The foremost threat to humans in traditional Navajo culture are shape-changing witches, or "skinwalkers."
Fear of contamination by spirits or a cadaver brings on "ghost sickness" -- and a person who discovers he is thus afflicted may die from fright.
Skinwalkers in league with ghosts can cast spells on people by obtaining their body parts; for this reason, one must burn hair combing and fingernail clippings.
"Corpse powder" (ground bones) may fatally infect the skinwalker's victim by touch or ingestion. The Navajo Tribal Police Force investigates homicides in which bullets filled with corpse powder are used.
A Navajo cannot touch a dead person for fear of contamination. The name of the deceased is never again directly uttered, for fear of attracting the ghost. If a person dies in a hogan, purification rituals must be performed.
Witches have nocturnal helpers, including owls, mice, and the mythical "Navajo wolves." The skinwalkers may also assume the shape of a nocturnal animal. To go outdoors at night is to risk powerful danger.
If a mouse is discovered in a hogan, the home must be purified. If a mouse touches a personal belonging, it must be burned.
Interestingly, this fear of mice may have an ancient basis in preventing disease, like the kosher dietary laws of the Jews. Hantavirus is a sometimes-fatal disease of the respiratory system contracted from inhaling airborne particles of mouse droppings. The elderly and very young are most at risk of the machinations of mouse; these two groups are also most at risk of dying from hantavirus.
By keeping scrupulously mouse-free hogans, the Navajo reduced their risk of dying from the disease and being contaminated by a skinwalker's assistant.
Fear of contamination by spirits or a cadaver brings on "ghost sickness" -- and a person who discovers he is thus afflicted may die from fright.
Skinwalkers in league with ghosts can cast spells on people by obtaining their body parts; for this reason, one must burn hair combing and fingernail clippings.
"Corpse powder" (ground bones) may fatally infect the skinwalker's victim by touch or ingestion. The Navajo Tribal Police Force investigates homicides in which bullets filled with corpse powder are used.
A Navajo cannot touch a dead person for fear of contamination. The name of the deceased is never again directly uttered, for fear of attracting the ghost. If a person dies in a hogan, purification rituals must be performed.
Witches have nocturnal helpers, including owls, mice, and the mythical "Navajo wolves." The skinwalkers may also assume the shape of a nocturnal animal. To go outdoors at night is to risk powerful danger.
If a mouse is discovered in a hogan, the home must be purified. If a mouse touches a personal belonging, it must be burned.
Interestingly, this fear of mice may have an ancient basis in preventing disease, like the kosher dietary laws of the Jews. Hantavirus is a sometimes-fatal disease of the respiratory system contracted from inhaling airborne particles of mouse droppings. The elderly and very young are most at risk of the machinations of mouse; these two groups are also most at risk of dying from hantavirus.
By keeping scrupulously mouse-free hogans, the Navajo reduced their risk of dying from the disease and being contaminated by a skinwalker's assistant.
