Estsanatlehi

Estsanatlehi America
Literal meaning: ‘the woman who changes’. The most respected deity of the Navaho Indians—hunters living in the semi-arid area of Arizona. It is said that Estsanatlehi never remains in one condition, but that she grows to be an old woman, and in the course of time becomes a young woman again. She passes thus through an endless course of lives, always changing but never dying. The apotheosis of the seasons, Estsanatlehi dwells in a floating house on ‘the great water in the west … and here the Sun visits her, when his journey is done, every day that he crosses the sky’.

According to legend, primeval man and woman once observed a black cloud descend on to a mountain. ‘Surely something has taken place,’ said the first man. ‘Let us go and see.’ So the primeval couple trudged to the summit of the mountain and were surprised to find a baby girl there. This happened to be Estsanatlehi, who was the daughter of Naestan,...

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