you." He motioned him
to the east, to the south, to the west and to the north, and then released him
to the east. The bird flew in the sunwise circle four times and called out sag
sag and then left. This bird became the golden eagle. Earth surface people
still, to this day, find his down, tail and wing feathers useful. Monster Slayer
[Naayéé neizghání] then took the younger one and also pulled out his tongue
and reversed it. He spoke to it saying, "As for you, you shall provide
prophecy for the earth surface people. Sometimes you shall speak the truth, and
sometimes you shall lie. It will be for men to decide what is true and what is
false. That way they shall learn from you how to tell the difference between
wisdom and folly." Then he motioned with him in the same way and then
released him in the direction of the La Plata Mountains to live in Big Rock
Cave. This bird became the owl. He called out "Uwuu! Uwuu! as he flew away.
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] then walked around the top of Tsé
Bit'a'í and saw no way to get down. He walked around four times in a circle and
found no hope. He began to worry, but Wind's Childs [ni
ch'i
biyázhí] spoke into his ear as usual, saying, "Don't be thinking like
that! You should realize that word has been sent out to places." Again
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] walked over to the edge and looked down.
Before he was certain that no one was there, but this time he saw a head
sticking out from behind a rock. This was Bat Woman [Jaa'abaní asdzáá]. He
said, "My grandmother, carry me down!" Four times he asked. She then
began to come up the rock toward Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání]. She
said, "You must not look at me, my grandchild! I am starting up there, you
must not look at a person, that must absolutely not be done!" She began to
approach along the rock, singing, "I am the one that clings, clings,
clings." She had carried her headbag up, suspended by strands of strong
spider web. She told Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] to climb into her
headbag and to close his eyes and not open them before they reached the ground.
Several times Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] opened his eyes and each
time he began falling rapidly. Bat Woman [Jaa'abaní asdzáá] scolded him
severely each time. When he reclosed his eyes, their slow descent resumed. In
this way, they reached the valley floor.
They were right beside a large ridge-like wingbone from one of the
monsters. Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] used his flint club to extract
the hearts of the two monsters. Then he cut out wing feathers to give to Bat
Woman [Jaa'abaní asdzáá] and some tail feathers from the center of the tail.
Her headbag was filled with the feathers. Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání]
warned her not to take the feathers by the yellow sunflower patch, but to stay
beside it, but she turned in there, into the forbidden sunflower patch. A flock
of small gray birds swarmed out of her basket, many kinds of small birds, When
they were gone, so were the wing feathers. In this way, the small birds were
created. "Those who wish to be obeyed should also obey!" cried Monster
Slayer [Naayéé neizghání]. Only the tail feathers were left, which she sat
down on. A jackrabbit came along and asked her what she was sitting on. She
replied, "Nothing my grandchild, it is just that I am sitting on something
pretty, I suppose." "Let me see them," he said. "Let me look
at them." When he repeated this four times, she finally gave them to him,
and he dashed away with them and stuck them to the side of his head where they
are now his ears.
Monster Slayer [Naayéé neizghání] then packed the hearts of the
monsters back to Huerfano Mountain [Dzi
ná'oodi
ii]
and told his mother Changing
Woman [asdzáán nádleehé]that he had killed Rock Monster Eagle [Tsé nináhálééh].
Again he had to convince her of his success by showing her the hearts. She again
danced outside with the hearts between her teeth to mock the monsters and to
rejoice.
This discussion is based on the River Junction Curly
version of the Blessingway story as found in Blessingway by Leland
C. Wyman © 1970 Leland C.
Wyman, University of Arizona Press; and Diné bahané by Paul
G. Zolbrod © 1984 Paul G.
Zolbrod, University of New Mexico Press.

Note:
Popular legend also has it that one of the monster's blood droplets spilled on the
ground and became [Arizona Chrome Pyrope] "Ant Hill Garnets" and the
carcasses of the monsters are now the rock formations that is now called
Monument Valley.
Click
Here for yet another rendition of the story of the Twin War Gods, Monster
Slayer and his brother Child Born of Water.