Most societies have folklores and legends of witches, werewolves, Sasquatch, and creatures that walk amongst us. The Navajo Indians or Deni’ people have Skinwalkers. They are those who trot along here and there on all fours, those who change skins depending on powers they seek, those who follow the ‘Witchery Way’, the ones that the Navajo people defer from talking about for fear of reprisal. The Skinwalkers are the Witches Witch, the Highest Priest or Priestess who turns evil, who practice cannibalism and necrophilia, those who are no longer human – but are profound deviants – pure evil.
Yenaldlooshi - Navajo call Skinwalkers
Yenaldlooshi, as the Navajo call Skinwalkers, literally means “it that walks/travels like an animal – He who trots along here and there on all fours.” It is said that skinwalkers transform into the animal they want to utilize particular powers from. The skinwalker dons the fur of the animal while un-clothed underneath, and the transformation begins. A variety of animals are favored: the bear for strength, coyote for speed and cunning, wolf for heightened sense of sight, hearing and smell, cat for stealth and agility, and so forth. Any animal can be chosen. Yet when the skinwalker transforms they never get the gait and the rhythm of the animals walk exactly right, so it is said they can be tracked while they are traveling on the ground just not when soaring with the vultures.
Besides transforming into animals, the skinwalker has other powers. He/she can read your mind, control your mind, bring forth disease, destroy your home, even cause death. Trained in both physical medicine for the body and spiritual medicine for the spirit, they wrap the two tightly together in their practice. Most are trained high priests or priestess who then choose to follow the skinwalker’s path. Initiation into this deviant life is normally through killing a member of their immediate family, usually a sibling. They believe this provides them access to the powers of the skinwalker. Not all Navajo witches are skinwalkers, but all skinwalkers are witches.
Transformation to animals is not the only power the skinwalker has. They can sound like a baby crying or like any animal to get one’s attention, and they have their potions and spells. They use a mixture some call “corpse powder”, others call an immobilization powder, to blow into their prey’s face. This powder causes the tongue to turn black and swell, then convulsions, paralysis, and eventually death. Corpse powder is believed to be ground human infant bones which are powdered and made into a potion. Sometimes if the skinwalker chooses to target a whole family, the powder will be poured down the chimney or smoke hole of a home onto the waiting fire below. This brings sickness and possible death to all who are within.
Revenge and jealousy are the motivation for skinwalkers. The only ways to be rid of a skinwalker is to hire an expensive good medicine man to cleanse your home and perform ceremonies for protection. The only other way the Navajo get rid of the skinwalkers is by learning their identities and calling out the full name of the skinwalker. It is believed the skinwalker will then die in about three days. The Navajo say to shoot the skinwalker with bullets dipped in white ash. This doesn’t usually kill them, but when the skinwalker returns in everyday dress, the gunshot wounds make him/her recognizable so they can call out the skinwalker’s full name and destroy the evil amongst them.
Similar Posts:
- Navajo Skinwalker Hunt for the Skinwalker I was gripped with fear at what I was watching in the headlights of the car.
Quileute Indian Legends Quileute Legends and Tales Here is a summary of some of the Quileute Tales you will find on this sit
War Between The Quileute And Ozette Quileute Legend In Quileute Legend, in the past there was a war between the Quileute and the Ozette
Quileute Vampire or Not High school isn’t that every kids dream? Eww not even for a witch. Yeah I just said the word witch.
The Cold Ones Legends Meet the Extended Cullen Family The Cullens are the fictional vampire family in the Twilight series
Twilight Soundtrack
I have had an encounter with the Navajo Skinwalker. It was when I was a child living on the reservation. My brother, Ashkii, was out hunting on the reservation when he spotted a wolf.
He was using the way of the bow and arrow head, he tracked it around a bend when he noticed strange prints by the creek bed. He said that the paws changed mid stride into human foot prints.
He returned and told my father, white feather, he was not happy and called the counsel to discuss what they discovered.
See in our tribe it is known to us of a group of Navajo that practice the dark ways they left our tribe before i was born. They kill our people so we are not to wander far into the reservation.
We gathered a party, to try and pick up the trail of the Yenaldlooshi The skinwalker was spotted on sitting hill,she wore the hide of a wolf. This hill is sacred to our people as we bury our dead up there. We can not hunt up there because of this.
We came back the next day an found tracks, they lead deep in to the reservation so we did not persue further.
Later that year I was out swimming with my brother and saw someone behind a tree, I noticed that it was her, she that wears wolf hide. She changed into a wolf and bit my brother. I ran back to help him and we were able to drown the wolf.
I helped my brother back to the villiage and my father took a group of men to the spring to were we were swimming. They found she who wears wolf hide, floating face down.
Soon after my father made us move off the reservation, he said that the skinwalkers would not stop until they found and killed my brother and I for what we done.
I live in fear and pray that they don’t find us. I burn incense and chant the holy chant to keep us safe.
We can never return back to our home, the Navajo Reservation. It fills my heart with great sorrow but it is better to be safe.
what is a skin walk?
Read the article to find out. Also thank you for sharing that story. I hope everything works out for you and your family.
What part of the Rez are u from?
Lol! Say the truth navajojoe… I’m a full blooded navajo. Your story seems untrue. We don’t villages. But towns or bands of navajo. Its way to “white” to believe. Kind of like a short story novel.
The newer generation of the skinwalkers do not seem to fit this story. what have we become.