Witch (Navajo)
Encyclopedia
There are a number of beliefs in traditional Navajo
culture relating to practices which, in English, are all referred to as 'witchcraft
.' In the Navajo language
, they are actually each referred to distinctly, and are regarded as separate, albeit related, phenomena.
The practices lumped together in the category 'witchcraft' are very similar, at least in their externals, to the rituals practiced on the 'good side' of Navajo tradition, the ceremonials or 'sings'. The difference, however, is that while the good sings are to heal or bring luck, the bad ones are intended to hurt and curse. Similarly, all kinds of witches are associated with transgression of taboos and societal standards, especially those relating to family and the dead.
’Ánt’įįhnii usually learn their art from a parent or grandparent, but sometimes from a spouse. Most witches are male; it is sometimes thought that the only women who become witches are old and childless. The initiation into the Witchery Way involves murdering a close relative, especially a sibling; other crimes associated with it are necrophilia, grave-robbing, and incest. Being suspected of any of these is tantamount to also being a witch, and suspected witches are automatically suspected of the other crimes, as well.
The method of Witchery Way centers around powdered corpses, known as ’áńt’į "corpse poison," (literally, Witchery or Harming). The best sources for ’áńt’į are the corpses of children, especially twins; the best body parts for it are the fingerprints and the bones of the back of the skull. ’Áńt’į is said to look like the corn pollen used in blessing ceremonials. However, it is used to curse, not to bless.
The effect of the ’áńt’į is a curse-disease, usually indicated by an immediate reaction to administration of the poison, like fainting, swelling of the tongue, or lockjaw. Sometimes, however, the victims simply wastes away as from a normal disease. Because, however, it is actually caused by a witch, medicine or the usual disease ceremonials will not be effective.
These witches are also associated with dark ceremonials of their own, where they plan and perform their spells and initiations. The witches gather in a cave or other secluded spot, called the ’áńt’įbáhoołan, usually going in animal form (see below). Once there, they resume their human form, naked except for masks, jewelry, and paint like that used in normal ceremonies. They sit in a circle, surrounded by their supply of corpse-flesh and severed heads, and perform their ceremonies, essentially a corrupted form of a good sing (rather like the European idea of the Black Mass
). As at a regular ceremonial, they sing and create sand-paintings, except that witches' paintings use ash, not sand. Other activities at the "witches' sing" include necrophilia and cannibalism.
and curse
s. Some practitioners are said to have a "power", like sun, lightning, snakes, etc., that helps; besides humans, some animals, especially dogs, are said to use ’iińzhįįd, as are whirlwinds. Though people are the most typical targets, animals, crops, automobiles, and other property are sometimes cursed, as well.
The first step in bewitching someone this way is obtaining an article of clothing or a piece of the body, like hair, fingernails, or excrement. The item is then buried with corpse flesh, in a grave, or under a tree that has been struck by lightning, and then an incantation is said or sung—frequently a benevolent prayer backwards, as in European tradition. The Béésh ńghiz or Hard Flint song is sometimes used, as is a prayer called "Praying a person down into the ground". Also used are the prayers "The Two Came to Their Father" (Hataa’ baazhná’ázhi), relating to the mythical Hero Twins, and the "It became dead!"(Ni’iisįįd), said to have been composed by First Man. Either the time between the spellcasting and the victim's death is specified in the chant, or the victim dies in four days.
Other techniques are used, too. When the target is a pregnant woman, the body of a horned toad is cut open, and the personal effect is placed inside the cavity, and then the chant is said. As in other witchcraft traditions, walking around the victim's house or stepping over him while he sleeps can inflict an ’iińzhįįd curse. Unique to the Navajo, however, an ’iikááh bee’onozhin or "Curse-sandpainting" is also used, as at the Witches' Sing. Unlike there, though, the ’iikááh bee’onozhin associated with ’iińzhįįd is created in solitude, and always to the north (the direction of evil) of a hogan.
It is possible that the Navajo custom of having two names, one a "War-Name" given by one's grandparents and rarely used except for very specific purposes, the other essentially a nickname used in day-to-day life, may have come from fear of ’iińzhįįd.
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
culture relating to practices which, in English, are all referred to as 'witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
.' In the Navajo language
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages .Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the...
, they are actually each referred to distinctly, and are regarded as separate, albeit related, phenomena.
The practices lumped together in the category 'witchcraft' are very similar, at least in their externals, to the rituals practiced on the 'good side' of Navajo tradition, the ceremonials or 'sings'. The difference, however, is that while the good sings are to heal or bring luck, the bad ones are intended to hurt and curse. Similarly, all kinds of witches are associated with transgression of taboos and societal standards, especially those relating to family and the dead.
Witchery Way: ’áńt’įįzhį
This is the most common type of witchcraft, centering around the Witchery or Corpse-poison Way—’áńt’įįzhį. The Witchery Way is recorded in the Emergence Story as having been invented by First Man and First Woman, so it goes back to the dawn of the human race. Practitioners of Witchery Way are called ’ánt’įįhnii, "witch people".’Ánt’įįhnii usually learn their art from a parent or grandparent, but sometimes from a spouse. Most witches are male; it is sometimes thought that the only women who become witches are old and childless. The initiation into the Witchery Way involves murdering a close relative, especially a sibling; other crimes associated with it are necrophilia, grave-robbing, and incest. Being suspected of any of these is tantamount to also being a witch, and suspected witches are automatically suspected of the other crimes, as well.
The method of Witchery Way centers around powdered corpses, known as ’áńt’į "corpse poison," (literally, Witchery or Harming). The best sources for ’áńt’į are the corpses of children, especially twins; the best body parts for it are the fingerprints and the bones of the back of the skull. ’Áńt’į is said to look like the corn pollen used in blessing ceremonials. However, it is used to curse, not to bless.
The effect of the ’áńt’į is a curse-disease, usually indicated by an immediate reaction to administration of the poison, like fainting, swelling of the tongue, or lockjaw. Sometimes, however, the victims simply wastes away as from a normal disease. Because, however, it is actually caused by a witch, medicine or the usual disease ceremonials will not be effective.
These witches are also associated with dark ceremonials of their own, where they plan and perform their spells and initiations. The witches gather in a cave or other secluded spot, called the ’áńt’įbáhoołan, usually going in animal form (see below). Once there, they resume their human form, naked except for masks, jewelry, and paint like that used in normal ceremonies. They sit in a circle, surrounded by their supply of corpse-flesh and severed heads, and perform their ceremonies, essentially a corrupted form of a good sing (rather like the European idea of the Black Mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
). As at a regular ceremonial, they sing and create sand-paintings, except that witches' paintings use ash, not sand. Other activities at the "witches' sing" include necrophilia and cannibalism.
Skinwalkers: yee naaldlooshii
’Ánt’įįhnii are the witches who become the famous Navajo shape-shifters, the Skinwalkers. They use the animal forms they can assume to travel surreptitiously to the ’áńt’įbáhoołan, and to deliver their ’áńt’į in secret. Frequently, the words yee naaldlooshii and ’ánt’įįhnii are used interchangeably.Sympathetic magic: ’iińzhįįd
Usually considered a sub-branch of Witchery Way, ’iińzhįįd (literally, "evil-wishing magic") is not based on the corpse-poison, but on the power of names, body material like fingernails, and possessions to affect their owners; it is a practice that revolves around sympathetic magicSympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.-Similarity and contagion:The theory of sympathetic magic was first developed by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough...
and curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
s. Some practitioners are said to have a "power", like sun, lightning, snakes, etc., that helps; besides humans, some animals, especially dogs, are said to use ’iińzhįįd, as are whirlwinds. Though people are the most typical targets, animals, crops, automobiles, and other property are sometimes cursed, as well.
The first step in bewitching someone this way is obtaining an article of clothing or a piece of the body, like hair, fingernails, or excrement. The item is then buried with corpse flesh, in a grave, or under a tree that has been struck by lightning, and then an incantation is said or sung—frequently a benevolent prayer backwards, as in European tradition. The Béésh ńghiz or Hard Flint song is sometimes used, as is a prayer called "Praying a person down into the ground". Also used are the prayers "The Two Came to Their Father" (Hataa’ baazhná’ázhi), relating to the mythical Hero Twins, and the "It became dead!"(Ni’iisįįd), said to have been composed by First Man. Either the time between the spellcasting and the victim's death is specified in the chant, or the victim dies in four days.
Other techniques are used, too. When the target is a pregnant woman, the body of a horned toad is cut open, and the personal effect is placed inside the cavity, and then the chant is said. As in other witchcraft traditions, walking around the victim's house or stepping over him while he sleeps can inflict an ’iińzhįįd curse. Unique to the Navajo, however, an ’iikááh bee’onozhin or "Curse-sandpainting" is also used, as at the Witches' Sing. Unlike there, though, the ’iikááh bee’onozhin associated with ’iińzhįįd is created in solitude, and always to the north (the direction of evil) of a hogan.
It is possible that the Navajo custom of having two names, one a "War-Name" given by one's grandparents and rarely used except for very specific purposes, the other essentially a nickname used in day-to-day life, may have come from fear of ’iińzhįįd.
Curse objects: ’adagąsh
This kind of witchcraft involves injecting cursed objects, like beads, into people or things.Charms, Frenzy Way: ’azhįįtee
This kind of witchcraft involves magically influencing the minds and emotions of others.Counters
A ceremonial, or "sing" can be performed to counteract a witch. Often this is a Protectionway sing, but sometimes the full Night Chant is used.In Non-Navajo Popular culture
- In the film The MissingThe MissingThe Missing is a 2003 Western thriller film directed by Ron Howard, based on Thomas Eidson's 1996 novel The Last Ride.This Western thriller set in 1885 New Mexico Territory is notable for the authentic use of the Apache language by various actors, some of whom spent long hours studying it...
starring Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
, there is a character who, though an ApacheApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, greatly resembles the Navajo idea of a witch (the Apaches, another Athabascan people, have somewhat similar traditions). He performs ’iińzhįįd with hair caught in his victim's hairbrush, although ’iińzhįįd is a noticeable difference between Navajo and Apache witch beliefs—it's not found in Apache beliefs. - Skinwalkers (1986) is the title of a mystery novel by Tony HillermanTony HillermanTony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels...
. Navajo culture forms the basis of many Hillerman novels, and beliefs about ghosts and witches are frequently mentioned. - Navajo Skinwalkers were mentioned in the movie Arizona Werewolf, a version of which (retitled Werewolf) was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. However, the werewolf lore was essentially borrowed from The Wolf ManThe Wolf ManThe Wolf Man is a 1941 American Werewolf Horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man, featuring Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya...
, and Joe EstevezJoe EstevezJoseph "Joe" Estevez is an American actor, director, and producer.He is the younger brother of actor Martin Sheen and the uncle of Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Renée Estevez, and Ramon Estevez.-Early life:...
mispronounced 'yee naaldlooshii' as "yannaglotchy". - In the novel series The Dresden FilesThe Dresden FilesThe Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher.He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in...
by Jim Butcher, a Skinwalker is the primary villain in Turn Coat, the eleventh book in the series.