Water Monster- Navajo CreatureCreature · Monster
Also known as: Tééhoołtsódii
Description
Coyote stole the Water Monster's children and told no one. Tééhoołtsódii raised every lake, river, and spring in the Third World until the flood drove all beings upward through a reed into the Glittering World above.
Mythology & Lore
The Theft
While the First People lived in the Third World, Coyote visited Tééhoołtsódii's home beneath the waters. He found the Water Monster's two children, wrapped them in a blanket, and hid them under his fur. He said nothing to anyone.
Tééhoołtsódii discovered the children missing. The lakes overflowed and the rivers rose until water covered the ground and kept climbing. It pursued the First People wherever they ran, and no one understood why.
The Reed
With the floodwaters at their heels, the First People planted a great reed that grew upward through the sky of the Third World and pierced the floor of the Fourth. All beings climbed through it, one after another, emerging into the Glittering World that would become the Navajo homeland.
The water followed them up. It reached the base of the reed and began climbing inside it. Finally someone searched Coyote and found the two children wrapped in his blanket. They returned Tééhoołtsódii's children to the waters below. The flood stopped. The Water Monster had never wanted destruction. It wanted its children back.