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The yeii or yei () are spirit deities of the
Navajo people
The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language.
The states with the largest Din ...
. The most benevolent of such beings are the Diyin Diné'e or Holy People who are associated with the forces of nature.
Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or "maternal grandfather of the yei", is another name of
Talking God
''Talking God'' is a crime novel by American writer Tony Hillerman, the ninth in the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series, published in 1989.
One murdered man near Gallup and the desecration of a Northeastern cemetery, protesting ...
who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and
Water Sprinkler
An irrigation sprinkler (also known as a water sprinkler or simply a sprinkler) is a device used to Irrigation, irrigate (water) agricultural crops, lawns, landscapes, golf courses, and other areas. They are also used for cooling and for the cont ...
, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.) He is invoked (along with eight other male yei) in the "Night Chant" or "Nightway" (Navajo: or Kléjê Hatál), sometimes simply called "Yei bichei," a nine-night ceremony in which masked dancers personify the gods.
A rainbow yei, sometimes considered an aspect of the rain-god Water Sprinkler, is drawn around every sandpainting; his body curls around the south, west, and north sides to protect the painting from outside influences, and to protect the user from the power of the god depicted in the painting. He does not need to cover the east, because no evil can come from the east in Navajo thought.
See also
*
Yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...
*
Vættir
A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning is shared by cognate terms in Germanic languages, however the usage of the term varies greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more s ...
References
Further reading
*Bahti, Mark with Joe, Eugene Baatsoslanii. ''A Guide to Navajo Sandpaintings.'' Tucson, Ariz.: Rio Nuevo Publishers, c2000.
*Levy, Jerrold E. ''In the beginning: the Navajo genesis.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998. (Note: see P58-59)
External links
*Carey Jr., Harold (September 28, 2012).
Yei Bi Chei (Yébîchai) Night Chant-First Day, ''NavajoPeople.org''.
Deities of the indigenous peoples of North America
Navajo mythology
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