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Overview

The human-shaped foe reclines beside a narrow path and kicks whenever the hero passes, excusing each attempt as a stretch. After four evasions the hero strikes him with a stone weapon. The body stays in place until its hair is found growing into the rock like roots and is severed. The earlier birth passage explains this attachment through abandonment inside the cliff. Torlino and Jake simplify the defeat to cutting the hair and causing the fall.

The children below consume the body and are pursued by the hero. Endings vary materially: the principal telling attaches a derogatory ancestry claim to a neighbouring people, while Matthews's notes say Torlino changes the children into mountain sheep and Jake into birds of prey. The hostile ethnic claim is identified as narrative prejudice rather than used to classify living people as creatures. The father's cliff role remains distinct from these incompatible endings.

Kicks from a cliff ledgeHair grows into the rockChildren have incompatible variant fates
01

Origins & earliest records

Matthews published Navaho Legends in 1897. His introduction identifies Hatali Nez as the principal Origin Legend witness, Torlino as Version A and Jake the silversmith as Version B; supplementary matter is distinguished in notes. He used readable rather than strictly literal English and reports winter storytelling restrictions. This published narrative is not a complete ceremonial transcription or every Diné version.

02

Records & interpretation

Origin Legend paragraph 202 and paragraphs 341-343; notes 142-145. Complete selected episode, variant notes where cited, and the introduction on versions and translation read. No ritual formulas or practical ceremonial directions reproduced.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Navaho Legends: Origin Legend

    Washington Matthews, collector and translator; principal narrative from Hatali Nez · 1897

    Origin Legend paragraph 202 and paragraphs 341-343; notes 142-145.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textMatthews 1897: Origin Legend paragraph 202 and paragraphs 341-343; notes 142-145.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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