Navaho folk tales

by Franc Johnson Newcomb

When Water Monster caused the Great Flood, the thirty-two clans of the first people left the summer land of the Fourth World and migrated to the fifth World through an enormous hollow reed. In this marvelous collection, Franc Newcomb recounts some of the many such tales she heard during long winter evenings at Blue Mesa, tales that describe the journey of the Diné to the present world and the efforts of the People to establish themselves here. Every person, animal, and insect who made the difficult ascent was expected to bring some tangible magic, skill, or knowledge to help make the new world a place of harmony and beauty. Their stories fill this book. The accounts of Hosteen Coyote's endless mischief and the contributions of First Man and Woman, Spider Woman, the Red Ant People, Pollen Boy, and many others portray much about the Navajo attitude toward all life.