The Myth of the Blue Horse

THE SACRED GIFT THE NAVAJO PEOPLE

Before me peaceful.

Behind me peaceful.

Under me peaceful.

All around me peaceful.

Peaceful voice when he neighs.

I am everlasting and powerful.

I stand for my horse.

Scholars recount a long list of complicated theories explaining why the Navajos have become the largest and most powerful Indian nation in the Southwest. But the real reason, I think, is simple and straightforward. It is the blue horse.

The horse plays an important role in Navajo culture from the sacred myth of the first blue horse to the animal's helping them to live better on their land to its practical and recreational uses of modern times.

According to Navajo tradition, horses entered their world not through European intervention but through initiative of the Diné, or “the people.” The stories say that First Man (Áltsé Hastjjn), following a baby's cry, discovered the infant Changing Woman (Ásdzáá Nádleehí), wrapped in a purple cloud, atop Gobernador Knob (Ch'ool'j'į) in New Mexico.

He took her home to First Woman (Áltsé Asdzáán), and in their care Changing Woman came to maturity and gave birth to twin boys. Their father was the Sun Bearer, who carried the sun through the sky each day.

At this time, the Navajos faced extreme threats from monsters on the Earth and in the sky. When the twins grew older, they assumed the terrible responsibility of defeating the monsters that plagued their people. They embarked on a long and dangerous journey to seek the Sun Bearer's help. Eventually they reached a turquoise house, where they encountered their father, The color of the horse did not surprise the twins, for they did not assume horses should be particular hues. Because blue was the color of summer in Diné culture, the boys thought it a fine color for a horse. Although they were impressed with the obvious capacity of the horse to cover long distances, they reminded themselves that they had come for weapons rather than other things. Turning in the four directions, the Sun Bearer offered the twins horses, other livestock, game birds and precious stones.

The boys rejected his gifts saying these were not their wish. Finally, the Sun Bearer provided the boys with the lightning that strikes crooked (Atsiniltľish K'aa') and the lightning that strikes straight (Hatsoolghał K'aa'). Lowered to the Earth with these powerful weapons, the twins confronted many monsters, killing Ye'iitsoh, whose blood created the lava beds near Mount Taylor, and Te Ninahalee', a giant bird that had swooped down from Shiprock, The Rock With Wings. The twins earned new names for their exploits and became known as Monster Slayer (Naayéé' Neezghánii) and Child Born of Water (Tó Bájíshchíní).

Even though the monsters had been killed, the Navajos' lives remained challenging. They did not have enough to eat, nor means to get quickly from one place to another. The twins realized that through the assistance of the Sun Bearer and other powers, the Diné could gain animals that would greatly improve their lives.

The twins returned to the Sun Bearer to obtain the livestock-horses, sheep, goats and cattle that could transform the Diné way of life. The twins saw a white horse in the east, a blue horse in the south, a yellow (some say red) horse in the west and a black horse in the north.In this way, the horses were connected to the most sacred number of the Diné four and to seasons, times of the day, colors, jewels and to one of the four sacred mountains that mark the traditional borders of Diné Bikéyah - the Navajo country.

The white horse is associated with Blanca Peak (Sis Naajiní) in Colorado at the eastern edge of Diné Bikéyah. Sis Naajiní represents the mountain of spring, of dawn, the color white and the material of white shell. In the same manner, the blue horse is linked to Mount Taylor (Tsoodzil) of New Mexico, the southern sacred mountain. Tsoodził is the mountain of summer, of the day, of blue and of turquoise. The yellow horse is conjoined with the sacred mountains of the west the San Francisco Peaks (Dook'o'osłiid), which encompass autumn, evening, yellow and abalone. The black horse is connected with Hesperus Peak (Dibé Nitsaa) in Colorado, to the north, the mountain of winter, night, black and obsidian.

From the Sun Bearer and other powers, the twins received special medicine, songs and prayers for the horses. "Before me peaceful," the words from one ceremony declare. "Behind me peaceful. Under me peaceful. All around me peaceful. Peaceful voice when he neighs. I am everlasting and powerful. I stand for my horse."

History traces the Native American acquisition of the horse to the dawn of the Spanish incursion in the Southwest in the 1500s. In the 1600s and 1700s, Navajos gradually obtained more and more horses. They would exchange goods for horses and at other times "borrowed" horses from the Spanish without permission.

Whether bartered or borrowed, horses soon became an indispensable part of the Navajo economy and culture. The people rode horses to get from one point to the steeds that not only seemed unlikely to make it to the Kentucky Derby, they seemed unlikely to make it to next week.

Yet, like the Diné themselves, these horses were nothing if not determined. Next week came; the horses remained. But live-stock reduction in the 1930s and 1940s began with horses. Since there was no market for the animals, federal employees frequently took the horses away from their owners and after moving them a short distance from the people, shot the horses and left them to rot.

Today there are far fewer horses in Navajo country than a century ago. The wage work economy has altered how most people spend their days, and a much smaller percentage of the Diné devote full time to raising livestock. But one still sees horses, including more than a few unlikely to participate at Churchill Nation live in Chinle rather than miles outside of Chilchinbito. They are more likely waiting for a stoplight than watching sheep. However, horses continue as an important dimension in Navajo life. Pickup trucks have replaced wagons, but Navajos still use horses to move other livestock, for the pleasure of riding and for rodeo. Diné children still hear stories about how their people acquired the horse; adults remember that horses represent a sacred gift and that the care of horses remains a special obligation.

When Navajo poet Luci Tapahonso pictured the birth of her granddaughter, she saw Chamisa Bah arriving "amid a herd of horses." Blue horses "entered from the south," she said, "bringing the scent of prairie grass from the small hills outside." She knew Chamisa Bah would "grow strong like the horses" of her past and of her birth.

HORSES WERE CONNECTED TO THE MOST SACRED NUMBER OF THE DINÉ FOUR - AND TO SEASONS, TIMES OF THE DAY, COLORS, JEWELS AND TO ONE OF THE FOUR SACRED MOUNTAINS THAT MARK THE TRADITIONAL BORDERS OF NAVAJO COUNTRY.

Next, and hitched them to wagons that brought families to ceremonial healings and celebrations. Horses could be given as presents to demonstrate generosity or to encourage discipline and responsibility in young people. Horses made it possible to haul water and firewood over some distance. They made it easier to look after the sheep, the goats and the cattle. Horses carried deer and other game animals home from the hunt. If you wanted to obtain horses without paying for them, you needed horses to get still more horses.

As the Navajo reservation expanded from the original 3.5 million acres established by the treaty of 1868 to about four times that size by the early 20th century, an increase in livestock created a serious problem for the land. As soil erosion became more evident, federal officials blamed overgrazing and determined there were too many horses, as well as sheep, goats and cattle, on the Navajo reservation.

In the 1930s, as part of a national effort to promote soil conservation, the federal government moved to significantly reduce the number of livestock possessed by the Navajos. Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier, especially, moaned and groaned about point-less ponies and misbegotten mares. He saw Downs. The Navajos sometimes call these horses "john colliers."

Some of the best Navajo horses are used in rodeo, an important activity in Diné Bikéyah. Photojournalist Monty Roessel once observed that the five most popular sports in the Navajo Nation were rodeo, rodeo, rodeo, rodeo and basketball.

The Navajo word for rodeo, ahóóhai, comes from naa'ahóóhai (chicken pull).

The chicken pull featured a live chicken, secured in the dirt with only its head out. Naa'ahóóhai riders zoomed by, grabbed the chicken and returned to their starting point. Spectators bet on whether an individual contestant would grab the chicken on his first pass by the target and how long it would take a contestant to achieve his goal. The rider with the best horse obviously had an advantage in such competition.

The same remains true in rodeo, where the cowboy or cowgirl with a superior horse will excel in roping events, barrel-racing and steer-wrestling. Navajo rodeo participants may invest a considerable amount of money in an outstanding horse. But such an investment may be repaid, not simply in prize money but in achievement that honors one's family and community.

In 2001, typical residents of the Navajo At the start of the 20th century, photog-rapher Edward Curtis captured the image of a group of Navajos on horseback for a powerful photograph he titled The Vanishing Race. A century later, we know that Curtis was wrong. The Navajos will always reside in Diné Bikéyah. And as long as they do, there will be horses the color of evening, night, dawn and of the day. They will be yellow and black and white. And blue. AH EDITOR'S NOTE: To the Navajo people, the basis for understanding the world is through stories. The power of their oral tradition roots the people to their land between the mountains and to a sacred harmony with all that is essential to sustain life. The true telling of legends may take several long winter nights and details may vary with each rendition. The myths as they are consolidated and condensed here are meant to provide background and an essence of their ideas, and are not intended as a traditional retelling of the stories.