__NOTOC__
The yeii or yei ( nv, or ) are spirit deities of the
Navajo people
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
. The most benevolent of such beings are the Diyin Diné'e or Holy People who are associated with the forces of nature.
Yei bichei (Yébîchai), or "maternal grandfather of the yei", is another name of
Talking God
''Talking God'' is the ninth crime fiction novel in the Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman published in 1989.
One murdered man near Gallup and the desecration of a Northeastern cemetery, protesting ineffectiv ...
who often speaks on behalf of the other Holy People. (He, along with Growling God, Black God, and
Water Sprinkler, were the first four Holy People encountered by the Navajo.) He is invoked (along with eight other male yei) in the "Night Chant" or "Nightway" (Navajo: or Kléjê Hatál), sometimes simply called "Yei bichei," a nine-night ceremony in which masked dancers personify the gods.
A rainbow yei, sometimes considered an aspect of the rain-god Water Sprinkler, is drawn around every sandpainting; his body curls around the south, west, and north sides to protect the painting from outside influences, and to protect the user from the power of the god depicted in the painting. He does not need to cover the east, because no evil can come from the east in Navajo thought.
See also
*
Yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
*
Vættir
The vættir (Old Norse: ; singular vættr ) are spirits in Norse mythology. The term can be used to refer to the full cosmos of supernatural beings, including the álfar (elves), dvergar (dwarves), jötnar (giants), and gods (the Æsir and V ...
References
Further reading
*Bahti, Mark with Joe, Eugene Baatsoslanii. ''A Guide to Navajo Sandpaintings.'' Tucson, Ariz.: Rio Nuevo Publishers, c2000.
*Levy, Jerrold E. ''In the beginning: the Navajo genesis.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998. (Note: see P58-59)
External links
*Carey Jr., Harold (September 28, 2012).
Yei Bi Chei (Yébîchai) Night Chant-First Day, ''NavajoPeople.org''.
Deities of the indigenous peoples of North America
Navajo mythology
{{NorthAm-myth-stub