Black God

    Article

    Black God (Haashchʼééshzhiní), sometimes referred to as Darkness to Be One by Tony Hillerman, is the god of fire and creator of the stars in Navajo mythology. Not all accounts credit him with the creation of the constellations, but all credit him with the creation of fire and light as found in the stars. As one story goes, when the Black God entered the hogan the Holy People noticed Pleiades, the Hard Flint Boys, attached to his ankle. When asked why the constellation was there the Black God stomped his feet and the stars leaped up his leg until they reached his head. After he did this impressive act, the Black God was allowed to place all the other constellations in the sky. However, while he completed this task Coyote came along and also wanted to place stars; he grabbed a handful of stars and threw them in the sky. This is why there are named constellations and other random non-clustered stars in the night sky.

    Photo Credit

    "Black God (Haashchʼééshzhiní), the God of Fire in Navajo mythology" by Edward S. Curtis is licensed under Public Domain.

    Term Type
    References

     
    Chamberlain, Von D, John B. Carlson, and M J. Young
         2005   Songs from the Sky: Indigenous Astronomical and Cosmological Traditions of the
             World: Selected Proceedings of the First International Conference on Ethnoastronomy:
             Indigenous Astronomical and Cosmological Traditions of the World, held at the
             Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 5-9, September 1983. Bognor Regis: Ocarina
             Books.

    Griffen-Pierce, Trudy
         1992   Earth is my Mother, Sky is my Father: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo
             Sandpainting. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Reichard, Gladys
         1950   Navajo Religion Vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton University Press.