Anaye- Navajo GroupCollective"Alien Gods"

Born from Disorder

When the men and women lived on opposite sides of the river during the Separation of the Sexes, some women turned to cacti, stones, and elk horns to satisfy their longing. From these unnatural unions the Anaye were conceived. The separation ended when both sides reunited, but the monsters had already been made. They grew and crossed into the Glittering World, where they preyed on the people until the land was too dangerous to inhabit.

The Monsters

Yéʼiitsoh, the Big Giant, stood tall enough to drink entire lakes dry and devoured humans whole. Tsé Ninááleeh, the Monster Eagle, nested atop the rock pillar now called Shiprock and carried victims to its peak to feed its young. Between these and the others, no one could travel safely. The people lived in hiding.

The Slaying

Monster Slayer and Born for Water obtained lightning bolts from their father the Sun and went after the Anaye one by one. Monster Slayer struck Yéʼiitsoh first. The giant's blood poured across the land and hardened into the black lava fields still visible in Navajo country. He found Tsé Ninááleeh's nest atop Shiprock and killed the great bird.

Each monster required a different approach. Born for Water held the prayers and songs that sustained his brother through each encounter. The land itself records the campaign: lava flows are dried blood, rock formations are fallen bodies, and Shiprock is the Monster Eagle's ruined nest.

The Spared

After the great monsters were dead, the Twins encountered four beings who begged to live: Old Age, Poverty, Hunger, and Death. Old Age argued that without her, the young would never feel urgency. Death said that without him, life would carry no weight.

The Twins considered and let them all live. The world they left behind held no paradise. People would age, go hungry, work, and die.