Skinwalker

In the creation story the Holy People (no, not gods) were sent by the Creator to share with the people the twelve teachings. This is called The Blessing Way or the way of Harmony/Balance/Beauty, the navajo word is Hozho. The Holy People traveled on a sacred path you call the Rainbow. The Holy People needed messengers to go back and forth between the different clans and gave these messengers certain skills. These skills included, the ability to run faster than the fastest deer, to change shape to whatever animal whose skin they were wearing at that time. They also had the ability to immobilize which was very important. At that time there were unnatural beasts that roamed the country side and killed any living thing they came across. I'm just mentioning a few of their skills. When the Holy People gave these gifts to the messengers it was understood that they were bestowed temporarily. There would come a time that these gifts were to be returned. The Holy People gave the instructions to all the people and prepared to leave on the Rainbow Path. They called the messengers from the four directions. Most of them came when called...but some in their selfishness refused to return the gifts and hid from the Holy People.

Now...this was the birth of the Naagloshii - pronounced nah as in not....glo - like glow....shi like sheet with a long e. nah-glow-shee. This is the dark side of Diné spirituality. These selfish ones learned new and dark ways to exploit their gifts....they found that they could appear as shadows and started using the skins of night animals to prowl around during the night. They found ways to curse people and cause great suffering and death. At night their eyes glow red like hot coals. It is said if you see the face of a Naagloshii they have to kill you. If you see one and know who it is they will die. If you see them and you don't know them they have to kill you to keep you from finding out who they are. They use a mixture that some call corpse powder which they blow into your face. Your tongue turns black, you go into convulsions and eventually die. They can also cause bones to go into your skin that have certain curses which cause great pain and suffering...sometimes madness...nearly always death unless treated. They will go to a graveyard and "sing" a body out of the grave as they sing the body is ground into the corpse powder which is mixed with herbs and certain items. They are known to use ch'indii (evil spirits) in their ceremonies. The Diné have learned ways to protect themselves against this evil and one has to always be on guard. Never allow anyone to touch your hair and limit body contact with strangers. The Diné only allow relatives such as mothers and wives to cut their hair and then they burn it or bury it. Never leave hair brushes or nail clippings where they can be taken by anyone. They must be disposed of immediately.

One night a friend was at a convenience store on the rez visiting with the clerk when a hysterical woman came in screaming about her baby. He didn't know what was going on so he ran outside to see if there was anything he could do. He ran to the passenger side and noticed huge scratches along the side of the car. As he inspected it he heard the cry of a child inside the car. He quickly opened the door and found a child hidden under a stack of newspapers. This was the delivery person for the local newspaper. She had been delivering the papers to area businesses when she heard scratching on the passenger door. Her baby was in a car seat next to her. The door flung open and the woman saw a horrifying sight. It was a creature that was half man and half beast with glowing red eyes reaching for her child. she fought it off and managed to get the door closed and sped up. The creature was running along side the car still trying to get in. Panicked the woman managed to get the child out of the car seat and place it on the floor hiding it under the papers and raced for the nearest open business or house. The creature slammed into the passenger door over and over again until she drove into the parking lot. She ran in screaming and hysterical. She quit delivering papers that night.

Another time a person was working at another convenience store down the road and had just finished cleaning the parking lot when he noticed a huge dog walking by the pumps. Not thinking anything about it he ran over to the dog to chase it away from the trash cans. That's when he noticed it had no tail and it's eyes were glowing red. He ran back into the store and locked the doors. He saw the dog run behind the main trash bin and talked himself into going back out and downplaying it as imagination. He didn't want the "dog" to spread trash all over the place after all the work he had done. Behind the large trash bin is a sandy area with no bushes or trees, just sand. When he followed the tracks around the back of the bin he saw that the tracks just ended. He became extremely frightened and ran back inside. By that time he was pretty much convinced of what he saw. He kept the doors locked the rest of the night and only opened them to let customers in. When his shift was over he returned to his car and started to open it when he noticed huge paw prints all over the top of the vehicle....it was in plain sight. He never saw anything out of the ordinary that would account for the tracks. He had the night off the next night and was spending time with his young nephews outside looking at the stars. One nephew was old enough to walk while the other needed to be held. As they were looking at the stars all the night sounds stopped. No crickets, nothing. The older nephew grabbed him by the leg while the younger one wrapped his arms around my friends neck and started to cry. My friend took his nephews back to the house and as he sat him down on the floor he happened to look back and saw something huge sitting on the roof of his car. he turned to his brother in law and asked him to a look at what he was seeing. When he turned back to located it again, it was gone. Later on that night he was lying in bed with his window open trying to sleep. He had to window open to allow a breeze in. As the curtains were blowing back and forth he kept seeing something through the breaks in the curtains. That when he realized it was a face looking down at him with glowing red eyes. It stayed for about 3 minutes and then was gone. About 2 am the family was awakened by the sound of running feet across the roof of the house. They ran outside with guns but could never see what was causing the noise. Finally they called a relative who was a Singer to deal with the problem and the situation finally ended. He was told later by the Singer that he had somehow offended the skinwalker.

Another Friend who was half Zuni and half Navajo used to visit her relatives in Crystal New Mexico and she resided in Window Rock at the time. During one of her visits to her relatives she went to a get together and didn't have a ride back and decided to walk back to her relatives home. As she was walking she got the feeling someone or thing was following her. She turned to look and saw and immense shadow following behind her. It flowed across the ground a fleeing shadow. she started to pick up her pace but it kept up with her. Finally when she felt she could not go any further. Headlights appeared down the road ahead of it was her relatives coming to find her. They noticed something dark and huge racing into the trees when they drove up. Later that month she was home in Window Rock when she heard her dog tied a chain in the back yard whining and crying. As she looked outside she saw a huge creature reach over the fence and grab the dog chains and all and run off with it. She never saw it again. She moved soon after that.

A cousin of mine was at a 49'er one nght when he decided to walk home. As he passed an old home he heard something inside crying and mewling. Thinking someone was hurt he went inside not realizing it was a death hogan. When he came into the room where he heard the noise he saw one of the most horrifying sights he'd ever seen....in the bathtub was a creature in the process of changing...it was hairy from the waist down and seemed like it was melting...he saw the creature change from a human shape to an creature to this day he refuses to describe. Later on his home was constantly plagued by visitations from these creatures trying to get to him but luckily he had the place blessed earlier. There were times he would see dark silhouettes standing outside his window with glowing red eyes. They couldn't get in but the fear radiating from them weakened him so much he had to crawl out his room to get away...he wasn't able to walk. I saw him days later hiding out in a hotel room shaking like an old man. My brother had to perform a ceremony to help him overcome the fear and illness caused by the Naagloshi. These are just a few of he stories that I know of and I will share the rest later when it's daylight...night is coming and I don't want to continue this until daylight comes again tomorrow.