witch

    Article

    Witches are people, men or women, who practice witchcraft. In many cultures witches are typically believed to be female. In Navajo societies, witches are most often believed to be male, although older people and women without children are also believed to be witches. These witches cause harm or illness to the people they curse or who encounter them. This sickness can be cured by completing curing ceremonies.

    In the Southwest, there are strong concepts of witchcraft for both the Pueblo groups and the Navajo. For the Navajo, witches may also refer to Navajo wolf, wolf, or skinwalker. In some Native American legends, a skinwalker is a person with the supernatural ability to turn into any animal he or she desires. In addition to transforming into animals, the skinwalker has other powers. He or she can read others' minds, control minds, bring forth disease, destroy homes, and even cause death. While Europeans warned of a wolf in sheep's clothing, certain tribal beliefs cautioned against a human in wolf's clothing. Literally, the Navajo wolf, or witch, can also be referred to as a skinwalker.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Dolon wearing a wolf skin, detail from an Attic red-figure lekythos, circa 460 BCE" by is licensed under Public Domain.

    Term Type
    Manuscript Occurrences

     
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 23
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 24
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 31
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 32
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 34
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 35
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 41
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 43
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 51
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 57
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 58
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 61
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 63
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 64
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 65
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 66
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 68
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 72
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 75
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 80
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 83
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 85
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 86
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 88
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 89
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 90
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 92
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 93
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 96
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 97
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 98
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 100
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 101
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 112
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 113
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 114
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 115
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 116
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 117
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 118
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 120
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 122
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 125
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 126
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 127
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 163
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 187
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 219
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 221
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 227
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 228
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 229
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 230
    A01 The Blessing Way (01-07) p. 236

    References

     
    Frisbie, Charlotte J.
         1987   Navajo Medicine Bundles or Jish: Acquisition, Transmission, and Disposition in the
           Past and Present. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Kulckhohn, Clyde and Dorothea Leighton
         1946   The Navaho. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Shepardson, Mary and Blodwen Hammond
         1970   Navajo Mountain Community: Social Organization and Kinship Terminology.
             Berkeley: University of California Press.