The Navajo People: The Legend Of The Dine

The Navajo people, otherwise known as the Diné, have many specific customs and rituals oriented around the natural evolution of death. The Navajo explained this natural occurrence by creating stories that described the death of the living. When one of the Navajo people die, the living adhere to very strict guidelines pertaining to the treatment of the body. Some of these rules stem from the Navajo’s fear that the dead will come back to haunt them. The Navajo follow these customs not only because they are afraid of the consequences if they do not, but because it shows their respect to the deceased. One example of a Diné legend that attempts to explain the existence of death in the natural world was passed down from ancestors within the Navajo tribe. In this story, the Navajo people decide to place an animal hide in water. In doing so, they believed it would show them whether or not the people of the world would ever die. They thought that if the hide floated, it signified that death would never be a part of the cycle of life. However, if the hide sank, death would be
There are two men entrusted to the treatment of the body. They begin the burial process by taking off everything they are wearing, besides their moccasins, and covering themselves in ash. In doing so, they believe the ash will protect them from the evil spirits attached to the body. Before they are able to bury the body they must wash it and dress it. If the body is not prepared correctly, it is said that its spirit will return to its former home. While the body is being prepared, two other men dig the grave. The four men who readied the body and burial are the only ones who can attended the funeral. At the burial site, after the body is safely buried, the men carefully wipe away every footprint they made. Later they destroy all of the tools used to dig the grave