4
?á·čit
Hunt for the Skinwalker
I was gripped with fear at what I was watching in the headlights of the car. At first it seemed to be a nude man shrouded in some sort of an animal hide. A violent storm was raging and the rain was falling in buckets as I concentrated focusing my eyes in on the figure not ten feet in front of the car. There was a flash of light and what followed can only be described as 20 minutes of pure terror that left both myself and my vehicle in shambles, we both were a total wreak.
There have been countless stories about skinwalkers attacking a car or home trying to harm the people inside. A skin-walker is a legendary creature in the Navajo culture that’s somewhat like a werewolf. The skin-walker is a shape-shifter, human at times, is said to have the ability to assume the figure of any animal they desire, hinging upon what kind of abilities they require at that moment.
While the skin-walker is known chiefly from Navajo Legend, their existance traverses in the mythology of additional tribes. In a few Indian legends, the yee naaldlooshii (”with it, he goes on all fours”) are humans who have acquired supernatural abilities by breaking a cultural taboo. Using their powers they can transform into animal form to throw off pursuers. Similar events are seen in “Twilight” when Edward reveals the wolves of La Push are merely “shape-shifters”(Breaking Dawn page 704). The Quileute Legend explains that the first quileute was created from a wolf by by a traveling supernatural transmuter.
The Navajo believe that skinwalkers have the power to steal the “skin” or body of a person. That if you engage eyes with a skinwalker they can immerse themselves into your body. Skinwalkers avoid bright light and their eyes glow like an animal’s when in human form. When in their animal form their eyes don’t glow as an animal’s would.
Numerous attempts have been made to track and kill one, the attempts are not typically successful. I guess you typical silver bullet won’t work. Occasionally a skinwalker will be hunted down leading to the house of someone known by the victim. The skinwalkers are described as being quick, and impossible to capture. They’re said to be able to read your thoughts. In the film “Twilight” Edward had the ability to read others thoughts. Although he was not a skinwalker but rather a member of “The Cold Ones” (vampires) from this description and given the location of the story being in La Push, Washington State perhpas he should of been labeled a skinwalker in the series.
In ancient culture there was a ritual ceremony once performed, called the Ya Ya Ceremony. In this ceremony, members would convert themselves into assorted animals utilising the hides from the animal they selected, and the members use certain animals for their attributes. The coyote skin is for high-velocity, precise sense of smell, and the acute agility. The bear skin is for brute force, but not a good choice for speed.
When in animal form the skinwalker will retain their wits and because of this they make a really dangerous adversary. Also unlike the werewolf, they have a whole bag of tricks that includes immobilizing powder, mind control, and even disease. It’s said that a few can even kill applying their thoughts or using the “Evil Eye”.
According to legend the Ya Ya Ceremony was banished after members acquired a disease of the eyes. Perhaps there was a competitive Navajo skinwalker amidst them who wanted to be top dog, or wolf in this instance?
If you’ve experience a skinwalker leave a comment and share your story.
Similar Posts:
- Witchery Way of the Navajo Skinwalker Most societies have folklores and legends of witches, werewolves, Sasquatch, and creatures that walk
Duskeah Cooked Children Duskeah would tattoo children. She would push the bone needle all the way through the arm or chest
Quileute Indian Legends Quileute Tales Here is a summary of some of the Quileute Tales you will find on this site: Kweeti –
The Quileute Legend Website Quileute legend may contain on occasion customary customs of day-to-day life and even comprise spiri
Quileute Wolf Myths “I smell blood” exclaims a quileute wolf as he struts away in hunt of flesh imagine the surprise whe
June 5th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
This is an experience that I’ve only shared with a small number of people. My brother who’s a hardened soldier is still frightened about what occurred.
As a teenager, I’d travel to my grandma’s home on the Navajo reserve during the summertime. I was asked by my grandma to drive a worker home, which was approximately four miles out of the valley. I thought being 14 and driving sounded like fun, so my then 9 year old brother climbed up in the truck cab with me while this “worker” and my dog shared the truck bed. I dropped the worker off , then we steered back up the road to grandmas. It was getting dark as the sky was a deep red as the sun started to set behind us. We were leaving a nice dust trail from road and the radio was playing music from the only radio station that tuned in was from the closest town of Holbrook.
Everything seemed fine. It was at this time that my eye noticed movement of something in the bushes a little up the road on the right. I slowed down thinking that it was a roaming sheep and I wanted to be sure it didn’t jump in front of the truck. Once clear I sped up but then out of nowhere I just felt this dark feeling of fear and dread. I had no idea why I was feeling this way but I definitely felt that something was wrong.
I am tearing up just writing about this as this is something that really happened. I checked my rear view mirror and saw a dark silhouette of something very tall and very thin. I slowed down a little to get a better look, I could see that whatever it was, was covered with some kind of hair or fur. It then started charging after us! I accelerated, from what I had seen it wasn’t a normal human or human at all. As I write I can still hear my brother and my dog barking ferociously at whatever was chasing us, as if it just happened. I started speeding and shaking violently as the truck bounced on the washboard dirt road, my poor dog got knocked around. My brother cried “it’s coming up on your side!” I remember being as scared as hell and thinking that I didn’t want to die. I remember speeding faster even though there was a bend in the road. I could see a car coming towards us in the opposite direction. At that moment I felt instant relief and felt that whatever was chasing us was gone.
Shaken up but alive, we arrived to grandma’s house wondering what just happened. We ran inside hoping that whatever was chasing us hadn’t followed us. We told grandma what happened but she didn’t seem too surprised, which surprised us. She told us of the legend about black magic, witches, and something that the Navajos call “Yee Naaldlooshii” or Skinwalkers. Needless to say, I didn’t even want to look out any of the windows in the least the rest of that night. As a matter of fact, I never drove on the reservation at night until I was 21 years old.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
I am starting a documentary film on the subject and conducting interviews with those who have first hand experience. Please contact me.
December 26th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Is there any Skinwalkers in forks?
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.