There are two versions of skinwalker origin stories that are floating about. The coyote story in regards to skinwalkers is the version that is most well known. One can even find it on the internet. Coyote is known as the trickster and he is described in many of the Navajo tales as being a man-like thing who is wearing a skin over his body. He will pull his skin about him and, in one particuliar tale, he gambles for the skin of another creature--water monster. To give you an idea as to how much trouble Coyote causes for the dine, it is this story, where Coyote discovers water monster's babies in the monster's skin, that is the end of the third world. In another story, Coyote completely loses his skin. Coyote spoiled First Woman's plan for the sky when he wanted to get involved and accidentally spilled the stars across it. Coyote was just trouble...period.

The Coyote tale that involves skinwalkers is like this: A man admires Coyote for being clever and fast and tells Coyote that he wants to be just like him. Coyote, enjoying the moment, decides to see how loyal this man is to him. He decides to put the man through several tests, each one trying the man's loyalty in greater severity than the former. Finally, Coyote tells the man that he doesn't run with his family and has no care for them. To prove that the man is like him, the man must kill a member of his family. The man picks a family member, kills him and returns to Coyote. Coyote, impressed, rewards him by making him a skinwalker. A good version of this Coyote tale is available on the internet here.

There is a second version of the skinwalker's origin as well. This one is less well known and I have heard it twice now from two different branches of the family. One of the sources was a man who was raised by medicine men--both his grandfather and stepfather are/were medicine men. In this story, the skinwalkers were not skinwalkers as they are today. They were the animal shamans within the tribe--having the knowledge of medicine men but with the ability to run with great speed and see in the dark like no other in the tribe. These animal shamans were the tribe's great hunters and warriors. At some point in the perhaps not so distant past, there was a disagreement between the skinwalkers and the dine. In the end, the skinwalkers were thrown out of the tribe, totally excommunicated and condemned. It is at this point that skinwalkers started working not only against the tribe's enemies but against the tribe itself.

Both of these origin stories provide some tantalizing clues about skinwalkers. It could be a possibility that some of the Coyote tale is true. Skinwalkers have long been affiliated with coyote and their favorite skin is often that of a coyote. There is a major contradiction between the two stories, however. If skinwalkers were part of the tribe itself and hailed on the same level of respect as medicine men, there is no possible way that they could've obtained their position by murdering a family member and maintained this level of respect and reverence within the tribe. It would be an utter affront to the beauty way to do such a thing. Whereas opposing the beauty way is what is claimed of them today, they could not have possibly held any position of honour within the tribe if they did such things in the past. However, in both stories, it is absolutely plain that skinwalkers were following one path and ended up straying down the wrong path. In the Coyote tale, it was murder of a family member and in the latter version, it is just named as a betrayal so severe that skinwalkers became dead to the Navajo. It could be possible that at some point in time, the rituals of the skinwalkers became perverted and it was discovered.

Blending the two stories gives a person a fairly good idea as to what skinwalkers are and what happened to change their role within the tribe. First of all, they were medicine men. Even today, training to become a medicine man traditionally begins at an early age, typically at 3-5 years. Remember again what the crystal gazer said about the skinwalkers that were plaguing my family: a woman, a man and two children. This idea was confirmed by a single phone call. Yes, skinwalkers did start their training as early as a medicine man starts his. This poses a significant problem if one is to take the coyote tale literally. If a skinwalker started his training at age 3-5, it is really hard to fathom them being able and willing to commit murder of a family member as what would be presumed if one were to take the coyote tale literally. However, blending the two versions of the stories can strip away a metaphorical meaning to when the skinwalkers strayed from their path. To kill a family member is an absolute breach of the beauty way, it is abominable. What the coyote tale is probably telling us is that whatever the skinwalkers did in the past that resulted in them being ousted and dead to the tribe had to have been a betrayal so significant that it was like killing a family member.

Navajo stories are filled with metaphors. It is through these metaphors that what is trying to be communicated maintains its purity through oral dispensation. What was important to pass on about skinwalkers is that they did something extraordinarily bad and probably complex. This act, however, needed to be refined and so the metaphor of killing a family member was created to signify the severity of the breach. It is possible that perhaps they did kill someone within the tribe itself.

Another clue by the second story is that they were the tribe's animal shamans. This would explain why they are the way they are. They are long held as being part man and part animal and having the gifts of both. If one was going to have a perfect animal shaman, the skinwalker would have to be the most perfect of all. A man with the abilities of an animal but the wisdom of a medicine man, the ability to speak, and to use tools. This would make an absolutely ideal animal shaman. Considering that most Navajo on the reservation today live in absolute fear of skinwalkers, it is very indicative of how powerful a mix they really are. Whereas the skinwalkers were once used for their abilities in hunting and were rather elite fighters, it is important to note that even after the breach, they never gave up their training. They continue on with their training today but with the seeming sole purpose to disrupt and destroy the lives of the rest of the Navajo tribe. It would seem obvious that whatever disagreement occurred in the past, the skinwalkers haven't let go of it either.

The most important part of both tales to consider within the next topic is their humanity in both versions. Although skinwalkers seem to have supernatural abilities, they are, in fact, human. In fact, the answers as to how they could possibly be the way they are lie buried in the second story.

Stephanie



In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson