Except for the sacred ceremonies themselves, we must assume that the stories recounted in Navajo history have been elaborated over the years, expanded, and otherwise changed from the original accounts.

We must also assume that some stories are lost forever. A contemporary wise woman from a Canadian border tribe remarked recently, “Maybe we should let the stories die. They may have ended their usefulness.”

Culver Pictures

A Navajo family stotry about the relations the family had in prehistory with the Holy People.

Now, as television and radio penetrate into the most remote corners and the highest mountain settlements of the Navajo nation, and have their impact on us all, it is important to record the Navajo stories before the advent of electronic media, and its insidious effect, transforms them once again.

To produce the book Navajo History, I collected information from a number of qualified people—trained people—who had spent many hours in lessons from wise medicine men. These people are recognized by the community as having lived their lives as close as possible to the ways of the Holy People.

It took two years, long hours, and many conversations. I fell in love with the prehistory period, and wished passionately to be able to talk to the Holy People themselves. I felt immensely priveleged to work with these members of our community—to get inside the minds of such people.

I began to realize that there are few qualified people in the world today who are able to transmit this kind of inside knowledge effectively—to transfer not just the stories, but the spirit of the stories, to the printed page. The stories finally appeared in book form. Stories that by their nature require the intimate form of a gifted storyteller in a small group are now in a book form reaching an audience of thousands—children, parents, scholarly experts, and an occasional interested bilagaanaa (Anglo).

The total body of the oral literature of our people is very large. Generally the stories fall into two categories: there are the sacred stories, including the emergence history, which would correspond to the value Christians place on the Bible; and the folktales, often, but not always, pointing a moral.