BEFORE TELLING "THE AGE OF ANIMAL HEROES"
The Storyteller's Prayer is a beautiful symbol of the purpose of the telling of these stories. Go to: Navaho - The Storyteller's Prayer

THE FIRST HOGAN
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
This is the story of the Four Dark Worlds and the Fifth, the World we live in. Some medicine men tell us that there are two worlds above us, the first is the World of the Spirits of Living Things, the second is the Place of Melting into One.

THE CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
The dwelling was occupied by Atse'hastqin, First Man, and Atse'esdza, First Woman. All their belongings were piled inside. The woman lay with her feet to the West, and the man lay with his feet to the East. Their heads crossed and their thoughts mingled, and these thoughts were sacred.

THE TWELVE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
October is the first month of the year and of winter, which is called qai. October's name is Gah'ji, meaning Back-to-Back, or the Parting-of-the-Seasons. It is the time when the deer come, the time to hunt. Nalashi, the tarantula, is its feather or headdress. Nlchi achi, little cold, is its heart. The blue hanging haze is over this month. Women shell corn, thrash, and store food for the winter. It is the month when mountain sheep breed.

THE SUN'S PATH
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
Above the mountain called Tso dzil there is a square hole in the sky. And this hole in the sky is mirrored in a lake which lies between the two highest peaks of the mountain. There were three names given to the hole in the sky: the first is called Tse'an an hi'habetine, the Place Where the Most High Power Came Up;

THE SKY AND THE EARTH
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
Then came the Earth Woman, Nahosdzan'esdza'. First Man told her that she was to be the wife of the Sky. She would face the East, and her husband over her, would face the West. And whenever the Fog covered the Earth they would know that the Sky had visited Nahosdzan'esdza'.

THE MOUNTAINS SACRED TO THE DÎNÉ
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
First Man and First Woman formed six sacred mountains from the soil that First Man had gathered from the mountains in the Third World and kept in his medicine bag. As before they placed Sis na'jin in the East, Tso dzil in the South, Dook oslid in the West, and Debe'ntsa in the North. They placed a sacred mountain, which they called Chol'i'i, on the earth; and they made the mountain, Dzil na'odili, around which the people were to travel.

MOUNTAIN CHANTS
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
Chant I - It Stands Out

The mountain to the East is Sis na' jin.
It is standing out.
The strong White Bead is standing out,
A living mountain is standing out,
The Chief of the Mountain is standing out.
Like the Most-High-Power he is standing out,
Like the Most-High-Power-Whose-Ways-Are-Beautiful he is standing out.

THE COMING OF DEATH AND LIFE
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
Now the earth, which had been stretched, became solid, and the rivers flowed. Trees grew along the banks of the rivers, and flowers grew at the foot of the mountains with the rocks and the cliffs and other trees above them. The Mother Earth was very beautiful.

OLD AGE AND ILLNESS
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
First Man and First Woman had planned what was best for the sky and the earth and the people. And in the beginning whatever they planned became a fact; but after the Coyote interfered there were others who wished to have a part in the scheme of how the people should live.

THE PLAN OR ORDER OF THINGS
Navaho - The Order of Things - Animal Heroes
There was a plan from the stars down. The woman's strength was not to be as great as the man's strength. They could not attend to the planting and harvesting as the men could, therefore men would be worth more than women. And the plan was that women would propose marriage to men; but the Coyote came and said: "Brothers, listen, I have just married a woman." Again he spoiled their plan. Men propose marriage to women; but because of the older plan there are still cases where women go after men. Then not long after that, that which the bird, chishgahi, said came true; but they still thought it unwise to have babies born in the new way. Just then the Coyote came and said: "Brothers, I have a little baby."